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One GTX 680 vs Two GTX 570s

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Hello,
Grandson has a machine with 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB) graphics cards. He is asking me for a EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC Signature2/Dual Fan/2048MB GDDR5 Dual Dual-Link DVI/mHDMI/DP/SLI Graphics Card (02G-P4-2687-KR) for Christmas. I think this is probably not a good idea. How about some opinions from some experts (or at least some who know more than I do!). Thanks

More about : gtx 680 gtx 570s

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jetjock1 said:
Hello,
Grandson has a machine with 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB) graphics cards. He is asking me for a EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC Signature2/Dual Fan/2048MB GDDR5 Dual Dual-Link DVI/mHDMI/DP/SLI Graphics Card (02G-P4-2687-KR) for Christmas. I think this is probably not a good idea. How about some opinions from some experts (or at least some who know more than I do!). Thanks


Really depends what games he's gonna play, and the resolution. But without that info 2 570's is more than enough. I'll find you some comparisons in a second.

2 570s create tons of heat and noise. A 680 is more efficient and quieter. And more future proof. My rule of thumb is always get the best single gpu you can. You can probably sell the 570s to almost cover the price of that 680.

cgner said:
Totally not worth it at this point. Wait another couple of years, unless u run 3 monitors and super demanding programs.


If they can sell the 570s it's worth it. More VRAM, future proof, less heat, noise, and power draw. They never mentioned resolution but ill assume 1080p. Games like skyrim and others will demand more than 1.2 GB of VRAM. Again they can easily sell the 570s on eBay and recoup the cost of a 680.
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A 680 would be a step down in performance. Sure, its more efficient and newer technology, but I don't think that is what you are looking for. I never recommend multi gpu set ups, but if it is working okay now, I would just stick with it until the next series of cards come out next year.
Graphics card Master

maestro0428 said:
A 680 would be a step down in performance. Sure, its more efficient and newer technology, but I don't think that is what you are looking for. I never recommend multi gpu set ups, but if it is working okay now, I would just stick with it until the next series of cards come out next year.
I agree with this.

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maestro0428 said:
A 680 would be a step down in performance. Sure, its more efficient and newer technology, but I don't think that is what you are looking for. I never recommend multi gpu set ups, but if it is working okay now, I would just stick with it until the next series of cards come out next year.


Small step down in max fps, step up in min fps and smoother gameplay.

Again depends on his games. Although with sli he's already getting high fps, most likely wont notice the fps difference. Keep in mind games like bf3 on ultra with msaa cranked the 570s can't handle that on 1.2GB of VRAM. Just some food for thought.

Also the average buy it now price on eBay is about $180+. Selling 2 would pay for the 680.

Personally I would get the 680. But like others have said if he's happy with performance right now no need to update. They still have enough graphics muscle to last a while. Although if he ever upgrades past 1080p its time to kiss the 570s goodbye.
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yarmock said:
Small step down in max fps, step up in min fps and smoother gameplay.

Again depends on his games. Although with sli he's already getting high fps, most likely wont notice the fps difference. Keep in mind games like bf3 on ultra with msaa cranked the 570s can't handle that on 1.2GB of VRAM. Just some food for thought.

Also the average buy it now price on eBay is about $180+. Selling 2 would pay for the 680.

Personally I would get the 680. But like others have said if he's happy with performance right now no need to update. They still have enough graphics muscle to last a while. Although if he ever upgrades past 1080p its time to kiss the 570s goodbye.


Correctly managed SLI 570's is smooth as butter

Thanks to all for the excellent replies. However, I just noticed that I transposed the 8 & 6!! It should read GTX 860, not 680. I am very sorry for the screw up. Anybody want to change their answer? Once again, mea culpa!!!
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jetjock1 said:
Thanks to all for the excellent replies. However, I just noticed that I transposed the 8 & 6!! It should read GTX 860, not 680. I am very sorry for the screw up. Anybody want to change their answer? Once again, mea culpa!!!

There is no GTX860, that's why I changed it to GTX680.
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dkcomputer said:
If you can sell the 570's on ebay or something and get a single 680 I'd do it. SLI = image stutter, and heat/noise+kills life of motherboard+system.

Cobblers! I don't get image stutter with either of my rigs and the 680i has been run in SLi since day one and is still going strong after over six years of abuse.

I run 2 x GTX 570 in SLI and can play pretty much any game at 1920 x 1080 resolution at maximum detail and get 60+ fps

In other words 2 x GTX 570 are easily enough to play the best games at maximum detail.
I would run those cards for another year at least and then if the system starts to struggle then upgrade.

Keep the 570s... what a waste it would be to sell them to get the 680... Not only that if you do go single card, you would be crazy not to get a 7970 Ghz. With the 12.11 release of drivers there is no reason a person would even think of going the N way...

Please keep what he has... my buddy is running 2x 480s watercooled and he still demolishes everything and then some... I bet an easy 2 years left with sli 570s
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zloginet said:
Keep the 570s... what a waste it would be to sell them to get the 680... Not only that if you do go single card, you would be crazy not to get a 7970 Ghz. With the 12.11 release of drivers there is no reason a person would even think of going the N way...

Please keep what he has... my buddy is running 2x 480s watercooled and he still demolishes everything and then some... I bet an easy 2 years left with sli 570s


There are reasons. 3D Vision, FXAA, TXAA, adaptive v-sync or even PhysX. And before you call them all gimmicks or what not, that all depends on whether you will use them regularly.
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bystander said:
There are reasons. 3D Vision, FXAA, TXAA, adaptive v-sync or even PhysX. And before you call them all gimmicks or what not, that all depends on whether you will use them regularly.



I respect but I am also massively confused by this post

I am always going to recommend going forward rather than backwards - get a 670 or 680 and he can SLI down the road if he finds he can't play a game on ultra settings.

I would look at pricing at the time you're ready to pull the trigger and select the EVGA/ASUS card with the fastest clock speed that is within your budget. The 4GB cards are probably the way to go because even though every few games will eat up all that video memory (Skyrim w/ mods comes to mind), next gen games will likely be more resource intensive. Just my two bits

the GTX 680 is a great card but he's not going to experience any substantial changes in game quality moving from 2 570's. So it depends on his intentions, if he plans on eventually running 2 680's sli at some point than yeah this would be a good move since you would see a pretty good increase in performance especially across multiple monitors. If he does switch I would keep at least one of the 570's for a dedicated physx card, as it would have no chance of bottleknecking.
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spentshells said:
I respect but I am also massively confused by this post


In response to the comment,

"Not only that if you do go single card, you would be crazy not to get a 7970 Ghz. With the 12.11 release of drivers there is no reason a person would even think of going the N way... "

I was saying there are reasons for going the way of Nvidia. For example, if you use a 3D Vision monitor, you'd be crazy for using an AMD card.
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