680 trisli vs 780 sli

[UaVaj]

wanted to get the board's 3¢.

is there anything exclusive that the 780 provides over the 680 to warrant an upgrade?

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for only those of you that always want a full description.

CURRENT SETUP:
680sli 4gb installed on a z77 motherboard w/ i7-3770k running at 5760x1080 with 850w seasonic psu. also have third 680 4gb new in a box (got a deal too good to refuse - microcenter).
due to waiting for 780 launch - holding off on buying a z77+PLX motherboard for trisli support.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW:
now that the 780 is out. performance review among the two configuration is pretty much on par with each other - give or take depending on specific games'. (the 680trisli is a bit faster overall however negible).

DIFFERENCES: (from in game FPS point of view)
1) 256bit of the 680 vs 384bit of the 780 - does not seem to not be an issue at 5760x1080.
2) 3gb vram of the 780 vs 4gb vram of the 680 - does not seem to be an issue either.
3) 8x/8x/8x shared pcie 3.0 of the 680 vs 8x/8x dedicated pcie 3.0 of the 780 - does not seem to be an issue either.

PRIORITIES:
1) max in game performance with all the eye candy is high priority.
2) ability to continue to play future games and mild overclocking are mid priorities.
3) wattage draw, thermal, and noise - obviously the 780 the better, however these are low prioirties.

OPTIONS:
1) buy z77+plx motherboard / sell z77 motherboard / keep 680trisli
2) buy 780 sli / sell 680 tri sli
3) something else - do tell

 

[omeds]

I currently have 3-way 680s too. I found after comparing with a friend that Titan SLI is practically on par when both scale well, but as we know 3-way tends to scale less on occasions and can present more issues (for example 3-way doesn't scale beyond 2 GPU's in Metro LL, and 3Dvision only supports 2 GPU's if that matters to you), plus less Vram on the 680's, and I found Titan SLI to be a little smoother (in BF3) without vsync.

You will have the option to upgrade to a 3rd 780 down the track if you wish too. Taking all that into account, I have decided to ditch 3-way 680's and go for 780 SLI myself. Selling the 3 680's should cover a fair chunk of the cost.

 

[UaVaj]

omeds. did you have 680 2gb or 4gb? sound like you have the 680 2gb edition.
with 680trisli 2gb edition. no doubt about upgrading to 780sli 3gb.

as for gpu power. at 5760x1080 with all the eye candy. 680sli is just bearly enough to keep nose above water. 680trisli or 780sli will add a nice buffer.

as for 780trisli in the near future. chances are it will never happen. cannot think of a continous play type game (like bf3 multiplayer) that requires 780trisli on a continual basis. games like crysis3 are play once and move on - lesser IQ one time is okay.

 

[Kenmitch]

Seems like 780 sli would be the better choice to me. Less to deal with as far as heat, power requirement, temps, scaling issues, motherboard swap, etc.

 

[UaVaj]

...

 

[Enigmoid]

Do you currently have problems?

If so then upgrade.

If not then wait for something better from a perf/$ perspective.

Upgrading for the sake of upgrading is rather pointless.

 

[UaVaj]

enigmoid.

680 sli is bearly cutting it for 5760x1080 with all the eye candy. fps dipping just a hair below 30fps at times.

hence the need for more gpu processiong. hence the need for 680trisli or 780sli.

 

[Enigmoid]

enigmoid.

680 sli is bearly cutting it for 5760x1080 with all the eye candy. fps dipping just a hair below 30fps at times.

hence the need for more gpu processiong. hence the need for 680trisli or 780sli.

Hmm... didn't see that.

Tri SLI is more headaches and sometimes doesn't scale properly. Furthermore the 680 is not the best card for high resolutions due to the small bus width. I'd sell the 680 SLI and get 780 SLI (obviously then overclock). 7970 ghz would be a bit of an upgrade and far cheaper (almost two 7970 ghz for one 780) but crossfire problems make its worthless.

If you can sell the 680s for $700-800 then the 780 upgrade costs around $600.
Another 680 4GB costs what...~$500?

780 SLI seems a better deal.

 

[UaVaj]

enigmoid.

680 4gb are going for ~$500 new after selling metro first light and mailing in the rebate. used for ~$425.

if starting from scratch. definitely 780 sli.

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please pay attention this time. since most of below is already stated above.

this is NOT starting from scratch. already own all three 680 4gb for trisli. just need a z77+plx motherboard capable of trisli.
or
change direction and go 780 sli.

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at the end of the day
680trisli is 12% faster overall than 780sli
and depending on the math for some
780sli is 9% slower overall than 680trisli.

 

[Enigmoid]

enigmoid.

680 4gb are going for ~$500 new after selling metro first light and mailing in the rebate. used for ~$425.

if starting from scratch. definitely 780 sli.

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please pay attention this time. since most of below is already stated above.

this is NOT starting from scratch. already own all three 680 4gb for trisli. just need a z77+plx motherboard capable of trisli.
or
change direction and go 780 sli.

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at the end of the day
680trisli is 12% faster overall than 780sli
and depending on the math for some
780sli is 9% slower overall than 680trisli.

Ah, sorry.

SLI 780 is the better bet. 680 tri SLI is by no means guaranteed to always work properly. A new mobo make things harder for tri SLI from a cost perspective.

 

[moonbogg]

780 SLI all the way.