GTX 770 4gb sli vs 780 sli 3gb with multiple monitors

[jnewegger23]

I am really on the fence here. I'm planning on upgrading my setup soon and I currently only have the 1 monitor but I'm planning on upgrading to 3 by end of year. I was wondering, if you assume 1920x1080p and 120hz refresh rate as the min specs per monitor would the extra GB on the 770 outweigh the strength in the inherent performance gain of the 780? I read on another thread here that there seems to be a great debate as to whether the extra GB means much over the significant gpu strength of the 780 even though it is limited to 3gb. (Please assume I am speaking about the 770 4gb only in comparison to the 780). Let's also assume both are the EVGA classified to keep this discussion as simple as possible. I also plan on being able to upgrade again in 2 more years (that will be my cycle pretty much) but this will be my first multi-monitor setup.

Thanks!

CPU Specs:
i7 3770K 4.4Ghz 1.14Vcore +.085 offset
H80i
P8Z77-V LE PLUS (Will probably upgrade with Broadwell and then of course whatever cpu is in the higher tier by then)
SanDisk 120GB SSD
4TB 7.2krpm 64mb cache HDD
16GB Patriot Gamer 2 1333Mhz Memory (I will need to upgrade this too!)
AX1200
600T
No GPU(s) yet! Hence this thread!

My guess is that the 780 will be just fine for most games currently but of course I'd like to have the peace of mind that I can max out on the multi-monitor setup for quite some time before having to upgrade again. Which will buy me the most time do you guys think? I haven't been able to find any reviews with the 4gb 770 in sli and multi-monitors yet. Please point me in that direction if you've found it already! I already read guru3d's 770 sli w 2gb and guru3d's 780 reference sli reviews. These little details all add up, so your input is very much valued! I need to sleep for a few and will check back in a little bit.

Thanks!

Justin

 

[kirilmatthew]

780 by far! 3Gb per card is enough for 3 monitors for sure. You will notice a massive performance increase by going 780. The 4Gb 770 will have almost no performance increase over a 2Gb 770.

 

[jnewegger23]

Two Gigabyte GTX 770 WF 4GB http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CU9GOAO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CU9GOAO&linkCode=as2&tag=b0b929-20 cards in SLI would be FAR superior to a single GTX 780 and perform much better for a 3 monitor setup. 2GB would not be the optimal situation for that high of a resolution and though 3GB VRAM is enough, two 770's > one 780. You would also get much more for your money out of SLI 770's since the 780 is currently overpriced.

I appreciate your response byogamingpc but since my thread is quite verbose perhaps it wasn't clear that I'm not debating against a single 780 but against 780 in SLI and wasn't sure that the extra 1GB on a 770 SLI would have an advantage where there are 3 or more monitors at above stated spec.

 

[jnewegger23]

780 by far! 3Gb per card is enough for 3 monitors for sure. You will notice a massive performance increase by going 780. The 4Gb 770 will have almost no performance increase over a 2Gb 770.

@kirilmatthew I appreciate your input as well! However, if you have time, take a glance at the data here:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_770_sli_review,22.html



The above was done with only 2GB 770s in SLI and those were pretty decent numbers considering. I am dying to see if the 4GB would help bridge the gap significantly enough to give the 780s a run for the money (as guru3d states that 2GB is the min needed) but I will take you at your word. It would just be nice to see the data before forking over $800 to $1300 on the gpus which is where I'm on the fence! It would be nice to splash $3k on 3 Titans but I have a budget too ( a decent one, just not astronomical). Thanks again nonetheless! Any further input here would be welcome though!

Clearly the GTX 780s in SLI beat the 770s in SLI here but these are the 2GB tested. I guess I'm just thinking that if the 4GB has ANY gains at all it would be close enough to consider saving the $500 and applying that towards better monitors etc. and in 2years I'd upgrade the gpus most likely anyways and keep the monitors for much much longer. It will be a LONG while before I'm worried about 4k btw in terms of monitors as the prices are sky high atm.

 

[jnewegger23]

@byogamingpc Again thanks! So, just to be clear you are saying that there wouldn't be a significant enough gain with the 770 4GB in SLI compared to the 780 3GB in SLI for a 3 Monitor setup? Currently the 770 2GB SLI tested by guru3d shows a 11 and 12fps deficit to the 780 3GB in SLI for the 2 games tested respectively (Far Cry 3, MOH). Could you imagine in theory the extra GB cutting into that difference at all? If, so by how much? I'm guessing you will reiterate that there would be no gain but I want to be sure before buying. I guess at this point I need to just chill and wait for someone to test it or just be happy with going with the 780s. Sorry, in advance if I'm testing your patience but I'd rather annoy you 1 more time than wast $500 b/c I was to humble to ask!

