Gtx 260 SLI vs Gtx 280 vs 4870 x2 (for 1920x1200 gaming)

[dfn]

I'm thinking of building a new i7 system, and am trying to decide on a video card or cards.
I plan to do most of my gaming in 1920x1200 resolution, so the deciding factor for cards (besides price) will be performance in that resolution.

I've checked many guides, reviews, and so on, and the consensus seems to be that the 4870 x2 is the best single card to buy. However, looking at many charts on tom's hardware, I noticed (when comparing 260 sli vs 280 vs 4870 x2) that for performance in 1920x1200, 280 or 260 sli usually beats the 4870 x2.

In terms of price, I can get any of the above within $100 (CDN) of each other. What do you guys think? Which of the above would be the best card (or cards...) for me, and what is your experience with the above cards?
I'd appreciate any help with this...

 

[Tempered81]

260 sli, double or triple

 

[bryanW1995]

260 sli is definitely the fastest solution, though you'll also need to get an sli mobo to go with it so keep that in mind when determining your final cost. Honestly, gtx 280 or especially 260 - 216 is so cheap these days that you might just go that route instead. Around black friday there was a highly oc'd gtx 260-216 for around $250 on newegg that would smoke a stock 280, especially at 19x12.

 

[Andrew1990]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
260 sli is definitely the fastest solution, though you'll also need to get an sli mobo to go with it so keep that in mind when determining your final cost. Honestly, gtx 280 or especially 260 - 216 is so cheap these days that you might just go that route instead. Around black friday there was a highly oc'd gtx 260-216 for around $250 on newegg that would smoke a stock 280, especially at 19x12.

I believe all motherboards based around the !7 are SLI. I may be wrong though.

 

[bryanW1995]

they can be sli, but iirc the mobo makers have to pay a royalty to enable it. on top of that, they must pay for an nf200 chip to get better than 8x8x, resulting in even greater cost.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
they can be sli, but iirc the mobo makers have to pay a royalty to enable it. on top of that, they must pay for an nf200 chip to get better than 8x8x, resulting in even greater cost.

NF200 chip required only for Tri-SLI. Take a look at the x58 SLI mobos compared to the x58 Tri-SLI mobos. You'll see the difference. And the NF200 is not responsible for PCI-e bandwidth in most cases. That is manufacturer and chipset specific.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I went with a GTX280 to avoid multi-gpu solutions. I thought about a 4870x2 but didn't want to have to deal with any issues at all. It would be my luck that I had problems.

 

[Blacklash]

OCed GTX 280 is a beastly single GPU. Enjoy

 

[MrK6]

The way prices have been, I've always been of the opinion that if you're going to spend $350-400 for a GTX 280, you might as well get GTX 260 SLI (~$400). Even if SLI is completely nonfunctional in whatever application you're running, you'll still be left with a GTX 260, which is ~85% as fast as a GTX 280. In situations where it works well, you'll get much more performance for roughly the same price.

 

[Kyanzes]

GTX280 FTW. Just as a single 8800 GTX generally has better min FPS in games, so does the GTX280 over the SLI GTX260. It's not the highest FPS that counts but the lowest IMHO. Also: at same framerates a dual card gameplay looks to be stuttering compared to a single card one. I've tried 9800GX2, seen 4870X2 and also had a 8800GT SLI setup. Personally I would avoid the ATI offerings this time (driver issues). You cannot go way wrong with the GTX260 SLI but in my personal opinion a GTX280 delivers smoother gameplay.

 

[Elfear]

I've been super pleased with my 4870X2 at 2560x1200. I haven't used the offerings from Nvidia so I can't comment there.

 

[Scottae]

I agree, been very pleased with my 4870 x2 @ 19000x1200 also you know you can add single 4780's for cross fire not necessarily an 4870 x2