Help me decide on 680sli or 7970 xfire@2560

[prolymphocyte]

Hey everyone,

I just sold my 6970xfire and I wanna upgrade to the fastest multi card display. I game on a dell ultrasharp 2560x1600 res.Im torn between the gtx 680 sli or hd7970 xfire.Which is the best option? I still have a lga 1366 mobo with pci express 2.0 but from what ive heard it`s not a difference between 2.0 and pci express 3.0 for either set up.(please correct me if im wrong.)

Thank again for your time

 

[The Alias]

Hey everyone,

I just sold my 6970xfire and I wanna upgrade to the fastest multi card display. I game on a dell ultrasharp 2560x1600 res.Im torn between the gtx 680 sli or hd7970 xfire.Which is the best option? I still have a lga 1366 mobo with pci express 2.0 but from what ive heard it`s not a difference between 2.0 and pci express 3.0 for either set up.(please correct me if im wrong.)

Thank again for your time

797o the 680 sli can't produce the cfx 7970s raw framerate in games and use radeon pro to eliminate microstutter

 

[Ferzerp]

So... Your suggestion is get the cards that produce a slightly higher average framerate, and then artificially limit it to less than the 680 sli framerate in order to get rid of the microstutter and somehow that is superior?

Ok.

Get the 680 for multi gpu. If you were going single, get the 7970.

 

[The Alias]

So... Your suggestion is get the cards that produce a slightly higher average framerate, and then artificially limit it to less than the 680 sli framerate in order to get rid of the microstutter and somehow that is superior?

Ok.

Get the 680 for multi gpu. If you were going single, get the 7970.

thing is it's nowhere near "slightly"

 

[Ferzerp]

Errr, yes it is, and then you keep seeing people saying cap it at 40 fps to get rid of microstutter, and at that point it is less, so...

Yeah.

It makes a little bigger average FPS that you have to stop it from doing so that it's not a stutterfest. You tout average FPS as what as important, and then turn around and tell the guy he has to limit it to less than what the other option he's considering can do in order for it to be not stuttery?

What kind of logic is that?

 

[Will Robinson]

So XFire is a "stutterfest" is it?
You should start your own website...you could call it...
NVSheepFarm.con

According to most reputable sites SLI generally is slightly better than XFire,most AMD fans will concede that given the consensus opinion from around the Net.
Calling it a "stutterfest" just labels you as an ignorant troll.

 

[jackstar7]

Perhaps a useful detail: what games are you playing/expecting to play?

 

[raghu78]

OP the thing is Nvidia SLI has advantages over AMD CF. they use some frame metering tech and so there is lesser micro stuttering on Nvidia SLI. also Nvidia gets SLI working well on launch day for most of the titles. AMD takes a little bit of time to get to the same level of stability. eg: farcry 3. AMD CF is not working well in this title while Nvidia SLI is working almost perfectly.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/12/17/far_cry_3_video_card_performance_iq_review/4

AMD might fix these issues in Farcry 3 in the next driver. but thats the issue Nvidia had excellent SLI drivers on launch day. so for multi GPU go for GTX 680 SLI.

 

[prolymphocyte]

I plan on playing a variety of games bf3 sc2, max payne,far cry 3,crysis mafia etc.Just looking for the best possible solution.Also will a corsair 850 W able to handle the gtx 680 in sli?

 

[raghu78]

I plan on playing a variety of games bf3 sc2, max payne,far cry 3,crysis mafia etc.Just looking for the best possible solution.Also will a corsair 850 W able to handle the gtx 680 in sli?

a 850w can easily handle GTX 680 SLI cards overclocked.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

A 1366 CPU is a bottleneck for that kind of a setup.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Okay, hold up. Don't get 680s for SLI. The performance increase is negligible (about 10 FPS at most).

 

[prolymphocyte]

A 1366 CPU is a bottleneck for that kind of a setup.

From my understading at higher res(2560^1600) its more ur graphic powers vs higher clock cpu wheres at 1080 its cpu bound is it not?my cpu is oced at 4ghz

 

[Sleepingforest]

From my understading at higher res(2560^1600) its more ur graphic powers vs higher clock cpu wheres at 1080 its cpu bound is it not?my cpu is oced at 4ghz

Prolymphocyte: You are correct about the graphics card mattering far more than the CPU. Of course, with the kind of graphical power you are proposing to buy, your older CPU may limit you slightly. On the other hand, don't worry so much about PCIe 2.0 vs 3.0. Studies have shown the difference, like the difference between the 670 and 680, to be pretty negligible.