 

[kirilmatthew]

The 4Gb will yield very little difference over a 2gb cardbin most games currently. Even when it will, it will only be a few FPS. Nothing compared to the 780s which will yield a massive improvement

 

[jnewegger23]

Outside of modded skyrim there is no performance advantage at any playable settings - at any game/resolution - to 4GB GK104 cards over 2GB ones. By the time you need 4GB VRAM, 770s are out of juice to power whatever settings you're using.

780 SLI is significantly faster, and is the way to go. There is no limitation by the 3GB vram, perhaps with the exception of modded skyrim.

@BigMack70 This just might be THE answer I was looking for. I appreciate everyone else's input as well but you clearly are addressing my question directly. @kirilmatthew your latest answer also helps too! It looks like I'll be leaning toward the GTX 780s for now. I'll leave this thread open a little longer before choosing best answer. I'm hoping someone who has a 770 4GB sli setup with multi monitors already might chime in as a last ditch effort but short of that I don't see much argument for the 770s. Speaking of which, BigMack70 do you think skyrim modded would play better on which setup? It would be great for owners of these two different setups could say "here's my fps, benchmark scores etc." and really determine value there. But I feel pretty confident with everyone's contribution thus far. I'll be pulling the trigger in a couple of weeks!

 

[jnewegger23]

With regards to your skyrim question, I don't know. There's basically no way to benchmark modded skyrim, and so people are free to make whatever claims they want about how it performs and why it performs the way it does. When a user does honestly have a performance problem, there's no real way to tell if it's from VRAM, a mod conflict, or something else the user is doing wrong. All I can say is that I had no issues at 2560x1440 with about 200-300 mods on either my 7970s or my 780s. I can't speak to 5760x1080.

I wouldn't base a purchase decision off of Skyrim one way or another unless that's the main game you intend to be playing.

I appreciate your response; very rational. It would just be another data point for me to consider but I completely agree. One game does not make for a better gpu! We'll see. I will probably pick a best answer if I don't learn anything further in the next week or so or if no one further seems to be chiming in before then. Again thanks!

 

[jnewegger23]

This review of 700 series SLI is probably worth a look for your purposes too, since it compares 770 and 780 SLI at 5760x1080 in a number of games.

Bear in mind that custom overclocked cards will be faster than the stock cards they're using.

Looks very interesting. By the date of the testing (I read everywhere and couldn't find if the 770s were 2gb or 4gb; I assumed 2gb and posted my same question there too!) I assume they used 2gb 770s as well which brings me back to my original question, but most of you are suggesting that it really won't matter much. I get that but I'll keep collecting data till I'm able to go buy the gpus!

 

[jnewegger23]

There just isn't any data that 4GB GK104 cards are any different than the 2GB ones in terms of performance... for example,
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Point_Of_View/GeForce_GTX_680_TGT_Ultra_4_GB/33.html
http://hardocp.com/article/2013/01/14/asus_geforce_gtx_670_directcu_ii_4gb_sli_review/9

The few 4GB 670/680/770 reviews that are out there fail to show any benefit over the 2GB cards.

It looks like based on the hardocp article that I should be pretty happy with just the 3gb on the 780s. It looks like the 780 still it is!@BigMack70 and all the others who contributed thanks again!

 

[blobis]

http://uk.hardware.info/comparisontable/products/186546-186643-186801-186900-186946-188176-192890-193039-193081

some specs and comparison's

 

[jpmeneses21]

If money's no object, get the 780. The 780 is meant to run resolutions higher than 1080p and multi-monitors. But if you'll going to ask me, I prefer two GTX 760s in SLI rather than the 770s. Two 760s offer more bang for buck, and can go head-to-head with a GTX Titan. There's a really good review of 760s in SLI on youtube.

 

[jnewegger23]

If money's no object, get the 780. The 780 is meant to run resolutions higher than 1080p and multi-monitors. But if you'll going to ask me, I prefer two GTX 760s in SLI rather than the 770s. Two 760s offer more bang for buck, and can go head-to-head with a GTX Titan. There's a really good review of 760s in SLI on youtube.

