GTX 680 vs. SLIed GTX 460s - How Much Faster?

[DefRef]

It's getting difficult to determine how much faster the new hotness is compared to older (and I mean not that much older; like <2 years) cards, especially since the limited benches typically don't include SLI configurations along with the single card listings. I ran into this when I was trying to see if replacing my venerable 8800GT SLI setup with a single GTX 285 (IIRC) was a sideways move (it was) and now that the GTX 680 is Bigfooting onto the scene, I'm wondering how much faster it would be compared to my current setup.

This AT GPU11 comparison shows that the GTX 580 is pretty much comparable with SLIed GTX 460 1GBs, so can I safely infer that comparison between the 580 and 680 are applicable for my purposes? Judging from the AT review, I can take out a pair of hot noisy cards and replace them with a single card and pick up at least 35% improvement in performance along with the benefits of having double the RAM for AA performance as [H]ardOCP noted in their comparo:

"GeForce GTX 460 1GB SLI offers performance that competes with a single GeForce GTX 580, but ultimately is limited by its 1GB of memory per GPU at high resolutions with AA. The GeForce GTX 580 offers a smoother gameplay experience and higher playable settings. The GeForce GTX 580 may be more expensive, but that price can pay off as we move into new DX11 games pushing the boundaries of graphics card memory capacity. The fact is GeForce GTX 580 offers you more options by allowing you to install a second video card that improves performance even more."

Am I thinking about this properly? I mostly play high eye-candy shooters on PC, but recent games have required turning off AA to get native rez to run smoothly. I'm also hoping all those CUDA cores will make Premiere encoding even faster. I'd also be able to put my X-Fi Fatal1ty sound card back in after having to pull it due to the two double-wide video cards covering all the PCI slots on my mobo.

Thanks in advance!

 

[FalseChristian]

I'd say about 60% faster. Not worth it. I have 2 GTX 460 1GB and when I overclock it to 870/1740/4200 it kicks the shit out of any game including Metro 2033. Wait for the GTX 780. Your cards are still very powerful.

 

[DefRef]

A 60% bump isn't worth it?! With so many games being console ports, there's little that really makes a PC sweat blood these days and almost all my games are running acceptably, but some overhead would be nice. Any idea when the 780s will be coming? End of 2012, perhaps?

 

[Subyman]

He's on dual screens though. What res are you running in games? Also, two 460 consume a bit more than a single 480, so the 680 will save some money in power usage over time. You also have to take into account the issues with SLI, although it is much better than it used to be. You will also be doubling your Vram, which is much needed these days.

I'd say you can get 220-240 for the pair out of your cards if you sell them, so a 280-260 dollar upgrade for 60% more performance, less power usage, and single slot seems pretty damn good to me.

780GTX? GK110? Who knows. There are rumors it will be a very expensive card, so you may be waiting around. The 770-760 could very well be Q1-Q2 2013. A long ways off.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

yes, you should not only see a healthy increase in performance, but also get much less noise / power draw / heat output etc...

I'm actually going to be going from SLI GTX580s to a single GTX680 to get away from all of those multi GPU drawbacks even though I will have less performance overall

 

[DefRef]

As I noted (or thought I did), I've got a 24" LCD that's 1920 x 1200. When I get bogged down, I turn off AA and then drop to 1680 rez to get smoother frame rates. I think I'm running Metro 2033 with both steps taken. BF3 runs nicely at 1920 with everything on, but AA has to be off. Same with Batman: Arkham Asylum - it's fast, but I lose AA.

The variable vsync appeals to me because I've noticed micro-stuttering at times which I thought was part of the SLI deal. Getting to use my X-Fi and have my Live Drive back is another factor.

 

[MrK6]

If you have the cash, it's an excellent upgrade. You'll get a sizable benefit in just about every metric, with the greatest perk being no more multi-GPU.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

It's about as fast as stock 560ti SLI, slightly slower than stock 570 SLI.

 

[DefRef]

Why is multi-GPU such an evil thing now? Seems like everyone thinks it doesn't work very well.

 

[Subyman]

Why is multi-GPU such an evil thing now? Seems like everyone thinks it doesn't work very well.

Its not evil, just not as trouble-free as a single solution. Compatibility issues arise with older games/less popular games. Sometimes you have to wait several weeks for a proper profile to come out to use the cards, then you are stuck with a single card in the game until the profile is out (look at Skyrim for AMD users.) Then you have the double power, heat, and extra noise to contend with as well as a more crowded case. A single solution is always preferred if it will meet your requirements.

 

[MrK6]

Why is multi-GPU such an evil thing now? Seems like everyone thinks it doesn't work very well.

It works, it just has several drawbacks compared to using a single card of the same performance, namely power, noise, driver issues, microstuttering, etc.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Why is multi-GPU such an evil thing now? Seems like everyone thinks it doesn't work very well.

its just not as good as single GPU if you can get the performance you want out of it

if a second (third and fourth, etc) GPU could be added without any sort of problem (ie near 100% scaling, no microstutter ever, no added input lag, no driver headaches or software incompatibilities) then maybe it would be more than worth the draw backs of added power consumption, heat production, and noise.

