30inch monitor.. SLI 680's or a 690?

[RoboChobo]

Hello gentlemen

A friend of mine is currently debating if he should get a
GTX 680 4GB's SLI ($500X2) or a single GTX 690 4GB($1000).
He's gonna order a U3011 from dell during XMAS.

After 20 minutes of playing BF3 on the PC he is convinced he wants something similar.

Now he's wondering why he should get the same as I do an eVGA 680 4GB X2 rather than just buying 1 Single GTX 690, which will cost somewhat the same thing. We don't know the difference :/

Well that is an interesting question that I can't answer, I've been having a lot of good luck with my SLI rig so I recommended copying what I got.
Or should we even wait for the next generation?

Been looking at some reviews
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy36lRyy1pI

so far 690 seems to be it's quieter, runs cooler and possible SLI oh em gee
Since there is no news of new GPU's coming out this year, and have no idea when the new one's are coming out.

 

[atomheart]

I know it isn't one of the two choices you presented, but there is a viable third and forth. You could go with SLI GTX 670 4gb for a much better fps/$ (and still have enough FPS on the high-res monitor) or you could try a 7970 crossfire setup, I've heard good things about the 7970's at ~1400p.

 

[felang]

I know it isn't one of the two choices you presented, but there is a viable third and forth. You could go with SLI GTX 670 4gb for a much better fps/$ (and still have enough FPS on the high-res monitor) or you could try a 7970 crossfire setup, I've heard good things about the 7970's at ~1400p.

Definitely 7970 x 2 or 670 4gb x2

7970 x 2 is actually as fast or faster with current drivers and dual 670 is almost as fast and significantly cheaper than dual 680s.

If overclocking get the 7970´s, if not i´d get the 670s

 

[Insomniator]

I like the 670 or 7970 idea better as well... but damn I can't believe people are actually in the market for what the OP suggested, without already being true 'enthusiasts'.

680's and 690's are real top end parts that you pay extra for, but I guess if you have the $$ then go for it! Be sure to post pics when you get the install done

Also make sure you have the rest of your computer up to snuff to handle either setup... whats his power supply and CPU?

 

[cytg111]

SLI 680's ... for console ports. Mmmmm...

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Another vote for dual 7970s here.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

SLI 680's ... for console ports. Mmmmm...

he said BF3, not Call of Doody

 

[cmdrdredd]

2x GTX 670 is roughly equavelant to the GTX 690 but the GTX 670s have more overclocking room.

If you are set on Nvidia I'd get a pair of 670s. If not then a pair of Sapphire Vapor-X 7970s or 7950s are good.

 

[Shmee]

For 1600p, would recommend 7970 xfire. Will the video cards be oced? Also, what CPU? Need to make sure he isnt bottlenecked there.

 

[DooKey]

Go green for multi card setup. I had 7970s when they first came out and I had nothing but problems. Since I "upgraded" to 680s all has been well in the gaming department. SLI is just flat out better than xfire for this gen. Last gen my 6970s were excellent as well as the 480s and 580s (I'm a vid card junkie, what can I say?) that I had.

 

[Deders]

Would the PCIe bus be limited with 2 cards?

 

[Shmee]

@ Dookey: I believe that may have changed, but I can't say for sure as I do not own 600 SLI or 7xxx crossfire. Also, my understanding is that 79xx excel at larger resolution (1440p/1600p)
@ Deders: We don't know what motherboard he would be using, can't say for sure. Generally though, SLI 680s or 7970s in crossfire would do fine at PCIE 3.0 8x + 8x

 

[3DVagabond]

Definitely 7970 x 2 or 670 4gb x2

7970 x 2 is actually as fast or faster with current drivers and dual 670 is almost as fast and significantly cheaper than dual 680s.

If overclocking get the 7970´s, if not i´d get the 670s

This^

Except that even if you aren't O/C'ing the dual 7970's are a good choice at $800 ($760AR). Or even dual 7950's will give you plenty of GPU power for a lot less $600 ($560AR). The free games are a nice added bonus.

