dual 660 ti or 680?

[1wsx10]

Im contemplating buying another gtx 660 ti power edition from msi and running them in sli but Im worried that I wont have enough bandwidth for the second card.

 

Im using this motherboard

http://www.asus.com.au/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z77V/#specifications

but when I bought it I didn't realize it only had one PCIe3 x16 slot, the other one is x8. if I plug a second gtx 660 ti in there will it run slower?

If so, How much slower?

will it still be faster than a gtx 680 or should I sell my current 660 and buy a gtx 680 lightening from msi?

 

help would be much appreciated.

[Samskip]

The preformance loss when going from x16 to x8 very minimal, you won't even recogize it.

If it's faster than a 680 depens on how well the game is optimized for SLI. Most of the time it will be faster.

[1wsx10]

The preformance loss when going from x16 to x8 very minimal, you won't even recogize it.

If it's faster than a 680 depens on how well the game is optimized for SLI. Most of the time it will be faster.

awesome and wow fast reply! thanks so much :)

[Bubben]

Even if you had two full lanes, you wouldn't be guaranteed better performance than a single 680, and even if you did get better performance in most games, you'd still have to factor in stuff like micro stutter and the general hassle. But no you probably wouldn't notice much difference.

 

My advise would be to either buy a 680 now or stay on your single 660ti for a while longer.

[1wsx10]

Even if you had two full lanes, you wouldn't be guaranteed better performance than a single 680, and even if you did get better performance in most games, you'd still have to factor in stuff like micro stutter and the general hassle. But no you probably wouldn't notice much difference.

 

My advise would be to either buy a 680 now or stay on your single 660ti for a while longer.

I am currently using 3 way surround and am experiencing a few frame rate drops in games like far cry 3 and borderlands 2 so I think I will get that second gpu now, especially that new games like battlefield 4 are inbound, thanks anyway

[Giac]

You should always get the fastest single GPU setup you can buy. Trust me...going SLI with two mainstream cards is just not worth it. I tried that with SLI GTX450s and it was a pain. Drivers...slow performance in certain games, noticeably laggier even when the fps was decent....

[G.Freeman]

I am currently using 3 way surround and am experiencing a few frame rate drops in games like far cry 3 and borderlands 2 so I think I will get that second gpu now, especially that new games like battlefield 4 are inbound, thanks anyway

Borderlands 2 just is an unoptimized mess because of crippled Physx. Boarderlands 2 will still run choppy even with a second GPU cause the game engine sucks because of Physx. Read Physx Debacle post for more info.

[1wsx10]

You should always get the fastest single GPU setup you can buy. Trust me...going SLI with two mainstream cards is just not worth it. I tried that with SLI GTX450s and it was a pain. Drivers...slow performance in certain games, noticeably laggier even when the fps was decent....

what modern intensive games aren't compatible with sli?

[Giac]

what modern intensive games aren't compatible with sli?

Most modern games will work. However I remember playing Crysis 1 and the scaling wasnt great. 30fps with my dual 450s felt slower than my single 680. I dont want to discourage you too much from SLI, maybe the driver support is a lot better than when I tried it. But I still recommend you go with the fastest single GPU you can afford.

 

EDIT: theres also the hassle of updating SLI profiles when a new game comes out, sometimes those drivers will be broken or wont play nice with your system. For general peace of mind I would stick with single GPU.

 

 

Borderlands 2 just is an unoptimized mess because of crippled Physx. Boarderlands 2 will still run choppy even with a second GPU cause the game engine sucks because of Physx. Read Physx Debacle post for more info.

 

I was wondering when you were going to show up....

[G.Freeman]

what modern intensive games aren't compatible with sli?

None they all are and even the older ones are. SLI and CF works great and it's only the people that have never tried it that give it a bad name.

[1wsx10]

Most modern games will work. However I remember playing Crysis 1 and the scaling wasnt great. 30fps with my dual 450s felt slower than my single 680. I dont want to discourage you too much from SLI, maybe the driver support is a lot better than when I tried it. But I still recommend you go with the fastest single GPU you can afford.

 

EDIT: theres also the hassle of updating SLI profiles when a new game comes out, sometimes those drivers will be broken or wont play nice with your system. For general peace of mind I would stick with single GPU.

correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 450 2 series older than the 680? did you mean the 450s were worse in crysis than the 680 in a more recent game?

I would go and sell my 660 but the wait and hassle of ebay + linus did mention 2 x 660 was faster than a single 680 in one of his videos is swaying me the other way.

[1wsx10]

None they all are and even the older ones are. SLI and CF works great and it's only the people that have never tried it that give it a bad name.

