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Help on deciding new video cards


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To get accurate card efficiency you look at benchmarks and not the actual numbers on the card. Why are you so hellbent on getting SLI? 2 cards almost never means 2 times the performance of that single card. There are also issues with SLI in certain games, they consume a lot more energy, they are a lot hotter and are more expensive. Yes, you will see better performance in games over a single 680 but currently and for quite a long time in the future, the single 680 will carry any game amazingly on its own. If later in the future you feel that it will struggle, then you can get an extra and still have a top of the line gaming rig. If you get SLI now you'll be sorry later since you won't be able to SLI another card in there (I mean you will be able to get tri-SLI but that's jsut a power hungry inefficient setup) and not to mention your electric bill will also slightly be higher.

 

Here's a reference 680:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-680-review/

 

and here's an MSI one(the one I recommend) :

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-geforce-gtx-680-twinfrozr-iii-oc-review/

Here's another one (this is the best one of the lot though i don't know how expensive it is):

http://www.guru3d.com/article/palit-geforce-gtx-680-jetstream-review/

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I'm with Rofltroll.

2 Cards in SLI/CF ≠ 2x the performance.

2 Cards in SLI/CF = 2x the price :biggrin:

Cons of SLI:

More heat

More likely to run into driver issues

Cost more (Price and power bill).

 

I don't see why you'd want to burden yourself with these issues when you can grab a single 680 that is perfectly capable of doing BF3 with all settings maxed out, runs cooler and overall, cost cheaper (in this scenario). Furthermore, if you overclock it, you'll likely hit the 60FPS mark.

 

Also +1 on the GTX680 TwinFrozrIII

:cheers:

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So reading all this, im thinking of the 2gb SLI 660, would that be good?

And thats the idle temp, im not sure if thats good or not, its at stock.

so shaderxCuda= efficientcy?

 

The tech source says that the release could be as late as august. That is still a rumor, and could come out sooner, but I can't see the release being anytime soon. If you were looking to SLI, I would just go look for some cheap 560 448 cards to SLI. One card would break the bank for your 500 mark limit, but maybe after you sell the other 460 you might be willing to spend the extra cash on a second card for SLI.

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At the moment the GTX680 at near $500 is probably the best choice. They are in short supply so you can afford to change your mind.

SLI/Crossfire have scaling issues where, as stated, two do not double performance. Also two cards use the max memory of one card, ie 1gb +1gb = 1 gb.

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The 590 is currently the fastest thing you can buy. It has 2 GPUs in it so it's kinda' like SLI but without all the hassle. If you really really want SLI then at least consider a dual gpu card rather than 2 separate cards. That ASUS MARS 2 I linked is quite a good pick. Only 1300 euros.

 

edit:spelling

Edited by Rofltroll

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Guest Black gold saw.

The 590 is currently the fastest thing you can buy. It has 2 GPUs in it so it's kinda' like SLI but without all the hassle. If you really really want SLI then at least consider a dual gpu card rather than 2 separate cards. That ASUS MARS 2 I linked is quite a good pick. Only 1300 euros.

 

edit:spelling

 

I don't personally consider dual GPU cards viable.

 

I bet ya anything that 90% of people would choose the 680 over the 6990 or 590 any day.

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I don't personally consider dual GPU cards viable.

 

I bet ya anything that 90% of people would choose the 680 over the 6990 or 590 any day.

Why?

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Guest Black gold saw.

Why?

 

No multi-gpu issues. Lower heat and power consumption.

 

less expensive, and just as powerful.

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