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2nd gtx 580 or try to save money for a newer gen card?


  

14 members have voted

  1. 1. should i sli or save money to go for a new gen card?

    • sli
      1
    • new gen card
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So the upgrade bug has bitten me once again and i am thinking about adding a second gtx 580 to my pc so i have similar performance to the gtx 770/780.

 

The only thing that is withholding me is the 1.5gb vram on the gtx 580.

Will this be enough for the upcoming games?

 

I hear a lot of games require 2gb and more to play properly on higher settings/resolutions and i am afraid if i sli the gtx 580 i get a shortage of vram next year.

I really want to play the witcher 3 and the such, but i will immediately assume those kind of games are really vram hungry and it wouldn't surprise me i get stuck on a thing like that in terms of performance.

 

SO, i dropped a poll to make it easier for me :P

 

 

In regarding price, i can get a gtx 580 for 100 euro (roughly $130) second handed and i am really tempted to buy it.

 

Edit:

 

I play the games i have on 1080P resolution, maybe that will make any difference?

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I voted new generation  because the vram requirements of newer games keeps going higher and if you sli you still won't be able to up the amount of ram you have so in another year you will still have to upgrade and the value of the 580's will just be less.

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After having a few Sli and Crossfire setups, I have to say, 1 fast card is almost always better than 2 cards. With 2 cards, you get werid issues in, random crashes, unsupported games, driver issues. When I say almost always because sometimes (like now) you  need 2 cards to play next gen games, like anything in 4k, even so you need a new card in sli to even do that anyways.

 

 

Currently right now in BF4, Titans in Sli, the levels only load half the textures, so I cant see where i'm walking. This might be a bad example, but say you had a GTX 770 in sli doing the same thing, yet 1x 780 is about the same speed ( give or take). There is no point in 2 cards, if you can get the next one up for a simliar price.

 

2x 580s are about the same as a 770 speed wise.

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Definitely go with a faster single card. For one thing it is almost certainly going to be less of a hassle, as hornybluecow pointed out. Also a number of nVidia features require Kepler GPUs, and the 500 series is still Fermi, if those having access to all of the features matter to you.

I wouldn't upgrade to a 700 series card though. Don't know enough to guess when, but I would expect the 800 series to be out sometime this year, and definitely before the Witcher 3. Gone this long without upgrading, what's some more months for what should be an even better upgrade?

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Just think at all the heat dissipated of 2x 580, this and the power supply requirements (around 400W for 2 cards in average, without taking the rest of the system). I don't think you would enjoy going low on VRAM since it would induce more stutter than SLI would add as well.

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Just think at all the heat dissipated of 2x 580, this and the power supply requirements (around 400W for 2 cards in average, without taking the rest of the system). I don't think you would enjoy going low on VRAM since it would induce more stutter than SLI would add as well.

 

If you stay above 50fps, the micro-stutter isn't even noticeable for most people.

I pay all inclusive (rent, gas electric, water) and a high electric bill isn't something i am worried about :P

 

I also have an 850W power supply so that power requirement shouldn't be a problem as well.

Same with heat, my coolermaster 690 sports 8 fans and cools quite adequate.

 

 

But i am leaning towards a new gen card with all the comments being so negative on SLi.

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SLI is still quite good. I haven't run into any issues with SLI as long as I can remember, personally I like two cards over one. 2 580's is still a powerful combo.

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Considering you already have the PSU, and have one card already. If you can find a second one cheap, its a no brainer....... You struggling now, u can't be considering you were running a 9600GT before lol

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Considering you already have the PSU, and have one card already. If you can find a second one cheap, its a no brainer....... You struggling now, u can't be considering you were running a 9600GT before lol

 

*Ahem* a 9800GT  :teehee: 

 

 

As far as performance goes, the card is delivering and gives solid performance throughout the games currently released (not sure about WD, but a friend bought it and installs it at my comp to see what results i am getting).

I am more concerned about the fact that the 1.5GB of Vram is going to be a bit of a thing when heavier games get released, and when they do, i am afraid the 100 euro investment isn't worth it in the long run.

 

Hence the question, and i pretty much got the answer from most people, save money and get a newer gen card.

 

I need to upgrade SOMETHING though as the upgrade bug has bitten me :doh:

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Ya if you managed to get a free card or score one for $50 I would say do it, anything more then that might be better to save for a new card. I know your budgets tight so I was giving you the cheaper option. :)

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