GTX680 SLI or not

Doom5003

Doom5003

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Messages
146
I recently bought a 1440p screen and have only one GTX680.
I am thinking of just buying another one for SLI but so many people say that it is better to just go for a GTX780 or R9-290 as there are stutter problems ect with SLI
I have a i5 2500k
Gigabyte z77 ud3h
Corsair AX750
And CM Storm Trooper
So i dont think heat and power should be a problem.
Would just like to hear from the big boys and pros what they think.
BTW any thing larger than a GTX780 and R9-290 is out of my range.
 
Stutter issues with SLI are really only present when the two cards become out of sync due to different clock speeds or a lack of system memory. The drivers do a pretty good job at keeping both cards in sync, though, and you'll really only experience issues if a game does not properly support mGPU scaling (like Wolfenstein or Titanfall).

Before spending more on another video card, see what you can get out of overclocking your CPU if you haven't already. The GTX 680 should be pretty decent at 1440p by itself in a lot of games, so long as you recognize its limits and adjust settings accordingly. If you're still not satisfied by the performance, then adding another GTX 680 would be a good option if you're buying used.
 
do it , you will not regret it. like Armenius said , there are some games that will not use it right until a driver fix comes out for it. but lets take BF4 as an example , if you try and run it on ultra with 1 680 you will see way less than 60fps , with 2 no problem.
 
I have a gtx 680 setup and recently purchased a 780ti. I bought the 780ti because some of the games I like to play don't have sli profiles and don't work well with the other profiles that I have tried to use with them.

if you can sell your gtx 680 relatively easily it might not be a bad idea to look into going the 780/290 route. What games you primarily play and their level of sli support should factor into that decision heavily though imo.
 
I've been considering it myself, but I'm not sure I want to put more money into a 2 GB VRAM setup at this point.
 
One thing you have to consider is that with a second card comes twice the volume of hot air. So you might be fine with one card, but with two it could become a different story. The room where my computer is with GTX 780 SLI can get up to 10-15F degrees hotter than the rest of the house if the door is closed with demanding games like BF4 running. Case is an NZXT Phantom and the two cards have TITAN-style blower coolers.
 
Don't get the 2nd card, go with the fastest single card solution. You don't want the sli troubles
 
Cost effectiveness ? SEll your 680 and get a 780 or 290x, 290x can be had for $300 on ebay right now.
 
I had 680 SLI on a 1440p screen and the performance was very good, but 2GB of VRAM is going to be a limitation starting with some of the newer games. If I was you, I'd sell the 680 and go with a 290 4GB or a 780 3GB.
 
The limitation of the VRAM is something that I think wil be my biggest problem. Ill have to see what used GTX780s go for and take it from there.
As of late I am playing Dota2, COD:Ghost, COD:BO2, BF4, Dark Souls2 and replaying Dragon Age 1 & 2.
I will take a look at anandtech for comp between 680 SLI vs 780 vs R9 290
 
I dropped my two 680's in SLI for a single GTX780 SC when it was released. I have had much better performance overall with the games I play. And I have a steam library with over 200 games in it. Many of them actually get played.

Just my experience.
 
Ill give my GTX680 a go and see how far it can take me and will prob look into buying a GTX780 but just for the more VRAM
 
I have GTX680...but I went with the MSI Twin Frozr 4GIG VERSION...see my Sig......ASLO running 2560x1440 res......

You do not list how much Ram or brand of your 680..more info is needed to make a recommendation...IMO

I just got another one for $250....running the used card as we speak....testing it out before I go Full on SLI....

Can not wait to run SLI in STAR CITIZEN
 
Can't say I've had microstutter with 680 SLI. Only game that used to stutter was Far Cry 3, but that stutters on just about everything.
 
AP514 said:
I have GTX680...but I went with the MSI Twin Frozr 4GIG VERSION...see my Sig......ASLO running 2560x1440 res......

You do not list how much Ram or brand of your 680..more info is needed to make a recommendation...IMO

I just got another one for $250....running the used card as we speak....testing it out before I go Full on SLI....

Can not wait to run SLI in STAR CITIZEN
Click to expand...

I have a PNY GTX680 2Gig. Never tried to OC it as I dont believe 3-6 fps increase is worth the extra heat ect. I have been away from hom for 3 days and the monitor has been waiting for me still sealed in its box. Cant wait to go home!!
 
I have read that SLI has seen some great work don on iet that removed the stutter or at least improved it alot more than CF. Times like these that i wished i had gone for the 4Gig GTX680
 
Using 680 SLI right now, no problems. I've been using SLI for years without issue (I can't say remotely the same for crossfire), 580's, 590, 660's, 670's, 680's, 690's, 770's, 780's, 780ti and Titans. I can't remember the last time I saw microstutter or any other kind of crap like that, and I am super sensitive to those kind of artifacts. Probably when I had 9800GT SLI was the last time I had big issues with SLI other than games that simply don't support it at all.

I am currently selling my 680's because I only ever play one game any more - World of Tanks - and it doesn't support SLI. It did function until the latest patch which totally killed it. My old HD 5770 plays that game fine so I figured I might as well get rid of the 680's now since one has been out of the machine for a few weeks already.
 
My setup runs great. Although the VRAM usage in the new and upcoming titles are worrisome. I would personally wait for the next line of GPUs and get a single powerful card that would be a nice increase over the 680 SLI and with chunk of VRAM.
 
I'm running 2GB 680 SLI at 1600p. They've been great up to now but like everyone else said VRAM is becoming a problem.

You're probably not going to max next gen games period without SLI Titans. Single 780's and 290's won't have enough horsepower, and IMHO 4GB is probably not going to be enough anyway given the consoles have 8GB unified memory. So if the games you play RIGHT NOW can't run adequately, then get that second 680 keeping in mind you'll need to upgrade a second time for next year's games.

Personally I'm waiting for the 8GB Maxwell cards.
 
B!nd. said:
My setup runs great. Although the VRAM usage in the new and upcoming titles are worrisome. I would personally wait for the next line of GPUs and get a single powerful card that would be a nice increase over the 680 SLI and with chunk of VRAM.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Games that came out in the last few months or so that are maxing out VRAM: Thief, Watch Dogs, Enemy Front, Daylight, Wolfenstien New Order are all games maxing out VRAM. What I don't understand none of the games look all that amazing with the exception of Watch Dogs so I'm not sure where all the VRAM is going?!?! Nonetheless, 2GB of VRAM will hold you back soon enough. Look at all the games shown at e3... Hate to see what Far Cry 4, Witcher 3, Star Wars Battlefront, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect 4, CoD Advanced Warefare, Arkham Knight, the Division, Rise of Tomb Raider, etc.. will demand... >< Wait it out for Maxwell. Hopefully NVIDIA/AMD with do us a favour and give us lots of VRAM without charging a fortune for it. I know, I know...wishful thinking...
 
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FWIW, my experience with a GTX 690 was top notch at 1440p, but that was a year ago and newer games will only be requiring more VRAM. If it's your only choice and a 290/780 is out of the question I say go for it. Pick up a used 680 as cheap as possible on the forums/ebay and slap it in there. You might not be able to use high levels of AA, but at 1440p it's not that much of an issue.

Though if you're interested in games like Watch Dogs or GTA V I'd seriously consider selling the 680 and getting something with more VRAM. You won't be able to take advantage of maximum texture quality in games like that which I feel is much more important than high levels of AA at 1440.
 
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