570 SLI or 580 for a 1080 resolution

Sovelin

Distinguished
Oct 2, 2011
113
0
18,690
I'm holding off on building a new computer until I figure out what gfx card to get. I'm trying to decide between 570 SLI or a single 580. I have a 950w PSU, and a monitor that only goes up to 1920x1080. The games I will be playing are BF3, Skyrim, and Batman Arkham City. That's pretty much it for a while.

I was initially going with the 570SLI, but I've heard about issues with not always scaling well, and it doesn't necessarily raise the minimum FPS. If I'm only running at 1080, would I be able to run BF3 maxed with FPS 60+ consistently on a single 580? I'm sure the 570SLI could handle it. But if the 580 also does, why not put the extra $150 saved towards a second 580 when the new chips release and there is a price drop, or towards a bigger (27") monitor (most likely also 1920x1080)?
 

cuecuemore

Distinguished
I don't know of any instance of 570s not scaling well in SLI (except for Just Cause 2, which scales at +50% in SLI despite its TWIMTBP status while CF scales at +99%) but I'd grab a single 580 for now and then SLI the down the road.
 

plat86

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2011
31
0
18,540
580 if you plan to get another card in like a years time, 1 580 will pump bf3 fine on 1 monitor
i have 560ti sli and am kind of glad i diddnt spend any more money on 70's or 80's because i havent come across the need for the extra power,

if the 27" you want has the same resolution, simply slide the monitor you have now a few inches closer to your head and you will get exactly the same result
 

Sovelin

Distinguished
Oct 2, 2011
113
0
18,690


Lol, this really made me laugh. I haven't bought the monitor yet. I'm gonna order the entire set-up from Newegg. The monitor I had picked out was a 23". The only reason for the 27" is so I can relax and lay back while watching a movie.
 
A GTX 570 can probably max out BF3 at 60fps at 1080p. That game isn't that demanding. If you want demanding, play Crysis 2 on Ultra.

I suggest you buy a single and buy a second come Black Friday if you need it. Of course, I'd also wait until Black Friday to buy in the first place and wait to see if Bulldozer is actually launched October 12th.
 

Sovelin

Distinguished
Oct 2, 2011
113
0
18,690


I'm pretty out of the loop. What will the Bulldozer offer me that the 2600k doesn't? That i7 is already so beastly.

Is 1080P bad on a 27" monitor? Would it be better to spend more money and get a 23" with a 120 refresh rate?
 
The Bulldozer will serve 1 important purpose--drop prices by introducing competition. I doubt Bulldozer will top even Nehalem i7's on performance, but hopefully it surprises me. What does the i7-2600K offer that an i5-2500K doesn't? If all you do is game, then the answer is "nothing".

I'll leave other people to do most comment on monitors. I'd get 1920x1200 at 27" though. But I'd probably just get a 22" for $120 and spend the rest of the money somewhere else since 22" is the sweet spot price wise nowadays.
 

Sovelin

Distinguished
Oct 2, 2011
113
0
18,690


Well, initially I was getting the i7 because I was going to do some photo editing. But I'm selling my DSLR so it will be purely for gaming, movies, and work. I just didn't want to get the i5 and have buyer's remorse later. And I wasn't planning on upgrading my CPU anytime soon (prob not for 2 years at least), so I figured the i7 would last longer.
 

Sovelin

Distinguished
Oct 2, 2011
113
0
18,690
it's a form of future-proofing but if just gaming then the i5-2500K is fine.
but I rather have the power and not need to one day need the power and not have it.. ;)
so if planning on more than gaming one day then I would..

So based off of everything I've read here, I've decided to drop the two 570's and go for 1 580 (-150), drop from the i7 to the i5 (-100), and drop the current monitor I'm looking at (-205) for a total of -455. I'll be putting that towards this monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236092

So this way I get to enjoy some 3D gaming as well :)

Will 1 580 be enough for the 3D, or will I not be able to take advantage of ultra settings gaming w/ 3D until I SLI it?
 

Sovelin

Distinguished
Oct 2, 2011
113
0
18,690
a lesser board money wise that allows you do do other things with the money and still go Ivy..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

I was looking at this, but wasn't sure why it was so much less. It has 2 less sata III ports, no front USB 3.0, and 1 extra PCI 2.0 slot. Is that the reason for the $80 price difference between the two?
 

Sovelin

Distinguished
Oct 2, 2011
113
0
18,690
excellent..
+1
and that's a variation of my 1080P monitor but I'm not 3D.
ASUS rocks.!
I like it as well as the choices you've come to..

Just noticed your edit. Thanks! I'll probably only use the 3D when I'm playing single player games (like Skyrim or Batman). For BF3, I'll keep it at 2D so I can run the 120Hz