I agree very much. Overall the 700 series has been impressive. Honestly I wasn't expecting that much improvement from the 600 series and was originally planning on purchasing the GTX 680 Classified but the performance to dollar cannot be justified any more with all the quality 700 choices out there so I'm really having to do my homework. The 780 Lightning was just released but it is $750! In less than 2 weeks I'll be updating what I buy and I'm strongly leaning towards the 780 Classified at this point. Just wish EVGA would send guru3D a sample so I can compare apples to apples. Ninja Lane did one on the classified but their setup isn't as strong as guru3ds and that may be affecting the numbers slightly. Hopefully EVGA (hint hint hint) you can get that sample out to guru3d before then! @jpmeneses21 thanks for your reply nonetheless!

 

[jpmeneses21]

If money's no object, get the 780. The 780 is meant to run resolutions higher than 1080p and multi-monitors. But if you'll going to ask me, I prefer two GTX 760s in SLI rather than the 770s. Two 760s offer more bang for buck, and can go head-to-head with a GTX Titan. There's a really good review of 760s in SLI on youtube.

I agree very much. Overall the 700 series has been impressive. Honestly I wasn't expecting that much improvement from the 600 series and was originally planning on purchasing the GTX 680 Classified but the performance to dollar cannot be justified any more with all the quality 700 choices out there so I'm really having to do my homework. The 780 Lightning was just released but it is $750! In less than 2 weeks I'll be updating what I buy and I'm strongly leaning towards the 780 Classified at this point. Just wish EVGA would send guru3D a sample so I can compare apples to apples. Ninja Lane did one on the classified but their setup isn't as strong as guru3ds and that may be affecting the numbers slightly. Hopefully EVGA (hint hint hint) you can get that sample out to guru3d before then! @jpmeneses21 thanks for your reply nonetheless!

Another option is to wait for Nvidia's rumored GTX 790 (which is packs dual 780 GPUs into a single card), or the Titan 2.0. Of course, these are just rumors though, so there's no word on the pricing yet. They say Nvidia is just waiting for AMD to launch their new Radeon cards on October before they unveil this.

 

[jnewegger23]

If money's no object, get the 780. The 780 is meant to run resolutions higher than 1080p and multi-monitors. But if you'll going to ask me, I prefer two GTX 760s in SLI rather than the 770s. Two 760s offer more bang for buck, and can go head-to-head with a GTX Titan. There's a really good review of 760s in SLI on youtube.

I agree very much. Overall the 700 series has been impressive. Honestly I wasn't expecting that much improvement from the 600 series and was originally planning on purchasing the GTX 680 Classified but the performance to dollar cannot be justified any more with all the quality 700 choices out there so I'm really having to do my homework. The 780 Lightning was just released but it is $750! In less than 2 weeks I'll be updating what I buy and I'm strongly leaning towards the 780 Classified at this point. Just wish EVGA would send guru3D a sample so I can compare apples to apples. Ninja Lane did one on the classified but their setup isn't as strong as guru3ds and that may be affecting the numbers slightly. Hopefully EVGA (hint hint hint) you can get that sample out to guru3d before then! @jpmeneses21 thanks for your reply nonetheless!

Another option is to wait for Nvidia's rumored GTX 790 (which is packs dual 780 GPUs into a single card), or the Titan 2.0. Of course, these are just rumors though, so there's no word on the pricing yet. They say Nvidia is just waiting for AMD to launch their new Radeon cards on October before they unveil this.

Yeah, I don't want to wait forever! It just goes that way no? It seems to me that the 780 will be the best fit for my needs. Technically the Titan would with the 6GB in terms of future proofing but I lose a lot of value there and feel that with 90% of the games I'll be playing over the next couple of years that 780s in SLI should be just fine! By then Titan 2.0's or better may be available and we'll see what my budget's looking like then. It is a good problem though! I will update in the next 10 days or so what actually has happened; I'm stoked!

 

[damian86]

Interesting thread, I am also looking at 770 SLI /780 SLI however I always look at issues with SLI where people don't recommend it because of driver or stuttering issues?, so every time I think of SLI I end up forgetting about it.

Also what we have to remember is that just now games are changing a lot probably because GPUs are also getting better and there are games such as Crysis 3 which will make use of a 4gb gpu when you turn up the graphics, so in my opinion I would make sure to have the 4gb version if I was to go with the 770s, but at this point I am considering 780's as well. Unfortunately I cannot wait for the 780 Ti! I still don't have a GPU on my pc and I'm running the integrated HD4600 from Intel.

