Final thoughts and rating
Looking at our benchmarks at a 1,680x1,050 resolution, lashing a second GeForce GTS 450 graphics card into a mid-range system provides a meaningful boost in performance - averaging over 70 per cent across a range of five games. The improvement over a single-card's numbers is a touch more impressive than running with two Radeon HD 5750 1,024MB cards, and having two GPUs means that frame-rates are smooth at a 1,920x1,080 resolution, rather than 1,680x1,050. Alternatively, two GPUs' oomph enables the user to turn up the visual-quality settings: it's your choice.Two GeForce GTS 450 GPUs also pave the way for indulging in some NVIDIA 3D action, as well as better PhysX performance. SLI, then, is a compelling option if you play the latest big-name games that are likely to be tuned for multi-GPU usage. The combined retail price of £200 for a pair of GTS 450s brings some tasty single-board contenders into the fray, and our advice would be to approach GTS 450 SLI with a wait-and-see approach, where a second board can be purchased at a later date if needs be.
Bottom line: efficient SLI scaling for the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 GPU means that users adding a second board can expect to see a performance increase to the tune of 70 per cent, along with entry into the 3D Vision and three-monitor clubs. Worth putting on the shortlist if you have £200 allocated for your next graphics upgrade.
The Good
SLI averages over 70 per
cent at 1,680x1,050 - more at
1,920x1,080
Decent overclocking headroom should help with 3D Vision
The Bad
Power-draw characteristics
higher than AMD's
£200 purchases excellent single-board GPUs
HEXUS Rating
HEXUS Where2Buy
HEXUS Right2Reply
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