EVGA GTX 770's 4GB Two-Way SLI or GTX 970's Two-Way SLI?

[Matthew-san]

I have a GTX 770, 'EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Superclocked w/ACX Cooler' to be precise, and I was thinking about picking up another one while they're cheap and still available on the market. People are selling the 4GB superclocked versions used-like new for $300-$320 which is a pretty awesome deal. However, I'm aware that the newly released 970 offers a moderate performance boost, less power consumption, and is cheaper brand new than the 770 4GB Superclocked versions.

Need some suggestions on whether or not it would be worth selling my 770 for a 970 and only having to pay $50 or so for the upgrade and in the future adding another 970 for SLI, or going the easier route by picking up another 770 right now and put it in two-way SLI with my other card?

I'm perfectly satisfied with the performance of my 770, runs all games on high/ultra around the 60 fps mark, most of the time much higher. I have a 1080p, 144 Hz monitor of which I would like to make the most out of and the two-way SLI of a 770 4GB Superclocked or 970 would most certainly do that. Is the 970 worth selling my version of the 770 and doing the 970 SLI or does the 770 hold its own against the 970?

 

[Aviv]

OP reflex the 770's are going nowhere , but considering BF is OTW , if you can get 770 4gb for a really low price you can consider it.

But If I was you I wouldn't do anything until "I'm perfectly satisfied with the performance of my 770" seize to exist , but if there is a really crazy deal on 770 4GB you can grab it.

 

[Matthew-san]

I would really prefer to get the same model as my 770 but I wouldn't mind getting a different model if it was a good deal. It's just a really tough decision because it's one of those situations where I can't go wrong. One option might be better than the other but they're both great options; 770 4GB SLI (cheaper route and less hassle) or 970 SLI (better performance, less power consumption).

The 770's are pretty cheap on eBay right now which is good except I can't seem to find my model for a decent price. I'll keep looking around for the meantime and watch the market with 770 and 970 prices. I'll probably still wait to make any final decisions until I see your benchmarks Belzoth just so I can see how 770 4GB SLI will perform and then compare it to 970 SLI benchmarks already online. I really just want to play games like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Shadow of Mordor at 80 fps+ on ultra settings. I'm at around the mid 50's and low 60's which is great but I'm a bit of a frame rate nut. The higher the better!

 

[belzoth]

I would really prefer to get the same model as my 770 but I wouldn't mind getting a different model if it was a good deal. It's just a really tough decision because it's one of those situations where I can't go wrong. One option might be better than the other but they're both great options; 770 4GB SLI (cheaper route and less hassle) or 970 SLI (better performance, less power consumption).

The 770's are pretty cheap on eBay right now which is good except I can't seem to find my model for a decent price. I'll keep looking around for the meantime and watch the market with 770 and 970 prices. I'll probably still wait to make any final decisions until I see your benchmarks Belzoth just so I can see how 770 4GB SLI will perform and then compare it to 970 SLI benchmarks already online. I really just want to play games like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Shadow of Mordor at 80 fps+ on ultra settings. I'm at around the mid 50's and low 60's which is great but I'm a bit of a frame rate nut. The higher the better!

My second GPU should be coming in the next day or two so you'll know soon. If you have the EVGA version, I see a decent number floating around selling for about $250. For me, I just didn't want the hassel and I know there will probably be another, better GPU than the GTX 970 around the corner. Which is great, but it always makes you question whether to do sli or upgrade lol

 

[Deleted member 362816]

As other people have stated the 900 series is more of a replacment for the 600 series. I'll wait for the next jump.

 

[Matthew-san]

I've been looking for the EVGA version on eBay but for brand new and it's hard to find one at a good price. I may just buy a used one since they're a lot cheaper.

 

[Borge80]

Interesting, what games do you usually play?

Haven't been playing many at the moment. Well optimized CPU games will take advantage of both cards quite well though. The last game I played was metro last light redux and one OC'd 970 maxed out gave me 80-120 consistent fps outside, and 130-190 in the tunnels at 1080p. Did not have sli then.

Another is Alien Isolation although that game isn't very taxing as I get over 200 fps with just one card maxed, and 150-200 with modded settings such as shaders and pixel render increases.

Another is Watch Dogs which was terribly optimized for sli, one card ran better. Ran 60-80 fps with one 970 maxed out and 2x msaa, and the same in sli. In SLI I could run the same fps at 4x msaa although in sli it stuttered like mad so I just played on one card. It's a known issue in this one.

