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4870 x2 vs 2 gtx 260 Sli/285 ?
- Thread starter Nvidia101
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At what??
For gaming at 1920 X1080 or higher!~ also if you favor another brand dont mind the evga name, it was used as an example.....
Dangman
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LOL! No it isn't
Most cards will be outperformed in 6 to 8 months.Which games? Not all games scale well with SLI FYI.
nightwalker
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I enjoy gaming with 2 x 260's.. it's perfect for me @ 1920x... and you can get really good deals on them at the moment.
And yeah not all games scale well with SLI, but the one's i play scale well, like Call Of Duty etc.
If you buy EVGA or BFG cards then you can step up within 3 months too if you feel like you need more power.
And yeah not all games scale well with SLI, but the one's i play scale well, like Call Of Duty etc.
If you buy EVGA or BFG cards then you can step up within 3 months too if you feel like you need more power.
LOL! No it isn't
Which games? Not all games scale well with SLI FYI.
BF2 - does it take full advantage of sli?
Cod 4
cod 5
fear 2
Css
Crysis
Gta 4
Fall out 3
left 4 dead
Far cry 2
Dangman
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Out of those games you listed, Crysis does not scale at all, if any, with multi-GPU solutions. I think GTA 4 is the same but have to double check.
As far as games crashing with SLI, yes you do stand to have a higher chance of potential game instability with SLI or CF.
As far as games crashing with SLI, yes you do stand to have a higher chance of potential game instability with SLI or CF.
Two GTX 260 in SLI should be faster than any other setup, with the HD 4870 X2 following closely. The GTX 285 should be the slowest of the 3, but not by much in many cases. To avoid the hassles of a multi-card setup, I recommend you get a powerful single GPU, which falls into either a HD 4890, GTX 275 or, of course, the GTX 285.
nightwalker
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i've never had crossfire or SLI crash before ever..... SLI has always worked perfectly for me, crossfire has been a bit gay sometimes (especially in vista x64), had to roll back drivers sometimes for it to work.
what are your fps results and on what res on some of the games I mentioned?
How can you possibly say that. Have you tried it? Crysis is like ALL video card, having SLI or Crossfire is huge in Crysis. Unless your cpu is way behind, crysis will benefit tremendously.
Adding an additional videocard easily added 50% framerate increase in Crysis for me at 1920x1080 (max graphics).
OP: Look for deals on 260s and run two of them to hold you off until next gen arrive this fall from Nvidia and ATI. That's what I'm doing.
I've personally had a single 285 in my system and compared it against my dual 260s and dual 260s whoop on a single 285. i've also added an additional 285 to my system for dual 285s and decided the small performance boost over my dual 260s wasn't worth it and returned them both the 285s. However with out a doublt, SLI is worth it. If your motherboard allows SLI, just do it.
You won't regret it. You can find brand new 260s for as cheap as $150 (check this forums' hot deals forum section). Under $100 if you buy used. It's the best bang for your buck and I imagine it will be that way until the GT300 starts dropping in price.
I don't use my other slots for anything else anyways.
I agree with #4, but it's been my experience that all manufactures will play shady if they can. Just like intel, they finally got slapped with a 1.5 BILLION dollar fine for all the crap they've been doing but the i7 (and wolfdale before it) was just too tempting for me.
For temps, you can use EVGA precision, set a profile for regular use and a profile for gaming and have it push more air since you won't hear the fans over all the sound fx in-game.
Nothing against dual 4870s, very popular and economical choice as well. Regardless of nvidia or ati, the op needs to run multi gpu's. Don't let anyone fool you, most games DO benefit from it, some quite alot.
But it is possible that the heat dissipates away from the card, thus resulting in a lower temp.
ganesh21
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I vote for Ati 4870x2
I have opposite experience XD
I don't use my other slots for anything else anyways.
I agree with #4, but it's been my experience that all manufactures will play shady if they can. Just like intel, they finally got slapped with a 1.5 BILLION dollar fine for all the crap they've been doing but the i7 (and wolfdale before it) was just too tempting for me.