Just to point something out, there are some 780's that really beat the Titan in performance so I do suggest to be smart when choosing one

 

[brian12345]

I am really on the fence here. I'm planning on upgrading my setup soon and I currently only have the 1 monitor but I'm planning on upgrading to 3 by end of year. I was wondering, if you assume 1920x1080p and 120hz refresh rate as the min specs per monitor would the extra GB on the 770 outweigh the strength in the inherent performance gain of the 780? I read on another thread here that there seems to be a great debate as to whether the extra GB means much over the significant gpu strength of the 780 even though it is limited to 3gb. (Please assume I am speaking about the 770 4gb only in comparison to the 780). Let's also assume both are the EVGA classified to keep this discussion as simple as possible. I also plan on being able to upgrade again in 2 more years (that will be my cycle pretty much) but this will be my first multi-monitor setup.

Thanks!

CPU Specs:
i7 3770K 4.4Ghz 1.14Vcore +.085 offset
H80i
P8Z77-V LE PLUS (Will probably upgrade with Broadwell and then of course whatever cpu is in the higher tier by then)
SanDisk 120GB SSD
4TB 7.2krpm 64mb cache HDD
16GB Patriot Gamer 2 1333Mhz Memory (I will need to upgrade this too!)
AX1200
600T
No GPU(s) yet! Hence this thread!

My guess is that the 780 will be just fine for most games currently but of course I'd like to have the peace of mind that I can max out on the multi-monitor setup for quite some time before having to upgrade again. Which will buy me the most time do you guys think? I haven't been able to find any reviews with the 4gb 770 in sli and multi-monitors yet. Please point me in that direction if you've found it already! I already read guru3d's 770 sli w 2gb and guru3d's 780 reference sli reviews. These little details all add up, so your input is very much valued! I need to sleep for a few and will check back in a little bit.

Thanks!

Justin

I also have been considering this.
Ive tested a single 780 with 3 gig of memory was ok but I wasn't able to max bf4 out because lack of memory.
All ultra with res settings on 200% 2560x1600.
Then I tested 2 280x in crossfire I got more fps but hit the memory cap once again.
I think right now the best way to go if you play on a hi res display and not a basic 1920 display its sli 770 with 4 gig of memory because you will need that amount of memory if you are to enjoy the benefits the speed gives you.
Ive seen people sli 2 gig cards and that is a complete waste of time because they have the speed but not the memory to use that speed.

 

[jnewegger23]

I am really on the fence here. I'm planning on upgrading my setup soon and I currently only have the 1 monitor but I'm planning on upgrading to 3 by end of year. I was wondering, if you assume 1920x1080p and 120hz refresh rate as the min specs per monitor would the extra GB on the 770 outweigh the strength in the inherent performance gain of the 780? I read on another thread here that there seems to be a great debate as to whether the extra GB means much over the significant gpu strength of the 780 even though it is limited to 3gb. (Please assume I am speaking about the 770 4gb only in comparison to the 780). Let's also assume both are the EVGA classified to keep this discussion as simple as possible. I also plan on being able to upgrade again in 2 more years (that will be my cycle pretty much) but this will be my first multi-monitor setup.

Thanks!

CPU Specs:
i7 3770K 4.4Ghz 1.14Vcore +.085 offset
H80i
P8Z77-V LE PLUS (Will probably upgrade with Broadwell and then of course whatever cpu is in the higher tier by then)
SanDisk 120GB SSD
4TB 7.2krpm 64mb cache HDD
16GB Patriot Gamer 2 1333Mhz Memory (I will need to upgrade this too!)
AX1200
600T
No GPU(s) yet! Hence this thread!

My guess is that the 780 will be just fine for most games currently but of course I'd like to have the peace of mind that I can max out on the multi-monitor setup for quite some time before having to upgrade again. Which will buy me the most time do you guys think? I haven't been able to find any reviews with the 4gb 770 in sli and multi-monitors yet. Please point me in that direction if you've found it already! I already read guru3d's 770 sli w 2gb and guru3d's 780 reference sli reviews. These little details all add up, so your input is very much valued! I need to sleep for a few and will check back in a little bit.

Thanks!

Justin

I also have been considering this.
Ive tested a single 780 with 3 gig of memory was ok but I wasn't able to max bf4 out because lack of memory.
All ultra with res settings on 200% 2560x1600.
Then I tested 2 280x in crossfire I got more fps but hit the memory cap once again.
I think right now the best way to go if you play on a hi res display and not a basic 1920 display its sli 770 with 4 gig of memory because you will need that amount of memory if you are to enjoy the benefits the speed gives you.
Ive seen people sli 2 gig cards and that is a complete waste of time because they have the speed but not the memory to use that speed.

