Second GTX 660 vs. GTX 970?

T

Trackr

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 10, 2011
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Seems like the cost would be about the same, though a bit higher for the GTX 970.

Performance would be quite equally matched, I think.

Now, there are all these features like G-Sync that I was excited about but now find out they require a G-Sync monitor.. disappointing.

I just want to be able to run Crysis 3 @ 2560x1600, which I can't do with my GTX 660.
 
I'd go 970, no question. The 970 can surpass even 680 SLI in some games as scaling is never 100%
 
x3sphere said:
I'd go 970, no question. The 970 can surpass even 680 SLI in some games as scaling is never 100%
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According to the benchmarks I've seen, GTX 970 is about as powerful as GTX 780, which is what GTX 660 SLi essentially performs at.

I mean, I was going to still get the GTX 970 to have the newest and greatest, but after the G-Sync let down.. what else is there?
 
The GTX 660 is already g-sync capable.

In terms of feature set additions -
- DSR
- MFAA
- improved video encode
- better VR support
- DX 11.1,11.2, 11.3
- speculated better DX12 support going forward

Otherwise hardware wise you also gain more VRAM, efficiency, and no more SLI limitations/issues.

If you're using the 1.5gb GTX 660s you're going to run into VRAM issues trying to run at 2560x1600.
 
660TI may be equal to stock performance of a 780 in games where the scaling its great.. in others the 780 will be superior, now, with a 970 the difference will be even greater as out of the box 970 boost very very high making it superior to 780 and pointing at term of performance of the 780TI.. so 970 hands down.. it will be a very noticeable performance gain.
 
limitedaccess said:
The GTX 660 is already g-sync capable.

In terms of feature set additions -
- DSR
- MFAA
- improved video encode
- better VR support
- DX 11.1,11.2, 11.3
- speculated better DX12 support going forward

Otherwise hardware wise you also gain more VRAM, efficiency, and no more SLI limitations/issues.

If you're using the 1.5gb GTX 660s you're going to run into VRAM issues trying to run at 2560x1600.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize the GTX 660 comes in 1.5GB. No, I have the 2GB version.

Thanks for the low-down. The only thing I really care about is vRAM, it seems.

I don't see how much I'd gain from MFAA, DSR, DX12, etc.

And the fact that I could get another GTX 970 later on, where as the GTX 660s are limited to 2-way SLi.

Does anyone know if you could triple-SLi GTX 970?
 
I think in the review here they mention that 970 should be tri-sli capable, just like the 980.
 
yup.. the 970 its able to do Tri-SLI.. 980 its able to do Quad-SLI..
 
660 SLi is usually slower than a 780, that and overclocking the GK106 cores in sli ain't all too good. Myself I'm going to a single 970 from my sig setup, you should do the same!
 
Trackr said:
I didn't realize the GTX 660 comes in 1.5GB. No, I have the 2GB version.

Thanks for the low-down. The only thing I really care about is vRAM, it seems.

I don't see how much I'd gain from MFAA, DSR, DX12, etc.

And the fact that I could get another GTX 970 later on, where as the GTX 660s are limited to 2-way SLi.

Does anyone know if you could triple-SLi GTX 970?
Click to expand...

There are 1.5gb 660s but OEM only. I just forgot they used interleaving (when posting that) so retail boards commonly have a 2gb configuration with some retail boards being 3gb.

Well MFAA is supposedly just another newer and more efficient alternative for AA. But we won't know how effective it is until it's implemented and tried.

I think DSR is fairly interesting (although this may be backported, since it isn't inherently hardware based) due to the ease of use.

DX12 support would just be more of potential in terms of longevity.

But basically you said the costs are roughly the same up front for you (as such the actual cost of ownership might be lower due to lower electricity usage) so there really isn't any point to going SLI. In general you'd go SLI only if you either need/want something faster than any single card can provide or there is a significant value advantage, neither which applies in this case.
 
limitedaccess said:
There are 1.5gb 660s but OEM only. I just forgot they used interleaving (when posting that) so retail boards commonly have a 2gb configuration with some retail boards being 3gb.

Well MFAA is supposedly just another newer and more efficient alternative for AA. But we won't know how effective it is until it's implemented and tried.

I think DSR is fairly interesting (although this may be backported, since it isn't inherently hardware based) due to the ease of use.

DX12 support would just be more of potential in terms of longevity.

But basically you said the costs are roughly the same up front for you (as such the actual cost of ownership might be lower due to lower electricity usage) so there really isn't any point to going SLI. In general you'd go SLI only if you either need/want something faster than any single card can provide or there is a significant value advantage, neither which applies in this case.
Click to expand...

Another excellent point! I'm starting to feel stupid, here. I've just been out of the loop ever since getting my GTX 660..

Yes, you are 100% correct. The power bill alone warrants selling my GTX 660.

I should send you one as well for being so helpful :)
 
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