Impressions of GTX660 single and in SLI

[Durvelle27]

time for me to get a second HD 7870 now XD

 

[guskline]

Not from his system, but gives you a good idea.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/...rce-gtx-660-asus-directcu-ii-top-and-sli.html

Hopefully guskline/John can tell you if there is any of that dreaded microstuttering!

microstuttering is above my paygrade. Besides, with my eyes at 62 I'm just glad I can see the video game.

On a serious note, those who do a lot of testing seem to confirm microstuttering. It appears to be more apparent in AMD CF than in Nvidia SLI. I am playing COD BO II and BioShock Infinite and have not noticed microstuttering on my 670s in SLI and haven't noticed it in the limited time I had with the 660s in SLI.

 

[guskline]

willomz, the link you posted that ran the 660s in sli for BF3 had the following test bed:
Intel Core i7 3960X (HT off, Turbo 1/2/3/4/6 cores: 4 GHz)
Asus P9X79 WS
8 GB DDR3 2133 Corsair
Windows 7 64 bits
GeForce beta 306.23 drivers
Catalyst 12.8

Obviously my scores would be lower on a FX8320 @ 4.3Ghz.

 

[Borealis7]

not really, BF3 is a very GPU depandent game.

 

[willomz]

The CPU can make a big difference, but it still provides a good demonstration of how 660 SLI compares to other graphics cards.

I wasn't intending to draw any comparisons with gusklines system.

 

[Face2Face]

The CPU can make a big difference, but it still provides a good demonstration of how 660 SLI compares to other graphics cards.

I wasn't intending to draw any comparisons with gusklines system.

You will see that difference when playing Multiplayer and up to 64 player maps.

For the single player game benchmarks there shouldn't be much of a difference with his CPU.

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Battl...ld-3-Multiplayer-Tipps-CPU-Benchmark-1039293/

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/battlefield_3_vga_and_cpu_performance_benchmark_test,3.html

 

[Rvenger]

I really don't see an FX 8 core that has a decent overclock bottlenecking a pair of 660s. Maybe the physics score but I really think that number is irrelevant in most cases.

 

[Durvelle27]

I really don't see an FX 8 core that has a decent overclock bottlenecking a pair of 660s. Maybe the physics score but I really think that number is irrelevant in most cases.

so true

 

[willomz]

It might in the odd Intel favored title, but very rarely.

Hitman and Starcraft are examples.

 

[Durvelle27]

It might in the odd Intel favored title, but very rarely.

Hitman and Starcraft are examples.

Not Hitman but starcraft 2 yes.

Hitman i maxed with my old FX 4100 with no problems

 

[willomz]

Not Hitman but starcraft 2 yes.

Hitman i maxed with my old FX 4100 with no problems

At the same clocks Intel has at least a 10 fps advantage, now call me picky but if I went SLI I'd want 60 fps not 50.

http://www.techspot.com/review/608-hitman-absolution-performance-benchmarks/page6.html

 

[guskline]

At the same clocks Intel has at least a 10 fps advantage, now call me picky but if I went SLI I'd want 60 fps not 50.

http://www.techspot.com/review/608-hitman-absolution-performance-benchmarks/page6.html

If I play Hitman, I'll use rig1 below!

 

[Durvelle27]

At the same clocks Intel has at least a 10 fps advantage, now call me picky but if I went SLI I'd want 60 fps not 50.

http://www.techspot.com/review/608-hitman-absolution-performance-benchmarks/page6.html

oc'd you'll easily get 60+ FPS

 

[willomz]

Did you not read the link?
Even @ 4.5ghz (faster than both yours and gusklines FXs) it is just 52 fps.

Look, I was basically agreeing with you, why do you have to nitpick like this?
Let's get back on topic.

 

[John Tauwhare]

Not from his system, but gives you a good idea.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/...rce-gtx-660-asus-directcu-ii-top-and-sli.html

Hopefully guskline/John can tell you if there is any of that dreaded microstuttering!

I've never witnessed microstuttering so I don't know what I'm looking for but my 660s display as smoothly in SLi as they do individually.

