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Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H Geforce 8500GT Videocards in SLI Review
Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H Geforce 8500GT Videocards in SLI Review  - PCSTATS
We're going to do things a bit differently in this review. Instead of focusing on high end videocards, we're going to look at what SLI can do for mainstream users with a pair of Geforce 8500GT videocards running in SLI.
 75% Rating:   
Filed under: Video Cards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Gigabyte Nov 06 2007   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Video Cards > Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H

Geforce 8500GT SLI: No Miracle Worker

nVIDIA SLI and to a lesser degree AMD CrossFire have made buying a new videocard an interesting exercise. With both standards being supported by game developers, more gamers are starting to ask if two heads really are better than one?

We decided to focus on two Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H (GeForce 8500GT) videocards running in SLI in this review to answer that question.

Looking at prices, the Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H videocard retails for about between $70-90. That puts two of them in the [rice range of a GeForce 8600GTS. So the big question is whether two low end videocards can perform as fast as a single higher end graphics card?

From the benchmark results, we can clearly see that two GeForce 8500GTs, two Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H running in SLI to be specific, are not as fast as a single GeForce 8600GTS videocard in most tests.

Synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark05/06 witnessed a decent performance boost, real world games like Doom 3, FarCry and FEAR saw mixed results. At best, the dual Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H's running in SLI perform closer to that of a single GeForce 8600GT, instead of an 8600GTS. There were a few exceptions like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, but that didn't shift the general trend significantly.

What can you take away from this? Don't expect nVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire technology to work miracles.

Perhaps as software support for SLI microcode improves, the performance benefit will too. Clearly, right now 1+1 does not equal 2. So instead of picking up two really affordable videocards and hooking them up in SLI, I think you'll be better served by a single slightly faster videocard. It doesn't have to be the super expensive flagship model, just go up one class level, in this case from Geforce 8500GT to Geforce 8600GTS. One moderately fast videocard often works out to a better value than two slower videocards working in parallel.

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< Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com Video Cards Reviews...»

 

Contents of Article: Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H
 Pg 1.  Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H Geforce 8500GT Videocards in SLI Review
 Pg 2.  SLI Videocard Benchmarks & Test Specs
 Pg 3.  Videocard Benchmarks: 3DMark06
 Pg 4.  Videocard Benchmarks: FarCry
 Pg 5.  Videocard Benchmarks: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
 Pg 6.  Videocard Benchmarks: Doom 3
 Pg 7.  Videocard Benchmarks: Quake 4
 Pg 8.  Videocard Benchmarks: FEAR
 Pg 9.  DX10 Videocard Benchmarks: Call of Juarez
 Pg 10.  DX10 Videocard Benchmarks: Lost Planet
 Pg 11.  — Geforce 8500GT SLI: No Miracle Worker

 
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