GTX 460 768mb SLI or GTX 560ti ?

[Burticus]

I have a Sparkle GTX 460 768mb that I picked up last summer. Microcenter has them now for $149-40 MIR ($109 + tax). I know the 460 768mbs are no longer produced and store supply will dry up soon.

I am torn between getting another one and doing GTX 460 SLI for another $109 or selling my current one on fleabay for $85 and getting a GTX 560ti for $249-20 MIR (229).

I have an Antec 650w power supply so I am also wondering if it is ballsy enough for SLI.

Rig:
Asus M4N75TD
8gb DDR3 1600
AMD Phenom II x2 560 (OC to 4ghz)
Antec Earthwatts 650w PS
Sparkle GTX 460 768mb
Creative X-fi

The dual core Phenom II 560 was a leftover failed unlocking attempt. Honestly though, coming from a Phenom II X3 710 OC to 3ghz, the 560 at 4ghz seems to be just as fast or better with games (a lot of Civ 5 mostly, just got Dragon Age 2 but not broken in yet). I will be tempted to pick up a Phenom II 965 or 970 if I see one on sale cheap enough.

 

[fffblackmage]

Depends on what resolution you're gaming at. If you have a 1080p monitor, just get the GTX 560. The extra vram will probably be useful. Otherwise, 768MB vram should be ok for anything less than 1080p.

And in case you ask, you don't get 2 x 768MB = 1536 MB vram when you have two GTX 460 768MB in SLI together. The data found in the vram from the first GTX 460 is duplicated in the other GTX 460.

 

[dac7nco]

First of all, what resolution do you game at? Also, your MB is mATX, with the x16 slots in positions 1 and 4. You'll need an ATX case to run SLI, unless you want to run single-slot (cheap) cards in a mATX case. If you game without AA, the 460 768MB SLI will be faster and cheaper @ or below 1080p. You can get a recertified EVGA at the Egg for $130.

Daimon

 

[Burticus]

@ fffblackmage : 1900x1200

@ dac7nco : Motherboard is a full size ATX nforce SLI board. I bought the thing with future SLI in mind. Case is Antec three hundred. Room is not a problem. Power... maybe. If I have to drop $100 for a good 850w+ power supply then single card is the answer.

My thing is currently I can't use AA in games (or have to leave it on the lowest setting) or stuff gets slow.

Plus there is the little matter of Crysis 2 coming out...

 

[Burticus]

Newegg has a Sparkle GTX 560 TI for $229 shipped, no rebates. Get a free ticket to "red riding hood", maybe I can sell that for $5 but I doubt it. Lifetime warranty.

There's also a Galaxy GTX 560 for $239 shipped with a $30 MIR. 2 year warranty.

So $10 cheaper up front and lifetime warranty vs 2 year warranty and $20 cheaper after rebate. Hmmm.....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814187136

so $229, minus $80 (sell GTX 460 on fleabay) = $149. Or, buy another GTX 460 for $149 - 40 MIR = $109.

$80 for a card I spent $159 on 9 months ago. HALF. That is not a great return investment. Compare to the 8800GTS that cost $300 but I used it for 3 years and still sold it for $70.

 

[dac7nco]

If I have to drop $100 for a good 850w+ power supply then single card is the answer.

Burticus, your PSU is fine; you won't be running a lot of AA on a GTX560 either, but it'll be better. Get a GTX560.

Daimon

 

[GeorgeH]

At 1920x1200 and reasonable AA, reference clocked GTX460-768's in SLI will be roughly as fast as a GTX580. Some games and higher resolutions will suffer from the 768MB framebuffer, but for ~$100 another 460 would be a no-brainer to me.

Primary Source:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-sli-review/18

... most of the time you will be even much faster than the mighty hot and noisy GeForce GTX 480. Obviously that statement remains relative as the GTX 480 will be much stronger in situations that require more frame buffer and memory bandwidth.

Make sure you note the Metro 2033 benchmarks as well, though; that's one game where the 768MB framebuffer can hurt you (although it's really not that bad):
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-sli-review/9

 

[toyota]

At 1920x1200 and reasonable AA, reference clocked GTX460-768's in SLI will be roughly as fast as a GTX580. Some games and higher resolutions will suffer from the 768MB framebuffer, but for ~$100 another 460 would be a no-brainer to me.

Primary Source:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-sli-review/18


Make sure you note the Metro 2033 benchmarks as well, though; that's one game where the 768MB framebuffer can hurt you (although it's really not that bad):
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-sli-review/9

if you NEED more than one gtx460 then in many cases you will also need more than 768mb of vram. look at that review closer and you will see than a gtx460 sli setup can run higher settings then what they used. also there are games that easily go over 768mb that were not even used in that review. adding another gtx460 768mb would be silly in many cases since he would not able to crank the settings. also his cpu, while very decent, would already slightly limit one gtx460 in some games and would really hold back gtx460 sli especially with the additional sli cpu overhead. of course he is thinking about upgrading to the 965 or 970 though.

 

[Burticus]

@ Toyota:

Yeah I would like go from dual core 4ghz to quad core 4ghz. I took a $99 gamble and lost (but I did gain a motherboard in the process which is being used elsewhere). I could kick myself for not getting the Phenom II 965 when they were on sale for $130. If I see one get under $150 I'll probably do it and fleabay the 560 for $65. The websites that say all these dual cores turn into instant quad core unlocks are full of lies.... it's a gamble. I couldn't even get a solid third core unlock.

So all of a sudden I'm now dropping $230+$150-80-65 = $235 for the new card and CPU after selling the old ones, assuming I get what I want for the auctions. My computer budget is already busted for the year unless some miracle happens with my tax return (almost always owe a ton).

The $150 -40 MIR to go SLI is the cheapest option. I just wonder if it will be worth it.

 

[toyota]

well going from a gtx460 768mb to gtx560 is about a 30-40% upgrade if no cpu limitation is there. if you were to oc both the gtx460 and gtx560 though then then difference is only about 20-25% since the gtx460 comes clocked so low. going to another gtx460 would be about a theoretical 75-85% improvement if you get that quad. as I said earlier though having just 768mb of vram will limit the settings gtx460 sli is capable of. in a few games, you will not even be able to increase the settings at all.

 

[SickBeast]

SLI
SLI
SLI :sneaky:

 

[SickBeast]

Actually IMO you should wait for a single GPU that can perform as well as a GTX 580 and meet your budget. It shouldn't take all that long. Things move quite fast in the GPU world.

Of your two options, the SLI setup is better. That said, you're pulling a rabbit out of your hat trying to get GTX 580 performance, but you're going to have to put up with power, heat, and noise issues galore, especially if you can't resist overclocking.