560Ti SLI - 1GB Cards or 2GB Cards?

[Fecal Face]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: A few days (1-4)
BUDGET RANGE: ~$500 after taxes, etc.
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: I want to play games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Crysis (2?), Metro 2033, etc.
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: BFG Tech GTX295 ~1700MB, ASUS EN9600GT as dedicated PhysX card. 750W PC Power&Cooling PSU.
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Intel Corei7 920, overclocked a bit to 3Ghz. ASUS P6T Mobo, 6GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 Triple Channel RAM. Not using water cooling or anything, everything's air cooled. Lexa Blackline case, if it matters.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg / NCIX. I live in Canada.
PARTS PREFERENCES: I've always preferred nvidia cards, and I want to use SLI + 2D surround. I'm planning on getting GTX 560 Ti's.
OVERCLOCKING: Very unlikely
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Absolutely
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Three 1920x1080 24" monitors, total of 5760x1080
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Basically, I want to be able to play recent + new games at 5760x1080, with framerates on par (prefereably exceeding) what I get now with my GTX295.

Alright, I'm 99% sure I'm buying two GTX 560 Ti's, and I've narrowed my choices down to two different models:

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked Fermi 900MHZ 1024MB GDDR5 2XDVI Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58348&vpn=01G-P3-1563-AR&manufacture=eVGA

Palit NE5X56T01142-1041F GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261099&Tpk=GTX%20560%202GB

From what I know, more video memory is good when you're playing on higher resolutions. After taxes / shipping, etc, the Palit card works out to be about $30 more than the EVGA card. I know $30 isn't that big of a deal, but I don't want to buy the EVGA cards and be somehow limited by the memory, or buy the Palit cards and be somehow missing out on performance.

I guess my real question is: how much of a difference does video memory make at high resolutions?

 

[jryan388]

With that huge of a res, you better get the 2GB cards. If you try and skimp and stick with 1GB, you could easily run out of memory, especially with Anti-Aliasing turned up. Yes, it would work with 1GB, but I definitely recommend 2GB.

 

[Dougx1317]

It will make a huge difference at 5760x1080. 2GB is a must if you hope to play the games well. It is well worth the money for you.

Make sure that 560Ti SLI is what you want. With such a high resolution you may need to upgrade sooner than you think. Here's what TechPowerUp had to say about it:
"At close to $500, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti is a decent multi-GPU upgrade option. Notice I said upgrade option, and not something you'd want to buy outright. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti lacks 3-way or 4-way SLI support, and hence it's suited more for people who buy one card and in the future add another one. If you have $500 to spend right away, you're better off buying a GeForce GTX 580, and leaving room for three more cards, provided your PSU and motherboard are cool with it. "
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_560_Ti_SLI/25.html

 

[Helltech]

As others have said, 2GB for sure.

However if you are going to spend that much, maybe you might want to think about a single GTX 580 now, and then another one in the distant future.

I would suggest SLI 570s, and TRI SLI in the distant future, but the scaling for TRI isn't too impressive yet.

http://benchmarkextreme.com/Articles/GTX%20570/P21.html

 

[mjmjpfaff]

i agree 2gb is necessary with the three screens, 78mhz is all you will be losing in processor speed from the base model with 2gb of memory.

 

[Fecal Face]

Alright, so 2GB sounds like the better deal now

As for getting a single GTX580, I wouldn't be able to do 2D surround with only one - The same dilemma I was in with my single GTX295.

I was originally just going to find a second GTX295, but I can't find one anywhere, save for eBay.. and, well, I'd rather buy one new.

Two GTX570's was also something I was considering, it's only ~$150 more, but I'm not exactly swimming in cash since I now have a $60/mo smartphone

 

[Helltech]

I now have a $60/mo smartphone

Well at least your priorities are straight...

Haha I kid. Regardless, if its all you can afford 2 GTS 560 Ti will be nice, and should last a while. Don't expect max setting in all games in the future and you will be alright.

 

[Fecal Face]

Well at least your priorities are straight...

Haha I kid. Regardless, if its all you can afford 2 GTS 560 Ti will be nice, and should last a while. Don't expect max setting in all games in the future and you will be alright.

Hah

Yeah, I'm probably going to order the 2GB cards, either today or tomorrow. Thanks for the advice everybody.

As for max settings, I think I'll be content with almost any game at 5760x1080, no matter the settings. For now, at least

 

[Fecal Face]

Best answer selected by Fecal Face.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey