GTX 560 Ti 1GB or 2GB model???

[StateCop]

So normally this would be a no brainer. Go with the 2GB card right? Well the 1GB card has a much higher Core/Mem Clock speed ect. I have asked this question in other threads and nobody can seem to establish which card would be better. I am going to play all the higher end games. I know I need to upgrade my CPU and some point but right now this seems like the biggest upgrade from my 8800GTX. My CPU is a Intel Q6700 and 4GB of RAM. I have an 850w PS and (1) 24 inch monitor. Also running Win7 64bit. I may expand to an additional monitor. Games to be played will be BF3, Crysis2 , WoW (not that you need much for it) and other newer games.

I have read all kinds of stuff about how you may not need over 1GB in which case the Clock speed would be more important I would think? But for BF3 I was thinking the 2GB may allow for a some what higher res. Please give your thoughts. As has been pointed out I am aware BF3 is beta and will be tweaking/improving performance....I am speaking generally about which card would be better over all.

This is the two cards I am looking at side by side.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%2050001402&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=48|14-130-683^14-130-683-TS,14-130-651^14-130-651-TS&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=8qap3azdx7tl


In summary I would like for someone to give me and educated opinion on which of these two cards are better and WHY. If you have a much better suggestion I am open. My budget was around $200 but I can prob go as high as 260ish.

 

[StateCop]

you won't see any real world difference between the two, the gpu chip is not fast enough to effectively use the full 2GB of RAM. you would need to step up to a GTX580 to fully use all that ram.

Very interesting...I was wondering that. As a follow up would you would you pick the GTX560 ti SLI over a single GTX 580?

 

[FlintIronStagg]

you won't see any real world difference between the two, the gpu chip is not fast enough to effectively use the full 2GB of RAM. you would need to step up to a GTX580 to fully use all that ram.

if you are playing on a single monitor 1920x1080 or lower then there is no reason to get the 2gb version. You would be hard pressed to even use the entire 1gb in gaming on a single monitor with that card. Although I prefer single card solutions, the 560ti sli is definitely faster than a single 580

 

[thesnappyfingers]

+1 to flintironstag. you wont use the 2 gb in gamming.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

you won't see any real world difference between the two, the gpu chip is not fast enough to effectively use the full 2GB of RAM. you would need to step up to a GTX580 to fully use all that ram.

That doesnt make sense. The speed of the GPU has nothing to do with how much ram it can use. The fact is, very few games will use more than 1gb vram at 1080p resolution, however there are a few that will and you will see a benefit in those games. If you have a game that has large textures/draw distance, it uses more vram, if the vram spills over the 1gb mark and you have a 1gb vid card, it spills into system memory which is MUCH slower. If that happens your cames can crawl to a halt and stutter. But as said, very few games will do this and you can always turn down texture detail/draw distance in games that use lots of VRAM. Battlefield 3 is one game that will use more than 1gig vram.

 

[Chirag Borawake]

That doesnt make sense. The speed of the GPU has nothing to do with how much ram it can use. The fact is, very few games will use more than 1gb vram at 1080p resolution, however there are a few that will and you will see a benefit in those games. If you have a game that has large textures/draw distance, it uses more vram, if the vram spills over the 1gb mark and you have a 1gb vid card, it spills into system memory which is MUCH slower. If that happens your cames can crawl to a halt and stutter. But as said, very few games will do this and you can always turn down texture detail/draw distance in games that use lots of VRAM. Battlefield 3 is one game that will use more than 1gig vram.

Yes, thats what happened to me. GTA IV uses more than 1GB on 1080p resolution. I can hardly increase the details beyond 900MB.
We have an option in Graphics tab in GTA IV, when we increase the details, it shows that how much memory the game will use, it shows it simultaneously below the details bar. The number increases as we increase the details.

 

[StateCop]

I have looked and I cant seem to find anyone that has benchmarked these 2GB cards. I have also found an MSI version of the 2GB card that has a higher clock rate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127608

 

[sync_nine]

The extra RAM is only good for higher resolution as compared to the 1 gb model.
The clocks are all the same therefore the frame rates don't differ so much.
It will be useful if you are planning to use 3D.

 

[badboyzasr]

+1 to chirag. Games like gta4, and even bfbc2 can go over the 1 gb mark. I have personally had windows pop up a message saying windows is running low on video memory and it asks me to change my color scheme to classic. I have the gigabyte 560ti oc cards in SLI. Because you are gamin in 1080p resolutions you can always oc your CPU and get the bottleneck lowered, I know as s fact q6000 series oc quite well, I have oc'd a q6600 and 6700 myself.

More vram=better for future monitor expansion. I was in the same mind set as to getting a cheaper but faster 1 gb 560 ti than a 2 gb card and sli them. but after some months realized that it's not the best option out there. If you have the pocket get the 560ti 2 gb. Reasons, you get 2 gb VRAM and when in the future you plan to SLI it you would still get that 2 gb. If you have 2 1gb cards in SLI you're only getting the 1 gb as the cards are duplicated. And no developer would make a game that uses less resources in the future anyway, so VRAM consumption Is presumably going to increase. I would recommend going the smarter way. You can spend a couple more dollars for the 2 gb version and gear your system for another 2-3 years with SLI options.

P.s. SLI scaling is tremendous on the 560ti cards. I have feted 3 pairs in total and each gives me a 1.9 to 2.0 percent scaling performance. Hope it helps with your decision.

 

[leandrodafontoura]

Simply get the cheaper one

 

[jjb8675309]

"Double bacon cheeseburger. It's for a cop." :lol: sorry couldnt resist, liter of cola?



Id go with the 1 GB model bc generally the 2 GB models are a ripoffs and currently you will not even use 2 GB of vram in 99% of games imo

 

[jjb8675309]

I have looked and I cant seem to find anyone that has benchmarked these 2GB cards. I have also found an MSI version of the 2GB card that has a higher clock rate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127608

yeah but for that price you can get a gtx 570...

 

[jitpublisher]

I have SLI 560ti's, 1gb. I wish I would have bought the 2gb version. I don't really notice any problems running anything right now, all is fast and smooth, haven't noticed any stuttering like I hear a lot of people "say" these will do, but I also have not played GTA IV yet either. But I am sure this cards in SLI will powerful enough for sometime, past the point where more memory probably would have been a smarter move.
My 2 cents, if you only buy 1 card, 1 gb is enough.
If you plan on SLI'ing in the future, get the 2gb version.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

yeah but for that price you can get a gtx 570...

+1. I stick by my assessment earlier which we all agree on so go read that post, and if those parameters fit your particular situation, then go with the 1gb model. If you are wanting a little more oomph then go with a 570 not a 2gb 560ti.

 

[jjb8675309]

I have SLI 560ti's, 1gb. I wish I would have bought the 2gb version. I don't really notice any problems running anything right now, all is fast and smooth, haven't noticed any stuttering like I hear a lot of people "say" these will do, but I also have not played GTA IV yet either. But I am sure this cards in SLI will powerful enough for sometime, past the point where more memory probably would have been a smarter move.
My 2 cents, if you only buy 1 card, 1 gb is enough.
If you plan on SLI'ing in the future, get the 2gb version.

im gonna agree with you, I plan on sli'ing my current TI towards the end of the year... not really worried about not having 2gb models especially with how much I tend to upgrade

 

[StateCop]

techpowerup did a review on the GTX560 (not to be confused with the ti). the card is 10% slower then the GTX560ti but you get to see how much the extra 1GB increase/decreases gaming performance with a card in the similar ballpark as the GTX560ti. unfortunately they never tested a GTX560ti 2GB

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Palit/GeForce_GTX_560_2_GB/27.html

In light of BF3 and these cards having 2GB of VRAM I wonder what it would take to get TomsHardware to do a review to include them and the TI series.......

 

[jjb8675309]

^ you will not need 2gb of vram for bf3 at 1080p, it will make zero difference for that game in particular

 

[iam2thecrowe]

^ you will not need 2gb of vram for bf3 at 1080p, it will make zero difference for that game in particular

http://au.gamespot.com/pc/action/battlefield-3/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-60477212&pid=960869&page=1v well it seems like it uses more than 1gb VRAM on max details so you arer somewhat right, you dont NEED 2gb, but it is preferable to have more than 1gb if you want to run it on highest details.

 

[StateCop]

Best answer selected by StateCop.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey