Upgrade time - is my current SLI setup OK?

[Rakewell]

Hey,

Just dropped $1,200 on the setup below... but I currently have 2 x 580 gtx in SLI (in my old, dying i7 920 system), and was planning on using them for the new build.

Been outta the loop for a while... are the 580's still fast enough, or do I need to update?

I'm a gamer who likes to game mkay - running a 30" monitor at 2560x1600.

New parts:

Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150
ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z97
G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)
Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE1T0BW 2.5" MLC

Thanks-

Rakewell

 

[mfenn]

Your GTX 580 SLI setup is somewhere a little below a GTX 670 SLI setup in terms of raw performance, but the 580 setup is somewhat crippled in modern games by the fact that it effectively has 1.5 GB of VRAM. That weakness is exacerbated by your high native resolution.

If I was going to ballpark it, your setup is at best equivalent to a single GTX 780, and potentially much slower in VRAM-hungry games.

So, do you need to upgrade? That depends on what you play. If you play new, VRAM hungry games at all maxed settings, then probably yes. If you tend to older favorites and are only upgrading out of necessity, then probably no.

 

[Rakewell]

Your GTX 580 SLI setup is somewhere a little below a GTX 670 SLI setup in terms of raw performance, but the 580 setup is somewhat crippled in modern games by the fact that it effectively has 1.5 GB of VRAM. That weakness is exacerbated by your high native resolution.

If I was going to ballpark it, your setup is at best equivalent to a single GTX 780, and potentially much slower in VRAM-hungry games.

So, do you need to upgrade? That depends on what you play. If you play new, VRAM hungry games at all maxed settings, then probably yes. If you tend to older favorites and are only upgrading out of necessity, then probably no.

Ugh. I think you're right - I'm noticing some slow down here and there. And I'm playing tons of the new games - I'm prolly gonna need the upgrade.

If you were me, and money wasn't the issue here, would you get SLI again with 780's? Or wait for the 880's?

Thanks for your response, man-

R

 

[nsafreak]

For me that depends on how long you're willing to wait. Since you've waited this long for a new build I'm relatively sure that you're fine with waiting a few more months for the 880s to come out and if that's the case I would wait and get a pair of them. If you become impatient I would actually suggest looking at getting a pair of 290X cards instead. The reason being that they come standard with 6 GB of VRAM instead of the 3GB that a 780 Ti comes with. They're no slouches when it comes to performance either and they should meet your needs for quite some time to come.

 

[mfenn]

The default R9 290X configuration is actually 4GB and not 6GB, but overall I agree. If you're looking for absolute top-end performance, they're your best bet. Very nearly GTX 780 Ti performance while costing a third less. The also have AMD's XDMA engine, which means that they do away with the dedicate bridge board while more efficiently sharing data over PCIe than the bridge board ever could.

To be honest though, I think that the VRAM on your cards is killing you. I'd personally pick up a single R9 290X like this ASUS for $499 AR AP and see how it performs. If you think you need more performance, then go ahead and buy the second one.

 

[Rakewell]

Wow totally helpful posts here guys, thanks.

Anyone here have good luck with crossfire though recently? Better than SLI, same?

I seem to recall getting 580s and not the ATI competition because of driver and compatibility issues.

 

[giantpandaman2]

AMD Xfire on the 290 series rates better than SLI at the moment.

http://hardocp.com/article/2014/07/23/gtx_780_oc_6gb_vs_r9_290x_4gb_overclocked_at_4k/

Not sure if it would hold true at 3x or 4x cards but for 2x the 290 series definitely beats SLI both for the money, frame pacing, and pure performance.

 

[Termie]

He should get a 290, not a 290x. Performance is very close, price is not. Saves some dollars for CF if necessary.