 

[guskline]

I really don't see an FX 8 core that has a decent overclock bottlenecking a pair of 660s. Maybe the physics score but I really think that number is irrelevant in most cases.

I agree Revenger. In Benchmarking my 3770k @ 4.4ghz scores higher than the FX 8350 @ 4.6ghz and the FX 8320 @ 4.3Ghz.

However, in gameplay it's not as noticeable. All three rigs play the games I use fast.

I did notice in BioShock Infinite that with a single 660 in the 8320 rig at 1920 x 1080 I lowered all the "eye candy" to have a smoother game play. Now that the rig is running 660s in SLI I can crank up the candy without the lag.

 

[bystander36]

I really don't see an FX 8 core that has a decent overclock bottlenecking a pair of 660s. Maybe the physics score but I really think that number is irrelevant in most cases.

While it is true, it won't bottleneck them very often, and you may not even have a game that does, every once in a while, a game comes along and does.

 

[Automaticman]

You will see that difference when playing Multiplayer and up to 64 player maps.

For the single player game benchmarks there shouldn't be much of a difference with his CPU.

Yeah, the 48 and 64 player matches turn that game into a CPU monster.

I've found mid-term "refreshes" like this a very good and affordable way to greatly extend the life of a PC. My last rig, which I added a second 4870 to after prices dropped to I think around $160, lasted me far longer that I had expected. It wasn't until BF3 came out that I had to upgrade, and even then it was more due to the CPU than the GPUs.

 

[John Tauwhare]

But, it'd be interesting to see if you are CPU limited in SLI, compared to his machine or your other rig. I'd be curious to see the results, if anyone feels like doing all that work.

New beta drivers on the 660s and the voltage is unlocked but otherwise clock settings are stock (1200/1502). Tested my 2700K between 1.6 and 5.2..
EDIT: and 5.4



I started at 4.8 and went down then did 5.0 and 5.2. The oddball at 4.8 can probably be explained by Heaven's occasional randomness. Run out of time to test 4.8 again tonight. It looks dramatic but the score drop between 5.4 and 1.6 is only 7%.



Heaven settings..

 

[Face2Face]

^^^ Nice testing John. Looks like we got the next IDC over here

 

[Automaticman]

The numbers on the X axis of the graph the CPU speed in GHZ right?

 

[Termie]

I hate to say this, but Heaven is not the right benchmark to test CPU bottlenecks. It is among the least CPU-dependent benchmarks available.

I'd suggest you try a 3dMark11, or perhaps a popular in-game benchmark.

 

[guskline]

John here is my Heaven 4.0 score

This with the 8320 @4.3Ghz and 2 660s in sli. The EVGA gtx660 Sc has a base clock of 1043 vs the stock 980 and the MSI Twin Frocer is clocked at 1033 vs 980. Though slightly slower than yours, it's very close despite you having a much faster CPU.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I agree Revenger. In Benchmarking my 3770k @ 4.4ghz scores higher than the FX 8350 @ 4.6ghz and the FX 8320 @ 4.3Ghz.

However, in gameplay it's not as noticeable. All three rigs play the games I use fast.

I did notice in BioShock Infinite that with a single 660 in the 8320 rig at 1920 x 1080 I lowered all the "eye candy" to have a smoother game play. Now that the rig is running 660s in SLI I can crank up the candy without the lag.

Thanks for that info...! I was kind of curious if the FX would bottlenect that much GPU power. I always felt that Vishera's performance was ok... not great, but reallly not nearly as bad many seem to think. The real problem with AMD's lineup is the power draw, not horsepower.... my opinion of course.

 

[guskline]

Thanks for that info...! I was kind of curious if the FX would bottlenect that much GPU power. I always felt that Vishera's performance was ok... not great, but reallly not nearly as bad many seem to think. The real problem with AMD's lineup is the power draw, not horsepower.... my opinion of course.

I agree. I had a FX 8150 and it was really a power hog when OC'd. Both of these Visheras (8350/8320) still draw more power that a 3770k but they OC nicely and seem smooth. Performance is up over the 8150.

Honestly the 8320 @ 4.3 Ghz with 2 GTX660s in SLI is a very nice gaming rig.