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What Nvidia Card to get?

H

houe

Senior member
I've decided to return my AMD card and get a Nvidia card. I guess a 570 is probably the card I'm going to go with. Any recommendation on which one to pick up? I needs to be a 2 slot version as my mobo doesn't have room for 3. I want to keep the option for SLI in the future so I can run surround as well. I have 3 monitors at 1920x1200 and my system is in my sig. Will 650 watts handle 570 SLI? Thanks.
 
Do you game in Eyefinity/Surround? If so your going to need 2 nVidia cards or one of those special AIB cards to do Surround.
 
650W will be stressed badly to run 570 SLI, especially on an older gen i7. You're looking at ~ 200W per GPU, 100W per CPU and 50w for the rest, much more if you stress test in Furmark. Not wise. The official recommendation for GTX 570 is 550W, for two cards that's 750W.

If you're planning on a future multimonitor setup, you're better off with AMD's 2GB cards, or two future 28nm GPUs. If you don't want to go 2x 6950 2GB at stock settings, I would recommend a single GTX 570 now and upgrade to a 28nm GPU next year. Either one high end part or two ~150W parts, and your PSU will be fine.
 
How does more memory help with more monitors?

I can understand needing bigger buffers when things are done per-pixel to the screens, bucause more pixels means more memory..

But if you're playing a game, memory requirements will otherwise be the same, whether you're playing on two massive monitors or one small one?
 
lehtv said:
If you're planning on a future multimonitor setup, you're better off with AMD's 2GB cards, or two future 28nm GPUs.
Click to expand...

I have a 6950 2gb right now but am returning because of screen tearing (I have another post on that). No way to fix it and its too annoying for me.
 
houe said:
I've decided to return my AMD card and get a Nvidia card. I guess a 570 is probably the card I'm going to go with. Any recommendation on which one to pick up? I needs to be a 2 slot version as my mobo doesn't have room for 3. I want to keep the option for SLI in the future so I can run surround as well. I have 3 monitors at 1920x1200 and my system is in my sig. Will 650 watts handle 570 SLI? Thanks.
Click to expand...


How big is the loss from selling your 6950?

Im just asking because a 6950 is ~200-220$, and a 570 is ~280-320$.

Even if you get full price for your 6950, your looking at spending 60-120$ more.


6950 vs 570 ~12% differnce.
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_6950_Vortex_II/images/perfrel_1920.gif


25%-50% more costs in price for ~12% more performance
(assumeing you get full price for your 6950 when you sell it).

Anything less than a 570 doesnt make sense, considering the "cut" you ll likely have in selling your card, and getting simular performance (for more cost). If you get anything less than a 570, you might as well flush money down the toilet, just as smart.


570 is beating out a 6970 in the BF3 demo, I would go with that if you plan on playing that game.
Click to expand...

People are haveing memory issues with the game too. Haveing 2GB is the safer bet, with that game, esp if you plan on doing crossfire/SLI lateron.
 
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houe said:
I have a 6950 2gb right now but am returning because of screen tearing (I have another post on that). No way to fix it and its too annoying for me.
Click to expand...

Well that sucks.

But as I understand it you get this screen tearing problem only with three monitors. If you game with one monitor, you don't have the problem, correct? But if you're trying to rectify the triple-monitor issue by switching to a GTX 570 instead, that won't work either because you need two of those to run three monitors. So if I'm correct it'd be best for you to just wait until 28nm before getting rid of the 6950.
 
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Yes, I am going to be eating a 15% restocking fee + shipping back. I could ebay it but that probably would turn out to be about the same or worse. It stinks, but guess that is what i get for not doing my homework well enough. Very disappointed with my first AMD card. Little issues like this really is what separates good products from mediocre ones.
 
This is the first mention i've seen of screen tearing being a problem with multi-monitor gaming. Have you checked widescreengamingforum.com for solutions suggestions to resolve the issue or a confirmation that this is an AMD specific issue? Easiest solution is to fix the issue and keep your card.


If that is not an option then you are going to want the horsepower of the 570,... downfall is that the 1.28gbs of VRAM will be a limiting factor at 3x1920x1080 if you go multimontior at a later time with another 570.

THe reccomendation above for the 560ti with 2gb VRAM for each GPU is what you would want, but i'd look into triple monitor performance with 2 of those cards. I dont think it would perform on a desired level for multimonitor gaming.

Edit: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1576329 has some good information on screen tearing and Eyefinity setups.
 
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Attic said:
This is the first mention i've seen of screen tearing being a problem with multi-monitor gaming. Have you checked widescreengamingforum.com for solutions suggestions to resolve the issue or a confirmation that this is an AMD specific issue? Easiest solution is to fix the issue and keep your card.


If that is not an option then you are going to want the horsepower of the 570,... downfall is that the 1.28gbs of VRAM will be a limiting factor at 3x1920x1080 if you go multimontior at a later time with another 570.

