What GPU I should get for gaming? MB Asrock z77 extreme4 & I5 3570K

[Xants]

I'm new to this. I'm building a new one for gaming and photo editing right now. I have Mobo Asrock Z77 Extreme4 and CPU i5 3570k. What GPU should i get? a single high quality one or 2 mid range for SLI?
budget is about $300-$400.
Thanks,

 

[Derza10]

and just because you don't like the idea of dual cards that is no reason to belittle the idea if that is what the OP is asking about is it? Some of us have been running dual card rigs for years without any of the problems that the naysayers are always harping on about but but somehow our opinions don't matter because those advocating the use of a single card are always the ones making "solid suggestions", well you can take that suggestion and shove it where the sun doesn't shine for all I care because I know for a fact that SLi is also a "solid suggestion".

No one ever said SLI was not a solid suggestion in general for example if you need more power than a single high end card can provide. But when the OP has a budget of $300-$400 SLI is a bad suggestion.
Would you really suggest the OP SLIing with his budget? If so please give reasons and cards he should use... Otherwise your information in this thread is useless.

 

[Mousemonkey]

No one ever said SLI was not a solid suggestion in general for example if you need more power than a single high end card can provide. But when the OP has a budget of $300-$400 SLI is a bad suggestion.
Would you really suggest the OP SLIing with his budget? If so please give reasons and cards he should use... Otherwise your information in this thread is useless.

Unlike some one this forum I have always felt that its up to the OP to decide what to spend their money on, if the OP decides to go with a single card then so be it and if they wish to go with dual cards then that's OK too. I will always have an issue with random people on the internet who tout "their advice" like its the be all and all of everything.

 

[iceclock]

like mouse said, its alright to suggest a sli option, and it comes down to the user who requestd help to get what he wants and can afford in the end. suggestion dont kill ur wallet.

 

[Derza10]

Unlike some one this forum I have always felt that its up to the OP to decide what to spend their money on, if the OP decides to go with a single card then so be it and if they wish to go with dual cards then that's OK too. I will always have an issue with random people on the internet who tout "their advice" like its the be all and all of everything.

The OP is asking the question about the 2 solutions because he wants answers... Someone recommends he should get a single card vs sli'ing... You are saying that he he shouldn't tell him this, but have no other better suggestions to give him, and you think that was the correct way to go about it? I could see your argument IF you had suggested him getting either sli 650 Ti's or crossfire 7850's (and proved to him that it was a better suggestion than getting a single card) but you didn't do that.... you basically just insulted him for his suggestion and gave no alternatives.

 

[Mousemonkey]

The OP is asking the question about the 2 solutions because he wants answers... Someone recommends he should get a single card vs sli'ing... You are saying that he he shouldn't tell him this, but have no other better suggestions to give him, and you think that was the correct way to go about it? I could see your argument IF you had suggested him getting either sli 650 Ti's or crossfire 7850's (and proved to him that it was a better suggestion than getting a single card) but you didn't do that.... you basically just insulted him for his suggestion and gave no alternatives.

No I said I wouldn't ask that person for advice, that was all. Perhaps you should go back and read that post again.

 

[Derza10]

You gave no reason, basically just insulting him with no backing... If you felt you handled that correctly so be it, I'm done...

OP as most everyone here agrees you should go with either the 670 or the 7970(if the frame latency issue does not bother you much). And not go sli/crossfire with your budget.

 

[iceclock]

derza i own a 7870 and my friend owns a 7950 and the latency issue u say is virtually non existant, yes it may happen rarely but not in 99% of the time, so its not a factor to consider when choosing inbetween both videocards.

as this micro-stuttering isnt seen in most cases like i said, not to the human eye anyways, thats also been recorded in skyrim and im really unshur if they did test the gtx 660ti and 7950 in many games how apparent this would be, id say not very apparent.

 

[Mousemonkey]

You gave no reason, basically just insulting him with no backing... If you felt you handled that correctly so be it, I'm done...

OP as most everyone here agrees you should go with either the 670 or the 7970(if the frame latency issue does not bother you much). And not go sli/crossfire with your budget.

