Which is better: EVGA GeForce FTX 295 or ASUS GeForce GTX 480 SLI?

[maddy_bagel]

Hello everyone,

This might seem like a dumb question, but I'm not all that knowledgable on computer hardware and what the best options are.

First I'll start by letting you all know what I use my computer for. I have been doing a lot of intensive 3D graphics work and rendering for school using Autodesk applications. I am also an avid PC gamer (I play anything from RPGs to RTS games to online shooters) and would like to have great performance in game graphics.

SO last year I bought the best computer I could with the money I had. The graphics card I had bought at the time was:

EVGA 017-P3-1295-AR CO-OP Edition GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
New Egg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130504

I got pretty freaking spoiled since I'm graduating from Uni this year and got TWO graphics cards as a gift this Christmas.

ASUS ENGTX480/2DI/1536MD5 GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
New Egg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121373&Tpk=asus%20geforce%20gtx%20480

My question is... what's better? My old graphics card running all by itself or the two new graphics cards running in SLI? Specifically, how significant will the difference be... is it worth it to spend that much money if the old card was pretty much just as good or nearly as good?

Thanks for your help in advance!! ^_^

- Maddy

 

[bystander]

A slingle 480 is faster than a 295. Two 480's are definately a lot faster.

But I'd recommend you go with a single 580 instead. It will be faster than what you had, but slower than two 480's. It will also be a ton quieter, and more than enough power for you, unless you play at 2560x1600 or something of that nature.

 

[maddy_bagel]

Thank you!!! I'll look into that.

 

[jyjjy]

A slingle 480 is faster than a 295. Two 480's are definately a lot faster.

But I'd recommend you go with a single 580 instead. It will be faster than what you had, but slower than two 480's. It will also be a ton quieter, and more than enough power for you, unless you play at 2560x1600 or something of that nature.

She already has the GTX 480s apparently
The answer is SLIed GTX 480s are approximately 50% faster than a GTX 295 for gaming at high resolutions. Probably more so with regard to CUDA based applications.

 

[mrjericho1991]

however if gtx 295 is in sli,they are much better than gtx 480sli!!!

 

[Tamz_msc]

Depending on the games, GTX 480 SLI is twice as fast as a GTX 295:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/168?vs=159

 

[jyjjy]

however if gtx 295 is in sli,they are much better than gtx 480sli!!!

Do you have numbers for that? I would be kind of surprised if it is true. SLI with 2 GPUs tends to scale much better than 3 or 4, especially for older series like the GTX 2xx.

 

[nforce4max]

If it comes down to it and you already own both you may as well try something that the these idiots have suggested. Try them out for your self and bench to see which is the fastest in the games that you play. By the way you might as well keep them all as spares for another machine or if one were to fail then you would have something to fall back on a lot like having a second car or truck when you need to get to work/school on time.

 

[jyjjy]

try something that the these idiots have suggested

Calling everyone else an idiot while failing at basic grammar...

 

[ionut19]

He's just jealous because the girl has a "bigger engine" than his..ha ha ha.

If you already have the cards as posted, install them and keep the gtx295 for backup in case the gtx480 burn or fail. 2x gtx480 in SLI are far more powerful than a single gtx295 witch is 2xgtx260 on the same board.


Congrats on the gift.

 

[plznote]

however if gtx 295 is in sli,they are much better than gtx 480sli!!!

Totally Wrong.....
A GTX 295 is on par with a 480...
2 Way SLI scales worlds better than 4-way with old series.

 

[maddy_bagel]

Thank you all so much for the help! I'm going to go with the two 480s and keep the 295 as backup if need be.

 

[ionut19]

So..any pictures with the rig?

 

[maddy_bagel]

I've got a couple pictures of the computer with the older video card. Haven't had the time to set up the new ones yet.

http://img690.imageshack.us/i/compy1.jpg/
http://img232.imageshack.us/i/compy2.jpg/
http://img708.imageshack.us/i/compy3.jpg/
http://img824.imageshack.us/i/compy5.jpg/

The specs are:

2 x 23'' Samsung monitors
Razer Arctosa Keyboard and Razer Imperator mouse
i7 920 processor
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Antec EA650 650W Continuous Power Supply
ASUS P7P55D Deluxe LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 017-P3-1295-AR CO-OP Edition GeForce GTX 295
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I7860
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
2 x Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (I upgraded to a Velociraptor, but I forget the specs. >_<)

 

[nforce4max]

Well your psu just ruled out sli as an option unless you are able to purchase a new psu in the 900w range that can handle the load so you are limited to only two options. Either stay with your current gtx295 or go with the GTX480. You will be better off using the GTX480 due to less cpu related lag and the problematic pci-e switch that is in the GTX295.

 

[ionut19]

nforce4max is right. You need a new PSU and also a new CPU cooler for the overclocking that you will do .(it will reduce the bottleneck) With 2 monsters like the gtx480 you will need a faster CPU to be able to keep up in games.
As a CPU cooler you could try one of the corsair sealed water coolers witch require no maintenance.

As a new PSU would be something like this 1Kw Corsair PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007 .

I gave it 300w for each video card that's 700w, 95w for stock CPU, around 150W with a medium overclock, 100W for the motherboard and RAM when CPU is overclocked that gives us a total of 850W. A 1k power supply will suffice. The numbers i give for the video cards are not fixed because the GTX480 can go over 300w(based on review from toms goes over the 5970 witch is rated at 295w). For CPU the power usage can be higher depending on voltage and speed, the same for the motherboard.
A little higher wattage then necessary PSU will increase it's lifetime. But it's your choice here.

Hope you are top of your class.

By the way, if you put the 2 video cards inside with that PSU the PC will not start or if it does when gaming it will shut down or worst case the PSU burns, but for a quality PSU usually it just shuts down.

 

[maddy_bagel]

Sounds good... I think I'll look into getting the new PSU. And that 1Kw Corsair one seemed right around my price range. Either that or I might return my two cards and get the 580 instead. We shall see.
Thanks again!!! You've all been a lot of help. ^_^

 

[plznote]

I see you have SC2 :lol:
Wanna play some matches?
If you live in North America that is?..
User: Plznote, number: 190