Haven't tried other games yet.

 

[Borge80]

As other people have stated the 900 series is more of a replacment for the 600 series. I'll wait for the next jump.

This is true. I upgraded from a gtx 670 ftw, I would probably stick with 770 4gb if I had it before 970.

 

[Matthew-san]

Sounds good Borge80. I haven't played Alien Isolation yet but I'd really like to.

 

[belzoth]

Okay, I installed my second gtx 770 4 GB card. First off, wow, it runs a lot louder when gaming at high settings. Definitely noticed the sound increase, then again I wear a headset typically but still something worth noting.

Okay I did benchmarks for Shadow of Mordor. So I maxed out every category at 1440p resolution and ran the benchmark test the game offers. The results are below

Single Card
Average FPS - 35.62
Max FPS -46.49
Min FPS - 20.62

Sli
Average - 59.84
Max - 152.87
Min - 32.26

So just looking at the average, the increase in FPS was nearly 70%. However, I am only playing the game on slightly better settings now since I already was playing on demanding settings. So I don't really notice a difference in graphics when I am playing. Odds are I will notice much more as the games become more challenging for the gtx 770 I would think.

So the improvement is pretty good for $250. You may want to just buy a used one like I did on Ebay and go with it for now and upgrade in a couple of years possibly. Or you can upgrade now. There really isn't a wrong choice here. I just ended up making my choice because it was less of a hassle and less money. Let me know if you have any more questions for me. I could try some other benchmarks if you wanted.

 

[Matthew-san]

Thanks for the benchmark belzoth. It's good to know that a 770 SLI with 1440p resolution will run Shadow of Mordor around 60 fps. I actually game on a 1080p 144 Hz monitor so it might be around 80 fps with two 770's. If you ever have the time to benchmark some of your other games then that'd be great just so I can get an idea of how the SLI will perform with different games. There's no rush though because you've helped me plenty enough already. Thanks again!

I am most likely going to try and pick up another 770 from eBay, especially if I can find my model or the gigabyte windforce version. The only real reason I would consider a 970 is because of its excellent power consumption but it's probably not worth the hassle and the extra money.

 

[belzoth]

Thanks for the benchmark belzoth. It's good to know that a 770 SLI with 1440p resolution will run Shadow of Mordor around 60 fps. I actually game on a 1080p 144 Hz monitor so it might be around 80 fps with two 770's. If you ever have the time to benchmark some of your other games then that'd be great just so I can get an idea of how the SLI will perform with different games. There's no rush though because you've helped me plenty enough already. Thanks again!

I am most likely going to try and pick up another 770 from eBay, especially if I can find my model or the gigabyte windforce version. The only real reason I would consider a 970 is because of its excellent power consumption but it's probably not worth the hassle and the extra money.

That's exactly what I concluded. If you really care about frames per second, I think the second card would be really nice for you. Maybe you and I will upgrade at the same time to the next big graphics card a couple years from now. What other games are you interested in? Thanks for picking me for the solution by the way. I appreciate it.

 

[Matthew-san]

You're welcome, you certainly deserved best solution. Yeah, I do indeed enjoy high frames. I'm definitely going with another 770, I'll pass on the 970. I play all kinds of games on my PC. I don't own any consoles so all the games I buy I get for PC. I spend a good amount of time playing AAA games. This fall I've been playing Shadow of Mordor, Assassin's Creed Unity, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. I'm hoping to pick up Far Cry 4 and COD Advanced Warfare eventually but I'm going to wait until I've beaten the three I'm playing now.

I would say that fantasy RPG's and action/adventure are my favorite types of games. I do diversify sometimes though. I play strategy games and shooters as well. I own Crysis 3 and Battlefield 4. I've played Crysis 3 a bunch but I've yet to download BF4 because it has to download via the internet and I have a limited monthly usage. I really like the Total War games. I would love to see how a 770 4GB SLI setup would perform with some of the Total War games .
My favorite game though is Alan Wake and I would love to run it at a full 144 fps and I'm sure it would be possible with two 770's.


I'm going to keep a look out on the market for a 770 especially with holidays coming up and price drops on computer parts that often occur at the end of the year. If you want to share with me the performance you get on some of your games that would be much appreciated so I can get an idea of how the 770 SLI setup will work with specific games. There really aren't any benchmarks out there for 770 4GB SLI setups. I've looked but I can't find much. I might have to create my own YouTube channel when I get another 770 and post benchmarks for other curious people lol.