With all that GPU power though more then 2GB VRAM per GPU is a better way to go. The 690 will be outdated the fastest of the choices you are contemplating.

 

[SKORPI0]

I'm running on a GTX 680 4GB and saving for another to SLI (see sig). Since I do computer graphics/video editing hopefully more CUDA cores will speed things up, not a gamer at all. I'll probably end up with 3 Yamakasi 2703 (2 right now) to even up the system. 30' (2560x1600) currently out of my price range. I'm sticking to NVidia since the system is also Hackint0shed (OS X Mountain Lion 10.8).

 

[blastingcap]

Dual 680s

 

[Klunt Bumskrint]

Dual 680's

 

[moonbogg]

Dual 670 4GB versions. Just read SLI and crossfire reviews for BF3 and decide that way.

 

[FalseChristian]

Save some money. Go with 2 GTX 660 2GB (non-Ti). GPUs and CPUs are so far ahead of game engines as of now until the new consoles come out. A GTX 660 2GB is 70% faster than 1 of my GTX 460 1GB. A GTX 660 2GB will swat any game (even Crysis 3) at 2560x1600.

 

[Insomniator]

Save some money. Go with 2 GTX 660 2GB (non-Ti). GPUs and CPUs are so far ahead of game engines as of now until the new consoles come out. A GTX 660 2GB is 70% faster than 1 of my GTX 460 1GB. A GTX 660 2GB will swat any game (even Crysis 3) at 2560x1600.

Source?

 

[chimaxi83]

Save some money. Go with 2 GTX 660 2GB (non-Ti). GPUs and CPUs are so far ahead of game engines as of now until the new consoles come out. A GTX 660 2GB is 70% faster than 1 of my GTX 460 1GB. A GTX 660 2GB will swat any game (even Crysis 3) at 2560x1600.

Yeah, on the lowest detail, maybe. Have fun with that.

Anyway, back to reality. I'd go with either 670 4GB SLI, or 7970 CF. A premium 7950 like Twin Frozr would do well too. You don't want to get some dinky 660s for modern games at high detail level at that resolution.

 

[moonbogg]

Save some money. Go with 2 GTX 660 2GB (non-Ti). GPUs and CPUs are so far ahead of game engines as of now until the new consoles come out. A GTX 660 2GB is 70% faster than 1 of my GTX 460 1GB. A GTX 660 2GB will swat any game (even Crysis 3) at 2560x1600.

Trolling is one thing, but encouraging someone to waste money on a stupid video solution? Thats mean.

 

[tweakboy]

That 30 inch monitor has delay of 5 to 12 ms.

You like screen tearing no problem

but if you turn on vsync the mouse will be laggy in FPS games,, and not instant and smooth....... gl

and ghosting too.. horrrible technology isnt there for LED to be 1ms ,,,,,,,, instant !@!!@@ like mines! plays smooth @ 60fps vsync like my CRT sony fw900.. thx gl

 

[felang]

Dual 670 4GB versions. Just read SLI and crossfire reviews for BF3 and decide that way.

Depends what drivers, newer drivers favor ATI.

That 30 inch monitor has delay of 5 to 12 ms.

You like screen tearing no problem

but if you turn on vsync the mouse will be laggy in FPS games,, and not instant and smooth....... gl

and ghosting too.. horrrible technology isnt there for LED to be 1ms ,,,,,,,, instant !@!!@@ like mines! plays smooth @ 60fps vsync like my CRT sony fw900.. thx gl

Still giving awesome advice I see...

 

[cmdrdredd]

Depends what drivers, newer drivers favor ATI.

If you don't count microstutter and needing to use an fps limiter to fix it.

That's the only knock against dual AMD cards.

 

[AdamK47]

That 30 inch monitor has delay of 5 to 12 ms.

You like screen tearing no problem

but if you turn on vsync the mouse will be laggy in FPS games,, and not instant and smooth....... gl

and ghosting too.. horrrible technology isnt there for LED to be 1ms ,,,,,,,, instant !@!!@@ like mines! plays smooth @ 60fps vsync like my CRT sony fw900.. thx gl

I'm not sure you know the difference between input lag and pixel response time.