Upgrade or SLI? GTX 670

imbenc · 25 Jun 2014 at 10:49

Hi All,

So it's been just over 2 years since my last post and I'm considering a slight upgrade on the PC I built around that time. Basically, I'm able to get a free CPU and MB upgrade (listed below) and thought about replacing my GPU at the same time. My old MB/CPU will be used as the base for a second machine that's being built.
Do I go SLI with another GTX 670 found at the right price, or put the card with my old MB/CPU into the other machine and get a better single card? If so, what's right for the price that would be a worthwhile upgrade compared to 2x GTX 670's?

I have - EVGA GeForce GTX 670 Superclock 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-2672-KR)

New MB/CPU
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-491-GI
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-540-IN

Current Spec
PSU - XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver'
GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 670 Superclock 2048MB GDDR5
CPU - Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
MB - Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
RAM - Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
Case - Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black

RetrogamerX · 25 Jun 2014 at 10:57

imbenc said:
Hi All,

So it's been just over 2 years since my last post and I'm considering a slight upgrade on the PC I built around that time. Basically, I'm able to get a free CPU and MB upgrade (listed below) and thought about replacing my GPU at the same time. My old MB/CPU will be used as the base for a second machine that's being built.
Do I go SLI with another GTX 670 found at the right price, or put the card with my old MB/CPU into the other machine and get a better single card? If so, what's right for the price that would be a worthwhile upgrade compared to 2x GTX 670's?

I have - EVGA GeForce GTX 670 Superclock 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-2672-KR)

New MB/CPU
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-491-GI
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-540-IN

Current Spec
PSU - XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver'
GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 670 Superclock 2048MB GDDR5
CPU - Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
MB - Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
RAM - Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
Case - Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black

Not a good time to upgrade GPU atm. Buy another 670 cheap for SLI for now, then upgrade when maxwell release.

Scooby_WR1 · 25 Jun 2014 at 12:15

2x 670's are just as fast as a single 780 so you'd save a lot of money by just buying another 670.

almighty15 · 25 Jun 2014 at 12:55

Wouldn't bother SLI'ing 2Gb cards.

HazardO · 25 Jun 2014 at 13:00

almighty15 said:
Wouldn't bother SLI'ing 2Gb cards.

Why not? At 1080p, a pair of GTX670s will demolish just about anything you throw at them bar skyrim with too many mods. They'll still demolish modded skyrim as well as long as the mods aren't ott.

OP, what resolution do you game at?

imbenc · 25 Jun 2014 at 13:13

HazardO said:
Why not? At 1080p, a pair of GTX670s will demolish just about anything you throw at them bar skyrim with too many mods. They'll still demolish modded skyrim as well as long as the mods aren't ott.

OP, what resolution do you game at?

At the moment, standard 1080p 1920x1080 @60hz - but I am looking at this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-019-AO

Thanks to the rest for their responses, I can pick up a GTX 670 for ~£140 - although I may hold off altogether and keep my card and upgrade when I buy said monitor above..

RetrogamerX · 25 Jun 2014 at 13:19

imbenc said:
At the moment, standard 1080p 1920x1080 @60hz - but I am looking at this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-019-AO

Thanks to the rest for their responses, I can pick up a GTX 670 for ~£140 - although I may hold off altogether and keep my card and upgrade when I buy said monitor above..

If that's the case I would wait for 800 series before upgrading. Even the 780Ti has issues at 4k. Not worth it imho.

Wait a bit longer for maxwell.

Baron C · 25 Jun 2014 at 13:38

I'm on a single 670gtx too. (Evga ftw 2gb)

Are you sure you want to be an early adopter of 4K , it's still in infancy.The GPU grunt requirements are very demanding.
Their are other threads with people using top end 2 or 3 GPU 's to run 4k panels. (in seeing multiple titan users)

Anecdotal reading the 4k requirements are hefty.
Why not wait to see what next gen gpu will offer for 4k ?

oldestgregg · 25 Jun 2014 at 13:41

imbenc said:
At the moment, standard 1080p 1920x1080 @60hz - but I am looking at this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-019-AO

Thanks to the rest for their responses, I can pick up a GTX 670 for ~£140 - although I may hold off altogether and keep my card and upgrade when I buy said monitor above..

