EVGA 580SLI or ASUS MATRIX 580 SLI

[shahrooz]

Hi everyone I'm going to build a new PC for he upcoming anticipated games, I was wondering what VGA card should I choose EVGA 580 SLI, ASUS MATRIX 580 SLI or ASUS DCII 580 SLI? I play at 1080p resolution and I'm not sure to go for 3D or not? actually I was going to ask about the 3D monitor too, can anybody who has played in 3D help me to decide? is it any good?

I haven't made my decision yet I have the budget for 580s but I can go for ASUS DC II 570SLI or 560ti SLI or even a single ASUS MATRIX 580, I want my cards to do a good job for at least 3 or 4 years.

It all depends on your opinions so please help me to choose right.

 

[shahrooz]

one more thing what is a good motherboard for my build?

 

[we1shcake]

id reccomend the msi 580 twin frozr, ive only ever heard good things about that cooler, another good one is the gigabyte model with three fans, i have a 470 with that cooler and its much cooler and quiter than the stock one, assuming youre using a sandy bridge processor id say look at the asus sabertooth, very well made a long warranty overclocks well and looks good

 

[shahrooz]

id reccomend the msi 580 twin frozr, ive only ever heard good things about that cooler, another good one is the gigabyte model with three fans, i have a 470 with that cooler and its much cooler and quiter than the stock one, assuming youre using a sandy bridge processor id say look at the asus sabertooth, very well made a long warranty overclocks well and looks good

thanks man I'll think about that I'm buying i5 2500k if I get a single GPU I'll go for i 2600K

 

[we1shcake]

great thatll lat you a long time, itll easily max any game at 1080p without breaking a sweat there really is no benefit to getting the 2600k for gaming u are far better off with the second graphics card and a 2500k

 

[inzone]

It would help if you listed what you were thinking of getting for components and that way we can offer opinions. You have said what you want for video cards but thats all. What are you thinking for cpu , psu , case , ram and MB.
Imo , Evga makes a good video card and they have great customer service and tech support and they stand behind thier products with a limited lifetime warrenty. I have purchased Evga cards for the last 7-8 years now and will keep doing so. Now having said that I would also go with two Evga GTX 580's in SLI and the reason being is so you don't have to worry about playing any game that may come out in the next several years at high settings and get good fps.

 

[inzone]

If you are going with the 2500k or 2600k then a good MB is;

ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $254.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263

 

[shahrooz]

It would help if you listed what you were thinking of getting for components and that way we can offer opinions. You have said what you want for video cards but thats all. What are you thinking for cpu , psu , case , ram and MB.
Imo , Evga makes a good video card and they have great customer service and tech support and they stand behind thier products with a limited lifetime warrenty. I have purchased Evga cards for the last 7-8 years now and will keep doing so. Now having said that I would also go with two Evga GTX 580's in SLI and the reason being is so you don't have to worry about playing any game that may come out in the next several years at high settings and get good fps.

CPU: i5 2500k
PSU: 900 or 1000 watts I'm not sure about the brand but I wont go for a bad one
ram: Gskill 2x4GB 1600 sniper sseries
I'm not sure about the main yet but maybe I go for ASrock Extreme 3 gen 3

 

[JackNaylorPE]

With twin 580s giving 953 fps (in guru 3D's gaming test suite) for $1000, twin 57o's giving just 11 fps more at $640 and twin 900 Mhz 560's giving me 862 fps, for $410.....I'm seeing that money very difficult to justify.....not to mention the 560 easily gets another 12% when ya overclock it past 1000MHz, which is easily done.....

I'm still like the Asus @ $230 with that amazing cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

For two or three 580's
$350 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131760

Two 560's or 570's
$270 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131791
$220 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

One thing I wouldn't do with that kind of investment you are talking about is invest that money in a MoBo (Asrock) w/ less than an industry standard 3 year warranty.

