GTX 460 SLI - Equal to what?

[xaephod]

Hey guys! I usually am the one giving advice, not asking for it. But, I figured I would reach out for opinions.

I currently run a 2500K with a GTX460 SLI setup. I would love to get more FPS from my games. I look at the newest 6-series Nvidia cards and equivalent 7 series AMD cards and its very hard to do an apples to apples comparison.

I have seen reviews were the GTX460 in SLI is comparible to a GTX480 and some articles compare it to the GTX580. If its comparable to the GTX580, then for now the newer cards aren't really that much of an improvement and I personally don't think its worth upgrading to a single card solution. Obviously, I don't want to spent $1,000 on a video card.

If there an upgrade path that will yield series FPS improvement? It would have to literally be 200% faster for it to be worth upgrading. The only game I am really playing at this point is Guild Wars 2 with World v World pvp, so I get some screens with dozens of toons with spell effects going off and it literally causes my computer to scream bloody murder.

Aside from OCing (which I don't think will yield more than a 5% improvement), do I just wait for the next card to come out? 7 series Nvidia? 8 series AMD?

From the benchmarks I have seen, the GTX460, even though its 2 years old, is still comparable and viable.


So, opinions?

Thanks

 

[xaephod]

P.S. I am running a 1000watt power supply, so that won't be an issue.

 

[quilciri]

A pair of 460's (256 bit) should top a 480, I dunno about the 580. They should be giving you decent framerates even under heavy load. Is it possible that GW2 is not supporting your SLI setup (i.e. it's running off a single 460)?

P.S. it wouldn't happen to be the microstuttering you're noticing, would it?

 

[xaephod]

How do you tell if its running SLI or not? Also, I don't notice any studdering, just that old style slow down during super graphic intensive battles.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

You shouldn't see any microstuttering w/ twin 460's

 

[quilciri]

You shouldn't see any microstuttering w/ twin 460's

If that's true, it's the only two card setup in existence that doesn't exhibit microstuttering.

Microstuttering happens to one degree or another with *any* two GPU setup, even those on a single card like the 690. the severity of the microstuttering varies from game to game. Neither Nvidia nor AMD, nor anyone else have figured out what causes it yet. Using 3 or more cards however, virtually eliminates microstuttering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_stuttering

 

[Guest]

If that's true, it's the only two card setup in existence that doesn't exhibit microstuttering.

Microstuttering happens to one degree or another with *any* two GPU setup, even those on a single card like the 690. the severity of the microstuttering varies from game to game. Neither Nvidia nor AMD, nor anyone else have figured out what causes it yet. Using 3 or more cards however, virtually eliminates microstuttering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_stuttering

get with the times
Micro-Stuttering: The Current Situation

 

[quilciri]

get with the times
Micro-Stuttering: The Current Situation

"Adaptive vsync doesn't really address the issues with uneven frame dispatch that lead to micro-stuttering in multi-GPU solutions, as we explored here"

http://techreport.com/review/22735/a-closer-look-at-some-geforce-gtx-680-features/2

 

[Guest]

"Adaptive vsync doesn't really address the issues with uneven frame dispatch that lead to micro-stuttering in multi-GPU solutions, as we explored here"

http://techreport.com/review/22735/a-closer-look-at-some-geforce-gtx-680-features/2

that article is by Scott Wasson — 9:56 PM on April 2, 2012

so apparently in the more recent article on tom's its better. and that wouldn't be surprising since a few drivers have been released.

but who said V-sync solved it?

Nvidia’s SLI technology is clearly better at minimizing frame times in this benchmark scenario. Even without its Adaptive VSync capability enabled, EVGA's GeForce GTX 690 produces a much smoother output than the Radeon HD 7990.

look like a non factor anyhow . . .

really man i just tried giving you more up to date information toward the topic you posted on than some old wiki article and no offence i do not have the time or concern to "debate" it with you.


have a good day.

 

[quilciri]

The 690 being smoother that then 7990 doesn't mean the 690 doesn't have microstutter. Besides, I'm not trying to debate with anyone, the point was The OP 460's, which *definitely* had significant microstutter. The questions I have are

- are the 460's even supported by the current NVIDIA drivers, which would provide the adaptive vsync?
- given that, do they provide as much of a microstutter reduction to the 460's as they do to the 690?
- Is Xaephod using those drivers?

As far as how to tell if the game is running in SLI or not, Nvidia's GPU utility (or any GPU utility that can monitor card load) will work. While you're running guild wars, tab out to the utility and see if both cards have a load on them, or just one. If one car is running at near 100%, and the other is idling around 5 or 10%, it's safe to say the game isn't using both cards.

good luck!

 

[bignastyid]

They perform close to a gtx580, I had sli'd 460's before I upgraded to a 580 , however there is no microstutter which makes it look like it performs alot better.

 

[mactronix]

It depends a whole heap on which 460's you have. Standard 460's are equal to a 580 but some of the cards were significantly faster than standard cards as much as 15% faster. Theoretically (as I have no links) this would be similar performance to a GTX 670 or a HD 7970. However that does come with the small issue of driver support.

If you have no performance issues I would keep the cards. I would however seriously consider selling them off to offset the cost of what could be a single card upgrade now while the cards are still worth something.

Mactronix

 

[ko888]

The relative performance of two reference clocked GeForce GTX 460 in 2-way SLI mode falls between the performance of a single reference clocked Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition and a single reference clocked GeForce GTX 580.

 

[bystander]

Adaptive v-sync is not a microstutter solution. It just helps when using v-sync, as it will turn v-sync off when you cannot maintain high enough FPS.

And while AMD cards exhibit a lot more microstuttering by default, you might like to know that CF users can use this bit of software to help resolve that issue: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7990-devil13-7970-x2,3329-11.html

Apparently it's a pain to use, because you have to setup a profile for every game you use it on, but it works great.

 

[xaephod]

So, with the fact that I am not suffering from micro-stuttering, lets get back to the topic.

With the setup I have now, is there a single card upgrade that will yield 200% improvement in performance?

 

[bystander]

No, but a 7970 or 680 would be somewhat close to that.

 

[mactronix]

What resolution are you playing at ?
The cards that you would be looking at to make it worth upgrading are very very expensive and are usually tested at higher resolutions.

Your not going to get even near to 200% performance increase until at least the next generation if not the one after from a single card.

Mactronix

 

[xaephod]

I play at 1920x1200 on a 28" Monitor. I figured I would have to wait for the next gen card to come out but wasnt sure.

 

[ko888]

So, with the fact that I am not suffering from micro-stuttering, lets get back to the topic.

With the setup I have now, is there a single card upgrade that will yield 200% improvement in performance?

A GeForce GTX 690.

 

[xaephod]

I was thinking of the HD 7970. Tom's Hardware says its the pick of the litter with better performance than a GTX670 and just about performance as a GTX680 but much cheaper.

I haven't used an AMD card singe the 9700Pro (I loved that card!). What do you guys think?

 

[ko888]

I was thinking of the HD 7970. Tom's Hardware says its the pick of the litter with better performance than a GTX670 and just about performance as a GTX680 but much cheaper.

I haven't used an AMD card singe the 9700Pro (I loved that card!). What do you guys think?

Didn't you say you were looking for a single graphics card that will give you twice the performance of your existing setup?

The only single card solution that comes close to meeting that requirement is the GeForce GTX 690.

A Radeon HD 7970 will not give you that. You may get a 1.5x but not a 2x performance increase.