 

[Deleted member 362816]

@1080p on max setting no AA I get 90FPS in Farcry 4, I can't complain at all for the game just coming out, Allot of lag spikes but I guess thats how it is right now.

 

[Matthew-san]

Thanks for the info. cia24. I do like the sound of 90 fps in Far Cry 4 lol. I'm guessing one 770 would average in the mid 50's on max settings with no AA on Far Cry 4 then?

 

[Deleted member 362816]

Thanks for the info. cia24. I do like the sound of 90 fps in Far Cry 4 lol. I'm guessing one 770 would average in the mid 50's on max settings with no AA on Far Cry 4 then?

With 1 card avg is about 45fps for me. With no aa

 

[Matthew-san]

That's good enough I suppose. If you don't mind me asking, what model are you using? 2GB or 4GB, superclocked or not, and what brand?

 

[Deleted member 362816]

That's good enough I suppose. If you don't mind me asking, what model are you using? 2GB or 4GB, superclocked or not, and what brand?

Sadly I dont know at this very moment I know they are 4GB, i know my clock get's to 1150 on both cards

 

[Matthew-san]

Okay, thanks. Mine is a 4GB clocked at 1113 for the base and the turbo is 1163 so I'd get around the same frames as one of your cards. I got to get another so I can play at 90 fps instead of 45 lol.

 

[Deleted member 362816]

Okay, thanks. Mine is a 4GB clocked at 1113 for the base and the turbo is 1163 so I'd get around the same frames as one of your cards. I got to get another so I can play at 90 fps instead of 45 lol.

Be aware that they really need to patch Farcry 4 due to all the issues with frame rate drops right now. But the cards and game is awsome, Only thing I dont like is EVGA Per X does not seem to work with the game only fraps, what also makes me mad is that the software fan curve seems not to work when in game..... other word i run @ 82-85 c 🙁

 

[Matthew-san]

It sounds like they need to do some patching lol. Ubisoft has some history when it comes to releasing games without having a plethora of technical issues at the beginning.

 

[Poogobbler]

I have a GTX 770, 'EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Superclocked w/ACX Cooler' to be precise, and I was thinking about picking up another one while they're cheap and still available on the market. People are selling the 4GB superclocked versions used-like new for $300-$320 which is a pretty awesome deal. However, I'm aware that the newly released 970 offers a moderate performance boost, less power consumption, and is cheaper brand new than the 770 4GB Superclocked versions.

Need some suggestions on whether or not it would be worth selling my 770 for a 970 and only having to pay $50 or so for the upgrade and in the future adding another 970 for SLI, or going the easier route by picking up another 770 right now and put it in two-way SLI with my other card?

Hay Matthew I know you've probably already made your final decision but id like to chime in. I previously owned a 2 way SLI setup with GTX770 4Gb Gigabyte cards for my triple monitor 5760x1080 format. They were (and I still have them) more than enough for most games/applications. BF3, BF4, Planetside, War Thunder, Crysis 2,3 etc.. I upgraded to Gigabyte SLI GTX970's and see between a 15-20% frame rate increase however,. I was already maxing out my 3, 60Hz monitors with my GTX770's. The power consumption savings is nice if you have a low wattage PSU but other than that the cost increase between adding one GTX770 or buying 2 GTX970's its a HUGE difference! I have been complicating returning my 2 GTX970's for a few days now just for the extra money to invest into other parts of my rig. Thats my 2 cents anyway.

I'm perfectly satisfied with the performance of my 770, runs all games on high/ultra around the 60 fps mark, most of the time much higher. I have a 1080p, 144 Hz monitor of which I would like to make the most out of and the two-way SLI of a 770 4GB Superclocked or 970 would most certainly do that. Is the 970 worth selling my version of the 770 and doing the 970 SLI or does the 770 hold its own against the 970?

 

[Poogobbler]

Hay Matthew I know you've probably already made your final decision but id like to chime in. I previously owned a 2 way SLI setup with GTX770 4Gb Gigabyte cards for my triple monitor 5760x1080 format. They were (and I still have them) more than enough for most games/applications. BF3, BF4, Planetside, War Thunder, Crysis 2,3 etc.. I upgraded to Gigabyte SLI GTX970's and see between a 15-20% frame rate increase however,. I was already maxing out my 3, 60Hz monitors with my GTX770's. The power consumption savings is nice if you have a low wattage PSU but other than that the cost increase between adding one GTX770 or buying 2 GTX970's its a HUGE difference! I have been contemplating returning my 2 GTX970's for a few days now just for the extra money to invest into other parts of my rig. Thats my 2 cents anyway.

