GTX Titan vs GTX 780 x2 obvious choice? or is it..

[klepp0906]

Here's my pickle...

Well not really a pickle, but curious what people would do in my shoes. Pretty soon here I will be building a new pc. Starting to rather. Im not made of money by a longshot so it will be a little at a time, likely over a few months atleast. Ill have a good chunk of it at once though in about a month.

I usually go all out when I build a pc, this will be no different. I just don't get to do it often because of my desire to have cutting edge hardware, even if for just a short time.

For example my last pc (and current pc) was built when the 8800GTX launched. It consists of a Q6600 in a lian li case w/ a gigabyte mobo, 4gb reaper memory, soundblaster xfi and as mentioned an 8800gtx. its completely watercooled, from cpu to northbridge as well as a full gpu cover.

Needless to say, ive been able to make it last awhile with some ridiculous voltages and obsessive pc care. Its kinda hit its limit though.. Its now struggling to even play wow at max settings after the years of updates they have given the game.

I am going to be starting with the gpu for several reasons, one of them being I can use it right away! huzzah!!!!

ANyhow most people think "oh if you want fastest, 780x2 duuuh!" but that's the same crowd that would be quick to say "690 is faster than titan duuuuH"

but I know this...

Im curious what you guys would go with ALL THINGS/VARIABLES considered?

You've got speed, but then you h ave to consider with SLI the micro stuttering, the space/heat, the support or lackthereof, and finally the cost.

It will be one of those two and its going to be for FFXIV ARR. 1080p for now but eventually on a 30"er. Maybe multi monitor if I don't upgrade again before I can afford those =p /sigh you guys know the routine.

ANyhow, which would you go with and why? (and im sorry I know some variation of this has been asked 10000000x already but I JUST returned to the pc scene) been lost in MMO's for awhile and fell behind on hardware and tech in general.

 

[Eureka]

Definitely 780. A 780 overclocked is the same as a Titan stock, if not faster. With that kind of power in SLI, microstutter won't be much of an issue (microstutter happens when you drop far below vsync levels, and that kind of power will have no issue getting up there).

The Titan is just a poor choice overall, unless you're going to SLI them. Even a single 780 is a better buy over the Titan.

 

[lavaheadache]

Titan, The best is still the best.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Definitely 780. A 780 overclocked is the same as a Titan stock, if not faster. With that kind of power in SLI, microstutter won't be much of an issue (microstutter happens when you drop far below vsync levels, and that kind of power will have no issue getting up there).

The Titan is just a poor choice overall, unless you're going to SLI them. Even a single 780 is a better buy over the Titan.

A problem the OP might have is he seems to play mostly MMOs, which are typically very CPU limited, and thus he might not be able to maintain 60+ FPS if microstutter is that much of a concern...

that being said, I think your advice is otherwise pretty good; I'd also recommend a single GTX780 and saving that extra $350-650 that would have otherwise gone to GPU and instead save it for CPU/SSD (and cooling/motherboard so the CPU can have healthy overclock)

 

[blackened23]

It all depends on whether you're using surround or not. If the answer to surround is no, there is absolutely no sane reason to get a Titan over 780 SLI. The fact of the matter is that the 780 at stock has more available TDP headroom and can generally OC to Titan level performance - so with that being the case.....would you rather pay 2000$ for Titan SLI when you can get 780 SLI for 1300$? And the 780 SLI will perform exactly the same or within 1-2 % (depending on which specific 780 SKU you purchase). Heck, you can look at benchmarks of various aftermarket 780 cards and they perform faster than Titan out of the box due to higher TDP headroom. If it were me, and I weren't using surround, I know what I would buy.

So with that said, unless you're using triple monitor - where 6GB of VRAM can be useful - I can't see any good reason to get Titans. The Titans were designed for surround, period, and that is why they have 6GB of VRAM. Unless cost is meaningless, of course - then purchase whatever you want.

 

[moonbogg]

Agree with Blackened23. I'd go 780 SLI in a second. I have 670's in SLI and I can tell you that I have never seen any micro stutter at all, and I was looking for it. SLI works great.
As mentioned above, the Titans are expensive for the GPU power you get, but that 6gb of Vram is perfect for multi monitor gaming.
780SLI is absolutely the perfect setup for 2560x1440/1600.

 

[EXCellR8]

OP is keeping the Q6600? I'd probably give that an update long before I looked into getting a brand new graphics card. I had one of those and experienced a lot of BN running a 5870... just saying.

I understand not wanting to swap it out since you are liquid cooled and all, but you're gonna need to modify the loop anyway if you get a new GPU.

 

[wilds]

I bet OP will get a 4770K. Maybe you should buy 1 GTX 780 for now and see how it goes? I personally doubt there would be a huge benefit from going to one 780 to two of them at 1080P. But 2x 780 is great for resolutions above 1080P.

 

[blackened23]

OP is keeping the Q6600? I'd probably give that an update long before I looked into getting a brand new graphics card. I had one of those and experienced a lot of BN running a 5870... just saying.