For temps, you can use EVGA precision, set a profile for regular use and a profile for gaming and have it push more air since you won't hear the fans over all the sound fx in-game.
Nothing against dual 4870s, very popular and economical choice as well. Regardless of nvidia or ati, the op needs to run multi gpu's. Don't let anyone fool you, most games DO benefit from it, some quite alot.
That's fine, whatever floats your boat. Not every option works for everyone.
The card still PRODUCED heat. What is done with that heat is another story.
nightwalker
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He's right, i've compared them to a pair of 285's too and the difference wasn't that much in SLI, and the price 260's are going for now makes it totally worth it, you could buy 2 x 260's for the same or less cost of 1 x 285.
Never said it didn't. I have a problem with him saying they use similar amounts of power but produce different levels of heat. Power in = Power out.
I always find item 4 to be an interesting point.
Yes, nVidia were numbskulls and attempted to do something that seemed dishonest. But any company put into a position like nVidia was where they had a clearly better product, and the consumer responded by making them the market leader by buying their products, will end up making the same mistake.
Intel
AMD
Microsoft
Oracle
Nortell
GM
You can run down a list of any number of companies that are put into a market leadership position by consumers and they will all gravitate to a way in which will allow them to continue their market superiority with the minimal amount of product development and marketing (read cost) and allows for the maximum amount of profit for the least work.
Mark my words, if AMD/ATI puts out a product next launch cycle that is clearly superior to nVidia's next product release, consumers will do the exact same thing. They'll go out and buy nothing but AMD/ATI, and AMD/ATI will start doing the exact same things nVidia did. Start trying to control whatever parts of the product distribution they can, while jacking up the prices, leveraging their market share, and putting pressure on their Vendors to bend to their demands.
Then, AMD/ATI will get lazy again. They'll stumble and nVidia will take back the lead.
This is, unfortunately, the reality of having only two manufacturers to choose from.
I think that maybe he was being sarcastic??
I've ran three different dual GPU setups in the last year or so. Performance was noticeably better, and I really didn't have any stability/drive issues. Performance in Crysis is better in SLI BY FAR:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=566811
1920x1200, 4xAA, Very High
Single GTX 260: 12.37fps
SLI GTX 260: 20.72
Well over a 50% gain in performance.
Exactly. More than once I've heard ppl mention Crysis doesn't scale with SLI. Quite the oppisite. Makes me wonder WTF they are getting their information. Crysis, currently, is the one game I AM playing and SLI is a must!
smartpatrol
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Future proofing? You mean 6 months before DX11 cards come out?
I'm sure lots of people also said "better get this 7950GX2. . . then I will be future-proof and ready for Crysis!" The idea of future-proofing is ridiculous, when you can spend 1/2 the money in a year from now and get a far superior product.
BravO)))
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I think it's funny that you polled 1 ati card and 2 nvidia cards. The 4870x2 had more votes than the other two combined, and you still went nvidia. lulz
does not mean its better...10 more people have over the sli.... Also if you look at the 3870 x2 that used to cost as much as the 4870 x2 you will see the ati cards loose more value.... They 3870 x2 can be had for a mere $120 now when it cost about the same when it was out. Plus why waste more money on a single x2 card that will give you more problems, (including overheating) and sub par driver support?
I decided to go against it. The newegg reviews speak for speak for themselves.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130433
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BravO)))
Supreme [H]ardness
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Yes because when I buy new video card, resale value is an important factor. But who am I trying to kid Nvidia101 > ati. Fyi, the drivers are not the problem, it's the users.
As of two days ago, you could get 2x 260s for 300$ AR. (only risking 40$ on rebates as well. The cheapest 4870x2 is 370 AR (30$ Rebate). Yeah, he should have paid 70$ more for the same preformance.
IMO two of the below cards are one of the best values out for high res gaming:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127430
They are 655|2100 out of the box. With rebates they would be 312usd and without 350usd. A good deal either way.
Two Core 216 cards @ 655|2100 will pass up an X2 in most things.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127430
They are 655|2100 out of the box. With rebates they would be 312usd and without 350usd. A good deal either way.
Two Core 216 cards @ 655|2100 will pass up an X2 in most things.
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