which one in sli gtx 260 or gx2

[resop27]

ok first off start by saying I'm a nvidia fanboy and have a 750i sli motherboard so sorry im stuck with these two options as I cant afford two 280s I also am not sure if my psu can handle two gtx 260s its a antec 850.

but I'm stuck on the choice I havnt seen many benchmarks for the 260s in sli and have seen many on the gx2 but I'm looking at the gtx 260s due to the larger memory and mem bandwidth but quad sli compared to just sli? Im lost and am looking for some opinions.

 

[sarwar_r87]

got with gtx260 sli......that is if u want to do an sli. single 260 is more than enough for resolutions up to 1920x1200.ur PSU is fine for sli gtx260......

.dont go with quad sli as m not sure about driver support. plus gx2 uses a lot of power and a quad sli at ur psu might be a little on the edge.

 

[hhahaahyea]

yeah i saw some benchmarks in which 2 9800GX2s in SLI got 1 fps less than 1 9800GX2.
go figure.

i would to with a single card solution if possible. scaling in sli often isn't very impressive. the GX2 is just two cards in one so it's the same as SLI. i would definitely recommend 2 260s over 2 GX2s, but depending on your needs a single 280 might be fine.

 

[-Fran-]

I'd say that even 8800GT SLi'ed can knock off a GTX280 and give you very good $/perf indeed.

Now, the GTX260 SLi'ed are a nice deal too if u can get them cheap. The GX2 doesn't seem to scale very well so stick with the GTX260 idea or my 8800GT idea

Esop!

 

[spaztic7]

Neither. Send the extra money and get 1 4870x2. It is worth it. Fanboy or not, 1 4870x2 is faster than 2 GTX280 in SLi. I moved from a BFG 8800GTXOC2 and I noticed a major difference.

But, if you want to run SLi and can't run 2 GTX280, I would agree and say go for the GTX260. Although the 9800GX2 is a great card, it is old tech. You will be able to reap some benefits from the somewhat new core of the 260. You also want to take into consideration that all 65nm and 55/45nm GPU's are defective from Nvidia. They recently recognized this issue but the question is if the video cards die under warranty or after.

I think you will be very happy with 2 GTX260, but please consider the HD4870x2.

Good luck!

 

[L1qu1d]

actually 1 280 GTX is 30% slower than the 4870 X2. Although in some test it scored on par with or slightly less than the 4870 X2 (rare), the 280 GTX sli would still be a faster solution.

As for the GX2, you'll get games that don't scale, but since most games are become sli profile, you won't have that issue. Either way if you don't want to risk it.

In all the games I play I get atleast a 50% increase, so if I get 60 I'm getting 90 fps.

But in games that love sli, I get almost double (Cod4). Even in crysis, I use to get 40 AVG very high, and now I get around 70-78

 

[spaztic7]

actually 1 280 GTX is 30% slower than the 4870 X2. Although in some test it scored on par with or slightly less than the 4870 X2 (rare), the 280 GTX sli would still be a faster solution.

As for the GX2, you'll get games that don't scale, but since most games are become sli profile, you won't have that issue. Either way if you don't want to risk it.

In all the games I play I get atleast a 50% increase, so if I get 60 I'm getting 90 fps.

But in games that love sli, I get almost double (Cod4). Even in crysis, I use to get 40 AVG very high, and now I get around 70-78

I'm sorry, you are correct L1qu1d. I mistook the quadfire (2 4870x2) for the benchmarks of the 4870x2. You are correct that the gtx280 does come close. Also, very few games the gtx280 matches the 4870x2. Although even in crysis 1 4870x2 just out performed a gtx280 at all resolutions tested, with 2xaa and 1xaf.

No matter what the OP chooses, he wins!


I wish I didn’t look at these tests again! I want another 4870x2 now…


Sources:

Firing Squad

Guru3D

Club Overclocker


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