480 GTX & SLi Performance Questions

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Mar 28, 2011
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Ive got a couple of quick questions here in the UK the 480's are now going for about £200/$327 which is alot cheaper then when they first arrived im interested in SLi'ing these two cards however im wondering if i buy one card now and one when i get paid about 3 weeks away is a Single 480GTX going to be good enough to play most modern games (bar metro 2033) at 1920x1080 on high if not highest settings with 2xaa/4xaa or will it struggle? would it struggle on Crysis 2? And when i SLi the cards how much more performance would i see and would i be able to max games out then? Or am i simply better buying a 580 which i probably wouldnt SLi because of the Price which is the same as 2x 480's. Im going back and forth between them and honestly dont know which to choose. Oh the 480's have the BIOS update so run cooler/Less power hungry
 
That depends on your cpu as to what kind of fps you will get. A 480 GTX stock is not what I would spend my $$ on. Still too loud and hot. I did just buy a galaxy 480 soc which is pretty close to a stock 580 in terms of speed and runs much quieter and cooler than the stock 480. Might not be as affordable in the UK as it is here though.

To answer your question, yes the 480 is plenty fast for any game at that resolution.
 
I would get a 6950 over a stock 480 too. The 480 GTX soc is a different matter though.
 
If it was me, I would go with the 6950. Especially if you are going for two. The stock 480 is hotter, louder, more power hungry and fatter than the 6950.
 
2 GTX 480 is SLI will smoke a single 580. If you can tolerate the heat a sound they put out, the GTX 480's are awesome. Though the 6950 unlocked is a good alternative.
 
Ok would the 6950 unlock for sure and are ATI crossfire drivers ok I've heard horror stories with them and crysis 2? I've heard its just the shades that unlock on them? I think I should cope with the heat I'd have to take a pic of the case but its an NEXT Tempest with about 9 fans 3 blowing cold air in directly on the gpu area with 2x 220mm exhaust at the top and 120 at the rear so hopefully they'd be cool. I was thinking of maybe OC the 480's myself to get a little more performance if needed, don't think I'd get it to the Soc level. I've not had an ATI since they days of 9800 xD but willing to go if they beat 480's for the same price and if there drivers are ok
 
The stock 480s are just loud. Unless you WC them. If you use headphones, not a big deal.

The SOC is a triple slot cooler so SLI is only for a few mobos.

Crysis 2 is not worth worrying about imo.

Crossfire is much, much better with the 6000 series but with either SLI or Crossfire, there are issues. That is why I am staying with a single card and display max of 2048x1536 or lower with my crt.

For dual cards, the 6950 is the choice atm for higher than 1920x1200. The nvidia side either lacks vram or is too pricey for a 3gb 580.

There is always the 560TI which seems to be a fine card in most respects. I find it a bit overpriced compared to the 2gb 6950, especially for the 2gb Palit version.

Btw I am running on avrg the same resolution as you and just bought the 480 SOC. It will run any game except Metro 2033 just fine for the next 2 years if you don't care if the AA and eye candy is max.

It is basically a stock 580 with a wee more power draw.
 
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The stock 480s are just loud. Unless you WC them. If you use headphones, not a big deal.

The SOC is a triple slot cooler so SLI is only for a few mobos.

Crysis 2 is not worth worrying about imo.

Crossfire is much, much better with the 6000 series but with either SLI or Crossfire, there are issues. That is why I am staying with a single card and display max of 2048x1536 or lower with my crt.

For dual cards, the 6950 is the choice atm for higher than 1920x1200. The nvidia side either lacks vram or is too pricey for a 3gb 580.

There is always the 560TI which seems to be a fine card in most respects. I find it a bit overpriced compared to the 2gb 6950, especially for the 2gb Palit version.

Btw I am running on avrg the same resolution as you and just bought the 480 SOC. It will run any game except Metro 2033 just fine for the next 2 years if you don't care if the AA and eye candy is max.

It is basically a stock 580 with a wee more power draw.

I've Got Tinatus (ears ring) so I normally have my fans on gpu set to 100% anyways and it gives me a reason to turn up my surround sound :D would the 560's ski be quicker than the 480's there the same price here. I've not really had a problem with Sli before
so ill probably stick with sli. Yeah I like a little as none of the over kill 16x or 32x but if there just louder hotter 580 then they sound like a Bangin at their current price :)
 
The 480s are just that. Pretty much a 90-95% 580 but louder and hotter.

Same price as the 560? That is dumb. The 480 is faster by a good bit.
 
For dual cards, the 6950 is the choice atm for higher than 1920x1200. The nvidia side either lacks vram or is too pricey for a 3gb 580.

I'm running 3 480's at 5760x1200. I run out of horsepower before I run out of vram, except in metro which is a horribly coded game that doesn't run correctly at multi monitor resolutions anyways. Only if you are using 3x30" would 1.5gb become a real problem. Then again if you don't mind letting your fps drop down into lag land, I'm sure you could use more vram. Of course thats not what I would call playable.
 
I'm running 3 480's at 5760x1200. I run out of horsepower before I run out of vram, except in metro which is a horribly coded game that doesn't run correctly at multi monitor resolutions anyways. Only if you are using 3x30" would 1.5gb become a real problem. Then again if you don't mind letting your fps drop down into lag land, I'm sure you could use more vram. Of course thats not what I would call playable.

I meant for a budget dual card solution. The 6950s are the best deal. I would rather have 2 580s if I had the cash.

The 560 is $130 more?? Wtf? LOL.
 
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