770 SLI vs Single 780 for 2560x1600

sitheris

sitheris

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 30, 2004
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I understand that 2 770s in SLI will be considerably better performance than a single 780, but I am wondering which is a better way to go in my case when I build a new PC in the near future. I game on a single Dell 30" @ 2560x1600 resolution. I currently have a single 680 2GB with no issues whatsoever...so do I really need to use SLI? Would SLI get me better performance in the long run (e.g., I won't have to upgrade quite as soon vs. a single 780).

I worry about things like microstuttering and power consumption, and I've never done an SLI setup before.

Thanks
 
With the graphical fidelity of games constantly rising, more ram is gonna be key...so i don't think 2GB 770s will be as future proof as you'd be wanting.

I'd honestly keep the 680 and (if you're an nvidia guy), wait until next year for Maxwell.
 
near future? How near? That'll dictate whether your current options work in the "near future".

In any case, if the 680 works for you with your current setup, it might be worth hanging on to that card until something stronger than current gen cards. I upgraded from a 680 and could hardly tell the difference on a single monitor.
 
Actually the 680 I have now is the Mac edition in my Mac Pro, which I intend to sell after building a new PC. If I go 770 I would definitely go for the 4gb versions.
 
Not interested in seeing how Maxwell is gonna turn out?
 
atp1916 said:
Not interested in seeing how Maxwell is gonna turn out?
Click to expand...

To be honest I didn't even look into that yet (I only just started looking up parts, haven't built a PC since 2008). I may have to hold off until then :)
 
While I do like multi-GPU gaming, in general, I do prefer going with the single best GPU you can afford. After owning several multi-GPU setups, the hardest part of the ownership is what do you do when it's time to move on?

To be more specific, let's say you did buy a pair of 770's - where do you go from there in a year or two, or whenever you decide to upgrade? Do you go the Tri-SLI route and add a third 770 (which, should be relatively cheap by then), but deal with the headaches of Tri-SLI, possibly poor scaling, and extra heat/power consumption?

Let's change it up and say you dump those two 770's, and go with the best single GPU at that time - chances are, the performance of that single GPU will be within the ballpark of those 770's you had before, if you do upgrade in the next 1-2 years. So now you've paid more to get the same level of performance, and you have to sell, not one, but, two cards to recoup some of your finances.

Now, on the flip side, ignoring the post ownership woes, I imagine the time that you do own the pair of 770's will be quite joyous and let's say you wanted to pursue that direction. Well, in reality, the 770 is a slightly faster variant of the 680 you already have. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you should be able to add another 680 to use in SLI and save some money that way. Perhaps a flash of the BIOS for the Mac version may be in order, but nothing that couldn't be resolved in a few minutes (provided you performed a back up of the existing Mac BIOS). ;)

However, if you are determined to start fresh, I would suggest buying the single best card you can afford now, which appears to be the 780. This way, if/when you decide to upgrade again, you are going from one really fast card to the next one; and thus, you only need to sell your only 780. The other upside is that if you decide to add another 780 for some SLI action later on when it's decently cheap, you're getting extra performance that will last a few generations longer until it's time to start anew all over again. :)
 
Not to be mean but going from a gtx 680 2gb to even a gtx 770 4 gb would not be a smart move at all even at 2560x1440.Even a 780 isnt that much faster and is overpriced
 
Part of the problem is, it seems there is never a single card that can do 2560x1600 justice with whatever latest games are out at that particular time. I have found you're always better off doing 2-card SLI for 2560x1600, for both performance and cost reasons. Lower res setups can get away with single cards.
 
Brahmzy said:
Part of the problem is, it seems there is never a single card that can do 2560x1600 justice with whatever latest games are out at that particular time. I have found you're always better off doing 2-card SLI for 2560x1600, for both performance and cost reasons. Lower res setups can get away with single cards.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience, as well. It's one of the reasons I'm considering going back to 1080p.
 
FWIW, I'm using a 780 to game on my VP2770 1440p and 3008WFP 1600p. The gaming performance on both monitors is excellent. That being said, I'd recommend sticking with what you have at least until we know more about Maxwell.
 
2 770s in SLI are going to be significantly faster than a single 780 at that resolution.

Don't fear SLI. It's incredibly easy to use. I haven't had microstutter issues in a long time, and that's from someone that can find the flaw in anything...

As a point of reference, the system in my sig rarely pulls over 400W when gaming. I don't think it's ever hit 500W (according to the watt meter on my UPS), and that's including the monitors power draw. My system is overclocked quite a bit also.
 
Damn, and here I was pretty happy with a single 680 at 1080p Surround (with some compromises in graphics settings of course). :eek:
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone. I've decided to stick with the 680 Mac version I have for now (confirmed it will also work on PCs), and will look at my upgrade options when the next line of Nvidia cards comes out.
 
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