2 lesser GPUs vs 1 better?

[boxleitnerb]

Not completely but they improved alot. I have seen MS with 4870X2 but not with any of the newer gpus unless the framerate is below 60fps. Any remaining MS can be eliminated with a frame rate limiter with only drawback being slightly lower average fps. CF issues are usually fixed a few days after game release.

MS remains an issue if you use SLI/CF for settings where it is actually needed: 3D, very high resolution (Eyefinity), SSAA etc. Then you barely get above 60.

If the last third of 2011 has shown anything, it is that CF is still quite immature. So many slip ups, I would have been pissed as a customer. There are still many many games where CF doesn't scale beyond 2 GPUs and I have friends that have microstutter or less "smoothness" even well above 60fps.

Although I use the framerate limiter myself (I would have never bought SLI without that in the first place), I'm not completely happy with it. For instance in Skyrim the fps can range from 30 to 150. So if I limit to 30 not to get MS in very demanding scenes, I waste full 120fps in other scenes.

 

[BD231]

I have 2 560ti 2GB cards. I have no micro stuttering at all. I can now play BF3 at 1920x1200 with everything set to Ultra and my frames never go below 60. The downside is, my cards get hot and loud. I would have gone with a single card if I could play with the same settings as my 2 560's but at the moment their is no single card that can match the performance I am getting with these 2 cards. I did have a 580 and that was almost as good. But it would drop the frames into the mid 40's. I have heard that the new 7970 can match my 2 cards, but I'm not sure about that. I only paid about $450 for my 2 cards. 1 580 is about $500 and 1 7970 is about $600 so its up to you...

http://www.thermalright.com/products/index.php?act=data&cat_id=30&id=110

Buy two of these and four low profile 92mm fans at about 1200 rpm and noise issue will be a thing of the past. Plus you'll be able to use them on future cards, or even something as hot as a GTX 580. Great investment.

 

[gramboh]

I have 2 560ti 2GB cards. I have no micro stuttering at all. I can now play BF3 at 1920x1200 with everything set to Ultra and my frames never go below 60. The downside is, my cards get hot and loud. I would have gone with a single card if I could play with the same settings as my 2 560's but at the moment their is no single card that can match the performance I am getting with these 2 cards. I did have a 580 and that was almost as good. But it would drop the frames into the mid 40's. I have heard that the new 7970 can match my 2 cards, but I'm not sure about that. I only paid about $450 for my 2 cards. 1 580 is about $500 and 1 7970 is about $600 so its up to you...

Curious about your BF3 experience, have you measured VRAM usage on your setup? I ask because I have a 1GB 560Ti and am thinking of going SLI for an Ivy system in April, but keep reading about BF3 running over 1GB VRAM usage in 64p MP. I want to be able to play 1920x1200 Ultra with a bit of AA and have smooth fps.