GTX 670 SLI - Should I return a card?

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Beresford

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Sep 1, 2011
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Hello,

I am looking for some advice please.

I bought a second GTX 670 FTW on the 10/06/13 from Amazon.co.uk. I am not currently experiencing any issues with micro-stuttering or anything else and I have been able to max out all games at 60fps except Crysis 3 which is because I think I am CPU-bound.

I have the option to return the card in the next 7 days for a full refund. The return shipping is prepaid.

I have enjoyed the power of the card but I think I made an impulse buy and I am now considering getting my refund (£312) and then selling my other 670 (£200) to buy a GTX 780.

I am aware that 670 SLI is more powerful than the 780, but 670 SLI is basically overkill at 1080p and I think the 780 would be better for the following reasons;

1. More VRAM (3GB as opposed to 2GB)
2. Less power consumption and noise. The former is very important as my household electricity is expensive enough as it is.
3. Better technology (GPU Boost 2.0, 384-bit memory bus)
4. Cooler temps
5. Can go 780 SLI in 2 years when prices are cheaper or just upgrade.
6. Better for 1440p which I am considering getting this week.

In addition, there is something about needing two weaker cards to power my rig that irks me, perhaps it is the pc master race elitism ego lol

It's such a hard decision, I might just get my refund and keep the money. One 670 is good by itself, only a few games couldn't play it at max and having to lower my settings from Ultra to High didn't make that much difference.

In addition, what I think what annoys me the most is that I can't even use High Physx on Borderlands 2 without FPS drops to 30-40 fps. I know it is the developers poor implementation of the technology but I see it more and more with developers and I do not see why I should have spent £600+ on GPU's when PC games can be poorly optimized. Crysis 3, Dark Souls, Borderlands 2 and Metro 2033 are a few of the games I've recently that are poorly optimized.

What do you guys think?

Thanks

Beresford
 
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toyftw
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sam_p_lay

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Mar 26, 2010
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I actually have that card (just one) and BL2 is lightning for me at 1080p, PhysX at max, 4x SMAA and everything in nVIDIA control panel cranked up to quality. I guess you've got some kind of scaling glitch there. The game I played before that (just got back on BL2 for the final two DLCs) was Crysis 3 and I maxed that at 1080p, 2x SMAA, ultra and nVIDIA control panel settings more towards performance. That wasn't quite as fast as Borderlands, but comfortably mid 30s.

I'd say the GTX780 is insanely overpriced for what it is so I'd stick with your choice or take a GTX760 and save some money. It wouldn't then be quite enough to max Crysis 3 (unless you get a good overclock on it), but comfortably high settings at 1080p and AA. Depends on whether you really need ultra settings.
 
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toyftw

toyftw

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Jul 29, 2012
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Hi - Personally I believe you should return the xtra card for the full refund.
Just keep in mind that the 780 right now is not a good price/performance
value (approx 15-20% improvement over the 770 at 40% higher cost),
so you might want to keep the one 670. Or when prices drop on the 780,
then make a change.
 
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The Kasafist

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Mar 20, 2013
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Technically its a steal price for the 770 with the power of a 680 and the price of a 670 at least here in the US anyhow I would think prices vary similarly anyhow. Personally it's too soon for an extra 670 and I agree to the impulse buy trust me I have been itching for another 670 myself and I got the higher VRAM for the sake of my artistically talented girlfriend who uses Photoshop Master Suite CS6 and such and actually helps to have more VRAM otherwise I just game on it hehe! Anyhow my personal plan of attack is to upgrade per the next line of cards for example now the 700 series are out but I just got the card so technically no upgrade until like May next year. Then another a year after that 670 upon the release of the 800 series then on the 900 series I will probably start to jump to those and repeat the same process. I like to skip a couple generation until some major improvement is made. Right now 600-700 is a poor upgrade. If you had at least a 500 preferrably a 400 series I would say jump to that GTX 770 and then slowly hold off between SLI-ing and do it that way. If VRAM is what you are kind of after your currrent series offers more VRAM already at just slightly higher price. At the time I paid $460 for the 670 FTW+ 4GB now it's dropped like $20 and may be lower here and there. Plus you can sell the game coupon for a little extra so it's really reasonably priced for more VRAM assuming you really need it. Like I said my PC doesn't just get games played on it so that's my reason otherwise I would have gotten the 2GB you have and slowly SLI overtime. As of right now it's a bit too soon! Although it's your money and you should do what makes you happy! I mean that's the great thing about PC over console you can change whatever you want right?! I do hope Intel uses the 2011 socket when they finally make their Octo-core though the girlfriend would love that! :)
 
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jasonborne33

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Jul 2, 2013
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Return the one and sell the other.. You only have 2gb of vram.. next gen consoles has 8 gigs and one has 8 gigs of gddr5 vram.. You gonna need more vram for future games. I wouldn't buy an 780 because 3 gig of vram is simply not enough. I have an 670 4gb and I can max out my vram just using mods on only one screen or in running 3 screens in 7640 x 1440.
So Wait for the 770 4gb cards to come out and get one of those, or GET two 4gb 670's "sli", or if money is not problem wait for the 6 gig 780's to come out and wait for a price drop.. all three of those options will future proof you for at least 4 years . SLI 2gb cards are not worth SLIing.. you have to start off with 4gb versions
 
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The Kasafist

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I agree I also have the GTX 670 FTW 4GB VRAM cause I was concerned when I saw the BF4 trailer looks like it was pretty demanding. Anyhow yes 2GB might be fine this year but next year may be a totally different ball game. Idk about the 8GB VRAM but 4GB should be sufficient IMO. Also haven't seen an 8GB VRAM cards but that's just me hehe?!?! Could have sworn the most for GTX's was 6GB VRAM and that is the GTX Titan. You don't actually really need that much games are only just going to finally be surpassing 2GB VRAM. Making 3GB-4GB the standard soon. Although it would be safer to shoot for 4GB VRAM just to have that extra cushion. BTW the GTX 770 Classified 4GB is available if it cannot be found online at other retailers you will find it here: http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=0&family=GeForce+700+Series+Family&chipset=GTX+770 :)

P.S. take note with TES: Skyrim the way the game was coded SLI doesn't help at all because VRAM is not stacked during SLI and you still remain limited to your 2GB even if you have 4GB VRAM total between to cards. This was poor coding by devs of course but for most any other game YES it will stack during SLI giving near your total VRAM! Tae note you never know if an issue like this ever arises again so I suggest 4GB cards just in case you need that one card to have enough VRAM!
 
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Beresford

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Hello,

Thank you for all your answers.

I have decided to return my GTX 670 FTW and get my refund of £312.00.

I will wait a few months and wait for what AMD offers and hopefully this and the release of the new consoles will bring the cost of 700 series GPU's. I can then use the £312 towarded one of those.

I cannot return my other GTX 670 because I have had it for 3 months but I will sell it in a couple of months and hopefully pick up a 780. I am hoping that they drop from £530, where they are about now, to about £400.

I will make sure to get a card with a least 3gb of vram, perhaps more as I want to get a 1440p monitor in a couple of months also.

Thanks for all your help.




 
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The Kasafist

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Sounds like a plan. I hope to get a monitor with a better resolution at some point myself wish you the best with your selection and I hope you find what you're looking for!
 
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