3x GTX 560Ti 2048MB or 1x GeForce GTX 580 3072MB

[crispycat]

Hi all, im building a top of the range gaming rig to hopefully last me a good few years and have around £600 to spend on nvidia based graphics as I already have the nvidia 3d kit
my question is would i get better results for FPS and MMO games from....

3way sli GTX 560Ti 2048MB 822mhz
as seen here: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-175-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=

or
1 x GeForce GTX 580 3072MB 772mhz
as seen here: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-000-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=

or would you recommend a different card or set of cards for my budget

cheers

 

[sunnk]

the 3 way sli gtx 560ti will do more then one gtx 580 so go for 3 way sli gtx 560ti if u can afford it.

 

[beltzy]

2 560 ti cards in SLI will outperform a 580 3GB. 3 of them will be substantially faster (though the scaling of the third card is not as efficient as using only two). Keep in mind that 3 560 ti's will also use substantially more power and will require 3 6-pin PCIe connectors unless you want to use converter cables. a 3 way SLI setup is overkill for any mmo that i'm aware of. Any dips in FPS that you would experience would not be gpu driven.

Also keep in mind that for many users the additional VRAM is not going to provide any performance benefit. What resolution are you using?

 

[joedjnpc]

As a general rule of thumb I would stick with a single card, mainly sue to driver issues in the future but also due to heat and power issues.

That said 3 560 Ti will wipe the floor with a single 580, and if you play to play 3D games (effectively halving your fps), you might wanna go with the 3 x SLi.

 

[crispycat]

beltzy .. ill be running 2x 22" samsung 3d 120hz lcd screens capable of 1680x1050
(one for game one for coms, fb etc)

the rest of the comp will be :
intel i7-3930k 3.20ghz
Asus P9X79 WS mother board
gskill ripjawz 16gb ddr3 2133mhz
and a small sata 3 SSD for programs and a large traditional hdd for storage

 

[Mousemonkey]

I'm pretty sure those 560's can only be run in 2-way SLi.

 

[crispycat]

I'm pretty sure those 560's can only be run in 2-way SLi.

i thought that at first so contacted the company reply was...
"depending on the board you can use these for 3 way SLI."
im presuming they mean the mother board and not the gpu board... but will make a telephone call to them before buying

 

[jitpublisher]

I have a couple of 560ti's in SLI running behind an overclocked 2600K, and at 1920x1080 I see absolutely no reason yet to need a 3rd one. A second monitor will have a slight effect, but it'll only be a few fps. I would definitely just grab 2 560ti's and try them out first before I spent money on a third.

 

[refillable]

3x560ti is 600 Pounds in total right?

Why don't you get this?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-157-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1966

 

[bwrlane]

I run 560 tis in two way sli and can confirm that there is no way that it can run 3 way. This is a limitation of the graphics card.

Therefore definitely check before committing the funds.

 

[crispycat]

I run 560 tis in two way sli and can confirm that there is no way that it can run 3 way. This is a limitation of the graphics card.

Therefore definitely check before committing the funds.

ouch ok just checked the nvidia forums and they all say its only 2way
guess thats the first thing i should of checked

ok hmm so seems from replys 3 way is the way to go!... but which card for around 200 each.. (could probably stretch a little more if i have to)

 

[Warmacblu]

How about 2 GTX 570's or 2 GTX 560 Ti 448's?

 

[refillable]

No GTX 590?

 

[gam0reily]

be smart, get a GTX 580 now. It will smoothly run any game on high settings with 2-8 AA at 1080p.


And after 11-12 months or so, when nvidia launches it's 600 series and the price of 580 gtx reduces, get a sibling of ur already bought 580, and save about 50$ in the process.

 

[gam0reily]

And dont worry about "maxing out" every game, allright? Its just a notion, and everyone agrees that "maxing out" every game for a sane GPU setup is only correct for a period of a 6 months.

just thought of adding this after seing that u were considering 3-way SLI.

====> More GPUs in SLI/crossfireX = more runtime issues.

So keep ur card single for as long as you can.

 

[crispycat]

cheers guys
although im a bit more confused than i was to start with it just proves to me that i need to do alot more research before parting with my money!

thanks agian for all your time/help

 

[bwrlane]

Seriously 3 way sli is overkill. In my view 2 way is the way to go. With 3 way the gain in performance is low compared with the financial outlay as well as the demands on the rest of your system (power, cooling etc). For me, the choice is between the following two options. I'm assuming you're buying now.

- a single GTX 580. Pros: no sli issues (although these are minimal these days). Allows you to add a second 580 when you need a boost. Cons: less performance than option 2 below.

- two GTX 560 tis or 6950s. Pros, much better performance than a single GTX 580. Cons. Lacks the upgrade path of option 1. If you need more power than this option can provide (and you are in a very small minority if you do) then you can go for two 570s or 6970s.

A final option is to wait as nvidia and amd's next generation is round the corner