Investing in 2 GTX 770s...How is the pay off?

Markz0ne30

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I wanted to say before I begin, I'm going for IT classes and might either branch off into software or hardware for my career. I'm 20 and inexperienced and would appreciate some technical advice as well, other than "yeah get the cards for XY and Z reasons."

So Here's my build I got from 2012

Haff 922 case
EVGA GTX 660(having sudden heat sink issues, tried different drivers and no luck)
i5 3570k 3.40Ghz
Asus P8Z77 V LX MOBO
Corsair 16 GB DDR3 RAM
Realtek HD sound card
Cooler Master Hyper 212+ cpu heat sink
Blu ray LG drive and writer
600w PSU Corsair CX
3 TB WD HDD(Windows 7 HP, primary boot steam games)
1 TB Seagate Barracuda(Ubuntu 13.10)
Cooler master fans(tailored for Haff 922)

Now I didn't build this. My parents had a third party store build it. I was mad because I wanted to make it =( they didn't think I could do it. But the Microsoft store evaluated my tuning up off the parts and said that the store that made it, put the RAM in the wrong slots and I got screwed over on labor charges for at the time a 1,300 USD PC.

Now I said the GTX 660 might be broken. Either way I was getting a new card(s) anyways. Now
what's the better deal? A single 780GTX? Or x2 GTX 770s 4B with ACX cooling? I am in school and don't want anything overkill. But I would appreciate in my time off enjoying a nice PC I worked on partly.I also want something that will last. People are still SLI'ing the GTX 690 and I don't hear any complaints or reduced frame rates.

So what are some tips? I am getting at least an 850w, because I am going to get my second 770 at the end of the year, I want to try it out as a single card first. Is 850watts two much?
 

apcs13

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I would highly recommend the GTX 780. 2x 770s are probably more powerful than even the 780 Ti or Titan Black, but it comes with a few disadvantages. 1. You either get stuck with 2GB vRAM. 2. You spend more for the 4GB version, with the extra 2GB of VRAM being almost completely ineffective due to the small 256-bit memory bus on the GTX 770, effectively limiting you to 2 good GB of VRAM and 2 poor GB that don't really work well (see benchmarks for back-up proof). The 780 comes with 3GB of VRAM on a 384 bit bus, which is a lot better. Also, you can SLI another 780 in the future if you really want to.

If you go with a 780 and plan to SLI in the future, an 850W power supply is not overkill. For a single 780 it is, but for the future it is good.

EDIT: Like Novuake pointed out, you cannot use SLI. Definitely get a 780 then.
 

Markz0ne30

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Thank you for the reminder. I thought the board had that option, kinda blows =( Because if that's the case I will SLI an entire new PC from scratch. No point in replacing my motherboard.
 

Markz0ne30

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Now is 750w too much. My newegg cart is 699 USD with a 780 and that PSU.
 

Markz0ne30

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For future reference, are SLI motherboards from Asus getting cheaper? Because it's the same thing with SSD, I want an SSD, but they need more storage and they're a bit too much.
 

apcs13

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Well, it could be argued that all currently released technology is getting slowly cheaper with some few exceptions *ahem* R9 2XX *ahem* . I do think that there are a lot of cheaper yet also high quality motherboards, in fact I believe there was a 2 or 3 way SLI Gigabyte board that had a 8+2 power phase design, possibly 4+2 I can't remember, but it was a good board for around $140. Some high-end Intel boards cost $250-400, while this one was almost the exact same for a lot less. So yes, they are getting cheaper, but very slowly.

I also am not yet aboard the SSD train. The fact that I can find a deal on a 2TB of 7200 RPM hard drive storage for the same price as a 120 GB SSD in my opinion no way justifies the speed that an SSD provides. But, that is just me, some people cannot use a PC without a SSD anymore, they are used to the speed.
 
Neither of you has used an SSD based machine. I can not live without it anymore and get frustrated without it.

As for the GTX780 and its power requirement. Your CX600 is technically enough if you do not overclock.

However if you do want to overclock, you will need a stabler PSU at like 650W. 750W is too much.
 

Markz0ne30

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Ok now I'm not near my PC at the moment, I got the model number wrong. It is an LK, not LX. Because I have SLI support labeled on y board from when I opened it yesterday =P. Maybe a 780 single for now, then get another one for a holiday sale?
 

apcs13

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I actually have used a PC with an SSD with it, and I really find that it is a waste for me. I guess I am just a patient person, or I just have a really fast hard drive in my current computer, because it boots in around 20 seconds, which is plenty fast for me. My last PC had a decent SSD in it, I decided not to get one in this build so I could spend money on a better GPU. It is just not worth ~$110 for my PC to boot a little faster and games to load a little more quickly and only have 120 GB of stoage in my opinion. You know what they say about assumptions...
 


Motherofallf-ups. :)

But still, SSDs are a must for me, not just for boot up, but general responsiveness.
 

apcs13

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Yeah, that is true, but for me it was a budget-bound decision between an SSD and a lesser GPU or just a 770. I was on a pretty strict budget, which is why I have a FX-6350 instead of an i5. I would be really happy with an SSD and HDD, but it just didn't work out this time. Maybe I will get one with a copy of Windows 9 if it is any good when it comes out.
 


Definitely agree with you that if you are a tight budget and have to significantly sacrifice CPU/GPU performance to get the SSD, then its not worth it.