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Fastest Single GPU or Xfire / SLI

ademcg

ademcg

ademcg

Associate
Joined
29 Jul 2005
Posts
2,081
Location
Warrington
Sorry for this old chestnut, but I need to finish my build and the GFX card is last as I still can't decide.

Here is the build thus far:
  • Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge)
  • Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 (does both X fire and SLI - apparently...lol )
  • G.Skill RipJawsX 2133MHz 8GB F3-17000CL9D-4GBXL (4Gbx2)
  • PSU - OCZ 1000W "GOLD" Modular
  • Case Corsair 600T with side Window
  • HDD1 SSD - 128 GB OCZ Vertex 2E
  • HDD 2 Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s
  • OS - Windows 7 - Home Premium
  • Dell U2410 Resolution: 1920x1200

But the old addage of "buy the fastest single GPU you can" (e.g. GTX 580) is ringing in my ears.:confused:

I know scaling has come a long way, so what of the multiple GPU 2x 6950 2GB in Xfire or 2 x GTX 570 in SLI high performance options?

Too many problems ?
too much heat (cards close together)?

I have around £300 to spend, but I want a quiet solution, so reference coolers seem to be out.:eek:

Thoughts appreciated.
 
Last edited:
no, I have never done xfire or SLI, but I have always had dual gpu cards, 3870x2 and current 4870x2, good performance.
 
The reference 580 is really quiet as it is so I would't worry too much about it. You can pick up a decent 580 with a good cooler on the MM for £300 - £320 if you don't mind going second hand.

The 570 will be within your budget and is still a great card. The 580 has more VRAM and some more power but both are similar in performance.

GTX 560 SLI will be faster but getting a single 580 will be better in the long run if you intend to keep your card for a long time as it has 50% more VRAM and is more powerful and you can SLI later if you want

My choice would be the 580. However, the Asus 580 stone UK 22 recommended isn't what I would go for as it is a triple slot cooler.

My 580 recommendations would be the following:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-081-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-133-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

these are considerably out of budget, but the MM would be the best place to look :)
 
Cleeecooo said:
The reference 580 is really quiet as it is
Click to expand...

True story. I don't know what everyone gets in such a fret about the reference coolers and noise for. They've come a long way since the 200 series, and these new vapour chamber reference coolers are very, very quiet on lower fan levels. My 580 is clocked using 1.1v and I've never had the fan turn up enough to even hear the thing over my two case fans/speakers. These fancy triple slot coolers are just stupid gimmicks to make people think they're getting something special, when in actual fact there's no need for it.
 
I personally would rather go for the 580, after reading the newest custompc, where they were saying how sli/crossfire was good, but there is micro-stuttering to think about, and I'd rather have a single card with a single monitor than two with one monitor
 
KiiYzOo said:
I personally would rather go for the 580, after reading the newest custompc, where they were saying how sli/crossfire was good, but there is micro-stuttering to think about, and I'd rather have a single card with a single monitor than two with one monitor
Click to expand...

this
as i build more than few pc's (like many here) there is always some problems with dual gpu's,and whatever dual gpu's owners says,problems exist,so always better buy 1 POWWWERRRfull card than few not so,even tho they can be faster
 
Dont get a 580 with the intention of getting another 580 some time later to SLI, I bout my 480 thinking that now the 480s are 60% more expensive that when i bought it !!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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