 

[DefRef]

I'd say you can get 220-240 for the pair out of your cards if you sell them, so a 280-260 dollar upgrade for 60% more performance, less power usage, and single slot seems pretty damn good to me.

Peeking at Craig's List shows 460s asking $100-$125, so it'd be ~$300 to get a 680. Considering the performance and other factors, that seems like a good move. Agree?

 

[Subyman]

Peeking at Craig's List shows 460s asking $100-$125, so it'd be ~$300 to get a 680. Considering the performance and other factors, that seems like a good move. Agree?

100-125 for two 460's? Wow, I didn't know they were that cheap now. It all depends on what you need. If your games are suffering and you can afford it then now is a good time to jump in to maximize the life of the 680.

 

[Puppies04]

100-125 for two 460's? Wow, I didn't know they were that cheap now. It all depends on what you need. If your games are suffering and you can afford it then now is a good time to jump in to maximize the life of the 680.

That is $100-125 per 460 lol hence his maths.

$500 GTX680
-$200 (2 x $100 GTX 460s)
= $300 upgrade price.

 

[DefRef]

^^ This.

 

[Ieat]

I am thinking about selling my gtx 460 2gbs for a gtx 680. But since my cards are the 2gb model they seem to fetch more on ebay. About $175 a pop shipped. Probably net $150 after shipping and fees. So its only a $200 upgrade for me plus I have a buttload of amazon gift certs. If your not satisfied with your performance and can afford it go ahead and buy it.

 

[jacktesterson]

The simple answer here is "No"

 

[Subyman]

That is $100-125 per 460 lol hence his maths.

$500 GTX680
-$200 (2 x $100 GTX 460s)
= $300 upgrade price.

Ha, fail. I guess him asking me if it was a good decision after I already ran that scenario messed with the analytical side of my brain

 

[destrekor]

Somewhat similar situation:

I have two 560 Ti 2GB in SLI (OC'd decently), can I sell these for decent cash, upgrade, and have it be worth it in the end (metrics of "worth" include the Pros of single GPU compatibility versus the Cons of multi-GPU execution - i.e. input lag, microstuttering).

Of note: I have a triple-monitor setup and typically game in 6060x1080.



Think ol' big green will release the big chip while keeping the 600-series label (i.e. sometime sooner rather than later) ?
I almost expect them to merely keep pace with AMD (dammit!) to milk profits while they can, instead of blowing them out of the water but resigning to reduced profits.

Kepler seems like an insanely efficient/matured evolution of their recent architecture, whereas AMD has a brand-new design, which means they'll be a generation or two behind most likely (they'll have to get more experience with the "new" architecture conventions, much as Nvidia demonstrated over the course of Fermi and now Kepler).

But with the die-size for the x80 label so comparatively small, they've got me wondering if the massive die version will instead saved for the 780, and push that generation out the door when, and only when, AMD pushes them to do so.
That, or perhaps they'll go a different route for the 690 - instead of a dual-GPU PCB, they could just create a killer single-GPU card (with the characteristic $700+ price tag, of course).

Here's to hoping they'll go that 690 route, but won't release it until it's time to cut the 680's MSRP down a fair bit, and turn around and put a $500-600 MSRP on that massive GPU.

 

[Cometer]

I'm in a similar situation. I still haven't found any good GTX 460 SLI vs GTX 680 benchmarks.
But in my case I've got a pair of GTX 260 and a pair of GTX 460. If I sell them all I'll probably have enough money to buy a single GTX 680.
I really don't care about power requirements. What I want is performance. With the new graphics card coming out my GTX 260's are going to get even cheaper.
And obviously the GTX 460 is going to drop price. So if I don't sell quickly I'll loose any chance of getting some return.
But what I really care about is performance. Will a GTX 680 handle games better than a pair of GTX 460's SLI?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

If you highly overclock a GTX 680, it can easily trade blows with a GTX 570 SLI, and it definitely faster than a GTX 560 SLi. Yes, at stock it only competes or even slightly loses to the GTX 560 SLi. However, once overclocked high, it can trade blows with the GTX 570 SLi.

 

[guskline]

DefRef: What's the difference between the 580 and 680? That should give you a guesstimate of the jump since your first post said the 460GTX SLI and the 580GTX were about equal. I have 2 460GTX 768s in SLI in rig 3 below and they work great. I bought a 6970 for rig 2 at Christmas (had gift cards) and it has the advantage of 2G Vram and is very smooth but those 2 460s (eventhough only 768Vram) are warriors! SLI has not been a problem. If the urge is strong and you can get a decent price for your 460s go for it.

 

[Keysplayr]

Why is multi-GPU such an evil thing now? Seems like everyone thinks it doesn't work very well.

contagious meme.

 

[DefRef]

Now that I'm hearing about the GK110 chip coming in perhaps 6 months, I'm tempted to wait and see. It's not as if I'm dying with what I've got and with the backlog of games I've got, I can just chew through my Xbox/PS3 stacks before getting my upgrade on.