Help to choose watercooled GTX 580 OC or GTX 580 SLI

[matvey]

hi guys, right now a have GTX 580 1.5 gb and i am thinking to buy another one, put them in SLI or just get a water block, 360 rad and overclock it. my resolution is only 1680 by 1050 22" monitor, in most of the games i am getting a good frames. Crysis 2 every thing max out DX 11, Hardcore i am getting from 40 to 75 FPS. what is better in my situation get second card or overclock?
thanks

 

[Mrthorp]

id say go SLI. i mean 1, what does water block and effort cost vs. new card? also, its not like you can 3x,4x the speeds on your card.
if you had a 2nd card, you can modestly OC both and kep it on air cool( just bump speeds up 50-100) it is amazing at what just a few mhz can do to frame rates, but only up to a point.

 

[17seconds]

The SLI question depends on your CPU horsepower. You need a lot of CPU performance to realize the benefits of a second card. The other issue is your resolution, it's unlikely you would get enough improvement at that resolution to make a second card worthwhile.

Have you tried overclocking your existing card with the current heatsink? If not, try that first.

 

[matvey]

The SLI question depends on your CPU horsepower. You need a lot of CPU performance to realize the benefits of a second card. The other issue is your resolution, it's unlikely you would get enough improvement at that resolution to make a second card worthwhile.

Have you tried overclocking your existing card with the current heatsink? If not, try that first.

i know that SLI eats CPU power, i have i7 930 4GHz. no i did not try to overclock the GPU, because i would need to run the fan at 80-85 % while gaming.

 

[Mrthorp]

my fans runs at 100% while gaming. what is wrong with running them above 85? are yours just too loud?

 

[matvey]

my fans runs at 100% while gaming. what is wrong with running them above 85? are yours just too loud?

when i am playing not OC my fan runs at 70 % max but when you OC 100% fan speed it's not too loud but it's loud

 

[Mrthorp]

I have very loud case fans. nothing in my case is audible over them. But, i also sit next to a fan, AC unit, and TV. so fan noise is really not noticeable at any level. if only i can get a fridge in here.....

 

[matvey]

I have very loud case fans. nothing in my case is audible over them. But, i also sit next to a fan, AC unit, and TV. so fan noise is really not noticeable at any level. if only i can get a fridge in here.....

but my rig is water cooled and the loudest thin is my GPU

 

[17seconds]

i know that SLI eats CPU power, i have i7 930 4GHz. no i did not try to overclock the GPU, because i would need to run the fan at 80-85 % while gaming.

How about you just try to OC your GPU with the fan on Auto and see what happens?

 

[matvey]

you said that it will be wast of money to buy second card for my resolution. it's better to overclock single GPU get a water block and hook it up to my existing loop?

 

[17seconds]

you said that it will be wast of money to buy second card for my resolution. it's better to overclock single GPU get a water block and hook it up to my existing loop?

That's what I would do, but like I wrote earlier, I would at least try the OC on the existing heatsink at Auto fan. I wouldn't assume it would need to run with the fan at 85%, unless you were really pushing it.

For reference, here is a roundup of some GTX 590 water blocks:
http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=1340&page=1

 

[matvey]

That's what I would do, but like I wrote earlier, I would at least try the OC on the existing heatsink at Auto fan. I wouldn't assume it would need to run with the fan at 85%, unless you were really pushing it.

For reference, here is a roundup of some GTX 590 water blocks:
http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=1340&page=1

thank you for your help, do you know some good guide how to overclock GPU ?

 

[17seconds]

Definitely start by downloading and installing Afterburner:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/Afterburner-2.0.0-Final-download-2562.html

A guide for overclocking the GTX 480, which should be almost identical to the GTX 580:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/overclocking-geforce-gtx-480-with-extra-gpu-voltage/

I just did a google search and found these guides:
http://www.pcrise.com/hardware/overclocking-101-gpu-overclocking-via-msi-afterburner/
http://mytechencounters.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/gpu-overclocking-overclocking-your-graphic-card/
http://www.bjorn3d.com/articles/Overclocking_with_MSI_Afterburner/1702.html
http://www.gnd-tech.com/content/208-GPU-Overclocking-Guide

 

[matvey]

Definitely start by downloading and installing Afterburner:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/Afterburner-2.0.0-Final-download-2562.html

A guide for overclocking the GTX 480, which should be almost identical to the GTX 580:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/overclocking-geforce-gtx-480-with-extra-gpu-voltage/

I just did a google search and found these guides:
http://www.pcrise.com/hardware/overclocking-101-gpu-overclocking-via-msi-afterburner/
http://mytechencounters.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/gpu-overclocking-overclocking-your-graphic-card/
http://www.bjorn3d.com/articles/Overclocking_with_MSI_Afterburner/1702.html
http://www.gnd-tech.com/content/208-GPU-Overclocking-Guide

man thank you, is Afterburner better than EVGA Precision?

 

[17seconds]

man thank you, is Afterburner better than EVGA Precision?

I have heard good things about both. Try Afterburner first, since that's somewhat the more common standard.