Considering a second GTX580, but not sure

[RampantAndroid]

Hi all,

I've currently got a single GTX580 in my system, and I game at 1080p. Now...I would think that I'd be fine with this, but in games like DA2 I'm seeing my framerate his towards 40, and get choppy at times. I need to make sure my overclock on my i7 950 is ok (I have it at 3.8) but do these numbers sound right?

DA2 @ max settings, with DX11 on, 16af, 4aa (might be 8 - I need to look when I get home.)

If these are normal, is a second GTX580 worth it? Is waiting for Kepler just a better idea? Is a TX850 PSU enough for two GTX580s? I'd normally think SLI'ed GTX580s to be overkill for 1080p.

Thanks!

 

[lehtv]

Definitely not worth it to spend $400-500 just to have better framerate in one game. Rather just reduce settings a bit until Kepler

 

[TemjinGold]

If you are running 1080p, you do NOT need max aa and max af for DA2. You will not visibly see a difference unless you REALLY stare at it with a magnifying glass. Just try it-back both down to like 4x and check. If you ARE someone who can legitimately see a difference, then whether it's worth it or not depends on what ~$400-$500 is worth to you. I don't think anyone can tell you what that is worth but you.

Oh and should you go SLI, that 850 is fine.

 

[RampantAndroid]

$450 certainly is a price worthy of hesitating, hence this thread. Like I said, normally a top of the line card for 1080P seems like it should be enough.

I'll hold back and see what Kepler holds in store.

 

[blackened23]

Hi all,

I've currently got a single GTX580 in my system, and I game at 1080p. Now...I would think that I'd be fine with this, but in games like DA2 I'm seeing my framerate his towards 40, and get choppy at times. I need to make sure my overclock on my i7 950 is ok (I have it at 3.8) but do these numbers sound right?

DA2 @ max settings, with DX11 on, 16af, 4aa (might be 8 - I need to look when I get home.)

If these are normal, is a second GTX580 worth it? Is waiting for Kepler just a better idea? Is a TX850 PSU enough for two GTX580s? I'd normally think SLI'ed GTX580s to be overkill for 1080p.

Thanks!

You don't need a 2nd GTX 580 for 1080p gaming. Maybe 2560x1440, but 1080p, IMO its not worth it. I've fiddled with 1 and 2 GPU configurations of MSI lightning 580's in my system and if your'e having framerate problems I really think you're doing something wrong somewhere.

First of all, you can't enable all the bells and whisles in EVERY game. There is *no* single GPU card that can do that for a select few games such as metro 2033, crysis 2, etc.

Secondly, I suspect you're doing something wrong in your control panel. You should set EVERYTHING to "use application preference" Understand that if you use an override setting in the control panel, it is a post processed effect and the performance for that setting will be far worse than selecting it in game. An ingame setting applies AA where its needed. A driver setting does it everywhere and has a substantial performance hit compared to an ingame option. AF has basically no performance penalty, you can enable that but leave everything else to "application preference"

Lastly...if a game ever requires 800$ for an acceptable GPU i'm going to consoles and never going back. IMO that is pretty damn ridiculous.

Now with all that said, SLI can be worth it for

1) Chest beating
2) 2560x1440 (I use this resolution on a crossfire 6970 setup)
3) Nvidia 3d vision
4) Enabling all the bells and whistles in metro 2033, crysis 2 with no performance hit
5) Triple monitor

But is it really worth it for another 500$? You can buy a 240gb SSD for that, or something more useful I think. Anyway, I have no issues with framerate in dragon age 2. I really suspect something is wrong on your end. Don't enable any effects in your driver, ever...everything should be set to application preference. What driver do you have? Are you overclocking your 580? I'm generally framerate capped in all games (meaning never dip below 60). I use max settings in DA2, in crysis 2 I use DX11/tessellation/HD textures/Ultra quality (1 below the maximum). Metro2033: Medium quality, DX11, tessellation enabled, phsyx disabled, ADOF disabled (looks damn good at this setting).

Those are really about the only games off the top of my head that aren't framerate capped at max settings. Crysis 2, metro 2033. For those games I turn the quality 1 notch down and then i'm framerate capped and they still look fantastic graphically. Oh yeah, BF3 I use ultra on everything but I don't enable 4x MSAA. 4x MSAA has a huge performance hit while not looking different. This is why my gtx 580 box, which is currently single GPU at the moment. On a xfire 6970 I can turn on all the bells and whistles.......

 

[nitromullet]

This may be a dumb point, but make sure you updated the NV driver. DA2 is a Gaming Evolved game, and the initial performance on NV cards was abysmal.

You really shouldn't need two GTX 580s for 1080p. I'm running only one at 2560x1440, and it's been fine for most games.

 

[blackened23]

That also, IIRC DA2 performed horribly on nvidia cards with older drivers installed, but recent drivers have fixed that problem.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I'll push up to newer drivers. CP values are all app controlled, preferring performance for power, quality under the image quality setting, and LOD clamped.

I tried 3D, got a headache, gave up. I'm likely going to nab a newer LED IPS panel and sell my TN 120hz panel off - the viewing angles are abysmal, and I don't think I see any real advantage to 120hz.

Thanks!