Best upgrade value question.

[The Sauce]

I just started playing BF4 after a long hiatus from gaming. Rig is in my sig. I am thinking about picking up a second GTX670 for sli. I currently get 40-60 FPS under average conditions. NE has it for $259 AR. Do you think this would be the best value for upgrading? I have not run dual cards since my Monster 3D in the 90's so I am not sure what to expect.

 

[Termie]

Lots of people have been asking this question. In fact there is another active thread on this topic, which you might want to check out.

In short, for 1080p, 670SLI is fine, but I personally wouldn't upgrade today to it for use at 1440p. Unfortunately the vram will become an issue.

 

[spat55]

I think that BF4 is just poorly coded at the moment. I get some drops in FPS but I think it is just that my CPU is the bottleneck, as it seems to hit 100% when I get the drop.

I wouldn't get a second GTX 670 and just wait for another year to see what comes out next year with the 20nm process arriving plus 2GB of VRAM at 1440p is getting so it is going to be obsolete even without AA soon.

 

[The Sauce]

So I checked out the thread you mentioned and it is mainly a discussion about the merits of 2gb vs. 3-4gb for those purchasing a new single-gpu card. That's not quite what I am wondering. Most people agree that 2gb is fine for bf4, but recommend more vram for future games. My question really is whether adding a second 670 for sli will give me a significant improvement in frame rates now @ 1440p. I realize it may not be the best overall future investment vs. buying a new, more expensive single card with more vram.

 

[guskline]

The Sauce: here's a Fraps run the other day with my rig 1 below with 2 GTX670s (EVGA GTX670 FTW with stock core bumped by +50 and memory bumped by +400).

Here's some frap data for BF4 runs on Ultra with 2xAA in rig 1 below:


2013-11-01 21:27:50 - bf4
Frames: 860 - Time: 4563ms - Avg: 188.472 - Min: 174 - Max: 199
2013-11-01 21:27:55 - bf4
Frames: 14100 - Time: 146359ms - Avg: 96.338 - Min: 27 - Max: 202
2013-11-01 21:31:36 - bf4
Frames: 479 - Time: 2391ms - Avg: 200.335 - Min: 199 - Max: 201
2013-11-01 21:31:41 - bf4
Frames: 4092 - Time: 36110ms - Avg: 113.320 - Min: 13 - Max: 201
2013-11-01 21:32:43 - bf4
Frames: 4335 - Time: 76578ms - Avg: 56.609 - Min: 25 - Max: 196
2013-11-01 21:34:01 - bf4
Frames: 3296 - Time: 36671ms - Avg: 89.880 - Min: 74 - Max: 113
2013-11-01 21:34:38 - bf4
Frames: 2394 - Time: 32282ms - Avg: 74.159 - Min: 17 - Max: 102
2013-11-01 21:35:12 - bf4
Frames: 6241 - Time: 90656ms - Avg: 68.843 - Min: 25 - Max: 96
2013-11-01 21:36:44 - bf4
Frames: 6954 - Time: 104140ms - Avg: 66.775 - Min: 3 - Max: 94
2013-11-01 21:38:29 - bf4
Frames: 64684 - Time: 865281ms - Avg: 74.755 - Min: 16 - Max: 107
2013-11-01 21:52:55 - bf4
Frames: 7388 - Time: 121516ms - Avg: 60.799 - Min: 0 - Max: 121

Hope this helps.

Since you already have a GTX 670 adding a second WILL improve fps significantly. Likewise you ARE limited to 2 GB Vram so you have a decision to make.

BTW: Just for giggles, before I left for work this morning I ran 3D Mark Firestrike, both regular AND Extreme for rig 1 and here are my results with the latest approved non-beta drivers:

Regular

Overall 11,644
Graphics 14199
Physics 15600
Combined 4266

Extreme

Overall 6113
Graphics 6616
Physics 15647
Combined 2462

 

[moonbogg]

I will be shouting this as loud as I can for a while, because to be quite honest, it has me totally shocked and my jaw still on the ground. I went from windows 7 to windows 8.1 and the difference is so large, you'd think I was lying. It was the best $120 I have ever spent on my rig, ever. If you are on win 7, you should be rushing over to win 8.1 in an absolute panic.

 

[Aithos]

The Sauce: here's a Fraps run the other day with my rig 1 below with 2 GTX670s (EVGA GTX670 FTW with stock core bumped by +50 and memory bumped by +400).

