Two MSI GTX 660 2GD5/OC in SLI, or get a single GTX 760?

[bsperan]

I need a GeForce solution (absolutely no Radeon) on a budget of around $290 or so. And it has to have at least 2GB memory. I'd even consider used.

I was considering two of these in SLI:

MSI N660 Gaming 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 SLI
Right now, Newegg has them for $139.99 after a $30.00 rebate. That'd come to about $280

For that money, though, I could easily go with some good brand of GTX 760.

Keep in mind:
I have a Sony PlayStation 24" 3D LED LCD Monitor and it's max res is 1080p (1920 x 1080, and I wouldn't want higher res, anyway).

According to Tom's Hardware's 2014 VGA Charts, Index 1080p benchmarks, a reference Nvidia GTX 660 has a score of 52.90. And a reference Nvidia GTX 760 has a score of 68.45. So it seems to me that two 660's in SLI would be much better. (How much percentage of individual card performance does SLI save when two cards are limited to x8 mode PCIe slots?)

What do you think?

If I should go with the GTX 760, what brand? There are a lot to choose from that are about evenly priced.

My system
-------------
Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell
ASUS Z97-A LGA 1150 Intel Z97 SATA 6Gb/s ATX Motherboard
Viking Modular Enterprise 100GB 2.5" SSD
WD BLACK SERIES WD5000BPKX 500GB 7200 RPM 2.5" HDD
G.SKILL Ares 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2133 CL10 Dual Channel 1.6v
EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G1 1000W ATX PSU (Yes, I know it's overkill...)

 

[bccorrupt]

I think I would go with a GTX760. I actually had plans to grab a 2nd 660 when the prices dropped(I've had it for a year), but more and more I'm seeing games that are using almost 2GB vram on a single card, so I won't be buying a 2nd one because the setup will quickly run out of vram in crossfire here pretty soon. You could get the 3GB version, but that would defeat the purpose because they're almost as much as a 760.

Personally I prefer the MSI twin frozr cards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127745

 

[bsperan]

Thanks for the suggestion and advice. And you do have a good point about vram.

Aside from a few games, I plan to use this mostly for iClone (machinima) and DAZ Studio (and video editing). And those can use a lot of vram. I read that iClone in particular can benefit from "plenty". And the devs said, "The Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 would be perfect for iClone with a GTX 680 or 760 being a close second."

Anyway, if I could find a 3GB version a GTX 760 - used - for around $220, would that be a better solution, assuming it works?

 

[bccorrupt]

For around $220 would be good, they usually run about $300 new, plus with a 3GB card it would be reasonable to add another for SLI later on if you wanted to.

 

[bsperan]

Hmm... I found some tempting GTX deals on AliExpress.com. Granted, some of these are probably not legit. However, there is AliExpress Buyer Protection, which seems very similar to eBay's Buyer Protection. And some of these sellers have a good deal of positive feedback.

I'm now wondering if I should get two of these ASUS GTX660 TI with 2GB DDR5 in SLI for $102.14. Or this Nvidia GTX780 with 2GB DDR3 for $143.28. Heck, at that price I could get two of those.

According to these benchmarks on videocardbenchmark.net, the 660 Ti scores 4,687 vs the regular 660 at 4,119. (At 4,687, that's not much less that the GTX 760's score of 4,993.)

Also, while the GTX780 normally scores at 8,044, this unit has inferior GDDR3. According to this post on a GDDR3 vs GDDR5 discussion, "the GDDR 5 versions tend to win by 20-30% difference" [over the GDDR3]. Subtracting 25% off a 780 GDDR5 score of 8,044 would give about 6033, which would place it just under the GTX 770 in the charts.

Tempting. But then, both are 2GB (compared with that 3GB 760 I was looking at)...

 

[bccorrupt]

None of them are legit. If you look on ebay also there are tons of cards with the same specs labeled as everything from a 650 to a 780 and most of them 384bit 2GBddr3. It's a knockoff GT630 or similar labeled as whatever they felt like that day. They show up in posts here a couple times a week. All you'll do is waste $50 or $100 on a generic gt630 that will also be a fire hazard.

 

[deathcall666]

To bad dat you choose not to take AmD at board they are best buy you know? 280x has same price as 760 but with better performance