Should I buy a second GTX 770 or wait until an upgrade in a few years?

TTD187 · Aug 23, 2014

I'm just currently building a PC with an i5-4690k, 8GB 1600Mhz RAM, MSI z97-G55 motherboard and 850W PSU and am thinking that already, the PC will be amazing when it's all up and running, however I'm not sure on whether it'll be worth buying a second card at some point or just waiting some time to upgrade.

I've been thinking about my PC and how I'd ideally like it to last me several years as I'm content with slowing down to 30 fps on medium settings, so obviously buying a second card will be beneficial to allow it to last longer, although upgrading will also do the same.

So my question is that is it worth, after a few months (maybe around Christmas time), is it worth buying a second GTX 770 or would it be better to let the one I have currently run its course?

For further reference, I don't plan to be gaming at resolutions higher than 1080p and the card I have now is the 2GB MSI Twin Frozr.

Thanks.

JackNaylorPE · Aug 23, 2014

A 2nd GFX card will always be the least expensive way to improve system performance on a balanved system which has adequate PSU and a slot to put the card in.

To see what the 2nd one will do for you .... at the time of the testing it was 58% average improvement but each new driver release improves that ....

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4632/34/geforce-gtx-700-series-sli-review-geforce-gtx-760770780-in-sli-and-3-way-sli-geforce-gtx-770---scaling

You will find that a single 770 can be a bit disappointing even in todays games.

Metro on very high for example nets you just 34 fps, Crysis 3 just 37 fps .... once the 880 drops next month 770 prices will head way south and that's gonna be a helluva lot cheaper than any single 8xx or 9xx card. To give you an idea.... two 670s are faster than two 760s's and two 760s are faster than a single 780. Assuming the scaling holds going forward .... that would put two 770s above a 980.

TechyInAZ · Aug 23, 2014

Nah, since your only gaming at 1080P just stick with one card then just buy a new gtx 970 later.

radekmm · Aug 23, 2014

If you don't go beyond 1080p resolution, the 770 will do the job perfectly fine for you. just wait until the nvidia 9xx cards come out and then upgrade your hardware

photonboy · Aug 23, 2014

Hey,

1) Wait for the new Maxwell cards if possible (GTX860, 860, 880).

2) Get one with at least 3GB of VRAM. I recommend a GTX880 4GB which may cost $500+ and perform similar to a GTX780Ti.

3) Optionally a 2xGTX860 3GB setup depending on price but I don't recommend SLI usually.

*SLI comments:
SLI can make sense however not all games are supported and of those that are the advantage varies a lot. A single card however will run more consistently. It may be worse in some games for value, and better in others.

If the "58% average improvement" is correct then it's not really worth it IMO. That's roughly comparing a 2xGTX770 setup to a GTX780Ti. The GTX780Ti is about 35% faster than a GTX770 so the SLI scaling on average still comes ahead but is it enough to justify the drawbacks?

Then there is the question of SMOOTHNESS and multi-GPU setups have more stutter. It's getting a lot better, though again only when properly supported.

JackNaylorPE · Aug 23, 2014

photonboy :

The list of unsupported games (ones one might reasonably be interested in playing) counting in ya fingers won't fill one hand.

Two 670s are faster than two 760s which are faster than a 780. So if you had a 670 today and wanted more speed ....

$120 for a 2nd 670
Or sell the 670 for $120 and spend $480 for 780 .....

So choice is $120 or $360 to go slower

I have done at least a dozen SLI builds a year since the 560 Ti came out and never seen microstutter .... years back this was a phenomenon associated with trying to use low end card in CF or SLI .... did not affect the high end cards ..... and in recent years

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/23.htmleven the $150 cards don't have it.

After running the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI through our test suite, I have to admit that I'm impressed. The duo delivered performance easily matching and often exceeding much more expensive single-card options such as the GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, and they don't cost as much. SLI multi-GPU scaling works well with all of our titles except for F1 2012. Scaling by going from one to two GTX 650 Ti Boost cards is around 70%, even with F1 2012 taken into account. Unlike AMD, NVIDIA does a good job of maintaining its SLI profiles, so you should be able to play new games without a long wait for multi-GPU support. However, the risk that a game will not be supported still exists, and you might, at worst, end up with single-card performance. This is in my opinion, given the massive performance-per-dollar advantage, an acceptable tradeoff. I would definitely recommend a GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI setup to a friend looking to spend as little money as possible on a high-end gaming rig.

With a combined price of $340, the graphics cards cost much less than the HD 7970 GHz Edition ($430) and the GTX 680 ($440) while still delivering comparable performance. Power draw and noise levels are slightly higher, but that's the price you'll have to pay to save over 100 bucks. This setup also makes upgrading your aging rig to play the latest and most demanding titles without breaking the bank an option. Core "Sandy Bridge" only supports PCI-Express 2.0, so the setup would run at reduced PCI-Express bandwidth, but the difference should be quite small, maybe 4% in actual games, which is very acceptable if you take into account the lower cost of this upgrade path. Have $340 and want high-end performance? Consider this!

radekmm · Aug 23, 2014

JackNaylorPE :

photonboy :

The list of unsupported games (ones one might reasonably be interested in playing) counting in ya fingers won't fill one hand.

Two 670s are faster than two 760s which are faster than a 780. So if you had a 670 today and wanted more speed ....

$120 for a 2nd 670
Or sell the 670 for $120 and spend $480 for 780 .....

