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Graphics SLI or new card?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by SpannerSlammer, 2 Oct 2012.

  1. SpannerSlammer

    SpannerSlammer What's a Dremel?

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    Hi
    I've currently have a Gigabyte GTX 570 1.3GB installed on my rig which is starting to stuggle with some games at high specs. I was looking online and noticed you can pick up my card pretty cheap compared to the new GTX 6** range of card.

    Does anyone know if its worth just to SLI my old card or spend a lot more money and get a GTX 680?

    Also would I get a power increase on every game/program with SLI?

    :confused:
     
  2. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    an additional 570 would set you back around £200. A new 680 is around £400.
    Personally I would buy a 680 and sell the 570 for around £140-£150 making the difference around £50-60 so not that much to swallow.
     
  3. SpannerSlammer

    SpannerSlammer What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks for the reply. why would you go for the 670 over the sli?
     
  4. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    I know that other people may disagree but I don't trust SLI, I hear a lot of reports from people that have gone from SLI mid - high end card, to a single v high end card and have achieved better results.
    I have no first hand experience with SLI though.
     
  5. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    SLI is only worth the money of you use top-end cards, and is usually matched OT superseded by the next high-end card six months later --at which point it becomes a more complicated, twice as high wattage solution to achieve the same result.

    Does look cool though. :)
     
  6. SpannerSlammer

    SpannerSlammer What's a Dremel?

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    Agreed it looks very cool! :D
    I would be stretching my psu aswell it's 850w. the combined watts would be pushing it

    I think I'll go for a single card as 1kw psu With a 570 would cost more then the 670

    Thanks for your help! would like to hear from someone with the sli setup tho just for the other side of view
     
  7. Taniniver

    Taniniver Minimodder

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    I have that exact setup - two 570's in SLI. I've yet to find anything I can't run on max details at 2560x1600 apart from Metro 2033, where the advanced DOF DX11 stuff just kills it.

    An 850W should be just fine - that's all I have and I've got an i5 2500K overclocked to 4.4 Ghz

    If you'd like me to try any specific benchmarks or game tests let me know.

    EDIT: As for increase in all games? Yeah, pretty much. I think people blow the problems with SLI *way* out of proportion. I will grant that you sometimes need to wait a little while after a new release of a game for an SLI profile, but quite often the profiles are available before the game is even released. The only game I have tried to run that wouldn't work with SLI was The Settlers 7.
     
  8. Blogins

    Blogins Panda have Guns

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    A single GTX 670 would do you proud.

    I'm going GTX 670 SLI because I want some bleeding edge but not at the price of a GTX 690! :D
     
  9. brave758

    brave758 Minimodder

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    Sli it mate
     
  10. Mechh69

    Mechh69 I think we can make that fit

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    I have no issues with my SLI, so if you can find another 570 cheap pick it up.
     
  11. damien c

    damien c Mad FPS Gamer

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    Never had a issue with SLI, and to be honest at some point I will be going out and getting a 2nd GTX680 unless the 780 is out by the time I have the cash saved for it.

    If you have the money for another 570 why not just sell your current 570 and buy a 680 4Gb card, as you can run Battlefield 3 at Ultra @ 1920x1080 at around the 80-100fps of a single card, and if you turn off AA and HBAO you will hit over 100fps.
     
  12. GregTheRotter

    GregTheRotter Minimodder

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    +1 on sli. Go for another 570 tbh. I've got two 670's and came from a 460.
     
  13. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Having tried both options many times over the years with mixed results, I always favour the single top end card over mid-top end SLI from the previous generation.

    Heat and power draw are my sworn enemies.

    That said, if you can find a second hand 570 for ~£120 then go for it. Worst case scenario you can sell both of them on and put the money towards a 670 or 7970 (or more if you wish).
     
  14. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    Given my experience with SLI, I would avoid it.

    If your card is struggling what you are going to get is fraps showing you 60fps - but microstutter all over the shop, which will make it feel more like 20fps.

    To elaborate, one frame being delivered every 16.6ms = 60fps, and smooth gameplay. But 59 frames delivered at 16ms and then one frame taking 55ms to deliver will still result in 60fps, but a jerky experience on screen.

    For games your 570 already handles fine, you should get a nice smooth experience and a massive framerate, but for games its struggling on (and that's why you are upgrading, right?), another 570 will help your framerates, but result in a jerky experience as perceived by the user.
     
  15. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    What resolution are you running at? 1080 or 1200p and you won't need anything more than a 670.

    No. There is no guarantee of scaling on a game by game basis, and driver updates can exclude old favourites and potentially make matters worse.

    I've gone multi-GPU a few times over the years and, on balance, I'd rather have a single fast card.
     
  16. Paradigm Shifter

    Paradigm Shifter de nihilo nihil fit

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    SLI is only really useful in high-end scenarios where you're wanting a lot of power. Either benching (because the only things that seem to be consistantly optimised in SLI drivers are benchmarks) or high-res 3D gaming or ultra-high-res EyeFinity/Surround.

    Otherwise, you're better off with a single card. The 670 is no slouch, and markedly cheaper than the 680.
     
  17. SpannerSlammer

    SpannerSlammer What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks for all the replys! :D
    I'm running a single monitor at 1080 with a 2500k i5 overclocked at 4.6
    I'm leaning towards the sli purely for the cost. Has anyone tryed putting different makes together?
     
  18. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Different makes are fine, as long as the models are identical. I'd be wary of mixing reference and non-reference due to potential incompatibility though.

    I'll, go out on a limb and say that dual 570s are complete overkill for your res, and as Parge states above you won't necessarily see any improvements where they are most needed. Sell the the 570, then put the monies combined towards a 670 or 7970 instead, IMHO.
     
  19. Apocalypso

    Apocalypso Fully armed and operational.

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    I would agree with the sentiments above, unless you have a silly high res monitor there's really no need to SLI and even then a powerful single card is often a better solution in terms of power and heat.

    I had two gtx 580's in SLI for a 1080p monitor and it was complete overkill, I've recently changed my display to the one in my sig and have really needed to SLI again. I've not personally experienced any microstutter and everything seems buttery smooth but in my experience it depends on the driver and the game in question.

    So yes, at 1080p go for a 670, if you get a higher res screen further down the line then you can get another 670 and SLI them and your 850w PSU should be absolutely fine.
     
  20. Taniniver

    Taniniver Minimodder

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    As others have said, different makes are no problems. One of mine is a Palit, the other a PNY IIRC.

    As for if it's worth it - I guess that depends what your goal is. If a single 570 can provide playable framerates then you might not want it. If on the other hand you are looking to improve the overall framerate on games that are probably already playable but not a solid 60 fps, and maybe increase some settings, then it can be.

    Personally I initially took the plunge and got the second 570 when a single one couldn't maintain solid framerates in Dragon Age 2 - intensive spell effects would drop the framerate into the teens. This was during the intro bits, before I realised the actual game kinda sucks, but by then I had already bought the second card :)

    It still has a benefit though, if you are interested in maintaining a nice solid 60 FPS (with vsync) as opposed to some lesser framerate which is still playable, say in the 40's or so. It also gives you extra headroom for more eye candy - Skyrim for example; I crammed it full of high res texture packs etc... until the framerate was mostly a solid 60 FPS but occasionally dropped under it. It certainly looks better than a single 570 would be capable of delivering.
     

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