So let me preface this by saying I only look into hardware about once every four years when I'm upgrading or buying a computer, so please forgive me for any ignorance I expose inadvertently.
Anyway, I'm now in that position of getting my next computer, and I have a question I'd love some advice about. About a year ago my power supply blew and took my GPU with it, and I ended up getting a 560 GTX Ti 1GB at that time. (I forget the brand offhand, PNY maybe?) So for my next computer I'm wondering if I get more bang for my buck by getting a second one and going SLI or if it'd be better to spend what appears to be $80-100 more for something like a GTX 660 Ti 3GB. I've never run SLI before so I don't know how that would compare to a single newer card. Thoughts? More details below.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Ideally the next couple of weeks
BUDGET RANGE: 200-300ish
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Primarily for gaming (all genres of games). Beyond that relatively run of the mill tasks like web surfing and word processing.
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: See above for current GPU. I'll get whatever power supply is needed for the next GPU configuration.
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: For CPU, leaning towards Intel i7-3820, though maybe just something like an i5-3570K. Not sure about motherboard, though of course I'll ensure it's compatible with whatever config I want. I plan for 16G DDR3 RAM.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I'm not particularly picky. Whatever appears the best price on something like a google shopping search with reasonable reviews for reliability.
PARTS PREFERENCES: I've always preferred nvidia for reasons I can't quite verbalize and probably aren't rational, but there you go.
OVERCLOCKING: Probably not.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe, depending on what you recommend!
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Still deciding as it's time to upgrade my 7 year old monitor. Leaning towards a 1920x1080 option.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Thanks so much for any help!!
Anyway, I'm now in that position of getting my next computer, and I have a question I'd love some advice about. About a year ago my power supply blew and took my GPU with it, and I ended up getting a 560 GTX Ti 1GB at that time. (I forget the brand offhand, PNY maybe?) So for my next computer I'm wondering if I get more bang for my buck by getting a second one and going SLI or if it'd be better to spend what appears to be $80-100 more for something like a GTX 660 Ti 3GB. I've never run SLI before so I don't know how that would compare to a single newer card. Thoughts? More details below.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Ideally the next couple of weeks
BUDGET RANGE: 200-300ish
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Primarily for gaming (all genres of games). Beyond that relatively run of the mill tasks like web surfing and word processing.
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: See above for current GPU. I'll get whatever power supply is needed for the next GPU configuration.
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: For CPU, leaning towards Intel i7-3820, though maybe just something like an i5-3570K. Not sure about motherboard, though of course I'll ensure it's compatible with whatever config I want. I plan for 16G DDR3 RAM.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I'm not particularly picky. Whatever appears the best price on something like a google shopping search with reasonable reviews for reliability.
PARTS PREFERENCES: I've always preferred nvidia for reasons I can't quite verbalize and probably aren't rational, but there you go.
OVERCLOCKING: Probably not.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe, depending on what you recommend!
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Still deciding as it's time to upgrade my 7 year old monitor. Leaning towards a 1920x1080 option.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Thanks so much for any help!!