Should i do single 680 or dual 680 sli

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xxcysxx

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Mar 1, 2007
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hello folks,
i looking to get the 680 for my new built. just for gaming. I'm going to be paying on a flat screen samsung tv at 1080 x 1920 resolution, this tv also does 120 hertz if that mean anything. this machine will be move around to different tv monitors like my house and my shop and my basement, so it does stay at one fix location to one tv panel. but the resolution will be the same on all of them. and i'm just a casual gammer for the summer while i'm out of school. i will not be using it with multi monitor at all. just one tv every time all the time.

i don't mind spending the money for a good setup, but i don't want to waste my money it if it isn't going to be used. so from your experience should i go for two 680 in sli or should i just do one 680 and it would be enough. i want to max out all settings on the games i play with all the pretty eye candy stuff and the rendering to be fluid smooth as possible.

things i have cumulated already are asus maximus V gene z77, i7 2700k, and corsair vengeance 32gb ddr3 1600.
power supply haven't purchase yet, and to be determine according to either sli or single 680 setup.

thanks
 
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Since the 680 just came out and is pretty far ahead of the curve, I'd probably just get one, with the intention of buying a second one later. It's hard to see why the prices on the 680 would drop any time in the immediate future--the only performance pressure I can foresee would be from nvidia itself (685 rumors?) or from double GPU setups like the 590/6990--so I don't see any price pressure. But still, prices do eventually drop as more options come out, and as long as you're sticking to 1920x1080, it's pretty hard to argue that you NEED a second card in many games. Will you see a meaningful performance increase? Yes, in some games, especially if your monitor can handle 120 Hz and if you are sensitive to FPS above 60 (varies by the...
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After dealing with two 6970s that sound like they will bring the house down when I disable VSYNC (it sounds like a jet taking off), I don't think noise is something that bothers me. Plus, I game with headphones.

But the heat is something I dread and the one thing that will give me cause for contemplation. I have never taken apart a GPU and installed a cooler or water block. I don't know anything about it.
 
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I don't get it, Will you swap the HD 6970s for GTX 480s?
 
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They Don't, you might just feel a difference in TWIMTBP games only.
Physx? Can you tell me please how many games out there support Physx?

Very few games support GPU accelerated PhysX. Metro 2033 does support GPU accelerated PhysX, but the effect is so subtle that it is hardly noticeable. Batman Arkham & Mafia 2 support Physx as well and it is more noticeable in those games. Mafia 2 involves adding lots of debris from destructible objects.

And FYI, The majority of the games mainly use PhysX on the CPU, not the GPU, so it doesn't matter if you have a GPU that supports GPU accelerated PhysX.

For me, I wouldn't go that move, disadvantages are more than the advantages.
 
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http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1019579&mpage=1

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/310?vs=298
Look at clock differences^^

800mhz+ puts the 480 in 580 territory.
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CF scaling is better than SLI in most situations, your score in the BF3 screen shot above should be done easily with 2 GTX 570s in SLI (which is the same as the GTX 480s in SLI).

If you claim the 2 GTX 480s when OCed match the performance of GTX 580s in SLI, anyone could OC 2 HD 6970s or 2 GTX 570s for the optimum results.

Anandtech benches shows a win for the 2 HD 6970s, or at least the performance is not that greatly noticeable between the 2 cards.

You're asking him to get 2 480s in order to feel the NAME of 2 GTX 580s? Power, noise, heat, tessellation...all that does matter.

262.xx was used for SLi, the speed improvements came with driver 275.xx
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Drivers gets better and better for both companies, AMD & nVidia, the perfromance of the GTX 570 and HD 6970 was trading off until the magic drivers came.
Avg.png
 
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gentleman, can we all just get along. :) thank you

anyway, that aside. i certainly very much appreciate all of your professional enthusiastic responses, i take all of your consideration very seriously.
i have used crossfire on my last built. a dual radeon x1950 pro setup, and while it is great at the time and served me well, but for this particular built i would like to stick to nvidia only.

perhaps i will take some of your advices and go with just one 680 for now and see how it play out and then decide if i will need a second. about the tv thing. i will most likely not going to be using anything beyond 1920 x 1080p because i like the feel of sitting back on my couch and play play my games like it is a console system, on a large tv screen. not on a computer desk in front of a monitor with a keyboard and mouse like i'm at work, to much tension on my back and neck, and no sense of enjoyment. and also like i said i'm just a casual seasonal gammer, i'm just playing games every days until school semester start again in the fall, then video games will be over.

you guys mention something about a higher performance nvidia video card to be released after the 680, is it going to be anytime before may 16, or before june? i like to have something to indulge myself as soon as school is over. i'm so exhausted and stressed from studying, i need to take this edge of fast.
 
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Anyway, not wanting to cause an argument.

TWIMTBP games are like 90% of games, so getting better improvement in those is a big deal.

And PhysX is a big issue with me, because of the games I do play - Metro 2033 and the Batman games.

I also like the idea of not having to worry about drivers every time a new game is released.

I never did think the 480s were that much better than 6970s TBH, but those issues alone were my main reasons for considering this - plus I had no idea that 480s could be had so cheap.

