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660 in SLI

You're slightly missing the point. It's not hampering CF/SLI at all and I've already agreed that they're running at the maximum as per spec but the spec itself is the problem and doesn't represent that good value for money IMO especially for an SLI option.

By pairing 2 mid range GPUs with a 192 bit bus you're just exacerbating the problem when the cards are running individually (i.e. they're bottlenecked by their memory bus). You're adding another load of GPU power but the bus width is obviously the same and becomes an even larger limiting factor.

+1

It isn't that it is a bad idea, it just isn't a wise buy from the off.
 
+1

It isn't that it is a bad idea, it just isn't a wise buy from the off.

Yeah.

As a 660Ti can pretty much handle most games with an overclock on the memory at decent enough frame rates adding a second one second hand in 6-12 months could be a cheap option to prolong the longevity. Even if you bump a frame rate from 35 to 60 this is unplayable to playable again :).

As you say just not a good option from the off to say "right, I'm buying to 660Ti's".
 
You're slightly missing the point. It's not hampering CF/SLI at all and I've already agreed that they're running at the maximum as per spec but the spec itself is the problem and doesn't represent that good value for money IMO especially for an SLI option.

By pairing 2 mid range GPUs with a 192 bit bus you're just exacerbating the problem when the cards are running individually (i.e. they're bottlenecked by their memory bus). You're adding another load of GPU power but the bus width is obviously the same and becomes an even larger limiting factor.

It's only really the Kepler generation of cards that don't offer great value tbh. Maybe that has been a mistake on their (AMD/Nvidia) part in the past?

As an example the GTX 460 was selling for £120 whilst the 480 was £350+. Pairing them up together had them beating the 480 in more games and benchmarks than they lost.

Every one knows that right now the 660 and 660ti offer poor value for money as they are too close in price to the 670 yet nowhere near close in terms of performance.

I'm not sure who in the marketing departments of Nvidia and AMD think they are doing but when you can get a 7950 for £8 more than a 7870 then something is clearly wrong.
 
Would someone mind helping me out :D

Would I see the issue if I was using 660 in SLI on 2x 24" 3D monitors like these. Possibly just the 1 for gaming.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-051-BQ&groupid=17&catid=1851&subcat=

I'd hate to shell out on a 680 as the prices are still too high!

I'll most likely be using x16/x16 or x16/x8.

Just get a single 670 or something. I don't know anything about your CPU as to whether it's going to be a large bottleneck.

A single 670 is only 5% slower than a 680 at a fraction of the price. This is a good one as it's on the 680 PCB with the 680 cooler:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-170-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2294
 
^ that.

Had the 670 PE been available when I got my Jetstream I'd have opted for it. I like MSI's twin Frozr coolers even if they do get a bit whirry when at high speeds.
 
hmmm....dont think I could warrant spending that amount on a new card, when mine is working perfectly.

Do you know where I could get some Overclocking profiles for the MSI Afterburner, which are relevant to my MSI GTX660?
 
No such joy with profiles Snips :(

This is something you will have to do yourself (and it is easy). Start with a small 50Mhz overclock and run Heaven on highest settings. If it crashes, lower the clocks by 10 but if it passes, raise the clocks by 10. When it fails, drop the clocks by 10 and move onto the memory. Not to sure on what is a good memory overclock on the 660 but iirc 250 is a good aim.

When you feel you have your max overclocked core and memory, run heaven for an hour (or just go play some games). If it crashes, the core is still too high and needs dropping by 10 or if you see artifacting on the screen, the memory is too high and also needs dropping.

Stick with what you have for now and see what the next gen of cards brings. I am sure the 660 is enough for most of todays games, even if you can't use full specs.
 
hmmm....dont think I could warrant spending that amount on a new card, when mine is working perfectly.

Do you know where I could get some Overclocking profiles for the MSI Afterburner, which are relevant to my MSI GTX660?

Best to overclock manually so you can tweak the settings to your particular card, due to the silicone lottery not every GPU will clock the same (Some 660's will need more or less voltage to be stable at the same frequency) so it is better to adjust the settings for your particular card through trial and error :)
 
hmmm....dont think I could warrant spending that amount on a new card, when mine is working perfectly.

Do you know where I could get some Overclocking profiles for the MSI Afterburner, which are relevant to my MSI GTX660?

Oh sorry I forgot you've already got a 660. Ignore my advice then it's terrible advice :p.

Unless your games are struggling then wait for the 660s to hit £100 second hand and then get a second one.

It's likely to be a better option to get a new card at such time though :).
 
Oh sorry I forgot you've already got a 660. Ignore my advice then it's terrible advice :p.

Unless your games are struggling then wait for the 660s to hit £100 second hand and then get a second one.

It's likely to be a better option to get a new card at such time though :).

lol same here, I didn't realise till post #27 that he had one already. :D (I should look at sigs more).
 
Oh sorry I forgot you've already got a 660. Ignore my advice then it's terrible advice :p.

Unless your games are struggling then wait for the 660s to hit £100 second hand and then get a second one.

It's likely to be a better option to get a new card at such time though :).

Yup! I reckon the prices of the 680/690 would come down to a reasonable price when Nvidia announce/release their 690 successor. The £800+ price tag is enough to cover ones mortgage for 2-3 months, no way in hell would it be worth it. Personally, I'd give it a year or so.

As much as I like the look of the AMD cards, I really like PhysX & 3D.
 
Best to overclock manually so you can tweak the settings to your particular card, due to the silicone lottery not every GPU will clock the same (Some 660's will need more or less voltage to be stable at the same frequency) so it is better to adjust the settings for your particular card through trial and error :)

Hmmm....got less than 10% o/c

Seems hardly worth it!
 
The £800+ price tag is enough to cover ones mortgage for 2-3 months, no way in hell would it be worth it. Personally, I'd give it a year or so.

Really? That's £50 more than a months rent for me :D.

As much as I like the look of the AMD cards, I really like PhysX & 3D.

AMD cards do 3D as well. I've only used nVidia 3D so can't comment on how good it is. Some say as good, some say not as good :D.
 
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