660ti 2-way SLI vs 780 HydroCopper

[Spinny99]

Hi, everyone. I'm currently running a single GTX 660ti, which is having some trouble with BF4, and I'd like to be able to run BF3 On ultra in 3 monitors (I can currently run Medium in BF3 On 3 Monitors). I understand BF4 BETA is going to be laggy, but I still know a 660ti won't be enough for the upcoming titles. So, I'm trying to decide if I should go with a 2nd 660ti, and SLI, or I go with a single 780 (Possibly HydroCopper). I am aware the 780 is much better, but do I really need it? Will 2way SLI 660ti's max out? I'll be playing on 3 monitors, in BF4, BF3, DeadSpace, Rome II, and other games like that (Not Crysis ). I'd like to save the money if possible, and I just really don't know if a 780 is necessary. I just don't know if I need the power that comes with that amount of money. A second 660ti would be much cheaper.

Thanks!

 

[manofchalk]

Would personally go with the 780, the GPU is simply just far beefier and so its its memory setup.

Though why the HydroCopper? Do you intend on water-cooling these cards?

 

[Spinny99]

Yes, I do. I just got an offer on ebay for a brand new 660ti, and took it. I was literally offered it 20 minutes ago (that timing ). I also got it 185 even. It was a no brainer, but this opens up the option for a 3rd 660ti. Wouldn't that give me around the same power as a GTX 780?

 

[manofchalk]

Not sure TBH, though I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Though very few motherboard can handle triple cards, and only higher wattage (say 850-1000W) PSU's.

Though I think the real benefit of the 780 would be its memory system, the 660Ti's Achilles heel is that 192bit memory bus.

 

[Spinny99]

That is true. I have a SuperNova 750w for the PSU, so it'd be close. And your right, I would have to upgrade my Mobo from my current MSI Z77A-G45 to a Maximus V Formula, which I was planning on doing anyways. But can the 750w handle 3 cards?

 

[Raheel Hasan]

3x660ti is not a good idea. They will give u a lot of problems in long run. 780 is better but wait for amd to release their next generation in few days and then price of 780 will go down.

 

[manofchalk]

Its not so much the wattage, just that its unlikely your PSU even has the connectors to run three cards. Only on the higher wattage models is where you will find the 6 PCIe connectors to run tri-SLI.

 

[Spinny99]

I have the cables, so thats not an issue. On this thread, a guy says 2 660ti's is almost on par with a single 780. This means 3 660ti's would be just a good, if not better.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1718867/gtx-660ti-sli-770-780-opinions.html

@Raheel Hasan:
Why would 3-Way 660ti's be a bad idea. What problems would I encounter?

Thanks!

 

[Spinny99]

So we've basically brought this down to:

660ti 2way or 3way
Will either setup outrun a 780
Can a 750w PSU handle a 3-way
Can either setup max out 3 monitors, or at least high seetings

Thx!

 

[manofchalk]

- Depends, how much cash do you have (especially since it seems you intend to water-cool all this).
- Both will, but will fall down in memory intensive usage,
- In terms of sheer wattage, yes. Main issue is connectors.
- Depends what your playing.

 

[Spinny99]

- Cash is sorta an issue, I intend on adding the 3rd 660ti (If we decide that'll run much better than 2 SLI) and I plan to have all Watercooling supplies by Christmas (It's going to be a whopping 642$ just for watercooling to replace my h100i)

- Okay, and intensive usage will effect what (I'm a noob sorry xD)

- I can always order extra connectors

- Battlefield 3 and 4, mainly. Occasionally some Splinter Cell Blacklist, and other games. No Crysis.

 

[manofchalk]

Yup, water is expensive.

Triple monitor gaming actually is VRAM intensive because of the massive resolution, Skyrim modding is notorious for consuming ungodly amounts of VRAM. The Metro series is also known for being very VRAm reliant.

I would avoid Molex to PCIe adapters, or at least be very careful that the rail you are drawing from can handle the load.

By "depends what you are playing" I meant that some games you will be able to max out fine, others probably not.

 

[Spinny99]

Thanks for your reply.

Can you explain "I would avoid Molex to PCIe adapters, or at least be very careful that the rail you are drawing from can handle the load." in noob language?

Okay. I won't be playing Skyrim on Metro I'm going to loop up if BF3 is VRAM intensive on BF3.

 

[manofchalk]

PSU's have different rails, which are what the connectors coming out of it are powered from. These are separated by voltage typically (12v, 5v and 3.3v) though sometimes a PSU can have multiple 12v rails.

Find out what rail the Molex connectors are on (probably 12v) and how much much amperage it can support. Times the Amps by the Voltage to get its Wattage, and compare that with how much the PCIe connector can potentially supply in addition to whatever is already drawing from the rail.

 

[Spinny99]

Okay. Thx.

I found this picture. http://imgur.com/aIHzvon
I think I understand those benchmarks, but I'm not totally sure that those are good or bad. What do you think?

 

[manofchalk]

I think those number might be useful if your looking at playing on a 1080p or 1440p screen, with a surround setup your looking at 3x1080p and about double the pixels of a 1440p screen.

 

[Spinny99]

I meant like, do you think they are good numbers or bad numbers. My current screens are L227WTG's, but I dislike them and I wanted to get something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BZNDS0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[manofchalk]

Really not sure what you mean by good and bad numbers.