Also, totally unrelated, but I really like your username.

 

[boxleitnerb]

I wouldn't invest that much money right now. New cards are around the corner. Get something smaller for the transition if you need to.

 

[raghu78]

I wouldn't invest that much money right now. New cards are around the corner. Get something smaller for the transition if you need to.

valid point. the GTX 780 is going to launch in Q1 2013. it might be worth either waiting for that card or buying a HD 7850 and using it till that card launches.

 

[prolymphocyte]

What are the sources that are claiming that the gtx780 is launching in jan?iam not a big fan of playing the waiting game since there is always going to be somethig better around the corner from what we know it might be delayed till march april.i think im going to buy the gtx 680s and call it a daythank you all for ur replies.

 

[3DVagabond]

If you decide to go nVidia I'd suggest 670 4GB in SLI. You can get them for between $400-$450 ea. At your resolution you are already approaching the 2GB limit in some games. The difference in performance going to the 680 is negligible.

 

[BrightCandle]

I had (have) a pair of 7970s and they really are quite bad for microstutter. The 680s I have are a lot smoother most of the time but some games are not quite right as well. But either way you won't have any practical problems with 2GB cards, I run 3x1920x1200 and I rarely approach the limit let alone exceed it. One game I have requires me to reduce the settings a notch to fit but other than that its not a big problem. If its cheap by all means get the extra vram but its not a necessity.

 

[boxleitnerb]

What are the sources that are claiming that the gtx780 is launching in jan?iam not a big fan of playing the waiting game since there is always going to be somethig better around the corner from what we know it might be delayed till march april.i think im going to buy the gtx 680s and call it a daythank you all for ur replies.

No one said January. Q1 could be end of March as well. Wouldn't surprise me if Nvidia launched about one year after GTX680. Considering that you will probably keep your card(s) for at least 18 months, about 3 months wait isn't that bad.

 

[Fx1]

I would go for a 670 SLI and save yourself the money for something else. Nvidia SLI works far better than CF and you can clock the 670's nicely and have a setup which bests even the 690 GTX for 2/3 the price

 

[Whitestar127]

If you decide to go nVidia I'd suggest 670 4GB in SLI. You can get them for between $400-$450 ea. At your resolution you are already approaching the 2GB limit in some games. The difference in performance going to the 680 is negligible.

Yes, this is what I was thinking about doing as well.

I had (have) a pair of 7970s and they really are quite bad for microstutter. The 680s I have are a lot smoother most of the time but some games are not quite right as well. But either way you won't have any practical problems with 2GB cards, I run 3x1920x1200 and I rarely approach the limit let alone exceed it. One game I have requires me to reduce the settings a notch to fit but other than that its not a big problem. If its cheap by all means get the extra vram but its not a necessity.

Seems that you are very sensitive to micro-stutter. I have 5970 crossfire and while I can notice ms in a few games the overall experience is very smooth. But this is a highly subjective matter of course. Oh and you might need 3 GB if you're going to do heavy (graphical) modding of Skyrim.

No one said January. Q1 could be end of March as well. Wouldn't surprise me if Nvidia launched about one year after GTX680. Considering that you will probably keep your card(s) for at least 18 months, about 3 months wait isn't that bad.

Do we know anything about the 780? (Haven't been keeping up on news). I'm inclined to wait for them also, but if they won't give a substantially better fps than 680/670 then I'll probably go for two 670.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Do we know anything about the 780? (Haven't been keeping up on news). I'm inclined to wait for them also, but if they won't give a substantially better fps than 680/670 then I'll probably go for two 670.

IF it is based on GK110, then yes.
K20X (the fastest Tesla card based on GK110) should already be about 30% faster than the GTX680 at current specs at 235W TDP. A Geforce version with half the memory (3GB vs 6GB) and lower voltages - Tesla has higher voltage for 24/7 operation under highest load afaik - should be be at least 40% faster at 250W TDP.

 

[UaVaj]

for that resolution. you will definitely want the bigger vram of the 7970 and the bigger bandwidth of the 7970. especially if you plan to play with all the eye candy on.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2290784


as for waiting for the 780. who know when it will actually come out and who knows how much it will cost.