@brian12345

That's what I was thinking. I've been unable to buy my gpu due to personal reasons so I'm still in the market. It seems that with the big price drop for the 770s and 780s since the 780ti came out that it would be worthwhile to consider 2 770 4gbs in sli for the time being at $400 a piece that would be an investment that should last a while. Skyrim uses up to 3.2gb of ram in multi monitor setups so 4gb seems to be the new standard or should be. Just wish the 780s had at least that. I think I'll get the 770 4gb and hold on that till the higher end cards start ramping up the ram. We'll see what xmass brings!

 

[brian12345]

I am really on the fence here. I'm planning on upgrading my setup soon and I currently only have the 1 monitor but I'm planning on upgrading to 3 by end of year. I was wondering, if you assume 1920x1080p and 120hz refresh rate as the min specs per monitor would the extra GB on the 770 outweigh the strength in the inherent performance gain of the 780? I read on another thread here that there seems to be a great debate as to whether the extra GB means much over the significant gpu strength of the 780 even though it is limited to 3gb. (Please assume I am speaking about the 770 4gb only in comparison to the 780). Let's also assume both are the EVGA classified to keep this discussion as simple as possible. I also plan on being able to upgrade again in 2 more years (that will be my cycle pretty much) but this will be my first multi-monitor setup.

Thanks!

CPU Specs:
i7 3770K 4.4Ghz 1.14Vcore +.085 offset
H80i
P8Z77-V LE PLUS (Will probably upgrade with Broadwell and then of course whatever cpu is in the higher tier by then)
SanDisk 120GB SSD
4TB 7.2krpm 64mb cache HDD
16GB Patriot Gamer 2 1333Mhz Memory (I will need to upgrade this too!)
AX1200
600T
No GPU(s) yet! Hence this thread!

My guess is that the 780 will be just fine for most games currently but of course I'd like to have the peace of mind that I can max out on the multi-monitor setup for quite some time before having to upgrade again. Which will buy me the most time do you guys think? I haven't been able to find any reviews with the 4gb 770 in sli and multi-monitors yet. Please point me in that direction if you've found it already! I already read guru3d's 770 sli w 2gb and guru3d's 780 reference sli reviews. These little details all add up, so your input is very much valued! I need to sleep for a few and will check back in a little bit.

Thanks!

Justin

I also have been considering this.
Ive tested a single 780 with 3 gig of memory was ok but I wasn't able to max bf4 out because lack of memory.
All ultra with res settings on 200% 2560x1600.
Then I tested 2 280x in crossfire I got more fps but hit the memory cap once again.
I think right now the best way to go if you play on a hi res display and not a basic 1920 display its sli 770 with 4 gig of memory because you will need that amount of memory if you are to enjoy the benefits the speed gives you.
Ive seen people sli 2 gig cards and that is a complete waste of time because they have the speed but not the memory to use that speed.

@brian12345

That's what I was thinking. I've been unable to buy my gpu due to personal reasons so I'm still in the market. It seems that with the big price drop for the 770s and 780s since the 780ti came out that it would be worthwhile to consider 2 770 4gbs in sli for the time being at $400 a piece that would be an investment that should last a while. Skyrim uses up to 3.2gb of ram in multi monitor setups so 4gb seems to be the new standard or should be. Just wish the 780s had at least that. I think I'll get the 770 4gb and hold on that till the higher end cards start ramping up the ram. We'll see what xmass brings!

Yes I recommend the Gainward GeForce GTX 770 Phantom 4096MB
The cooling solution from when I tested one seemed very good.
Max fan speed was also very good I found.
If you can just wait until after Christmas or may 2014 there will be a 8xxx card from nvidea.
Also wait until this patch for bf4 comes out that will be using the 290x mantel hardware on the amd cards.

Ive been thinking about buying a 290x With 4 gig of ram but they need work to keep them silent.
But need these items before considering that.

1..
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-021-CS

2..
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/13532/vid-170/Gelid_Icy_Vision_Enhancement_Kit_-_AMD_6900_Series.html?tl=g40c16s1861

3..
http://www.moddiy.com/products/3M-8810-High-Performance-Thermally-Conductive-Adhesive-Heatsink-%2822mm%29.html

4..
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_26040.html

5..
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-030-SY

These are the items I would need to buy the 290x to keep it allmost silent because right now there like jet engines Its worth considering.
Unless you have a full water cooling setup.

Ps I think all the 780 cards are a waste of time because of there lack of memory.
If you play 1920x1080 they will be fine but if you play on a multi display or a hi deff 2560 there not much use im sorry to say.