RE: heres another http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy5478lBais Would it make a difference if the 2 660's were set up with a motherboard that has 2 PCI-e 3.0 16x slots as opposed to the 2 8x slots which is what the board in the video has? I know that the Asus Maximus V line has a more expensive version with multiple 16x slots. Also, I have read elsewhere that with one card, 16x vs 8x is almost the same. But with 2 cards in SLI, I wonder if the difference is still minimal?
After having been shipped 1 faulty Sapphire 7870 and then another faulty Sapphire 7870 after RMA'ing the first one, it is clear that the much more lose restrictions on their hardware manufacturers make AMD an impossible choice for buying graphics cards. Go nvidia all the way bro.
I'm on the fence with this.. Right now my 470s sli puts out 9000 points in 3Dmark 11. This is 400 points less than the 680 which puts out 9400 points in 3Dmark 11. Should I buy two 660 regular versions for $199 each which puts out 11000 points in 3D mark 11. And if the 660 can be over clocked to 670 performance then I can get 13000 points. So. Is it worth to spend $400 for two 660 in sli for 2000 points increase and potentially 4000 points increase if over clocked to 670s speeds?
Bear in mind that if a game doesn't have a Profile for it, only one of you're card will work. Normally all graphically intensive games have a profile at launch, but some not right away. Also some games don't scale 80%+ I had a 460TI SLI setup, was pretty satisfied with it. Upgraded to a 660TI, witch is faster or at least as fast, and pretty sure i will order a second one after Xmas..
I will but another GTX 660 Gigabyte Windforce. GTX 660 SLI seems to be about 40 % better than the single GTX 680.
I just bought a second 660TI, a single 660TI can run pretty much anything at 1080p max (except AA) setting and have very playable framerate. But for the novelity of thing, bougt another.. i figured that since a had a 460 SLI, i would then wait for the 860 to be release since i do that every 2 gen..
A single gpu configuration will be always better than a Crossfire/SLI, even if you have higher framerate with Crossfire/SLI.
Well, in this video is basically all you need to know, but bare in mind these 660's in the video are factory OC'ed! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy5478lBais
Blue_Kid, you should have realized Mraz was trying to help you on page 1. But in any case I saw you guys worked through that. If you had 2x cards in SLI yes the performance would be better than the single 680 would be, but your downfall will be on a game that doesn't yet either have or doesn't support an SLI profile. Pretty much all games now support an SLI profile that are graphic heavy though so that doesn't matter too much. If it were me, i'd wait a few months until the next release of cards and just pick up a single 680 on the cheap, and then in the future possibly get a used 680 if it's worth it at that point and it will increase the performance enough. The way I see SLI is like this. You're either nuts and think having over 50FPS on a game is going to help you, or you're doing budgeting correctly and adding a second card at the right time and price point in addition to what you have will save you money and delay having to buy a more expensive card at that time. I dunno if anyone has any input on my opinion? I can run almost everything on full settings with my GTX 550ti. My friend is upgrading soon and I will be taking his 550ti for $50. So in total I have paid 180 bucks for my SLI configuration and should last me easy another 1 1/2 - 2 years I think. It's your choice how to spend your money, but I think getting a single 680 would be a good idea when the price drops, and maybe you could even get 2 for a good price.
@ Jw_Leonhart I totally agree with you, though everybody has different needs. Someone with a 120Hz display for example won't want to get 50 fps, there's basically no point. Or if you're using 3D Vision and/or surround (or even a single 1440p monitor).. And if you need to use AA on top of that.. Obviously you'll need horsepower. Of course you can play with a midrange card/PC, but your experience will be midrange as well. If you want/can get a high end gaming experience, why not to do it ? The problem is that it's much easier to accustom yourself to high end stuff than to low end, so you can't really go back after that :roll: About the price, it'll generally drop "enough" just after a new gen, so you're basically screwed if you want the best experience possible for a relatively long time. But indeed waiting for the new gen should assure a more or less attractive GTX680 at some point. But will it be somewhat "futureproof enough" compared to the GTX700 performances ? Well.. Wait and see I guess. About your 550Ti Sli, you'll get between GTX 560Ti and GTX 570 performance and up to GTX 580 speed when scaling is good and resolution kept at/under 1080p. So you'll get a similar (or so) experience to someone who bought a 580 more than two years ago. I think you'll understand that not everybody will be satisfied by performances from two years ago. It all depends on your needs as always and for everything
@ Jw_Leonhart If i buy a cheaper GTX 680 it will be expensiver than 2 GTX 660 ( one new, other one second hand, i mean GTX 660 ) But the performance betwen those 2 ( GTX 660 SLI and single GTX 680 ) is still better for GTX 660 SLI.
I would get a GTX 680 down the road you can always get another 680 when it gets cheaper in that way you get lot more performance. 680 in sli whoops 660
Go for the GTX 680 or even better for a 7970. It's more than enough for gaming. With a SLI you might have problems with bad drivers, microstuttering, heat , etc.
