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One MSI 480 or SLI 460's?

V_R

V_R

V_R

Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2007
Posts
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Ok, so following on from Gibbos MSI offers thread here....

I've been tempted by a single 480 for a time now, selling my current card (Asus 5870) and replacing it with the MSI 480 that is on offer at the moment seems like a very temping offer right now....

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-087-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1750

The bhavv brought up the SLI'ed Cyclone 460's....

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-092-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1830

I hadn't even considered this as an upgrade, nor am i to up on the whole SLI (or xfire for that matter) thing so any advice is welcome. :)

What would you do?


Any issues, temps? Problems etc?

rest of the system is...
i7 @4ghz
6GB XMS3
EX58-UD5
Corsair HX 850w PSU

(Link in sig) :)
 
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Go 480, no SLI hassles, 100% scaling in all games, more memory, yeah 460 SLI maybe a little faster but you're not going to notice it over a 480.
 
I would go with the single card every time, no SLI issue's or game bugs. The single card should use less power and probably makes less noise.
 
For a start 460 SLI is more expensive than the £351 MSI 480, secondly it's 15-20% faster at most and that's in a select few games, in some it's slower.
 
My thinking is the gtx460 are about 200watt each and the GTX480 is around 330w and exhausts the heat from the case. I know a GTX480 can get loud and runs very hot, but dual card setups usually always seem to end up making more of a racket.

Edit: Been thinking about it and the single GTX480 is better IMO.
 
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The Dual MSI Cyclones DONT make a racket.

I have them installed and overclocked. No noise!

They are far quieter than my 5770s were.

The GTX 480 on the other hand is a dust hoover and a grill combined. It will make far more noise than two MSI cyclones. :p

Click the link I posted above and see for yourself.
 
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Yeah I was pondering this too, I've got a 5870 like the OP has. 480 puts me off because it's so hot and loud and it's likely to get replaced by a 485 soonish. Cyclone 460s look great but I'm not sure whether it's worth it, or whether I should grab two 470s instead.

jigger said:
Maybe THEY don't but you still need to remove the HOT air they dump into the case.
Click to expand...

If a card with a custom cooler is cooled more effectively because of the custom cooler, that means there should be less heat produced by the card because it isn't allowed to get as hot as it would be with the stock cooler. Thus, less HOT air to remove.
 
reflux said:
If a card with a custom cooler is cooled more effectively because of the custom cooler, that means there should be less heat produced by the card because it isn't allowed to get as hot as it would be with the stock cooler. Thus, less HOT air to remove.
Click to expand...

Sorry thats not right. The more effective the heat transfer the quicker the case temp will increase. It makes no difference how well the HSF can transfer the heat you still have to deal with the same load you are just moving the heat faster.


Edit: I would go with the single GTX480 just to avoid the SLI issues alone. The 70watt ~ TDP saved would just be gravy IMO.
 
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gingergamer said:
Simple...SLI 460's

A heck of a lot better performance for a lot less.
Click to expand...
:confused:

The 480 is cheaper than the 2 460's...

Edit: beaten.




Well power consumption, heat and noise levels are the main concerns i have with SLI over the single card setup.

Can you get a high flow bracket from anywhere other than EVGA if you dont have an EVGA card?

.
 
gingergamer said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wva_XCTiCRs

This video says they are cheaper and the benchmarks prove they perform better (other than in Heaven but thats single card optimized).
Click to expand...

lol not much better and again it's SLI with two cards v one, I would expect it to be quicker but as your link proves the performance difference is not significant enough to warrant going SLI and all the potential problems that can entail over a single 480
 
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Poor scaling in games, potential micro stutter, you generally have more driver issues with SLI than wth a single card, that's a given.
 
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