If you looking at anything above 1080p then no, wait. I run 2 780s at 1400p and Ive run into Vram issues lately.

murah · 25 Jun 2014 at 14:09

SLI is a great option considering 670's can be had cheap now. I would have preferred to have gone with 4GB cards if I were you but at 1080p it's not going to make a difference.

However if you want to go 4k(And seriously DONT it's not ready yet and you don't know what your getting in for) then no, you need 780s or above.
but again I will just stress 4k atm is not worth it in the slightest unless you have the cash to burn on GPU's.

imbenc · 25 Jun 2014 at 14:38

Hi all,

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, I do agree going 4K isn't really worthwhile at the moment - it does seem extremely expensive.

I bought the 670 pretty much on release and there were only 2GB options I believe, either way they're pretty cheap now. If I find one at the right price, SLI it is. If not I'll wait for the next range of cards to come out.

One question regarding SLI - do I have to get the same make GPU or can I get a different branding as long as the memory and clock speeds are the same?

setter · 25 Jun 2014 at 14:40

Yes, you can mix different brands, memory amount has to be the same but different clockspeed cards will work fine together.

oldestgregg · 25 Jun 2014 at 17:40

setter said:
Yes, you can mix different brands, memory amount has to be the same but different clockspeed cards will work fine together.

You can sli different memory cards but it will default to the lowest amount wont it?

setter · 25 Jun 2014 at 17:45

You can using the coolbits hack, but its rumoured not to be ideal.

almighty15 · 26 Jun 2014 at 07:01

HazardO said:
Why not? At 1080p, a pair of GTX670s will demolish just about anything you throw at them bar skyrim with too many mods. They'll still demolish modded skyrim as well as long as the mods aren't ott.

OP, what resolution do you game at?

There's a now a tone of games that go way over the 2Gb VRAM limit at 1080p without any MODS and it's only going to get worse.

Why pay money for a sec on 2Gb card just to have turn the texture settings down, makes no sense.

HazardO · 26 Jun 2014 at 10:46

almighty15 said:
There's a now a tone of games that go way over the 2Gb VRAM limit at 1080p without any MODS and it's only going to get worse.

Why pay money for a sec on 2Gb card just to have turn the texture settings down, makes no sense.

Funny, I never have to turn my texture settings down. Which games are you referring too? :confused:

murah · 26 Jun 2014 at 13:57

I believe the games I play that use over 2GB Vram only do that because they can, I never had a problem with my 2GB card before that. And I only started seeing it use more Vram after I upgraded to 4GB (before SLI)

tommybhoy · 26 Jun 2014 at 14:08

HazardO said:
Which games are you referring too?

Wolfenstein, Watchdogs@1080p and whatever else comes our way that's been developed with Xbone/PS4 as lead development from a forward looking pov.

It depends on how the op wants to roll tbph, highest IQ-2GB's seen it's day, or high fps with lower IQ-second hand 670 for SLi is the cheapest option.

murah · 26 Jun 2014 at 15:27

I should think OP would be fine with 2GB cards, I only picked up 4GB's out of luck of pricing at the time.
Everyone is jumping on the higher Vram bandwagon yet those with 2GB cards are still doing fine.

HazardO · 26 Jun 2014 at 18:46

tommybhoy said:
Wolfenstein, Watchdogs@1080p and whatever else comes our way that's been developed with Xbone/PS4 as lead development from a forward looking pov.

It depends on how the op wants to roll tbph, highest IQ-2GB's seen it's day, or high fps with lower IQ-second hand 670 for SLi is the cheapest option.

I don't know about watch dogs as I don't have it, but Wolfenstein runs very smoothly on my GTX670s. I see it only allows the VT texture cache to be high, but that doesn't mean I get lower resolution textures as far as I can see.