Also, power consumption is not something I have to worry about at all. I have a beastly PSU. The heat, yes. That worries me because 480s really cook, especially SLI'd, but that seems to be fixable.

I have become pretty disillusioned with AMD these last few months and if given the opportunity to switch camps I think I would take it in a heartbeat, TBH.
 
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Really?As far as im concerend the only 78/7900 series worth its price is the 7950.$40 more and you get an extra gig of vram and when overclocked beats gtx 680 stock quite easily.The 7970 is to expensive especially when a 7950 can clock as high as it and run just as well.
 
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I just got 2 480's got an evga superclocked and a galaxy oc version which is huge and 3 fans.Problem is i would have to have the cooler running galaxy card running in the top slot and the dang thing takes up 3 slots.So now i will have to go out and get an aftermarket cooler for the evga before i can sli them.I could sli them now with the evga in the top but i fear i would be bordering 100 celcius with the top card.I really love the galaxy though it doesnt even hit 60 celcius at 60% fan speed and is quiet to.It runs cooler then my xfx 7970 did
 
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I just got 2 480's got an evga superclocked and a galaxy oc version which is huge and 3 fans.Problem is i would have to have the cooler running galaxy card running in the top slot and the dang thing takes up 3 slots.So now i will have to go out and get an aftermarket cooler for the evga before i can sli them.I could sli them now with the evga in the top but i fear i would be bordering 100 celcius with the top card.I really love the galaxy though it doesnt even hit 60 celcius at 60% fan speed and is quiet to.It runs cooler then my xfx 7970 did
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Two 480s are significantly more powerful than a single 7970, so if I were you I would try to find a way to get them both onboard. :)

I have done a lot of research into the 480 the last 2 days and everything I hear is that they are very hot and very loud, but in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing they can be overclocked like crazy and are beasts.
 
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Ya well the galaxy oc version with 3 fans overclocks like crazy.I can get them in the case if i put the galaxy on the bottom,but putting a reference 480 with stock fan would be a huge mistake to put in the top.Ill give it a go and see if i can keep it under 100 celcius.As far as being loud even the reference one doesnt seem loud to me my 7970 was louder.The galaxy on the other hand i can barley hear even if i crank the fan to 100%.I really like the galaxy oc version this thing is every bit as cool running as my 7950
 
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LOL its not the case trust me my case is huge its my motherboard.I got the asrock gen 3 motherboard which i thought had good spacing for a sli/crossfire rig lol.the galaxy is just a really thick card.
 
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LOL its not the case trust me my case is huge its my motherboard.I got the asrock gen 3 motherboard which i thought had good spacing for a sli/crossfire rig lol.the galaxy is just a really thick card.
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I have the same issue and am going to have to swap out this board. Regardless of what I decide all my slots are filled up and that is with dual x8s. I don't have room for nothing. No way I would have room for cooling blocks whether I go with 480s or stay with 6970s.
 
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I just wish there was a 2 slot aftermarket cooler for these things.My top card the evga refference barley broke 80 in heaven with 100% fan speed but in furmark they hit 100 inside a minute.The galaxy oc really is a sweet card if i could fit 2 of those in my computer id be set for sure.that thing doesnt even break 60 celcius.impressive for a 480
 
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The cool thing with your situation is you could easily do an even swap for 2 6970 and find someone with 2 480's wouldnt cost you a dime.I traded my 7970+$100 for 2 gtx 480's and i feel like i got the better end of the deal.the 480's at stock beat out a 7970 and once you overclock 2 480's its game over.Main reason i did it was im building a 2nd computer and wanted a sli and crossfire rig setup.I will eventually crossfire my 7950 probably late summer.You hit 800 mhz with gtx 480's your talking same or a touch better performance then gtx 580's.recon wasnt kidding hes really smart for not upgrading yet.Judging the performance of the 480's every card outside the 7950 is way overpriced today
 
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what i meant to say is the guy gave me 100$ on top of the 2 gtx 480's.Recon you were right all along the heat is there but they are meant to run hot just the way it is.
 
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Ya i had this perception for a while now that 580's spanked 480's but to me all 580's were are updated 480's that run cooler and take alittle less power.Personally i do not want to anger anyone but anyone who went to 580's who already had 480's didnt do there research,unless they were just looking for a cooler running card
 
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I agree... I think these are the same people trying to justify spending high buck on soemthing with essentially the same performance.I got my glaxy 480 overclocked to 852 mhz core rather easily and i guarentee you there isnt a stock gtx 580 even one slighltey overclocked that can keep with it.I will never spend 7970 like money again.The only card i can reccomend at the 400$+ point is the 7950 if you spend anymore on the 680 or 7970 your just throwing money out the window imo
 
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Ya i had this perception for a while now that 580's spanked 480's but to me all 580's were are updated 480's that run cooler and take alittle less power.Personally i do not want to anger anyone but anyone who went to 580's who already had 480's didnt do there research,unless they were just looking for a cooler running card
Click to expand...

I had 470's, and due to my aversion to noise, I couldn't be happier having gotten rid of them. The 480's are also noisy, although if I was to go water cooling, things might be different.
 
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