I understand not wanting to swap it out since you are liquid cooled and all, but you're gonna need to modify the loop anyway if you get a new GPU.

Agreed, the CPU is going to be a bottleneck. It's definitely worth considering an upgrade to the 46/4770k and Z87 with the money saved with the 780.

 

[RussianSensation]

4770K + GTX780. Since you played on Q6600 + 8800GTX for this long, it sounds like you can live happily with low settings and frame rates for a while. I would strongly suggest you completely change your upgrading strategy. Instead of buying $2000-3000 of PC parts and keeping your PC for 5-6 years, upgrade more frequently. For that reason, get a 780 and upgrade next year to Maxwell. This idea of buying the fastest parts with no budget limit and keeping them for 5-6 years is a n00b way to build PCs. What you want is to upgrade often to minimize your upgrade costs while having a PC with very good performance. Next year just sell the 780 and get an 880 or similar. This minimizes your cost of ownership and keeps you up to date for next gen games.

Oh and the Titan, biggest waste of $. Titan OC is barely 5% faster than GTX780 OC.

 

[alcoholbob]

Option 3. Get 1 GTX 780, overclock it, and then take what you saved and buy a faster card in 12 months.

 

[lavaheadache]

I would buy a used Titan. They pop up from time to time an can be had for not too much more than a 780

 

[Puffnstuff]

I feel for the op and his investment in water cooling. I've been running my system for 3 1/2 years and I must say it's the longest I've ever run the same hardware. Anyway I'd get a single 780 and a waterblock unless he got a evga hydrocopper 780 over a titan. But first I think that I'd update my system to some variant of core i7 and 6gb+ ram.

 

[Silverforce11]

FF14 is pretty graphically demanding (in cities), putting the bottleneck on the GPU, unlike most MMOs.

It also has a lot of problems with SLI and CF so wait and see if you want to go down that route.

 

[TheUnk]

I really need to check my VRAM usage in GW2. Running that game max everything @ 5760x1080 on 2 Titans. They'll both reach 99%+ usage in some areas and it's barely breaking 60fps.

 

[Yuriman]

4770K + 780 right now.

2nd 780 later.

780 SLI will probably be slower than a single 780 on a Q6600.

 

[blackened23]

Just to add - VRAM doesn't add performance, it adds image quality such as HD textures and anti aliasing without being forced to lower or remove those settings - don't think of VRAM in terms of framerate. Also, some surround resolutions aren't available in certain VRAM configurations, although 2GB is generally good for 5760x1080 - that being said, many games will require FXAA or no MSAA (MSAA uses a lot of VRAM).

With a Titan in surround resolutions you will never need to compromise on image quality levels, that's the beauty of Titan with surround. With a 2-3GB card you may have to compromise on occasion. So long story short, if you're planning on using a card with a single 30 incher - 780 is definitely the way to go.

 

[UaVaj]

for now at 1920x1080p.
a 680 or 770 will play almost all game at maxed out.
a 580 or 660ti will play almost all game with a few setting turn down.

-----

for that 30" 2560x1440.
780x2 will play almost all games with maxed out
titan will play almost all game with a few setting turn down.

-----

considering that 30" - another vote for 780sli.

 

[nitromullet]

Im curious what you guys would go with ALL THINGS/VARIABLES considered?

What you really need to do is re-consider your upgrade strategy. Buying new, expensive gear, water cooling it, and keeping it for 6 years is probably the worst bang for the buck strategy there is. For 4 of those 6 years you have really expensive, now virtually worthless and under performing parts.

If you're going to keep a video card for years you should at least buy it when it's either one generation old already, perhaps used. It's going to be behind the curve for most of its lifespan, why bother paying a lot for it up front?

Otherwise, if you like having high end consider selling it before it loses its value completely. With video cards that generally means keeping up with info on upcoming launches and dumping your current gen card on ebay or CL. For systems without an integrated gpu it helps to pick up a cheap video card for 2D to use in between generations.

example:

buy 8800GTX - $650
sell 8800GTX + $450
buy GTX 280 - $650
sell GTX 280 + $350 (these dropped in value/price quite a bit)
buy GTX 480 - $500
sell GTX 480 + $350
buy GTX 580 - $500
sell GTX 580 + $350
buy GTX 680 - $500
sell GTX 680 + $400
buy GTX 780 - $650

$1400 out of pocket

vs

buy GTX 680 - $650
buy GTX 780 - $650

$1300 out of pocket

...for ~$100 more (and some effort, of course) you could have been using a high end NVIDIA card from each generation instead of getting by with an old card for the past few years. Plus, it's easier to do because you only have to save up ~$200-300 every time instead of $650. This doesn't even take into account some really awesome bank/buck cards from AMD that have launched since the 8800GTX.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

If you are bottle-necked by your CPU now, you won't see any improvements on fps minimums with a GTX 780, You'll still see that stutter at your lows.