I'm looking to go sli with my existing MSI 570 GTX Twin Frozr III. The conundrum I have is this: Do I sli another Twin Frozr III? These are actually a bit more expensive than when I first bought mine (I got it on offer with overclockers) and most places are out of stock. Or, do I go for the Gigabyte 570 Super Overclock with the 845Mhz factory overclocked core? This is a bit cheaper than the Twin Frozr III. The questions regarding this decision boil down to this: - Are there any advantages or disadvantages to sli-ing with exactly the same make and model of card? I.e. is it more stable? Could I overclock both cards easier? - Since I could overclock either cards manually, is the Twin Frozr III better for overclocking than the Gigabyte? I.e. does it have better cooling features? Has the Super overclocked Gigabyte pretty much reached its maximum overclock at those factory settings? - Will I lose all or most of the functionality of MSI's Afterburner by using a Gigabyte card in an MSI/Gigabyte configuration? Will using Afterburner on an MSI and Gigabyte sli setup interfere with the Gigabyte card in some way? Is MSI's Afterburner a superior overclocking tool when using an MSI card or is something like RivaTuner sufficient? System Specs: Asus P6X58D-E Intel i7 960 @ stock 3.20Ghz Corsair AX850 PSU MSI 570 GTX Twin Frozr III 4Gb Crucial 1066 RAM (will be upgraded with extra gfx card for 8-12Gb 1600/1866) Additional OCZ 120Gb SSD to be purchased at same time as extra gfx card.
I would like to know this too, as I plan on getting another 570 before Christmas and I have the TFIII.
Honestly i would get the same card. It would work either way fine. Also, cards seem to work better with each other at the same clock speeds, not that it wont work. Both cards should oc about the same, msi maybe slightly better. Also the fact that the msi tf3 is a much better cooler all around and is less noisy. Afterburner is the best all around tool imo; rivatuner doesnt even work so dont bother
I am thinking of a TFIII as the card for my new build. Also thinking ahead as to get another sometime to sli. Love the cooling solution on these and cooler is better for sli. I would really think that these should be very "beasty" in sli
ive got the gigabyte 570 super overclock, and specs wise, its better than the twin frozr. the msi uses a 6+1 power phase setup, the gigabyte uses a 10+2 power phase setup. the gigabyte uses a large vapour chamber with heatpipes to bridge it to a third heatsink, and it does a good job of keeping temps down without any increase in noise. mine stays below 60C at full load even though the ambient temperature in my room has started creeping towards 35C, which makes for a pretty good delta T. the gigabyte also has a cherry picked GPU that runs at high clocks at lower volts, mine runs at 845/1690/3800 at just 0.988V. not sure about the msi, but the gigabyte also uses a 6+8pin setup (its the same pcb as the 580 super overclock after all), which can help with overclocking. so i'd say get the gigabyte, because specs wise, its a lot better.
Its quality not quantity(vrms). Only the stock 570 was vrm starved and it only mattered when pumping up the voltage quite a bit, its non issue for the msi. Extra phases from the gigabyte one arent going to help at all for ocing. Also, it is known that the cooler is better on the msi.
dunno about that. all ive heard about the twin frozr iii is that it gets loud and doesnt bring down the temps as much as it could.
Curious as to why the OP wants to upgrade his GPU setup with the release of Kepler so close. Also 1.25GB VRAM may quickly feel limited with all the processing power that 570 SLI has
Your Vram limited in title that are sometimes buggy or badly optimised. Futur title may use more than 1.28gigs using 1080P but you sometimes only have to lower some "not that much" noticable settings to keep it under controll. I currently have a SLI GTX570 ( 27inch 1080P ) and i had a SLI GTX580 ( wced + surround 5760x1080 ) few month ago and i never ran into a Vram issue.
You heard wrong, http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-geforce-gtx-580-lightning-review/8 580 is a hotter card too
http://www.overclockers.com.au/article.php?id=985628&P=3 the 570 soc from gigabyte runs cooler than the msi from this benchmark.
Gigabyte cards runs alot hoter on the VRMs. Thermal pics. Back of the cards. MSI Lightning 580 : GPU 72.4°c and VRMs 71.6°c Asus Matrix 580 : GPU 78.4°c and VRMs 79.8°c Gigabyte SOC 580 : GPU 85.0°c and VRMs 110.0°c http://www.hardware.fr/articles/840-8/msi-gtx-580-lightning-test.html http://www.hardware.fr/articles/840-7/gigabyte-gtx-580-soc-test.html http://www.hardware.fr/articles/840-4/asus-gtx-580-matrix-platinum-test.html
Since you already have an MSI twin frozrIII I would suggest you buy another one for SLI, it's always recommended to use identical cards to ensure stability. For a single card I would prefer the Gigabyte SOC though, it has higher clocks and a better cooling system, but not much difference to be honest. Weird thing about the prices, when I bought my Gigabyte card from OCUK the MSI cost 255GBP and I just checked again and it costs 320GBP... what the hell... Anyway, go for a second MSI and you won't regret it, it's an ace card!
Majority of reviews go to the msi for better cooling; thermal paste application isnt going to be these same for each card.
Most Gigabyte cards have crappy VRM cooling. VRMs are nearly or even more important than the GPU itself with fermi.