GTX 680 SLI or Upgrade?

Zyb3r · May 19, 2015

Hi everyone.

I'm looking at boosting the performance of my pc a bit. My current specs are:
CPU: Intel core i7 3770k
GPU: Gigabyte Nvidia Geforce GTX 680 2GB OC
RAM: 16 GB Kingston HyperX Predator @ 1600Mhz DDR3
MOBO: Asus Maximus V Gene
PSU: Corsair HX850
SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB

I think thats the necessities. I am currently still gaming at 1080p and might upgrade in the future. I currently have a very limited budget.

My question is as follows: Should I buy another GTX 680 and put them in SLI, or should I rather opt for a single card like a GTX 770? Going the SLI route with my current setup seems to be the cheapest choice. I am looking for a bang for buck solution because I don't think I will be able to afford a GPU in the the 900 series.

Thank you in advance!

Sergeant_Sneaky · May 20, 2015

2GB cards in SLI would bottleneck the setup, you'd have to turn MSAA down etc to keep it under the 2GB in newer games. What's your budget including the sale of your 680?

Zyb3r · May 23, 2015

About 400$, but keep in mind that where I live hardware probably costs more. Would Windows 10 with Directx 12 help? As I understand the new API will allow the memory of both cards to be used? Would that then breath life back into the SLI option?

Sergeant_Sneaky · May 23, 2015

Zyb3r :

It MAY allow the use of both the cards memory, no one is sure yet. If it is true, it would certainly make SLI a better option, but you would still have the possibility of driver and compatibility issues.

Zyb3r · May 24, 2015

Sergeant_Sneaky :

Do you think I should rather go for the new card or wait and see what Directx 12 has in store?

uglyduckling81 · May 24, 2015

Until we see DX12 in action we won't know anything for sure. It could be though that the use of all the memory will only be available on programs that are programmed to use it that way. DX12 programs in other words. So older titles like all current titles won't see any change.
Also you should look at this chart to determine if upgrading is worth the money or not.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
Tom's recommends not upgrading unless you are moving at least 3 tiers or you may not notice a worthwhile improvement.
3 tiers from a 680 is a TItan X for over $1000, or a 295x2 which in the USA at least you can pick up from Newegg right now for about $550.
I wouldn't be buying another card with 2Gb of memory with games coming out requiring 4GB and no guarantees of DX12 doing anything to improve multi card scaling.

Zyb3r · May 24, 2015

uglyduckling81 :

I did not realize that my card is still relevant in any argument and comparable to their performance. According to the chart a 970 would only up me 1 tier, which does not sound worth it. So I am assuming my best option is to sit tight and wait to see what happens with Directx 12 or wait for a new graphics card line up and pick up the 980 at a cheaper price. Because at this stage, I won't be able to afford anything 3 tiers up. The Titan X is going at $1600 in my country and the 295x2 is $1000. The 980 is coming in at about $950. These cards are all to expensive at this stage.

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GTX 680 SLI or Upgrade?

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Admirable

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