SLI or no? MSI 660TI PE

[bannedbrother]

Hello Clockers; so before I post my Q here is my system spec:
Asus P8Z77-V PRO Mobo : i5 3570K 3.4GHz (OC'd 4.2GHz) : 2GB MSI GTX660ti Twin Frozr : Intel 240GB 520 Series SSD : 1TB WD Caviar 6GB/s HDD : 16GB G-Skill DDR3 1866MHz RipjawsZ : Corsair TXM 650W Modular PSU : Noctua NH-D14
I also use the following items:
Razer Nostromo : Razer Naga Hex mouse : Turtle Beach x12 headset

So my question really relates to what your advice would be on SLI?
I am tempted to buy another MSI 660TI to SLI my system.

1) Do you think my PSU is good enough?
2) Do you think this will = more performance than a single 680?

I am just wondering if there are any obvious short comings in my system before I think of this SLI solution.

Please let know what you think and any comments are welcome.

Main reason: CRYSIS 3 is out day after tomorrow.

Thanks to all

 

[wobbledog]

Hey bannedbrother,

Calculating the power requirements for all your current parts, including a second GTX 660Ti, you would need around 800w, I'd go with 850w to be safe - meaning you will need a new (higher wattage) PSU. From what I've read, dual 660Ti's will probably work out more powerful than a single 680, but it's all up to you

Hope that helps

 

[illuz]

You'll probably be able to run it on that PSU, but it will be strained.

Don't expect to be able to run Crysis 3 full whack either, the 660ti has a gimped bus width of 192bits which really slows down these cards when putting on eye candy and aliasing.

In all honestly, I would sell up and get 2 7950s & an 750w+ PSU if I were you.

 

[bannedbrother]

You'll probably be able to run it on that PSU, but it will be strained.

Don't expect to be able to run Crysis 3 full whack either, the 660ti has a gimped bus width of 192bits which really slows down these cards when putting on eye candy and aliasing.

In all honestly, I would sell up and get 2 7950s & an 750w+ PSU if I were you.

Thank you for the response. I will be honest in that I prefer Nvidia over AMD so would prefer an Nvidia solution. So maybe going single 680 is the answer after all? What do you think?

 

[bannedbrother]

Hey bannedbrother,

Calculating the power requirements for all your current parts, including a second GTX 660Ti, you would need around 800w, I'd go with 850w to be safe - meaning you will need a new (higher wattage) PSU. From what I've read, dual 660Ti's will probably work out more powerful than a single 680, but it's all up to you

Hope that helps

So a question on the back of your reply if I may? I am assuming my current PSU would be more than adequate for a single 680? Would you suggest to rather do that than SLI 2 lesser GPU's even though it might mean less performance? I must be honest when I say I am kind of nervous about SLI. I thought my PSU would be good enough, hence my question.
Thanks for your reply

 

[setter]

Your psu would be fine with a single 680, for example, my spec consists of whats in sig along with.

1x blu ray drive
1x 1tb hdd
9 case fans
gpu is clocked pretty high.

Total power draw at the wall according to my plug monitor is 340w when gaming, this figure includes my monitor. Regarding sli, the cons are increased heat and noise, and obviously the increase in power use.

 

[bannedbrother]

Your psu would be fine with a single 680, for example, my spec consists of whats in sig along with.

1x blu ray drive
1x 1tb hdd
9 case fans
gpu is clocked pretty high.

Total power draw at the wall according to my plug monitor is 340w when gaming, this figure includes my monitor. Regarding sli, the cons are increased heat and noise, and obviously the increase in power use.

I have only 5 case fans running 3 x 120mm and 2 x 140mm (excludes the PSU fan). Excellent, so I should be fine with current PSU which seem to indicate that I will be spending a lot of money on a 680. Think I should stick with MSI TF?

 

[illuz]

Thank you for the response. I will be honest in that I prefer Nvidia over AMD so would prefer an Nvidia solution. So maybe going single 680 is the answer after all? What do you think?

I would honestly knock the 680 out of the question, setter and I (and pretty much everyone else) will tell you to go for the 670. It's around 5% slower than the 680, and will pass a stock 680 when overclocked. A good clocking 670 can even surpass a bad clocking 680!

This is the reason I also told you to go 7950 and not 7970, as the 7950 is 5% slower than the 7970 for cheaper (same **** as above really).

If you want to look into the 670 I recommend the following:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £339.95
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £335.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC Twin Frozr Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £319.99
Total : £1,007.93 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Gigabyte are the most recommended, excellent cooling which is on par with the DCII cooler from ASUS. The plus side is the UK RMA and 3 year warranty - PERFECT for us UK folk! They clock excellent,I run mine just shy of 1300MHz 24/7 and I think setter's card runs around 1320MHz. The memory on these clock exceptionally well, I run mine +700 MHz and can bench at +850, sometimes even +900 I just drop it down a tad for 24/7 use.

The Asus card is pretty much neck and neck with the Gigabyte, the only reason I would say go for the Gigabyte is of course the UK service is second to none. If anything goes wrong the turnaround is a few days, with Asus you may be looking at weeks!

The MSI TF is another awesome cooler which will allow you to OC greatly.

Unfortunately it's not on the OCuK website, but I would also take a look at the EVGA FTW Sig 2 card. We even have a sticky thread for EVGA support with a friendly EVGA staff member to help customers - I will be buying this to go SLI with, EVGA go out of their way to ensure quality and customer service is the best!

edit// I cannot link to competitors under the forum rules, but if you want to save a bit of money go shopping as you can find the cards cheaper online. Though if you want good service and a clear mind knowing you will be sorted if anything happens, I do recommend you buy from OCuK.

 

[bannedbrother]

I would honestly knock the 680 out of the question, setter and I (and pretty much everyone else) will tell you to go for the 670. It's around 5% slower than the 680, and will pass a stock 680 when overclocked. A good clocking 670 can even surpass a bad clocking 680!

This is the reason I also told you to go 7950 and not 7970, as the 7950 is 5% slower than the 7970 for cheaper (same **** as above really).

If you want to look into the 670 I recommend the following:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £339.95
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £335.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC Twin Frozr Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £319.99
Total : £1,007.93 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Gigabyte are the most recommended, excellent cooling which is on par with the DCII cooler from ASUS. The plus side is the UK RMA and 3 year warranty - PERFECT for us UK folk! They clock excellent,I run mine just shy of 1300MHz 24/7 and I think setter's card runs around 1320MHz. The memory on these clock exceptionally well, I run mine +700 MHz and can bench at +850, sometimes even +900 I just drop it down a tad for 24/7 use.

The Asus card is pretty much neck and neck with the Gigabyte, the only reason I would say go for the Gigabyte is of course the UK service is second to none. If anything goes wrong the turnaround is a few days, with Asus you may be looking at weeks!

The MSI TF is another awesome cooler which will allow you to OC greatly.

Unfortunately it's not on the OCuK website, but I would also take a look at the EVGA FTW Sig 2 card. We even have a sticky thread for EVGA support with a friendly EVGA staff member to help customers - I will be buying this to go SLI with, EVGA go out of their way to ensure quality and customer service is the best!

edit// I cannot link to competitors under the forum rules, but if you want to save a bit of money go shopping as you can find the cards cheaper online. Though if you want good service and a clear mind knowing you will be sorted if anything happens, I do recommend you buy from OCuK.

Thanks for this superb reply man. It does give me a very decent understanding of the differences which is most helpful in my situation. I think 670 makes more sense after reading your reply....as to which one, well I will take a couple of days to read up more on the different variants etc. Thank you very much for this post, it is very helpful and more importantly a £ saver too.
Thanks again man.

 

[imginy]

really no point in going sli because they don't scale well.

no point in going to 670/7950 because it would be very little improvement. Crysis 3 for example the 660ti is only 2 frames behind 670 and is actually infront of the 7950.

I would sell up and go for 680 or 7970 or crossfire 7950

ps I have same card msi 660ti pe which I'm now selling and plan on replacing in a few weeks with a 7970.