Every gamer wants a high performance machine. However, building one can be incredibly costly. As the graphics card often dictates the in-game performance of your computer, a high-end GPU is considered a must for a serious gamer. The most powerful graphics cards can put a serious dent in your wallet. They also become obsolete after several months.
However, with the emergence of multi-GPU technology, a user can combine multiple cards to achieve better performance. This means you can purchase less expensive graphics cards for use with your gaming computer. As time goes on, you can purchase another card to take some of the load off of your current hardware. This will give you a quality experience with even the newest games that was previously only available on a prohibitively expensive gaming card.
Nvidia’s SLI and ATI’s CrossFire technologies offer this multiple card support. If you are interested in build a system around this strategy, you should be careful to get the correct pieces. If you want multi-GPU support, you must have a motherboard that allows for it. Most newer gaming motherboards will offer this. Also, you will need a beastly power supply to pump out the electricity needed to run multiple cards. These SLI-ready power supplies are not necessarily expensive. However, you don’t want to have to upgrade your power supply when you install a new card.
If you use this strategy for building your gaming PC, you can purchase newer graphics cards that are a few months behind the newest releases. In a market where parts are difficult to move off the shelves after a year or less, you can see why these are much cheaper cards. Don’t worry about the performance of your machine lagging behind, though, the addition of future cards will allow you a similar boost in performance to one of the newest, expensive cards. You can save up money for extra cards at your leisure without having to throw out old parts.
Be careful that you plan your purchases around the limitations of multi-GPU technology. For example, an Nvidia SLI rig will require you to use only cards of the same chip set. If you intend to use a GeForce 9800 GT, for example, you will need to get the same card when you add a second. ATI’s CrossFire technology allows you to use different cards from the same series. These are hardly limitations, but you don’t want to accidentally purchase a card that won’t work with your setup.
If you play massively multiplayer online games, such as World of Warcraft and other popular MMOPRGs you might want to weigh using one powerful card instead. These games tend to be very processor intensive, and there are frequently support issues for multi-GPU arrangements. However, for other games that put more pressure on your graphics card than your processor, multiple cards can vastly improve your performance.
High end graphics really display the incredible power of the desktop PC. Gaming does not require the huge budgets of the past. If you choose a smart build, you can get smooth frame rates on the latest games at a reasonable price. Multi-GPU technology allows you to upgrade your machine on your terms.