Sli or not?

Blindeagle · 7 Oct 2013 at 23:10

So just a question about these cards as i am going with a new build and i am not sure what to get for the graphic card area.

My build is:
z87-g45 motherboard
I5 4670k
Corsair 750W CXM Builder Modular 80+ Bronze PSU

For graphic card aera i can either get
gtx 770 4gb version OR
2 x gtx 760 4gb version OR
2 x gtx 670 4gb version OR
2 x Radeon HD 7970 AMD Graphics Card - 3GB

I am running only 1 monitor. Let me know , thanks guys

Adam123 · 8 Oct 2013 at 00:37

Personally I have SLI GTX 580 XE and only run them individually... I find micro stutter is too bad for me and find that a single card is smoother...

Im waiting for the new GTX 770ti which will hopefully be using a Keplar 110, failing that hopefully will go all out n get a 780

teppic · 8 Oct 2013 at 00:39

2x7970s would give the best performance, but for one screen (assuming it's not 1600p) you'd be fine with 2x7950s and it'd be quite a bit cheaper. The HIS £185 ones are particularly good for Crossfire.

spoffle · 8 Oct 2013 at 00:53

New AMD cards are out in a week, you're best waiting until then to decide.

Blindeagle · 8 Oct 2013 at 00:53

teppic said:
2x7970s would give the best performance, but for one screen (assuming it's not 1600p) you'd be fine with 2x7950s and it'd be quite a bit cheaper. The HIS £185 ones are particularly good for Crossfire.

Ah thats good, but one question which one will give me the most fps those? the 770 or the 2x7970? Money is not a problem is well

and ye i do use a 1080p

teppic · 8 Oct 2013 at 00:57

Blindeagle said:
Ah thats good, but one question which one will give me the most fps those? the 770 or the 2x7970? Money is not a problem is well and ye i do use a 1080p

A single 7970 can beat a 770, let alone two. At 1080p you won't need the performance of 2x7970s though, 2x7950s would be fine.

If you want a single card, wait for the 290/290X.

Blindeagle · 8 Oct 2013 at 01:03

teppic said:
A single 7970 can beat a 770, let alone two. At 1080p you won't need the performance of 2x7970s though, 2x7950s would be fine.

If you want a single card, wait for the 290/290X.

are u for real? How can a 7970 which is like 220 quid beat a gtx 770? which is like 300 quid? i dont get it lol

spoffle · 8 Oct 2013 at 01:04

Blindeagle said:
are u for real? How can a 7970 which is like 220 quid beat a gtx 770? which is like 300 quid? i dont get it lol

It's called nVidia tax

teppic · 8 Oct 2013 at 01:05

Blindeagle said:
are u for real? How can a 7970 which is like 220 quid beat a gtx 770? which is like 300 quid? i dont get it lol

One of those nice times to buy because new cards are coming out (though the 7970 is just being renamed as 280X), so prices have been cut massively.

Blindeagle · 8 Oct 2013 at 01:14

Ah ok so basically, i should get 2x 7970 which is better then one gtx 770, and also one other question, would a 1x7970 outperform a 1x770? Thanks

teppic · 8 Oct 2013 at 01:23

At stock the 7970 and 770 beat each other depending on the game, though the 7970 is slightly ahead overall. The 7970 also has better memory specs and overclocks generally better, and is a lot cheaper.

At 1080p I would get 2x7950s as games don't even need that much power maxed out.

Blindeagle · 8 Oct 2013 at 01:29

ye i just got told that 2x 7950 will beat a single gtx 770, is this true? but i also got told that a gtx 770 is better to have for future proofing, In a year or two when the GTX 770 is much cheaper, you can SLI it then to gain incredible frame rates. Plus, we can assume that drivers, while they work well from Nvidia now, will be even further perfected for SLI in future making SLI all the more viable in future.

spoffle · 8 Oct 2013 at 02:35

Blindeagle said:
ye i just got told that 2x 7950 will beat a single gtx 770, is this true? but i also got told that a gtx 770 is better to have for future proofing, In a year or two when the GTX 770 is much cheaper, you can SLI it then to gain incredible frame rates. Plus, we can assume that drivers, while they work well from Nvidia now, will be even further perfected for SLI in future making SLI all the more viable in future.

Whoever told you about the 770 is talking rubbish.

770s will be less future proof than 79xx cards because of its 2GB RAM and 256 bit memory bus.

Assuming that the drivers will be perfected is incorrect as well.

2x7950s are faster than a GTX Titan easily enough.

2x7950s overclocked would be faster than 2x770s.

Kaapstad · 8 Oct 2013 at 04:07

Blindeagle said:
ye i just got told that 2x 7950 will beat a single gtx 770, is this true? but i also got told that a gtx 770 is better to have for future proofing, In a year or two when the GTX 770 is much cheaper, you can SLI it then to gain incredible frame rates. Plus, we can assume that drivers, while they work well from Nvidia now, will be even further perfected for SLI in future making SLI all the more viable in future.

A GTX 770 is slightly faster than a HD 7950 and slightly slower than a HD 7970.

Having said that you don't want the GTX 770 as it is worse value for money than the HD 7950 or HD 7970.

For 1080p try a single HD 7950 or HD 7970 and at a later date you still have the option to add a second if you want more performance.

Blindeagle · 8 Oct 2013 at 08:11

So just to sum it up if i order 2 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card it will defo beat the gtx 770 and it will be good hopefully in the future for the next 2/3 years? Thanks

teppic · 8 Oct 2013 at 08:13

Yes, it'll give very high end performance and you've got 3GB VRAM and good memory bandwidth for high AA and quality settings.

Blindeagle · 8 Oct 2013 at 08:23

Aright cool and just a question , how long do u reckon they will last me for compared to the gtx 770? So down the line do u reckon the gtx 770 will be better for the future or the 2x7950 will be better? Thanks

teppic · 8 Oct 2013 at 08:26

The 7950 is more future proof than the 770.

If you get a higher resolution monitor later, 2x7950s will also suit it much better.

Blindeagle · 8 Oct 2013 at 08:36

teppic said:
The 7950 is more future proof than the 770.

If you get a higher resolution monitor later, 2x7950s will also suit it much better.

Ah cool atm got a 27 inch monitor at 1080p just wanted 2 ask 1 last thing is well, will my motherboard, cpu and power supply etc be compatible with these cards? Thanks

Spec:
z87-g45 motherboard
I5 4670k
Corsair 750W CXM Builder Modular 80+ Bronze PSU

Bacon? · 8 Oct 2013 at 08:55

Mobo supports X-fire which is always good

Should be no problem with that CPU, is it overclocked though? If not then I'd highly reccomend overclocking it before you get dual cards.

PSU looks ok. I'm hesistant to trust the CX PSU's for X-fire because they havent got the same quality as an Antec, Seasonic etc. Checking it now.

Looks to have enough PCI-E cables according to Corsairs website:
http://www.corsair.com/en/cx-series...att-80-plus-bronze-certified-modular-psu.html

And Hexus gave it a good review (couldnt find on on Johny's)
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/psu/55065-corsair-cx-series-modular-cx600m-atx-power-supply/