Saying that I wouldn't ask his advice was insulting was it? You need to get out more! :lol:

 

[iceclock]

he just said he wouldnt take his advice i dont see that as an insult, i give my advice but ill admit when im wrong and i just wont shoot a link or a number out of my head,

some people trow information on here without doing research and think theyre hardware techs, i agree with mouse on this,

 

[Derza10]

derza i own a 7870 and my friend owns a 7950 and the latency issue u say is virtually non existant, yes it may happen rarely but not in 99% of the time, so its not a factor to consider when choosing inbetween both videocards.

as this micro-stuttering isnt seen in most cases like i said, not to the human eye anyways, thats also been recorded in skyrim and im really unshur if they did test the gtx 660ti and 7950 in many games how apparent this would be, id say not very apparent.

As I stated in my other posts it is there but you really have to look for it to see it, I never tried to suggest otherwise. I know its not a big factor.

 

[xFriarx]

That is something that you really need to sit down and think about, 2x 660Ti's will give you the same or better performance than a single 680 in games that support SLi (and most games do these days) but will leave no room for upgrading but then if you go for a single 680 and decide in a years time to go SLi will you be able to find another one new or will you have to get a second hand card that may have been OC'd to within an inch of its life? And what about cards that have been released in the meantime? A single one of them may be a better upgrade than running two of whatever you decide to go with in the first place. There are other considerations but I hope you get the gist.

Yea, but look at his budget. Two 660ti's would cost $550-660+ (not to mention higher cooling/psu costs if he doesn't currently have enough of either), he is in a $300-400 range budget. If you are spending over $500 on cards, obviously you will be doing SLI/Crossfire (unless you pay for some massive overclocked 680/7970 or go for a 690/7990). In the OP's price range though, a single card will more often than not be better, unless you already have one a card to pair it with, find a smoking sale or have a friend give you card or sell you one cheap.

Also, the OP did ask for advice on what to do, I gave him mine. He can take it however he wants to. However, you quoting it in the way you did is arrogant and it is slightly insulting, since you gave no argument to support your position (I'm not going to loose sleep over it or anything). Basically that's like saying that I'm completely wrong, I should know better and you can't believe that I would even suggest that.

Also, nowhere did I say that he should never SLI/Crossfire, in fact I said just the opposite. I said "in the future you can crossfire/sli if you so choose". I did not say "100% of the time or its a fact that sli/crossfire is bad". There are always going to be different scenario's that different advice will apply. But based on the OP's price range and him not mentioning his previous card to crossfire/sli, I think (along with many other in this thread) that a single 670/7950/7970 is the way to go. No one has yet to post an SLI/crossfire build that would be viable in his price range and be better the previously suggested single cards.

And as for your 660ti sli setup, that is a good setup, yes it will beat a single 680. And if the OP said his original budget was $500-600 you bet I would say go dual 660ti's. But he didn't and that setup will not apply.

The problem I have with going crossfire/sli right off the bat (on lower budgets like this) is you (probably) are going to be spending the same amount of money and getting similar enough performance. But with the single card solution you still have the flexibility to upgrade when the next gen of cards come out and put your performance on par with the next gen of cards. Doesn't a pair of 570 look pretty good today? Which you can still buy 5 different brands/models of 570's on newegg right now. My friend just SLI'ed his 480's for something like $150 4-5 months back when Newegg had their final "480 sale" (he already had the psu/cooling in place for that). Granted if you do wait for too long you may miss your opportunity, but you normally have a year or so after the next gen cards come out.

The strongest argument you made is that one of your cards fail you will still be up and running with one. That's probably the most valid reason to SLI. Personally, I think, the flexibility of skipping a generation buy picking up a second card down the road, normally at a far cheaper price, out weighs that perk.

Again SLI/Crossfire has its place, and I am in no way against it, but I still stand by my original advice unless you can find something to better convince me otherwise. I will tweak my original statement for you, so you can understand it better. My advice when starting a fresh build or upgrade *where you do not list your current card as a possible crossfire/sli candidate* and are *on a limited budget* I would go with a single card over sli/crossfire right off the bat. Unless you are able to crossfire/sli high end cards, *within your budget* as that provides you with maximum crossfire/sli flexibility later on when you may wish to upgrade.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Yea, but look at his budget. Two 660ti's would cost $550-660+ (not to mention higher cooling/psu costs if he doesn't currently have enough of either), he is in a $300-400 range budget. If you are spending over $500 on cards, obviously you will be doing SLI/Crossfire (unless you pay for some massive overclocked 680/7970 or go for a 690/7990). In the OP's price range though, a single card will more often than not be better, unless you already have one a card to pair it with, find a smoking sale or have a friend give you card or sell you one cheap.

