GTX 680 VS ?

[cesar1286]

Hello,
I currently have a Gold Edition GTX 560 TI & I was planning on getting another 560 ti to run it in SLI. BUT should I get a GTX 680 instead? for better performance & 3D gaming sometimes. I have a 850+80 power supply, 8GB hyperx memory, I7k processor at 4.0 ghz
Thanks,
Cesar

 

[echod]

for better performance yes. 2 560ti do not compete with a single 680.

 

[thently]

They will be about the same. Single card will take less power and be quieter. If you already have 1 then SLI will be fine I mean 200 bucks vs 500... If you have the 500 you wont be dissapointed but it will not be better than the SLI 560 Ti's just about the same.

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1511734&mpage=1&print=true

Thent

 

[kajabla]

I think SLI's the way to go. It's definitely far more economical. As thently says, it's $200 vs $500, if you can even get hold of a 680, for similar performance.

 

[cesar1286]

actually the debate has not been settled yet.
a couple of threads going on with some benching in it trying to determine the actual winner
sor far it seems the GTX 560Ti 2WIN sits right behind the GTX 680 and just in-front of the HD 7970.
SLi GTX 560Ti is a frame or two less than the GTX 560Ti 2WIN..
(overclocked or overclocking cards do not factor in the above so that's and added bonus.)

so my thing is this, you already have and SLi capable motherboard to go with your first GTX 560Ti
or do you need to also get the motherboard.?

sell your current GTX 560Ti and then go for the GTX 680 or
SLi you GTX 560Ti's.

I personally have SLi GTX 560Ti's and I was in your situation a few months ago.
before the release of the GTX 680..

Yes I have a SLI motherboard, but one thing I dont like is when you run two cards it drops the pci express x 16 to 8x. I wont run 16 x for each card.
Yes deff will sell my 560 ti if i get the 680

 

[kajabla]

That doesn't matter! A Ti won't max out an x8 slot. You're fine.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

Thanx for the review, malmental. That was educational. I'm saving that and will credit you if I use it if that's OK with you.

 

[Rockdpm]

They will be about the same. Single card will take less power and be quieter. If you already have 1 then SLI will be fine I mean 200 bucks vs 500... If you have the 500 you wont be dissapointed but it will not be better than the SLI 560 Ti's just about the same.

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1511734&mpage=1&print=true

Thent

actually its been proven that the GTX 680 uses less power than two 560 ti's in SLI. Just one 680 uses 195 watts of TDP. a 560 ti uses 170 watts of tdp. use to and the 680 beats it in performance and power usages.

 

[Rockdpm]

actually the debate has not been settled yet.
a couple of threads going on with some benching in it trying to determine the actual winner
sor far it seems the GTX 560Ti 2WIN sits right behind the GTX 680 and just in-front of the HD 7970.
SLi GTX 560Ti is a frame or two less than the GTX 560Ti 2WIN..
(overclocked or overclocking cards do not factor in the above so that's and added bonus.)

so my thing is this, you already have and SLi capable motherboard to go with your first GTX 560Ti
or do you need to also get the motherboard.?

sell your current GTX 560Ti and then go for the GTX 680 or
SLi you GTX 560Ti's.

I personally have SLi GTX 560Ti's and I was in your situation a few months ago.
before the release of the GTX 680..

Yea i wish you would have went GTX 680 buddy

 

[cesar1286]

difference between x8/x8 and x16/x16 is minimal and the human eye can not even tell the difference..

example of x8/x8 vs x16/x16 with massive GTX 480's:
http://hardocp.com/article/2010/08/23/gtx_480_sli_pcie_bandwidth_perf_x16x16_vs_x8x8/

The Bottom Line
If you are running on a 30" display at 2560x1600 or below, an x8/x8 SLI or CFX configuration will perform the same as a x16/x8 or x16/x16 configuration. The only time that you should even be slightly concerned about running at x8/x8 is when you move up to a multiple display setup. When we pushed the GTX 480 SLI at 5760x1200 we saw up to a 7% difference in performance between x8/x8 and x16/x16, in favor of x16/x16, but that was in one game only.

It also appears that the type of game will impact the result and if there are even any differences at all. In texture and AA bandwidth heavy games, you will see more of a difference, but in a game that is more pixel shader heavy, there will be less or no differences at all.

If you are absolutely concerned about the best tradeoff, a middle ground so to speak, then x16/x8 is an excellent option. As we were discussing in last week’s evaluation, moving one video card to your x8 slot to create better airflow will not harm your gaming performance. However, downgrading your primary video card to x8 operation, in a multiple display configuration, can hurt performance at large resolutions.

When all is said and done, PCIe bandwidth isn’t as big of a concern as some people would like to make it. There are certainly many other factors that affect gaming performance more than PCIe bandwidth. It is clear that x16/x16, x16/x18, and even x8/x8 is plenty of PCIe bandwidth for today’s games. If you were wanting to save some cash on the motherboard and RAM you are using for a SLI or CFX system, it is hard to sit here and tell you that a x8/x8 setup is a "bad" configuration, even with a triple display Eyefinity or NV Surround. The x8/x8 SLI and CFX performance is going to be great at 2560x1600 and extremely good even at 5760x1200, but just keep in mind that you will sometimes be leaving a little bit of frame rate on the table at 5760. If you can live with that, you can keep some of that cash in your pocket and build the ultimate "budget" gaming rig.

PS.
I run x8/x8 in SLi..

Thanks a lot!!!!
Really helpfull information & I think you helped me to decide in getting another 560ti to run it in SLI instead of spending 500+ on a new gen card.

Also when doing SLI can you still overcloack them? or they will run stock?
Thanks.