THe reccomendation above for the 560ti with 2gb VRAM for each GPU is what you would want, but i'd look into triple monitor performance with 2 of those cards. I dont think it would perform on a desired level for multimonitor gaming.

Edit: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1576329 has some good information on screen tearing and Eyefinity setups.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I linked that hardforum thread in my posting about my problem. I would like nothing better than to keep my current card - I'm losing 50 bucks to return it. Sadly I didn't do my homework well enough and I'm paying for that. AMD really does have the more compelling 3 monitor solution save this problem. Considering people were complaining about this problem 8 months ago and no one has found a good solution (in my opinion) I'm thinking its going to be a permanent problem. My card and DP->DVI dongle are shipping back to newegg tomorrow.

Anyway how about this card, GTX570 with 2560MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130687
 
houe said:
Yeah, I linked that hardforum thread in my posting about my problem. I would like nothing better than to keep my current card - I'm losing 50 bucks to return it. Sadly I didn't do my homework well enough and I'm paying for that. AMD really does have the more compelling 3 monitor solution save this problem. Considering people were complaining about this problem 8 months ago and no one has found a good solution (in my opinion) I'm thinking its going to be a permanent problem. My card and DP->DVI dongle are shipping back to newegg tomorrow.

Anyway how about this card, GTX570 with 2560MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130687
Click to expand...

It's great but you'd still need two of them to run 3 monitors.
 
houe said:
Yeah, I linked that hardforum thread in my posting about my problem. I would like nothing better than to keep my current card - I'm losing 50 bucks to return it. Sadly I didn't do my homework well enough and I'm paying for that. AMD really does have the more compelling 3 monitor solution save this problem. Considering people were complaining about this problem 8 months ago and no one has found a good solution (in my opinion) I'm thinking its going to be a permanent problem. My card and DP->DVI dongle are shipping back to newegg tomorrow.

Anyway how about this card, GTX570 with 2560MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130687
Click to expand...

Damn, yea that's a huge buzzkill and IMO a huge setback to Eyefinity for those sensitive to tearing.

If I were you i'd be compelled to evaluate the 560ti option Keys noted because that will allow for triple monitor gaming and fit within the power rating of your Seasonic. From what i know thats a great PSU, not something that would be cheap to upgrade from in terms of wattage while maintaining the quality.

The 570 you listed would be the one to get, but you'd need to upgrade the PSU to have a viable SLI route with that vid card.
 
tommylommykins said:
How does more memory help with more monitors?

I can understand needing bigger buffers when things are done per-pixel to the screens, bucause more pixels means more memory..

But if you're playing a game, memory requirements will otherwise be the same, whether you're playing on two massive monitors or one small one?
Click to expand...

Basic rule for video memory, VRAM, is that the higher the resolution the more memory your video card/s need to maintain a consistent frame rate.


Multi monitors used for gaming purposes typically run a very high resolution and would have a much higher pixel count than any single monitor.
 
I can confidently say that Keysplayer suggestion is the best one. You will need 2 GBs of VRAM no doubt about that BF3 is pegging me at 1.3 GB of VRAM and I am playing the Metro map on 1920x1200 and the SLi will give it enough power to run games respectably. You can also OC those GTX 560 Tis to be equal or surpass the GTX 570.
 
badb0y said:
I can confidently say that Keysplayer suggestion is the best one. You will need 2 GBs
Click to expand...

I would go for the MSI Twinfrozer OC gtx560ti 2gb @ 880 core for the same price.
No rebate needed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127608

1gb Msi gtx 560ti twin frozer II/oc review
8


http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/01/27/msi-geforce-gtx-560-ti-1gb-review/8
 
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IMO save yourself the hassle of having to deal with microstutter. A lot of people notice this from SLI/xfire and its annoying as hell. But if you do decide to get sli:

edit: just saw you're going triple monitor, SLI makes a lot of sense in that case. Be aware that the grass may not be greener on the other side, triple monitor has issues for
both AMD and nvidia, period. Some games will not work.

If you're overclocking the CPU or GPU substantially, you'll need a better PSU. OC'ing can add a *ton* of power draw, 200W or more. If you're oc'ing both gpu/cpu then i'd say 850 miniumum, 1k preferred. I'll try to dig up the review, but one 580 sli review mentioned nearly 900w power draw from the wall - with both gpu's heavily oc'ed. OC'ing is no joke when it comes to power draw. What works at stock doesn't when oc'ing.

Anyway, as far as specific recommendations it doesnt' get much better than the MSI lightning or Gigabyte super OC if you want to overclock. Go to overclock.net - they have a huge database of successful and verified 580 / 570 overclocks and the MSI lightning with twin frozr 3 is consistently , hands down the best. If you don't care too much about oc'ing, EVGA is a good choice - most of their models use ref cooling, but are fantastic for SLI. EVGA also has the best warranty in the biz.
 
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