Gigabyte GA-Z68P: ATI or Nvidia

[sarinaide]

I have the motherboard in the title, it is more the casual users board and only supports ATI XFire. Currently I have a Nvidia GTX560ti but it appears if I were to want to SLi, the motherboard doesn't cater for SLI support. Does this mean I should rather for Gigabyte consider using ATI?

 

[AdrianPerry]

Your final sentence makes no sense so im not sure what your asking.

Basically your motherboard will support 2 ATI cards (for example x2 6950's) but it wont support x2 Nvidia Cards (x2 560Ti's).

If you want to SLI with your 560Ti you would need to buy a new motherboard with SLI support.

If you want to make use of multi-gpu's without changing your motherboard you can swap out the 560Ti for 2 ATI cards.

So 2 options;
New Motherboard
or
2 New Graphics cards

 

[sarinaide]

Your final sentence makes no sense so im not sure what your asking.

Basically your motherboard will support 2 ATI cards (for example x2 6950's) but it wont support x2 Nvidia Cards (x2 560Ti's).

If you want to SLI with your 560Ti you would need to buy a new motherboard with SLI support.

If you want to make use of multi-gpu's without changing your motherboard you can swap out the 560Ti for 2 ATI cards.

So 2 options;
New Motherboard
or
2 New Graphics cards

Yeah thats what I was asking, essentially I can swap out the 560 and with the cash go for the 6870/6950/6970. To be honest I have never used ATI before so I am considering whether to just forgo any Dual GPU support, and on the other side ATI fans are saying that ATI/Nvidia is all much of a muchness.

 

[AdrianPerry]

In all fairness, the NEED to add a second Graphics card is probably very minimal at the present time.

I personally own a 560Ti and I can run Crysis with everything maxed out with 40 fps. Im not sure what more than this you would want. Games like Call of Duty and Bioshock 2 all run at 100+fps meaning theres no reason at all to add a second card because the increased performance wont make any noticeable difference.

If you sell your 560Ti now, and buy a single 6950 - your going to be getting almost exactly the same performance. Which is essentially, pointless. The only reason you should consider buying/selling any components is if your seriously considering adding a second card.

If you are seriously considering adding a second card, if i was in your situation, id change the motherboard, and buy another 560Ti. The "weak" point of your build is obviously the motherboard, so buying a better one cant be a bad thing.

In terms of cost-effectiveness it would be cheaper to
Sell motherboard, buy new motherboard, buy another 560Ti.
Than it would to...
Sell 560Ti, Buy 6950/6970, Buy another 6950/6970.

 

[sarinaide]

In all fairness, the NEED to add a second Graphics card is probably very minimal at the present time.

I personally own a 560Ti and I can run Crysis with everything maxed out with 40 fps. Im not sure what more than this you would want. Games like Call of Duty and Bioshock 2 all run at 100+fps meaning theres no reason at all to add a second card because the increased performance wont make any noticeable difference.

If you sell your 560Ti now, and buy a single 6950 - your going to be getting almost exactly the same performance. Which is essentially, pointless. The only reason you should consider buying/selling any components is if your seriously considering adding a second card.

If you are seriously considering adding a second card, if i was in your situation, id change the motherboard, and buy another 560Ti. The "weak" point of your build is obviously the motherboard, so buying a better one cant be a bad thing.

In terms of cost-effectiveness it would be cheaper to
Sell motherboard, buy new motherboard, buy another 560Ti.
Than it would to...
Sell 560Ti, Buy 6950/6970, Buy another 6950/6970.

I am to much of a Nvidia fan to change so I managed to upgrade the product to a GTX 570 and it is great.

I am happy with the Gigabyte board, the UD4R version has SLI/Crossfire support but I didn't want/have the extra to spend on the board. For my need it is a perfect attempt at basic OC, instead of spending extra on a highly oc board and blowing it because I am not experienced at Overclocking.

That said with my current build the Motherboard+570+2120 seems to eat Crysis up and well F1 2010 runs at 70+ FPS maxed out. For the games I play, the machine is probably overkill.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Ok so thats a completly different outcome to going SLI...

Usually its not recommended to change your graphics card unless your doing at least 2-3 tiers highers. 560 --> 580/590.

The 560Ti can overclock to equal/better performance than a GTX570.

You would have been better off getting a 6970 (equiv to 570) so at least then the option to add another card in crossfire would have been there.

Essentially by going from a 560 --> 570 you've got the same problems as before and nothing is resolved. The only difference is your getting a few more FPS off a single card...

 

[sarinaide]

Ok so thats a completly different outcome to going SLI...

Usually its not recommended to change your graphics card unless your doing at least 2-3 tiers highers. 560 --> 580/590.

The 560Ti can overclock to equal/better performance than a GTX570.

You would have been better off getting a 6970 (equiv to 570) so at least then the option to add another card in crossfire would have been there.

Essentially by going from a 560 --> 570 you've got the same problems as before and nothing is resolved. The only difference is your getting a few more FPS off a single card...

Well the card option, was the option on the upgraded componants and for only a few pop extra so I prefered to just stick with the Nvidia and just go as high as possible all things considered.

I am holding out for Ivybridge, so in the interim I don't believe the 2120 can manage SLI/Crossfire anyways, I can save the extra cash on said Ivybridge and/or RAM.

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Why do you ask for an advice and then when you get it ( and a good one, i totally agree with the advice of AdrianPerry ) you stick with what you had in mind allready ? Just waisting time . . .

 

[AdrianPerry]

Well the card option, was the option on the upgraded componants and for only a few pop extra so I prefered to just stick with the Nvidia and just go as high as possible all things considered.

I am holding out for Ivybridge, so in the interim I don't believe the 2120 can manage SLI/Crossfire anyways, I can save the extra cash on said Ivybridge and/or RAM.

If your planning to keep upgrading this build i really do suggest you look into buying a better, more capable, motherboard. Otherwise your stuck shelling out alot of money for a new single graphics card each time since your unable to SLI.

RAM - Probably not worth going over 8GB, especially for gaming. So if you already have 8, adding more, more than likely, wont make any noticeable difference. Personally im running 8GB ram and i rarely see over 4GB being used.