I'm heading to best buy later this week to pick up a second 560ti. I currently have an asus dcii which I like but I think it's too fat to fit another one in sli with in my motherboard. Ex58-ud3r. Best buy also sells a pny version of that card and what appears to be a regular nvidia. Version. Which one would be best to sli with my card taking into account price, performance, and space?
Which 560ti to buy?
- Thread starter stuckinasquare3
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lehtv
Elite Member
- Dec 8, 2010
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Why do you want to SLI 1GB cards? You'll be VRAM limited if you crank up settings in demanding games like BF3, so you won't be able to use the cards to their full potential. And if your motherboard doesn't have space between the PCIe slots, it sounds like a bad idea to begin with because of heat and noise. I'd recommend you to wait for 7970 to be released, sell your 560 Ti and upgrade to that. It'll perform better than 560 Ti SLI while consuming as much power as a GTX 570.
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lehtv
Elite Member
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I thought I mentioned why already. Because you'll be VRAM limited in new games and cant use the cards to their full potential because of that. And because your motherboard doesn't have space between the GPUs so you'll may run into problems with heat and noise.
What games do you play that make you want better performance, and what's your resolution?
What games do you play that make you want better performance, and what's your resolution?
I play bf3, skyrim, crysis 2, etc. I have a 1920x1200 monitor currently but I'm thinking of upgrAding and I thought sli might enable me to do that. I wasn't aware of the VRAM limitation. I'm not as concerned about heat because I think I have adequate cooling. I didn't want to have to spend so much on a better card. That's why I wanted to sli in the first place.
notty22
Diamond Member
- Jan 1, 2010
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You won't be vram limited at 1900x1200 with 1gb. People even run triple monitors without AA on 1gb cards. It's the new thing lately to hear about these vram warnings.
Wizard at TPU, brings this issue up often, it's not a issue beneath 2500x1600.
If you were thinking of upgrading to that, you could have issues in some games.
Some games with high res- texture packs or adjustable FOV, can use more than 1gb . with certain settings, so you turn those settings down if you experience frame rate drops.
Here is a comment from his review of the 1gb 6950
Wizard at TPU, brings this issue up often, it's not a issue beneath 2500x1600.
If you were thinking of upgrading to that, you could have issues in some games.
Some games with high res- texture packs or adjustable FOV, can use more than 1gb . with certain settings, so you turn those settings down if you experience frame rate drops.
Here is a comment from his review of the 1gb 6950
Many x58 boards don't allow for a slot between dual slot cards, because they include a extra pci-e slot for a third card etc.
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Mem
Lifer
- Apr 23, 2000
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There are 2GB cards of 560TI got one myself,http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-140-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341 so my choice 560Ti wise,as to 7970 great card but too over priced IMHO.
notty22
Diamond Member
- Jan 1, 2010
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Well you probably could, but it would only give you a 1gb frame buffer.
And with a little bad luck, the driver would not allow SLI, because of differing card ID's.
According to this site, http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/22/amd_radeon_hd_7970_video_card_review/4, BF3 can use almost 2GB of VRAM
BD231
Lifer
- Feb 26, 2001
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The v-ram limitation is a farce, I max out even the Witcher 2 at 100+ frames per second in BF3 on ultra everything with no hiccups 1900x1200. I'm very sorry someone was foolish enough to recommend you buy a $500+ dollar card over adding a second Ti that's just bad information.
Anyone who spends $500+ on a single card simply doesn't want to SLi. A neighbor of mine has a 580 and after using my setup he now wants two 460's lol. Seriously though dual Ti's will destroy any single GPU solution in new demanding games, 7970 included.
Anyone who spends $500+ on a single card simply doesn't want to SLi. A neighbor of mine has a 580 and after using my setup he now wants two 460's lol. Seriously though dual Ti's will destroy any single GPU solution in new demanding games, 7970 included.
BD231
Lifer
- Feb 26, 2001
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I've also read that people are maxing out their 1.5GB VRAM cards on 1920x1200
From http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18344290&page=2
BF3 Operation Metro VRAM usage:
1st base - 1.5GB
2nd base - 1.6GB
3rd base - 1.6-1.7GB
4th base up to 2GB
1920x1080 all maximum settings, Ultra
From http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18344290&page=2
BF3 Operation Metro VRAM usage:
1st base - 1.5GB
2nd base - 1.6GB
3rd base - 1.6-1.7GB
4th base up to 2GB
1920x1080 all maximum settings, Ultra
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Grooveriding
Diamond Member
- Dec 25, 2008
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Witcher 2 is incredibly forgiving on vram. Having tested it myself at 1600p it is one of the least taxing games on VRAM in my library.
