Nvidia 7900GS sli vs Nvidia XFX GeForce 8800 GT 512MB PCI-Express

#1 this is my 1st post, sorry if i miss anything


AMD Athlon 64x2dual 4800+
2.41GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM
MOBO - GA K8N-sli
power supply of 550w

I have a Nvidia 7900gs xfx 256 and Don't know what to do.
I have the option of buying another 7900gs and running my pc in sli mode..----or buy a Nvidia XFX GeForce 8800 GT 512MB PCI-Express. I don't know what is best and I have no idea how these 2 setups will compare. I'm guessing that the 8800 will b better in the end..just want some other opinions on my dilemma, thx all for response

note- i mainly use my pc for playing video games and listening to music.

welcome to dev
You have a nice system as it is, but you dont mention what monitor you use or what games you play. These are rather critical as higher resolutions require more power than others, and some games dont scale well with SLI, or some games simply require more powerful architecture than what the 7 series can offer.

But as for facts of the matter, a single 8800GT 512 will in all cases that I am aware of, be faster than the 7900GS SLI. Hell you can refer to charts such as the interactive VGA charts over at toms hardware. Note that while the 7900GS SLI is not listed, you can use the 7950GX2 as a point of reference. It will be 20% or so faster than 7900GS SLI, but its the closest thing you will find in performance on any modern charts. The 8800GT 512mb is listed on the charts.

Take note that on most if not all 1280x1024 with AA/AF enabled, the 8800GT remains faster by a fair margin, in some games (such as oblivion) it can be almost double the performance. All in all both solutions would provide more than enough power to play todays most demanding games at 1280x1024 with high settings. But also note the 8 series will have superior visual quality, and that in some games (such as oblivion, crysis, etc) the 8 series architecture is much better suited to the game that its performance can be significantly higher.
Also note in those charts that once you bump up the resolution to 1600x1200 or 1920x1200 its a whole other story. While the 7950GX2 struggles to maintain playable fps the 8800GT is simply flying along with easily playable frame rates. And note that whole these charts dont show it, the minimum fps achieved by both solutions is very different, the 8800GT is not going to dip into the low fps range that causes lag in big intensive action sequences like the 7950GX2 does, so its a much smoother gaming experience, even if you look past the average frame rates of both cards.

So at 1280x1024 the two set ups would be similar in performance offered, but the 8800GT would be the better route as its a single card and doesnt have to worry about compatibility problems or how well certain games scale with SLI. The futher up in resolution you go, the further the advantage will shift towards the 8800GT. As with newer games, the newer the game ...odds are the better it will perform with the 8 series. Its a whole new architecture and is in every way possible superior to that of the 7 series.


But with either solution you'll be happy. My suggestion would be to give/sell the 7900 to a friend or family member, and just upgrade to the 8800GT. But if you can get a 2nd 7900GS for dirt cheap, its gunna be a good temporary fix to bring the performance of your system up until you finally feel like making some big upgrades.

hope that helps.

WOW, thanks for the quick response and Great detail to my question. You answered what I wanted to know and it seems that I will be heading to the store and buy myself an 8800GT.
Btw my monitor is a 20.1, native res of 1680x1050 - and play mainly new games. So simply put, thx for the info, you made it clear which is the best choice for myself