Here's some frap data for BF4 runs on Ultra with 2xAA in rig 1 below:


2013-11-01 21:27:50 - bf4
Frames: 860 - Time: 4563ms - Avg: 188.472 - Min: 174 - Max: 199
2013-11-01 21:27:55 - bf4
Frames: 14100 - Time: 146359ms - Avg: 96.338 - Min: 27 - Max: 202
2013-11-01 21:31:36 - bf4
Frames: 479 - Time: 2391ms - Avg: 200.335 - Min: 199 - Max: 201
2013-11-01 21:31:41 - bf4
Frames: 4092 - Time: 36110ms - Avg: 113.320 - Min: 13 - Max: 201
2013-11-01 21:32:43 - bf4
Frames: 4335 - Time: 76578ms - Avg: 56.609 - Min: 25 - Max: 196
2013-11-01 21:34:01 - bf4
Frames: 3296 - Time: 36671ms - Avg: 89.880 - Min: 74 - Max: 113
2013-11-01 21:34:38 - bf4
Frames: 2394 - Time: 32282ms - Avg: 74.159 - Min: 17 - Max: 102
2013-11-01 21:35:12 - bf4
Frames: 6241 - Time: 90656ms - Avg: 68.843 - Min: 25 - Max: 96
2013-11-01 21:36:44 - bf4
Frames: 6954 - Time: 104140ms - Avg: 66.775 - Min: 3 - Max: 94
2013-11-01 21:38:29 - bf4
Frames: 64684 - Time: 865281ms - Avg: 74.755 - Min: 16 - Max: 107
2013-11-01 21:52:55 - bf4
Frames: 7388 - Time: 121516ms - Avg: 60.799 - Min: 0 - Max: 121

Hope this helps.

Since you already have a GTX 670 adding a second WILL improve fps significantly. Likewise you ARE limited to 2 GB Vram so you have a decision to make.

BTW: Just for giggles, before I left for work this morning I ran 3D Mark Firestrike, both regular AND Extreme for rig 1 and here are my results with the latest approved non-beta drivers:

Regular

Overall 11,644
Graphics 14199
Physics 15600
Combined 4266

Extreme

Overall 6113
Graphics 6616
Physics 15647
Combined 2462

I would just like to point out those numbers aren't helpful because you're running a different resolution than the OP. The OP is running 1440p and you're running 1080p.

My personal recommendation would be to hold off. $250 to SLI and old card is a lot when it won't give you significantly more performance in the long term. Will it help you for the next year? Yeah, a little. Will it keep you from having to upgrade for another 2-3 years? Probably not. I personally think the best bang for the buck right now is the EVGA 780 classified, it's an overclocking beast of a card and just dropped $150 since the 290x launched. That's quite a bit more than $250 though, I guess it depends how long you want to wait before you upgrade again...

 

[moonbogg]

I would just like to point out those numbers aren't helpful because you're running a different resolution than the OP. The OP is running 1440p and you're running 1080p.

My personal recommendation would be to hold off. $250 to SLI and old card is a lot when it won't give you significantly more performance in the long term. Will it help you for the next year? Yeah, a little. Will it keep you from having to upgrade for another 2-3 years? Probably not. I personally think the best bang for the buck right now is the EVGA 780 classified, it's an overclocking beast of a card and just dropped $150 since the 290x launched. That's quite a bit more than $250 though, I guess it depends how long you want to wait before you upgrade again...

People are overlooking my windows 8.1 praise, and its OK because I would too if I were you. But this can't be overlooked. I have the same cards as the OP and I thought they didn't have enough Vram for BF4. I am just about to declare myself mistaken and wrong regarding that. 2gb might not be a good long term investment, but with 8.1, the performance increase, elimination of skips, stutters and performance lag, is astonishing and is actually quite peculiar. I would suggest the OP buy 8.1 right friggin now and proceed to be amazed at how his rig runs BF4 like its built from hardware that only exists in the future. This game runs like Bad Company 2 now due to the 8.1 installation. I BS you not. It feels like a super rig and i'm left scratching my head.

 

[The Sauce]

I appreciate the comment about Windows 8.1. I'm just not sure I can bring myself to do it. I am really not in love with Win8 for most other things. I hate the interface and would have to learn how to do everything all over again. After about 6 prior OS upgrades I'm kinda tired of that. I admit I don't know that much about it in all, but I tried messing with it at Staples for about 15 minutes and couldn't find anything I would need, could not even access the control panel or change screen resolutions... I know it's there and I need to get over it. I'm just comfortable with Win7. You make a strong argument, though.