560ti SLI Now or 580 Later?

[cadefoster]

I'm hoping to get a little advice about a gpu upgrade. I'm currently using a single 560ti, which is a great card but I find it struggles with a few games. I'm a little bit torn on wether to get a 2nd 560ti to run SLI now, or save up for a 580. From the research I've done, the 560ti in SLI should out perform, or at least equal the 580. But I know it's usually less of a headache to stick with a single gpu so I'm not sure what to do. If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
Current specs:
Win 7 64
Asus P7P55D Pro Mobo
i7-870
Evga 560ti
4 gigs ddr 3
Cooler Master GX 750w psu

 

[Tavo_Nova]

you got 2 choices, the cheaper side is getting another 560ti and SLI which should give you a decent boost in performance or get a 580 then use the 560ti as physx then in the future get another 580 which should give you a good boost too

 

[amuffin]

7970 :C but otherwise 560ti is a good choice, I would also add a bit more ram also!

 

[expensivecomputer]

I suggest GTX 580/6970/7970 as they have 1.5/2/3 GB of VRAM. As per the below extract it shows that in battlefield 3 u would be able to run ultra settings (definatel'y with your 560ti SLI), but you will experience stuttering/streaming due to insufficient GPU RAM

" As the graph shows, higher settings for Texture Quality do not significantly affect FPS. However as texture detail rises, so too does the amount of Video RAM (VRAM) needed to hold these textures on your graphics card for quick access. In BF3, textures are streamed in as required, but your Texture Quality setting determines the texture pool size, which is the amount of VRAM allocated to storing textures at any one time. At the Low setting, 150MB is allocated to the texture pool; Medium = 200MB; High = 300MB; and Ultra = 500MB. Keep in mind however that your VRAM also stores a range of other game information, and that an average multiplayer level in BF3 can have 1.5GB or more of textures, so it can't all be stored on your GPU at once. Thus setting this option too high may result in stuttering or visible texture streaming. The Ultra Texture Quality setting for example is designed specifically for GPUs with 1.5GB or more of VRAM. "
http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/battlefield-3-tweak-guide

** The stuttering should apply to other games, not just battlefield 3.

So far for me, BF3 eats about 1.1GB --> 1.8GB VRAM for me (i have a 7970 3GB) and i will expect future games to eat more VRAM

So if you want a cheap alternative and don't care too much about some stuttering then GTX 560ti now. If you want some future proof go with higher VRAM cards.
Please correct me if my information is wrong.


Regards.

 

[cadefoster]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I suggest GTX 580/6970/7970 as they have 1.5/2/3 GB of VRAM. As per the below extract it shows that in battlefield 3 u would be able to run ultra settings (definatel'y with your 560ti SLI), but you will experience stuttering/streaming due to insufficient GPU RAM

" As the graph shows, higher settings for Texture Quality do not significantly affect FPS. However as texture detail rises, so too does the amount of Video RAM (VRAM) needed to hold these textures on your graphics card for quick access. In BF3, textures are streamed in as required, but your Texture Quality setting determines the texture pool size, which is the amount of VRAM allocated to storing textures at any one time. At the Low setting, 150MB is allocated to the texture pool; Medium = 200MB; High = 300MB; and Ultra = 500MB. Keep in mind however that your VRAM also stores a range of other game information, and that an average multiplayer level in BF3 can have 1.5GB or more of textures, so it can't all be stored on your GPU at once. Thus setting this option too high may result in stuttering or visible texture streaming. The Ultra Texture Quality setting for example is designed specifically for GPUs with 1.5GB or more of VRAM. "
http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/battlefield-3-tweak-guide

** The stuttering should apply to other games, not just battlefield 3.

So far for me, BF3 eats about 1.1GB --> 1.8GB VRAM for me (i have a 7970 3GB) and i will expect future games to eat more VRAM

So if you want a cheap alternative and don't care too much about some stuttering then GTX 560ti now. If you want some future proof go with higher VRAM cards.
Please correct me if my information is wrong.


Regards.

I haven't played BF3 but I also haven't experienced stuttering in the games that I have played, thus your statement is false.

 

[cadefoster]

I think I'm leaning towards picking up a second 560ti. A second card will cost around $220 vs a single 580 at around $550. Hopefully the performance should at least be equal.

 

[beltzy]

I just nabbed a pair of 560ti's a couple of weeks ago (was using 5850's in Crossfire) and have been very pleased. They perform right about the same as a single 7970 but cost about $150 less.

The fact that you already have a 560 ti makes this a no brainer. Double up and you will have plenty of performance in the latest games for at least a couple of years (barring trainwrecks like Metro 2033 was/is).

 

[Warmacblu]

I am with beltzy here. You already have a single GTX 560 Ti so adding another one because you are not satisfied with the performance of a single card is the smartest move.

 

[expensivecomputer]

I haven't played BF3 but I also haven't experienced stuttering in the games that I have played, thus your statement is false.

I believe the information i provided is accurate, at least for BF3. I did experience stuttering when i increased texture settings from medium to ultra despite having 60+ FPS (i had a 6870 1GB at that time).

That observation was made before i came across the information i provided in the link.

My statement regarding "** The stuttering should apply to other games, not just battlefield 3." could definitely be false, but may still be true for battlefield 3.

Of course, not everyone is equally sensitive to stuttering so its quite trivial to be honest.

Anyway that was my contribution to this post, if anyone else has actual information/links to disqualify my information regarding VRAM stuttering for battlefiled 3 please let me know so i do not continue spreading it around.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I just nabbed a pair of 560ti's a couple of weeks ago (was using 5850's in Crossfire) and have been very pleased. They perform right about the same as a single 7970 but cost about $150 less.

The fact that you already have a 560 ti makes this a no brainer. Double up and you will have plenty of performance in the latest games for at least a couple of years (barring trainwrecks like Metro 2033 was/is).

What issues are you having with metro 2033?