So choice is $120 or $360 to go slower

I have done at least a dozen SLI builds a year since the 560 Ti came out and never seen microstutter .... years back this was a phenomenon associated with trying to use low end card in CF or SLI .... did not affect the high end cards ..... and in recent years

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/23.htmleven the $150 cards don't have it.

After running the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI through our test suite, I have to admit that I'm impressed. The duo delivered performance easily matching and often exceeding much more expensive single-card options such as the GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, and they don't cost as much. SLI multi-GPU scaling works well with all of our titles except for F1 2012. Scaling by going from one to two GTX 650 Ti Boost cards is around 70%, even with F1 2012 taken into account. Unlike AMD, NVIDIA does a good job of maintaining its SLI profiles, so you should be able to play new games without a long wait for multi-GPU support. However, the risk that a game will not be supported still exists, and you might, at worst, end up with single-card performance. This is in my opinion, given the massive performance-per-dollar advantage, an acceptable tradeoff. I would definitely recommend a GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI setup to a friend looking to spend as little money as possible on a high-end gaming rig.

With a combined price of $340, the graphics cards cost much less than the HD 7970 GHz Edition ($430) and the GTX 680 ($440) while still delivering comparable performance. Power draw and noise levels are slightly higher, but that's the price you'll have to pay to save over 100 bucks. This setup also makes upgrading your aging rig to play the latest and most demanding titles without breaking the bank an option. Core "Sandy Bridge" only supports PCI-Express 2.0, so the setup would run at reduced PCI-Express bandwidth, but the difference should be quite small, maybe 4% in actual games, which is very acceptable if you take into account the lower cost of this upgrade path. Have $340 and want high-end performance? Consider this!

Why the hell do you start with the 670 now ?!
he clearly said 770 not 670

Delroy Monjo · Aug 23, 2014

"I'm just currently building a PC with an i5-4690k, 8GB 1600Mhz RAM, MSI z97-G55 motherboard and 850W PSU and am thinking that already....."

You haven't even built it and played games on it yet and you're worried that a single GTX770GPU won't be good enough??????

TTD187 · Aug 24, 2014

Delroy Monjo :

There's no doubt that it'll start slowing down is there? At some point, I'll want to speed up performance, so asking the question in advance gives me more time to make up my indecisive mind

In response to other answers, I appreciate what has been given to me and it is helping so far.

TTD187 · Aug 24, 2014

JackNaylorPE :

photonboy :

The list of unsupported games (ones one might reasonably be interested in playing) counting in ya fingers won't fill one hand.

Two 670s are faster than two 760s which are faster than a 780. So if you had a 670 today and wanted more speed ....

$120 for a 2nd 670
Or sell the 670 for $120 and spend $480 for 780 .....

So choice is $120 or $360 to go slower

I have done at least a dozen SLI builds a year since the 560 Ti came out and never seen microstutter .... years back this was a phenomenon associated with trying to use low end card in CF or SLI .... did not affect the high end cards ..... and in recent years

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_650_Ti_Boost_SLI/23.htmleven the $150 cards don't have it.

After running the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI through our test suite, I have to admit that I'm impressed. The duo delivered performance easily matching and often exceeding much more expensive single-card options such as the GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, and they don't cost as much. SLI multi-GPU scaling works well with all of our titles except for F1 2012. Scaling by going from one to two GTX 650 Ti Boost cards is around 70%, even with F1 2012 taken into account. Unlike AMD, NVIDIA does a good job of maintaining its SLI profiles, so you should be able to play new games without a long wait for multi-GPU support. However, the risk that a game will not be supported still exists, and you might, at worst, end up with single-card performance. This is in my opinion, given the massive performance-per-dollar advantage, an acceptable tradeoff. I would definitely recommend a GTX 650 Ti Boost SLI setup to a friend looking to spend as little money as possible on a high-end gaming rig.

With a combined price of $340, the graphics cards cost much less than the HD 7970 GHz Edition ($430) and the GTX 680 ($440) while still delivering comparable performance. Power draw and noise levels are slightly higher, but that's the price you'll have to pay to save over 100 bucks. This setup also makes upgrading your aging rig to play the latest and most demanding titles without breaking the bank an option. Core "Sandy Bridge" only supports PCI-Express 2.0, so the setup would run at reduced PCI-Express bandwidth, but the difference should be quite small, maybe 4% in actual games, which is very acceptable if you take into account the lower cost of this upgrade path. Have $340 and want high-end performance? Consider this!

You're mentioning 670 a lot, but I imagine that's for a framework so I can understand how much the 770 will during the same time in its life cycle? I was looking on Amazon for how much 670s cost, but the price seems to be a lot more expensive than I expected they would. Many of them are used cards sold for more than £200, while my 770 cost me around £225. That seems like possible inflation? So the best thing would be to get the card as soon as it starts selling fast in the sales?

I think it could be different between US and UK sales...

Delroy Monjo · Aug 24, 2014

I have a GTX770 and an i5-4670 and have not found any games to be needing more GPU power yet to keep up with 60+FPS on ULTRA settings.
Operating System
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5 4670K @ 3.40GHz (Turbo to 4.0GHz)
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 800MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
ASRock Z87 Extreme6
Graphics
ASUS VH236H (1920x1080@60Hz)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 (EVGA)
Hard Drives
224GB Crucial_ Crucial_CT240M50 SCSI Disk Device (SSD)
932GB Seagate ST1000DM ST1000DM003-1CH1 SCSI Disk Device (SATA)
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223L SCSI CdRom Device

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Should I buy a second GTX 770 or wait until an upgrade in a few years?

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