970 SLI > 1070?

[whoislinus]

I'm currently running the GTX 970 Xtreme edition which I've absolutely loved but have been reading about the new range from Nvidia and was firstly excited - until I saw the video below. I was looking at ditching the 970 and buying a 1070 (likely Xtreme edition again) but was surprised to see it lagged behind 970s in SLI (which weren't a million miles away from the 1080). For me, would the best upgrade path be SLI (I have a compatible motherboard, 4770s (nabbed from an old Asus machine), capable PSU and that trusty old 970 Xtreme card)? I see it as a £160 upgrade (price of 970s on eBay) rather than a £400+ for potentially worse performance. Can anyone put me mind at ease (or at least tell me I'm wrong and to STFU!)?

 

 

[HKZeroFive]

You have to keep in mind that SLI only 'works' if the game scales well. Even so, there are numerous issues associated with it such as microstuttering, driver issues, the few games that support it well or at all and the more heat + power consumed. That's why strong one card is generally better over two weaker ones meaning that the GTX 1070 would be the better choice.

 

TechPowerUp's review tested a wider range of games than JayzTwoCents'

 

[dragoon20005]

the reason for the low performance you see in the video is because those reference models RX 480s are power capped and thermal throttles like crazy.

 

 

the aftermarket models of the RX 480 perform better in cooling and able to OC way better than the reference could

 

and in some cases the Asus RX 480 Strixs were able to match the GTX 1080 in some games.

 

 

your GTX 970 is limited by the 3.5GB VRAM so i will ditch the GPU as fast as i can before the prices drops further and go for single RX 480 first and later CF

[vgfan1995]

Don't forget that SLI doesn't scale up the amount of VRam, so you also have to consider the fact that GTX 970 only has 4 (3.5 to be exact) GB of high speed RAM.

[DrMikeNZ]

I dropped my single GTX970 as I was hitting VRAM limits in some games causing massive performance loss. If I was able to hit VRAM limits on a single card, I would imagine that you will find situations where VRAM will limit your performance with SLI.

In some situations the 970 SLI will be better, but the 1070 will give more reliable performance.

[johnt]

SLI is a nightmare. Dual video cards in general is a perpetual problem. Here have been my experiences (aside from the gops of heat and noise that is generated from my case when a game actually supports 2 cards successfully... like Rocket League)...

 

Grid Autosport - excessive flashing in menus, light beams flicker during racing

Just Cause 3 - doesn't support it, game literally freaks out if you force it

Far Cry 3 - quits to desktop every 45 minutes

Far Cry 4 - flat out... shuts down PC after 15 minutes, NEVER fails to turn my system off

Tomb Raider - Lara's hair spins out of control

 

You have to be in full screen mode to enable it. Borderless window automatically disables dual video card support.

 

SLI is actually a technology that 3Dfx brought to the gaming industry right before Nvidia bought them out back in 1998 or 1999. It's nearly a 20 year old technology that is frequently botched or flat out ignored. It's safe to say multiple video cards has already had its 15 minutes of fame.

 

Benchmarks don't tell you the whole story. Forget it if you ask me. One, and done. I'll never do multiple graphics again.

[whoislinus]

Thanks guys - really appreciate your insight.  1070 here I come (after a load of saving!)...