Also, the OP did ask for advice on what to do, I gave him mine. He can take it however he wants to. However, you quoting it in the way you did is arrogant and it is slightly insulting, since you gave no argument to support your position (I'm not going to loose sleep over it or anything). Basically that's like saying that I'm completely wrong, I should know better and you can't believe that I would even suggest that.

Also, nowhere did I say that he should never SLI/Crossfire, in fact I said just the opposite. I said "in the future you can crossfire/sli if you so choose". I did not say "100% of the time or its a fact that sli/crossfire is bad". There are always going to be different scenario's that different advice will apply. But based on the OP's price range and him not mentioning his previous card to crossfire/sli, I think (along with many other in this thread) that a single 670/7950/7970 is the way to go. No one has yet to post an SLI/crossfire build that would be viable in his price range and be better the previously suggested single cards.

And as for your 660ti sli setup, that is a good setup, yes it will beat a single 680. And if the OP said his original budget was $500-600 you bet I would say go dual 660ti's. But he didn't and that setup will not apply.

The problem I have with going crossfire/sli right off the bat (on lower budgets like this) is you (probably) are going to be spending the same amount of money and getting similar enough performance. But with the single card solution you still have the flexibility to upgrade when the next gen of cards come out and put your performance on par with the next gen of cards. Doesn't a pair of 570 look pretty good today? Which you can still buy 5 different brands/models of 570's on newegg right now. My friend just SLI'ed his 480's for something like $150 4-5 months back when Newegg had their final "480 sale" (he already had the psu/cooling in place for that). Granted if you do wait for too long you may miss your opportunity, but you normally have a year or so after the next gen cards come out.

The strongest argument you made is that one of your cards fail you will still be up and running with one. That's probably the most valid reason to SLI. Personally, I think, the flexibility of skipping a generation buy picking up a second card down the road, normally at a far cheaper price, out weighs that perk.

Again SLI/Crossfire has its place, and I am in no way against it, but I still stand by my original advice unless you can find something to better convince me otherwise. I will tweak my original statement for you, so you can understand it better. My advice when starting a fresh build or upgrade *where you do not list your current card as a possible crossfire/sli candidate* and are *on a limited budget* I would go with a single card over sli/crossfire right off the bat. Unless you are able to crossfire/sli high end cards, *within your budget* as that provides you with maximum crossfire/sli flexibility later on when you may wish to upgrade.

At no point did I suggest that that the OP get a pair of 660Ti's, I stopped reading after that.

 

[Bestkid]

Just get the GTX 670 or else try to buy a 680 for like $100 more.

 

[DeusAres]

So many lulz in this thread :lol:

@OP Depending on what games you plan on playing, my votes go towards the GTX 670 and HD 7970.

Here's a slew of benchmarks you can look over.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/508?vs=598

Look for the games you plan on playing most, and then choose the GPU that performs the best within that set of games. Also, take into consideration that the Nvidia card will perform significantly better in games that support Physx.

 

[Xants]

Thanks you so much for your advice. I sure learned a lot from them.

Here's a slew of benchmarks you can look over.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/508?vs=598
(Great help from this)

 

[iceclock]

decent hope this helps with getting u a shiney new card

 

[Rockdpm]

Omg, i think we could all make a light flashing sign that gives the link to the CARD the POSTER should BUY. and they'd still be like so WHAT CARD SHU GET? Freaking getting old now

 

[iceclock]

really, that doesnt mean anything, moving on

 

[xFriarx]

Thanks you so much for your advice. I sure learned a lot from them.

Here's a slew of benchmarks you can look over.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/508?vs=598
(Great help from this)

Glad you found some help. If you want anymore advice feel free to drop me a PM.

(I offered already but it was "moderated" apparently).

 

[Rawriorr]

=====Edit: my bad, did not even notice i was Necro-ing this.=====
is NOBODY going to mention the new GTX 770 that outperforms the 680 for the price of a 670?
400$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=-1&IsNodeId=1&Description=gtx770&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20&nm_mc=AFC-TechBargains&cm_mmc=AFC-TechBargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html