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[extremescouter]

I would suggest getting another 660ti, as the SLI setup would perform much better than the 680. However, with your surround setup, you would be limited by the amount of RAM on each card, and with a SLI setup, you only get as much RAM as one card. It would also probably cheaper to get an extra 660ti. However, keep in mind that the new MSI power edition is not as capable as the old one, and you cant overclock as much as you used to.

[Giac]

None they all are and even the older ones are. SLI and CF works great and it's only the people that have never tried it that give it a bad name.

Except I HAVE tried both. Crossfire 5770s and SLI 450s. Before that I had SLI 8800GTS 640MB editions. Some people don't notice the difference in responsiveness and frame times. Clearly you don't...and thats fine. But I do notice it and so do many other people. Read the articles on PcPer with regards to frame times. Even SLI adds a noticeable amount of latency.

 

 

Bottom line: if you want the most hassle free experience go with the fastest single GPU you can get.

 

 

correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 450 2 series older than the 680? did you mean the 450s were worse in crysis than the 680 in a more recent game?

I would go and sell my 660 but the wait and hassle of ebay + linus did mention 2 x 660 was faster than a single 680 in one of his videos is swaying me the other way.

 

 

With the 680 I was running on Very high while on the 450s I was running lower settings. I wanted to match the FPS I was getting before to see if I could notice a difference in responsiveness. The difference is definitely there. If you purely want higher FPS then SLI 660's might be a better solution. But keep in mind adding a second card will introduce additional latency....there's simply no way around that.

 

(off topic)

a bit harsh on Giac don't you think?

 

The guy is a grade A troll....I wouldn't worry about im too much.

 

 

OC is pointless when you have a whole other card to add right LOL.

 

Wat? You can't be for real right? All you need to do in SLI/CF is make sure both your GPU's can hit the same clockspeeds. The difference will be even more noticeable than with a single GPU. I was able to go from 16k in 3DMarkVantage to 20k when overclocking my old 450s.

 

Yet again you are spewing mis-information without a grain of proof to back it up.

[G.Freeman]

I would suggest getting another 660ti, as the SLI setup would perform much better than the 680. However, with your surround setup, you would be limited by the amount of RAM on each card, and with a SLI setup, you only get as much RAM as one card. It would also probably cheaper to get an extra 660ti. However, keep in mind that the new MSI power edition is not as capable as the old one, and you cant overclock as much as you used to.

+1^ for another 660ti in SLI however OC is pointless when you have a whole other card to add right LOL.

[felixbearpig]

i had 2 660ti pe in sli. they did pretty good, didnt notice micro stuttering and improved performance by around 80% most situations 

[1wsx10]

+1^ for another 660ti in SLI however OC is pointless when you have a whole other card to add right LOL.

this is true until the 2 x 660ti gets older

[G.Freeman]

this is true until the 2 x 660ti gets older

Even then an OC will not make the games tangible more playable an upgrade is needed.

[Bubben]

I am currently using 3 way surround and am experiencing a few frame rate drops in games like far cry 3 and borderlands 2 so I think I will get that second gpu now, especially that new games like battlefield 4 are inbound, thanks anyway

If you're running multiple monitors then I'd definitely advise against sli with a mid-range card like the 660ti. Better to get one expensive card now and potentially another one latter on when you want more performance. There's also the matter of second-hand value; a 680 will still be worth a considerable amount of it's original cost when you'll be struggling to sell anything bellow a 670.

[1wsx10]

something else Im wondering, If I do go for another gtx 660 ti, what can be differant? e.g. is it possible to maybe use an evga 660 ti with my msi 660 ti pe?

 

if anything

[felixbearpig]

something else Im wondering, If I do go for another gtx 660 ti, what can be differant? e.g. is it possible to maybe use an evga 660 ti with my msi 660 ti pe?

 

if anything

yes you can mix and match vendors 

just not vram 

[Theo]

Id go 680, less hassle, less heat in case, less performance but its pretty awesome!

[Giac]

Even then an OC will not make the games tangible more playable an upgrade is needed.

You are high and drunk.

 

something else Im wondering, If I do go for another gtx 660 ti, what can be differant? e.g. is it possible to maybe use an evga 660 ti with my msi 660 ti pe?

 

if anything

 As long as both cards a refence PCBs then you should be fine. Even with non matching boards you should be fine. But to be on the safe side I would stick with ref + ref. Also avoid XFX like the plague.

[G.Freeman]

yes you can mix and match vendors 

just not vram 

You can SLI CF different Vram cards but the shared Vram will relegate down to the lowest denomination.

[felixbearpig]

You can SLI CF different Vram cards but the shared Vram will relegate down to the lowest denomination.

exactly so it dosent really work.....