 

[shahrooz]

If you are going with the 2500k or 2600k then a good MB is;

ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $254.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263

I'm not a US citizen and I can't buy from newegg (you dont know how much I'd like to...) that card will cost about 350$ or more I cant afford that. but I think if I go for EVGA 580 I can, needs a little math 😀

 

[we1shcake]

With twin 580s giving 953 fps (in guru 3D's gaming test suite) for $1000, twin 57o's giving just 11 fps more at $640 and twin 900 Mhz 560's giving me 862 fps, for $410.....I'm seeing that money very difficult to justify.....not to mention the 560 easily gets another 12% when ya overclock it past 1000MHz, which is easily done.....

I'm still like the Asus @ $230 with that amazing cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

For two or three 580's
$350 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131760

Two 560's or 570's
$270 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131791
$220 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

that asus 580 is great i got it mixed up with that one with the triple slot cooler

 

[shahrooz]

One thing I wouldn't do with that kind of investment you are talking about is invest that money in a MoBo (Asrock) w/ less than an industry standard 3 year warranty.

so what MB do you suggest me?

 

[shahrooz]

sorry I got that I thought the links were for VGAs' thanks bro

 

[Gothams Finest]

Just get a 2500k and save yourself some money unless ofcourse you use programs that use hyperthreading.

I would go for the EVGA 580s. EVGA have great warranty and RMA service. Non ref cards are fine for single card set ups but be aware that non reference cards such as the MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte can have problems in SLI, because non reference cards dump the hot air inside the case (unlike reference cards like the EVGA that exhaust it outside of the case) non reference cards can cause a recycling effect were on card will dump the hot air and the other will suck that hot air back in, over long periods the heat builds up and negates the benefit of the cooler design. I'd only use a solution like that if it were totally open air with plenty of airflow and space between the cards.

The main reason to get non-reference is to OC, but with SLI 580 I doubt you will need to OC them.

This is just my opnion but I'm sure I will get flamed for saying this by non ref fan boys.

 

[we1shcake]

Just get a 2500k and save yourself some money unless ofcourse you use programs that use hyperthreading.

I would go for the EVGA 580s. EVGA have great warranty and RMA service. Non ref cards are fine for single card set ups but be aware that non reference cards such as the MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte can have problems in SLI, because non reference cards dump the hot air inside the case (unlike reference cards like the EVGA that exhaust it outside of the case) non reference cards can cause a recycling effect were on card will dump the hot air and the other will suck that hot air back in, over long periods the heat builds up and negates the benefit of the cooler design. I'd only use a solution like that if it were totally open air with plenty of airflow and space between the cards.

The main reason to get non-reference is to OC, but with SLI 580 I doubt you will need to OC them.

This is just my opnion but I'm sure I will get flamed for saying this by non ref fan boys.

i hadnt thought of that 🙁

 

[shahrooz]

Just get a 2500k and save yourself some money unless ofcourse you use programs that use hyperthreading.

I would go for the EVGA 580s. EVGA have great warranty and RMA service. Non ref cards are fine for single card set ups but be aware that non reference cards such as the MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte can have problems in SLI, because non reference cards dump the hot air inside the case (unlike reference cards like the EVGA that exhaust it outside of the case) non reference cards can cause a recycling effect were on card will dump the hot air and the other will suck that hot air back in, over long periods the heat builds up and negates the benefit of the cooler design. I'd only use a solution like that if it were totally open air with plenty of airflow and space between the cards.

The main reason to get non-reference is to OC, but with SLI 580 I doubt you will need to OC them.

This is just my opnion but I'm sure I will get flamed for saying this by non ref fan boys.

good point bro I didnt think of that too, you're right.

what main do you suggest for two EVGA 580s?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

vga makes a good video card and they have great customer service and tech support and they stand behind their products with a limited lifetime warrenty.

I have had the exact opposite experience with Son No. 2's box and a factory overclocked card that would BSOD at anything above reference settings.

1. In 18 months and over 20 support calls to EVGA it's like you are talking to them for the 1st time on every call. Your Case Number means nothing and the history of your previous efforts means nothing. You will still have to go through the same mundane steps, trying different BIOS settings, upping RAM voltages to max intel spec, removing and reinstalling drivers while on the phone with them. It's as if the whole process is designed to make you jump through a series of hoops frustrate you, get you off the phone and not bother to call back.

