660 (NON ti) SLI good for a 3820x2160 setup?

Frostbyter · Jul 26, 2013

I just recently bought a Seiki 39" 4k TV SE39UY04 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DOPGO2G/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0K4EDX2RSAWXGN93C9HX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846) and I own a computer with an i7 920 and a single 660 Superclocked Edition from EVGA.

I've noticed that it is quite laggy when trying to crank up the settings at this resolution, even without AA, because AA is useless at this resolution. I simply do not enable AA in my games.

I am low on cash, so I was wondering if I could add a second 660 Superclocked and it would significantly boost my framerate. Or, if I should sell my 660 and buy a higher end card or two.

I plan on gaming at the 3820x2160 resolution, without AA.

Another thing, the TV is locked at 30hz with this resolution due to limitations in the current generation of hdmi 1.4. Although, I dont notice any difference between the V-Synced 30fps and non V-Synced 60fps, besides the ultimatum of screen-tearing at 60fps.

Sorry for the long forum post, and thank you for your responses!

-Frostbyter

cookybiscuit · Jul 26, 2013

Nope, the card has a 192bit memory bus, its useless at that resolution.

Sell it and move up.

Frostbyter · Jul 28, 2013

Well, what would be a good video card/cards?

ThermalV · Jul 28, 2013

Frostbyter :

For gaming you'd need a 780 or dual 760's at the very LEAST to enjoy this. Currently we don't have powerful enough GFX cards to max out games at these higher resolutions but to be fair 1440p is only just starting to become popular among the general populous.

Frostbyter · Jul 28, 2013

Well this screen does do 2560x1600 at 60hz perfectly crisp, what kind of horsepower would I need to run, say, Crysis 3 Maxed Settings without any AA?

ThermalV · Jul 28, 2013

Frostbyter :

Crysis 3? You're still looking at a 780 or more sorry

iam2thecrowe · Jul 28, 2013

forget crysis 3, you will need to go to lowest settings at that resolution, but lowest settings on that game is not a lot different to max anyway. I just got a second 660 a couple days ago, the improvement is insane. At that high resolution it will be ok on some less demanding games, but you really want a pair of 770's or a titan for such a high resolution to play anywhere near max settings. I would say its still beneficial to get the second one though if you don't have over $1000 to spend on video cards.

Frostbyter · Jul 28, 2013

Would 2 780's be a good setup? I hear they are just like Titans but with 3gb of VRAM. And if I turn down the AA to none, would the VRAM stay under 3gb?

ThermalV · Jul 28, 2013

Frostbyter :

It's been shown that even on 3 4k monitors you will not fill 3Gb of VRAM. They have equivalent or better performance to the titan (due to better driver support)

Frostbyter · Jul 28, 2013

Alright, well I've been reading up on a 4k showdown from the guys who reviewed the TV, and their choice was two 7970ghz's in Crossfire. Now, the 780 was not in that list, but the 7970 crossfire was getting real acceptable framerates *albeit the runt frames*. Would two 7970's be a viable option as well? http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-High-End-GPUs-Benchmarked-4K-Resolutions

cookybiscuit · Jul 28, 2013

No, Crossfire is vastly inferior to SLI.

Frostbyter · Jul 28, 2013

Well we arent getting anywhere then

And how come the 7970 got better framerate than the 680? Its a much more viable option to me.

cookybiscuit · Jul 28, 2013

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-benchmarking-frame-rate,3466.html

While an AMD setup might get a better framerate, that doesn't translate to a better gaming experience, this only goes for multi GPU setups though.

Frostbyter · Jul 28, 2013

Well thank you for the great responses so quickly, I'll do some more research on a possible 7970 CF or 680 SLI setup!

iam2thecrowe · Jul 29, 2013

Frostbyter :

No, dont go for a crossfire setup, like someone else said, crossfire is poop. Despite getting high FPS, the frame spacing between the cards is so out of sync you get stuttering, frame delivery variation, dropped frames and runt frames going to your monitor. There are a lot of articles around if you google FCAT, which is a frame interval metering tool Nvidia use to optimize their dual card configs and have far better frame spacing and even frame delivery.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/crysis_3_graphics_performance_review_benchmark,8.html
here's a look at vram useage with crysis 3, it nearly uses 3gb at 2560x1600 with 8x AA. I would play it safe and get 4gb cards. Also note that getting 2x 2gb cards does not give you 4gb useable vram, its still 2gb useable. Each card has a separate copy of its own data in its vram, cards cant share eachothers vram resources.

In3rt1a · Jul 29, 2013

iam2thecrowe :

Frostbyter :

No, dont go for a crossfire setup, like someone else said, crossfire is poop. Despite getting high FPS, the frame spacing between the cards is so out of sync you get stuttering, frame delivery variation, dropped frames and runt frames going to your monitor. There are a lot of articles around if you google FCAT, which is a frame interval metering tool Nvidia use to optimize their dual card configs and have far better frame spacing and even frame delivery.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/crysis_3_graphics_performance_review_benchmark,8.html
here's a look at vram useage with crysis 3, it nearly uses 3gb at 2560x1600 with 8x AA. I would play it safe and get 4gb cards. Also note that getting 2x 2gb cards does not give you 4gb useable vram, its still 2gb useable. Each card has a separate copy of its own data in its vram, cards cant share eachothers vram resources.

To be perfectly fair, AMD is working on drivers that should fix the microstuttering. They should be out really soon. I'd recommend getting two sapphire 7970's from newegg right now. They are currently $300 a piece, which is a great price.

iam2thecrowe · Jul 29, 2013

In3rt1a :

iam2thecrowe :

To be perfectly fair, AMD is working on drivers that should fix the microstuttering. They should be out really soon. I'd recommend getting two sapphire 7970's from newegg right now. They are currently $300 a piece, which is a great price.

To be more fair, when i got my 2 x 6850's in crossfire, people were telling me they fixed the micro-stutter problem in their drivers back then...........but they didn't! I'll believe it when i see it, i have a feeling its as much of a hardware problem as a driver problem, and drivers are only half the answer.

In3rt1a · Jul 29, 2013

iam2thecrowe :

In3rt1a :

To be more fair, when i got my 2 x 6850's in crossfire, people were telling me they fixed the micro-stutter problem in their drivers back then...........but they didn't! I'll believe it when i see it, i have a feeling its as much of a hardware problem as a driver problem, and drivers are only half the answer.

Why do you think it's a hardware problem? Nvidia and Radeon gpu's are neck and neck when it comes to single gpu configs. Unless you're dishing out 1000 dollars for a gtx 690 or a titan, but that's not the case here. I completely agree that the new drivers could very well not fix all of crossfire's issues, but they might. It was just a detail worth pointing out.

660 (NON ti) SLI good for a 3820x2160 setup?

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