SLI or single card $1300 build. Need some Advice!

[rjwilley]

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP


Budget Range: $1200-1400


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Photo editing (Photoshop), surfing the internet, watching movies


Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon (preferably Amazon since Newegg has tax in CA)


Country of Origin: CA, USA


Parts Preferences: Intel CPU (2500k)


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

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I think I have everything figured out except on whether or not I should go SLI or single card. Here's my list:



Processor - Intel 2500k - $220

CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - $28

Mobo - ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $125

Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $50

Graphics Card - EVGA GTX570 or 2x EVGA GTX560s - $320-340

Primary Drive - Crucial M4 128gb SSD - $180

Secondary Drive - Samsung F3 Spinpoint 1tb - $60

Power Supply - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W - $100

Case - Cooler Master HAF 922 - $100

BD Drive - ASUS Black 12x BD-ROM - $70

OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $100


Total: Approx $1350

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I would love input on the entire build, but I'm most concerned about my two choices of GPUs. On paper, all the benchmarks for the 560 SLI setup is far superior to the single 570 (or even a single 580) and would only cost about $20 more. Only thing I'm worried about is the microstutter I keep reading about. Some people say its bad enough to stay away from XF and SLI, others say it's really not that bad and most "stuttering" issues come from some other issue that's misinterpreted as microstutter. For those that have had experience with SLI setups, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for all the advice in advance!!

 

[Why_Me]

I hope you know you just started WW3 with that post. The dual 560 ti's vs a single 570 question is probably going to get this thread several replies with good cases on both sides of that argument. I'm going to cast my vote for dual 560 ti's in SLI.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html <----- There's an article done on it by toms that might help you decide.

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-PCI-Express-N560GTX-TWIN-FROZR/dp/B004JLNZXU/ref=pd_cp_e_1 $224.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
MSI GeForce GTX560 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/Mini HDMI PCI-Express Video Card N560GTX TI TWIN FROZR II OC

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_c $26.96 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-80PLUS-Bronze-Performance-Supply/dp/B005A2RJOI/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1317388740&sr=1-7 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
OCZ ZS Series 750 Watt 80PLUS Bronze Performance ATX Power Supply - OCZ-ZS750W

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Enthusiast-Certified-Compatible-platforms/dp/B004MYFODI/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1317388974&sr=1-3 $104.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Enthusiast Series 750-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD platforms - CMPSU-750TXV2

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-7200-12-Internal-ST31000524AS/dp/B004IZN3YI/ref=sr_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1317388910&sr=1-1 $54.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s with NCQ 32MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST31000524AS

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EBUXHQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $219.95 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.3GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155

http://www.amazon.com/Lite-LightScribe-Layer-Drive-IHAS424-98/dp/B002SIMPXM/ref=pd_luc_bxgy_01_04_t_lh $25.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT128M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKZI/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e5 $185.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT128M4SSD2

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix-Channel-240-Pin-BL2CP51264BA160A/dp/B004UQ1KK4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e1 $54.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB Dual Channel Kit DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM BL2CP51264BA160A

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_cp_sw_1 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Tower-Gaming-Computer/dp/B0055Q7BR4 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - CC-9011011-WW

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008 <----- that same case @ newegg. Save $20 in shipping charges and get that case @ amazon

 

[Sky03]

Gtx560 no, gtx560ti yes

 

[rjwilley]

Why_Me, I was actually looking at the GTX560s. Dual 560 ti's would be out of my budget. I already read through Tom's recent microstutter article but it actually left me with more questions than answers. From the article I got that there is microstutter in XF and SLI but there seemed to be less of an issue overall with SLI. I also thought most of the observations were done on paper and not how much the games were affected visually by the actual person. Did I interpret the article wrong?


Sky03, unfortunately dual 560 ti's would be out of my budget but the benchmarks I've seen show the ti's only have slightly better fps than the 560s. There's some benchmarks of each in Tom's microstutter article showing them fairly close to each other and always significantly higher than a single 580 or 6970.

Benchmarks results for Tom's microstutter article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995-9.html

Here's some more benchmark results: http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-560-sli-review/7 Scroll down the the bottom.



For those that have experience with GTX 5xx SLI setups, is microstuttering as bad as you read about? Will it completely negate the significant FPS advantage it has over the 570 (even the 580)?


Thanks for all the help!

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N560GTX-Frozr-II-OC/dp/B0050I1P38/ref=pd_cp_e_4 $179.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II/OC Video Card

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-560-amp-edition-gtx-560-directcu-ii-top,2944.html <----- gtx 560 vs gtx 560ti