Pump Up Your Gaming Rig Without Breaking the Bank with Multiple Graphics Cards

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 2:14 am

Every gamer wants a high performance system. Unfortunately, building one can be wildly costly. As the graphics card often dictates the in-game performance of your computer, a high-end GPU is considered a must for any serious gamer. The most powerful graphics cards can be very expensive. They also become obsolete after several months.

However, with the emergence of multi-GPU technology, you can combine multiple cards to achieve better performance. This could allow you to purchase less expensive graphics cards to put in your gaming computer. As you come across more money, 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 high end gaming card.

Nvidia’s SLI and ATI’s CrossFire technologies offer this multiple card support. If you are looking to 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 tremendously powerful power supply to pump out the electricity necessary to run multiple cards. These SLI-ready power supplies are not necessarily expensive. However, you just don’t want to have to upgrade your power supply when you buy 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.

Remember to plan your purchases around the current 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 plan on using a GeForce 9800 GT, for example, you will need to buy the same card when you add a second. ATI’s CrossFire technology allows you to use different cards from the same series. These aren’t unreasonable 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.

The author of this article works at a nationwide Computer Repair company. At Geek Choice we solve computer problems such as slow computers, Virus Removal, and much more.

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