I wonder about this since motherboards that get public reviews are almost only the ones with SLI, even if there's a similar non-SLI verison as well. - SLI motherboards cost ~20 USD more than the non-SLI counterparts. - Use of SLI as such require specialised software to get any performance increase over a single graphics card. - Two graphics cards in SLI are typically more expensive than a single card with the same performance. - If you want to "upgrade" your single graphics card by adding another one in SLI, and your current card isn't really up to date, chances are that you can get a newer generation card at the same price but with better performance than your would be SLI combo. With this in mind, to me the only reason to buy a SLI MB and graphics cards combination is that you have lots of money and want to be at the very top with two state of the art graphics cards. Otherwise it seems like a waste of money to buy a SLI MB in the first place... So let's make a little market survey: Do you have or plan to buy a SLI MB, and why? Cheers Olle
I've already gotten an SLI board, but have never planned to use it. For 20% more, it always allow some flexibility to use SLI in the future, eve if you are not planning to.
I thought about buying an SLI motherboard simply because it seemed to be the best overclocking board for a while.
if i were to get a new mobo, would probably get one with SLI, but 2 cards, hmm.... i dont think so, dont think i can afford 2 cards.
Serious? I always thought those single PCIe boards are better, because they have less bottleneck to worry? Anyway, the NF4 chipset for both Ultra and SLI are completely identical.
I've been thinking along those lines as well, and come to the conclusion that it boils down to how long you plan to keep the MB in service. SLI is, for the vast majority of users, the most expensive option until almost all of the graphic intensive applications in use support it. That should take a while unless you use only the latest software, since only about 2/3 of the games released today support it, less if you use other 3D applications like CAD or 3D arts. Personally I'm too fond of older software to make it worthwhile paying for SLI until I get a new MB three or more years from now. Compared to what? The only comparisons I've seen lately are versus other SLI boards... Cheers Olle
I play with most of the new FPS games, so I would say at least 75% of the games I play support SLI. SLI is a luxury, not a necessity.
Chai - it's not like there's a DFI Ultra-D Expert If there was then it may be better than the SLI-DR Expert, but who knows
True, but that's probably because most hardcore performance seekers wanted SLI as an option too. DFI is the only manufacturer doing that sort of thing.
Personally, i don't use SLI, but i'd like it to be an option open to me, that's all. Why are SLI boards so popular? Because rerouting PCIE lanes isn't hard and the fact that all Nforce4 Chips generally come from the same slab of silicon, so it becomes cheap to implement. Well for me, i like the security of being able to upgrade with an identical card just incase i need a cheap performance boost.