2. Every effort will be made to convince you that it is something else in the system that is causing the problem. The fact that you swapped out the card for the exact same model from another manufacturer and it works just peachy will not be considered as relevant.

3. Through 5 separate RMA's, persistence is the only thing that paid off when they finally replaced it with a newer generation card that had roughly the same performance. Guess who paid shipping and insurance returning the cards 5 times ?

OTOH, when Son No. 3 bought twin 560's from Asus, one of them made a vibrating noise when under OCCT GPU test after a while....one 90 second call and it went back and was replaced via priority mail. Took longer to get a person on the phone but once ya got there, process was quick and efficient.

 

[we1shcake]

I have had the exact opposite experience with Son No. 2's box and a factory overclocked card that would BSOD at anything above reference settings.

1. In 18 months and over 20 support calls to EVGA it's like you are talking to them for the 1st time on every call. Your Case Number means nothing and the history of your previous efforts means nothing. You will still have to go through the same mundane steps, trying different BIOS settings, upping RAM voltages to max intel spec, removing and reinstalling drivers while on the phone with them. It's as if the whole process is designed to make you jump through a series of hoops frustrate you, get you off the phone and not bother to call back.

2. Every effort will be made to convince you that it is something else in the system that is causing the problem. The fact that you swapped out the card for the exact same model from another manufacturer and it works just peachy will not be considered as relevant.

3. Through 5 separate RMA's, persistence is the only thing that paid off when they finally replaced it with a newer generation card that had roughly the same performance. Guess who paid shipping and insurance returning the cards 5 times ?

OTOH, when Son No. 3 bought twin 560's from Asus, one of them made a vibrating noise when under OCCT GPU test after a while....one 90 second call and it went back and was replaced via priority mail. Took longer to get a person on the phone but once ya got there, process was quick and efficient.

strange, ive only ever heard good things about evga customer support

 

[JackNaylorPE]

so what MB do you suggest me?

The three I included in my post

 

[shahrooz]

guys customer support is not important for me cause I'm not buying it directly in my location, there are other companies which I should talk to if anything goes wrong. I'm asking for performance. but thanks for mentioning that anyway.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

that asus 580 is great i got it mixed up with that one with the triple slot cooler

That's a 900 Mhz 560 not a 580 and yes it is great.....two of them cost less than a single 580 and they outperform it by 40%.

 

[shahrooz]

The three I included in my post

I read that post and I liked those I'm taking them in consideration I was just asking if anyone has another opinion.

JackNaylorPE which one do you suggest more considering a budget oriented build. I can hardly afford a +300$ main.

 

[Gothams Finest]

The only sandy bridge motherboard I've had experience with is my ASUS P8P67 Pro, while it is a good MB and great for overclocking, I have had a few problems with it, such as "Double boots" and a problem that made my PSU have "Coil whine" on standby. I have managed to fix the coil whine problem but still get the occasional "Double boot"

Its a common problem with the P8P67 and P8Z68 motherboards
http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/1012874-official-asus-p8p67-p8z68-gen3-series.html

 

[shahrooz]

That's a 900 Mhz 560 not a 580 and yes it is great.....two of them cost less than a single 580 and they outperform it by 40%.

I got your point, but I wont be buying a PC for at least 3~4 years, and I'm not payin for it my parents are offering me about 2000$ and I myself have about 400$ so I want to get the most out of it cuz if I dont use it I'll give it back to them. prices are higher in my loc so a 1800 or 1900$ build would cost me about 2200~2300$

 

[shahrooz]

The only sandy bridge motherboard I've had experience with is my ASUS P8P67 Pro, while it is a good MB and great for overclocking, I have had a few problems with it, such as "Double boots" and a problem that made my PSU have "Coil whine" on standby. I have managed to fix the coil whine problem but still get the occasional "Double boot"

Its a common problem with the P8P67 and P8Z68 motherboards
http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/1012874-official-asus-p8p67-p8z68-gen3-series.html

thanks bro