2x 480GTX 1.5gb vs EVGA 580GTX 3gb

Xire · 28 Nov 2011 at 09:17

Hi guys,

In my current rig I have 2x 480s running SLI, but my room is small and my case is a bit crap in terms of cooling and they are running really quite hot on intense gaming sessions.

Now I got my hand on a EVGA 580GTX 3gig. Will I see a decrease in performance switching to this? or will it be the same. Im using 2560 res on a 27" monitor.

numatic.nathan · 28 Nov 2011 at 09:20

I'd definately say a decrease in performance.

Marine-RX179 · 28 Nov 2011 at 09:35

Would be quite a huge decrease in performance, considering the GTX580 is only around 6% faster than the GTX480, and having 3GB instead of 1.5GB VRAM won't benefit much, since it is the GPU holding your back the most.

OCPete · 28 Nov 2011 at 09:51

Marine-RX179 said:
Would be quite a huge decrease in performance, considering the GTX580 is only around 6% faster than the GTX480, and having 3GB instead of 1.5GB VRAM won't benefit much, since it is the GPU holding your back the most.

+1. I'd guess 33% losses as a minimum.

Mr. May · 28 Nov 2011 at 09:56

I would say around 45% not worth it sell it as a 3gb 580 would fetch as much as both of the 480's

FirebarUK · 28 Nov 2011 at 10:27

It's winter, you can use your 480's to help heat the room

DamoTourettes · 28 Nov 2011 at 11:54

OCPete said:
+1. I'd guess 33% losses as a minimum.

Well yes, but @ 2560 res the 3GB helps substantially on BF3. Your framerates will be lower, but you'll get less "sticking" due to texture issues and VRAM availability.

Xire · 28 Nov 2011 at 12:38

Will my 480s run much cooler at 1920 res? on a 23 inch monitor? Got one in the loft which i might retrieve

Marine-RX179 · 28 Nov 2011 at 12:39

DamoTourettes said:
Well yes, but @ 2560 res the 3GB helps substantially on BF3. Your framerates will be lower, but you'll get less "sticking" due to texture issues and VRAM availability.

That's rubbish...at that kind of res with the lack of GPU grunt, the extra VRAM simply will have minimal, if any effect at all on the frame rate.

kristmace · 28 Nov 2011 at 12:46

Customary Anandtech comparison:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/310?vs=305

Quite a decrease there.

DamoTourettes · 28 Nov 2011 at 12:48

Can't say I agree. I've been running BF3 on a 2560 x 1600 30" monitor with a GTX 580 1.5G, and noticed considerable increases in how much the video card was "stuttering" when I changed from medium textures to ultra - all VRAM related.

Marine-RX179 · 28 Nov 2011 at 12:52

DamoTourettes said:
Can't say I agree. I've been running BF3 on a 2560 x 1600 30" monitor with a GTX 580 1.5G, and noticed considerable increases in how much the video card was "stuttering" when I changed from medium textures to ultra - all VRAM related.

And you believe that texture is only to do with VRAM and nothing with the GPU...seriously? While I agree 1.5GB VRAM for 2560 VRAM would be lacking, without enough grunt to push the res it simply don't matter if you got 1.5GB or 3GB of VRAM, as you won't get playable frame rate with a single GTX580 for that res in demanding games anyway.

DamoTourettes · 28 Nov 2011 at 13:06

OCPete said:
+1. I'd guess 33% losses as a minimum.

Marine-RX179 said:
And you believe that texture is only to do with VRAM and nothing with the GPU...seriously? While I agree 1.5GB VRAM for 2560 VRAM would be lacking, without enough grunt to push the res it simply don't matter if you got 1.5GB or 3GB of VRAM, as you won't get playable frame rate with a single GTX580 for that res in demanding games anyway.

Chill out dude - I'm just making observations based on my own experience with the rig I've outlined above.

Without us directly comparing it's gonna be tough to determine whether it's indeed feasible - I've got my machine running at a playable 50-60fps via a combination of medium/high/ultra texture settings along with lots of other little tweaks I spent eons sorting out - however what I *did* notice was that arcing up texture quality flatlined VRAM usage which leads me to posit that the most major impact I've experienced has been through not having enough VRAM at super high res.

Xire · 28 Nov 2011 at 13:37

Xire01 said:
Will my 480s run much cooler at 1920 res? on a 23 inch monitor? Got one in the loft which i might retrieve

Anyone?

Random Guy · 28 Nov 2011 at 13:40

What are your temps?

EDIT: And I believe the answer to your questions is that it should run cooler but depends on how hard the game pushes the cards. Should be easy enough to monitor the temps.

OCPete · 28 Nov 2011 at 13:45

Xire01 said:
Anyone?

It depends on what software and configuration you are running.

If run "flat out" (Kombustor, Heaven, non-CPU limited games without v-synch, etc) then no. Frame rates would be higher, GPU utilisation still 100%.

If V-synch was on in gaming but you drop res down to 1080 then yes as GPU utilisation to maintain the same frame rate would drop. Heat is related to the GPU utilisation and voltage etc.

Vir · 28 Nov 2011 at 13:48

I think at that res with the newer games you really want 2gb minimum...

Xire · 28 Nov 2011 at 13:49

Random Guy said:
What are your temps?

EDIT: And I believe the answer to your questions is that it should run cooler but depends on how hard the game pushes the cards. Should be easy enough to monitor the temps.

Temps can reach anywhere between 85-95 on full load with vsync off.

Random Guy · 28 Nov 2011 at 14:02

My 480 SLI hits 94 max with Battlefield 3, other card at 89.

All within spec, although hot. No other game pushes the cards that hard.