 

[Matthew-san]

I appreciate the information Poogobbler. What PSU do you use to power your 770's?

 

[Borge80]

Sounds good Borge80. I haven't played Alien Isolation yet but I'd really like to.

It's pretty fun late at night. It starts off slow but gets better as it goes.

 

[gatygun]

Let me make this easier.

Power:

You need to use 770 24/7 a day on 100% for 1 year long in order to get 20 euro's more costs ( 30 dollars ) on energy level.
Power almost costs nothing for videocards.

In general sli works like this the best.

x80 cards always feature a new generation architecture, doing this for lower versions like x70/x60 do not always work and they can be rebrands etc and miss features.

2x 480 in sli = 680
2x 580 in sli = 780
2x 680 in sli = 980

In order to get the best performance for cheapest and going the sli way becuase of it, you always have to go like this:

Example:

Year 1: buy 580 3gb v-ram
Year 2: add another 580 3gb v-ram ( 680 releases with 2gb)
Year 3: play your games and sit this one out ( 680, 4gb releases + 780 comes out with 3gb v-ram )
Year 4: buy a 980 with 8gb of v-ram ( doesn't exist i know but you get the idea ).

This is the most effective way to upgrade your gpu solution, the only reason to not go this line of thinking = i don't want to spend money or want solid performance for cheap prices and you are fine with low quality settings in games. Or you have issue's with extra heat / want features on new generation of cards / more v-ram to work with.

Another rule i always apply when going the sli route is the following:

1) always buy the most future proof card if you plan on doing this upgrade solution. Is there a double v-ram card for a little bit more invest in it.

For example if you want to buy a 290x amd card now, and want to crossfire it later on then get the 8gb version, no matter if it makes sense at this day of age.

For example you buy a 580, buy the 3gb version, you bought a 780 ti when it came out = buy a 6gb version.

V-ram is absolutely crucial to keep as high as possible.

770 sli vs 970

770 4gb

The 770 is a rebranded 680 with a little overclock on it and 4gb of v-ram.
If you look at the list above the 680 in sli should perform around 980 levels through my logic.

Lets compare some benchmarks:

770 fire strike extreme : 3800 points
680 fire strike extreme : 3700 points

Basically that seems valid a bit overclocked 680 so it should perform about ~980 levels let see about that.

SLI 680 2gb fire strike extreme: 6100 points
980 fire strike extreme: 6800 points
970 fire strike extreme: 5800 points

Clearly in between of the 980 and 970, but we are talking about 770's which are overclocked 680's basically, so lets see how that goes:

SLI 770 4gb fire strike extreme: 6700 points
980 fire strike extreme: 6800 points
970 fire strike extreme: 5800 points

Bonus:

290x fire strike extreme ( fastest AMD ): 6100 points
sli 670 fire strike extreme ( because dude above mentioned it): 6100 points
Titan (6gb) fire strike extreme: 5400 points

Basically 770's will give you better performance then a 980 in sli based games and probably will be cheaper for most people to upgrade towards as the 980 cost a fortune.

970 isn't well build for future purposes at all

The issue with this card really is, it's butchered v-ram, it's like the 660 it has a terrible architecture that makes sure the last 500 mb of v-ram is unusable as it drops your performance down to a crawl. This means the 970 really only is a 3,5gb videocard. This also mean that the card is absolutely horrible to sli in the future with specially with more and more v-ram that is required by games. If i had 2x 970's in sli and i could choose a generation later to upgrade towards a 6gb v-ram 25% weaker card i would take it in a heart beat. it just isn't well builded.

We already have games that need a minimum of 2+gb of v-ram to even function at 720p ( ac unity ) and 1080p ( watch dogs), 2+gb ( mordor) and that will only get worse when times moves forwards. 3,5gb of v-ram in my view at this day in age is just to low to invest into. It's great for current games but next year you will be starved for any v-ram you can get your hands on, and yes 500 mb extra can be a deal breaker ( talking about all the 580 1,5gb v-ram users that have to upgrade to a 2gb card for unity because of that extra 500 needed ).

Conclusion


I would go for a second 770 gtx 4gb if can sli it and got already a 770 4gb in your case ( 2gb version i wouldn't sli ), they cost about 150 second handed with warranty these days which beats everything at this day of age together still on performance wise.

980's cost like 550 euro's so yea a big no no here, and the 360 for a 970 just isn't worth it then.