Gtx 570 question

[Jrz87]

Hey everyone,

I had a quick question about EVGA's current 570 offerings. Im currently debating to SLI the 570 1.25 gig model or the 2.5gig model. I just dont know if the step up to 2.5gig is going to be worth the extra cash for it. I know it is a great performance boost but is it worth the cash? The most demanding thing I will be doing is probably gaming(bf3, skyrim ect) and work, but nothing terribly graphic intensive. I plan to use two 24" monitors at max res. Other critical components of my build include:

CPU: i7 2600k

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 1050W

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866

Mobo: Undecided between ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z LGA 1155 Intel Z68, ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 or ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68

I currently run SLI gtx 260s on 4gig of ram and an older mobo, so I am having a significant upgrade thus behind abit on the tech. Any help to answer this question would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[geofelt]

It is not clear to me how much value there is from extra graphics card ram over the reference amount.
Here is a link to an older study which might give you some insight:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-ram-4870,2428.html

I think I would spend the difference on a faster card with default ram.



Dual graphics cards vs. a good single card.

1) How good do you really need to be?

A single GTX560ti or 6950 will give you excellent performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.
Even 2560 x 1600 will be good with lowered detail.
A single GTX580 is about as good as it gets.

Only if you are looking at triple monitor gaming, then sli/cf will be needed.

2) The costs for a single card are lower.
You require a less expensive motherboard; no need for sli/cf or multiple pci-e slots.
Even a ITX motherboard will do.

Your psu costs are less.
A GTX570 needs a 550w psu, even a GTX580 only needs a 600w psu.
When you add another card to the mix, plan on adding 150-200w to your psu requirements.

Case cooling becomes more of an issue with dual cards.
That means a more expensive case with more and stronger fans.
You will also look at more noise.

3) Dual cards do not always render their half of the display in sync, causing microstuttering. It is an annoying effect.
The benefit of higher benchmark fps can be offset, particularly with lower tier cards.
Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

4) dual card support is dependent on the driver. Not all games can benefit from dual cards.

5) cf/sli up front reduces your option to get another card for an upgrade. Not that I suggest you plan for that.
It will often be the case that replacing your current card with a newer gen card will offer a better upgrade path.

My suggestion is to just buy a single GTX580.


I see no need for the extra expense of 1866 ram. Sandy bridge is largely insensitive to ram speeds. Your are looking at 1-2% difference in real app performance or fps. Read this:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3

Also 1.5v ram does not need fancy heat spreaders. Look for low profile ram which will be cheaper anyway. No game today will use more than 2-3gb of ram, so 8gb is plenty. But, considering the low cost of ram, and no performance downside, I might just go ahead and get a 16gb kit anyway.

As to the motherboard, there is no need to go overboard unless you are a competitive overclocker. Every Z68 motherboard will OC to the sane and maximum level of the capability of your chip. If you do not need cf/sli, your costs are even less.

While we are at it, consider the 2500K. The 2600K costs $100 more, and you get hyperthreading, one multipligher, and a bit more cache. Most games today, only use two or 3 cores, so the hyperthreads are mostly unused. A 2500K will OC to about the same high levels. I have seen no benchmarks demonstrating the effectiveness of the higher amount of cpu cache. Really, the extra $ 100 can be better spent elsewhere.

For instance, how about a SSD? Prices are coming down, and a 80-120gb ssd will hold the os and several games. It might defer your need for a hard drive until those high hard drive prices drop to normal.
I would look first to Intel, or possibly samsung for reliability:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/831-7/components-returns-rates.html

 

[inzone]

What performance boost are you refering to. The extra video ram is only used when you are using a 30 in monitor at 2560x1600 or a larger tv that has a screen larger than 32". There may be a few games that take advantage of extra ram but for the most part the games use the 1gb or 1.5gb that is standard. The AMD video cards have 2gb or more because they have eyefinity and support up to 5 monitors and that is where the extra ram comes into play. So if the price difference was $10 to $20 I would say get the one with 2.5gb of ram but otherwise you would be better off with the 1.25gb model. Evga has a 2.5gb model for $394.99 and a 1.25gb model for $359.99 so thats a $35 difference and would be up to you if you wanted to go with the 2.5gb model. Since you are running two monitors you may want to consider it.

 

[jsc]

If your budget is a little tight, consider the recent GTX560 Ti-448. Performance is close to a 570. Price is about halfway between 560Ti and 570, making it a pretty good deal.