Help choosing an upgrade path

[cmdrdredd]

So I'm using the system in my sig here and for BF3 it's a bit weak (video card).

So I can do one of two things...

1) get a GTX 570 this weekend and use this card for the time being. When I upgrade the rest of my system I could pick up a 2nd one and SLI.

2) Get a GTX 580 in a few weeks and have a faster single card for now and just swap it into my next mobo etc.


Reason I have these options is because I cannot do 2x 580s and still easily afford to upgrade my mobo and cpu as well this year. If I do a single GTX 580 I could, or a single GTX 570 soon and then another when I decide to upgrade again.

I'm leaning toward the single GTX 580 to remove the SLI headaches from the equation. Anyone have an opinion? I suppose if you look at it in the future someone might offload a GTX 580 card for a good price. The 580 also has more VRAM which seems to help with BF3. I understand that some 570s can clock up to 580 speeds but are missing a few shaders and some vram, wondering if I'll notice it. My monitor resolution is 1920x1200 in case you were wondering.

Just looking for some opinions.

 

[crisium]

You already have a dual-card setup. What do you think of micro-stutter? If you have no problems with your 295, then have no doubt: a 570 SLI solution will walk all over a single 580. If you are willing and able to afford 570 SLI, and are happy with your current SLI, then that's obviously what you should go for, right? This would be a harder decision for someone who never used dual-GPUs, but you already have the experience to make the decision.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Unless you're trying to push 1080p @ 120Hz or 2560x1440 or higher a single 580 would be enough IMO. Although the safest path would be grabbing a single 570 and seeing if it could be fast enough on its own as its really not that much slower than a 580 and if it isn't then you could always add a second.

I had a single 580 and was mostly happy with it if all I did was play the game (and not stream), but BF3 prompted me to add a second 580, although I like to push my 120Hz monitor as well as stream my game play which can also leech quite a bit of performance.

Granted I'm really not a fan of SLI/CFX either but delay after delay of true next gen GPUs has forced my hand, I'd much rather have a single GPU 28nm NI or Kepler, but thus far BF3 has played very well with my 580 SLI setup.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Do you have to use the same exact card if you sli? Like if i get a non reference card like the msi or asus offerings, do i need to match it exactly? If so then it might be a good idea to get a reference design card so it is easier to match. I know some of the non reference cards overcloxk a bit higher out of the box which is why i was wondering.

 

[bryanW1995]

non reference + reference card combo is ok, you just have to be careful of, say, gtx 460 se + sgtx 460 1gb combo or something like that.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

yeah, as long as its the same GPU and memory layout you'll be fine. The only thing you'd have to worry about with matching up a reference and a non reference is that the non reference will likely be overclocked a tad and you might lose out on that

that being said, the reference blower design is a safer bet for SLI anyway from a thermal perspective if your case and/or motherboard isn't as conducive to airflow

 

[cmdrdredd]

Ok so now I have to throw a wrench in the works...

Where does a HD 6970 fit in? It's got more memory and is slightly faster than the GTX 570, but I dunno about the drivers. From what I've read the past few days the AMD drivers are not quite as solid as Nvidia. Concern?

 

[happy medium]

comming from a gtx295? No single csard is worth it besides the gtx580. the only good upgrade would be dual cards.
Since you have a 16x and 4x slot I would go with 2 6870's 2gb cards for 179$AR each.

You will not lose much performance with the 4x slot.

 

[cmdrdredd]

comming from a gtx295? No single csard is worth it besides the gtx580. the only good upgrade would be dual cards.
Since you have a 16x and 4x slot I would go with 2 6870's 2gb cards for 179$AR each.

You will not lose much performance with the 4x slot.

Um...you know a GTX 570 matches and mostly beats a GTX 295 right?