It's hogwash when people tell you they're running bf3 on ultra with 1gb cards. They're likely omitting the fact they are turning off msaa, hence making it it ultra. Look around the web of benches, you can't find benches of 1gb cards running bf3 on ultra, they're not cut out for it.
There are other games as well like this, such as Shogun 2 among others. With a next gen game like BF3 calling for more than 1gb of VRAM on max settings, it's best not to put yourself behind the eight ball and get a 1gb card looking ahead.
And never mind the FUD about 1gb playing games at 1600p. More hogwash. 1gb is woefully inadequate for that resolution in countless games if you care about having good iq.
Do yourself a favour and get a card with more VRAM, there is no reason to compromise as there are no shortage of good options out now.
6950 2gb is as good or better than a 560 or one of the upcoming 7850 cards in February which will perform better than a 560 or 6950.
I was thinking I might sell my 1GB 560 and then spend maybe another 300 of Santa money and spring for something with more VRAM. Maybe a 580 GTX so I can ugprade to two cards in future. Gotta find one that isn't so fat.
lehtv
Elite Member
- Dec 8, 2010
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I said that if going 1GB SLI, you won't be able to use the cards to their full potential. That doesn't mean you'll experience hiccups, it means you're not necessarily getting as good performance as you could get if you had more VRAM.
I know from personal experience that several games can max out the VRAM of my 560 Ti, and I'm not even running SLI! Including:: BF3, Crysis 2, Civilization V, Shogun 2 Total War, Rage with 8K textures, Skyrim with custom 2048 textures. That obviously doesn't include games that I haven't played (e.g. GTA IV will use over 1GB at 1080p highest settings, from what I've read), and future titles. To SLI 1GB cards would be a shot in the foot as you would risk not being able to use the GPUs to their full potential.
Yes a HD 7970 will cost $550. After selling the 560 Ti the cost will be $400, versus about $300 for replacing the existing 560 Ti with two different 560 Ti cards.
And what does that extra $100 get you?
1) Probably better performance and then some as drivers mature
2) No VRAM limitation thanks to 2GB more VRAM
3) Won't have to worry about driver issues / games not having SLI profiles on release etc.
4) More stable framerate and no microstutter
5) 150W lower power consumption
6) Less noise and heat compared to 560 Ti SLI without space between them
7) Great overclockability
8) PCIe 3.0 and DX11.1 compatibility
And you call that a foolish recommendation? D:
GTX 580 not really worth it at this point, and you won't want to SLI it later because by that time NVIDIA Kepler will be around and 580 will be out of production. 7970 which will cost about $50 more than GTX 580 at the moment performs 20-40% better, consumes 50W less power, has twice the VRAM... etc. If you really can't wait until 7970 is released (January 9th) then you should go with 6950 2GB crossfire, it'd perform easily better than GTX 580 and cost the same.stuckinasquare3 said:
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I appreciate the advice. I'm a little down in my mobo at the moment because of the card spacing. My last gfx cards were two 8800gt . I prolly won't be able to fit two fat cards in there unless they are a little thinner. Maybe I'll hold out for that card. That being said I am running all of my games on highest settings with my 560 and it seems fine.
TakeNoPrisoners
Platinum Member
- Jun 3, 2011
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You can, all day every day. The problem is the configuration will act like only 1GB is available.
It's a hobby of mine. I got a best buy gift card and couldn't think of anything else to spend it on! Why not get another video card so I can get a higher resolution monitor?
lehtv
Elite Member
- Dec 8, 2010
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Spending money on stuff that you don't need is your hobby? Well it's still probably not the most expensive hobby you could have :awe:
Because you'll be severely VRAM limited on a higher resolution with 1GB cards. Also, a monitor with a resolution higher than 1920x1200 is going to cost, a lot.
Also I don't see why you couldn't hold out the video card upgrade until you actually upgraded the monitor, as you wouldn't need the extra performance until then.
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Isn't that what we're all doing on this site anyway? haha
For some reason I thought the higher resolution monitors were cheaper. Oh well. Until I stumble upon one then I guess it makes sense to go with what works...which is what I have! Maybe I won't return this iRobot vacuum...
BD231
Lifer
- Feb 26, 2001
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The only issue I see is that the Ti is a bit more expensive, he bought into the 1gb limitation in the first place so I don't see why that'd be a concern now. It only cost me $140 for a second 460 so it was a no brainer. All the OP needs to consider is whether or not he wants to double the frames he's getting on all his fave titles at his current settings and make sure to keep in mind his vram limitations going forward, which aren't very hard at all to compensate for via reducing one or a combination of AA/HBAO/SSAO.
1gb cards aren't quite irrelevent just yet, not at the price's they're going for. You can still double their functional setting performance which is nothing to sneeze at.
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