GTX 580 SLI - Worth it for 1080p gaming?

So we have posters that say 1 580 will run everything maxed in BF3 and others that say you need more than one. So which is it?

sure 1 will do the job, 2 will do it better with higher frame rates. ask yourself this, do you just want the game to be playable with max settings or do you want the game to stay at or above 60 fps all the time? if your want the latter SLI is a safer bet but one card is no slouch by any means and most games will play extremely well maxed on a single 580
 
How is the microstuttering with SLI in BF3? I read people's responses all the time to try and just get the best 1GPU card to avoid the microstuttering. That and XFire stutters a lot more than SLI. I would just like to have very smooth framerates with as little stuttering as possible. WIth SLI/XFire is it as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be?
 
How is the microstuttering with SLI in BF3? I read people's responses all the time to try and just get the best 1GPU card to avoid the microstuttering. That and XFire stutters a lot more than SLI. I would just like to have very smooth framerates with as little stuttering as possible. WIth SLI/XFire is it as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be?

i have never noticed microstudder on my setup in BF3 and i play a lot of BF3. the bigger issue with my setup is because my cards are only 1gb cards i cannot run maxed out settings without running out of VRAM and having huge framerate drops when that happens
 
This thread is silly. If you got the cash have at it, if not then don't. Two cards are generally more of a pain in the ass than one card -- if you just want to play the damn games with little issues then stick with one card.

If you're bored, or like the nerd status of having $1,000 worth of cards then by all means get two, that's why the option is there.

/overanalyze
/thread
 
This thread is silly. If you got the cash have at it, if not then don't. Two cards are generally more of a pain in the ass than one card -- if you just want to play the damn games with little issues then stick with one card.

If you're bored, or like the nerd status of having $1,000 worth of cards then by all means get two, that's why the option is there.

/overanalyze
/thread

i agree, though with SLI your not stuck with using SLI in the event you come across a game that does not work right or has issues with SLI you can just disable it in NVCP then play your game with just 1 card and even have the 2nd card handle physX to off load the main card if you want. SLI isn't just about performance its also about options like this and running more than 2 displays at once as well :)

I will say though that Nvidia is pretty good about making sure SLI works right esp with any popular game with as few of issues as possible, if you get into 3x and quad SLI thats when more obscure issues tend to come up.
 
It also depends on the rest of your setup.

Like if you have a crappy 19" monitor that's fairly low res, I would say invest more in that.

Or if you haven't gotten an SSD already, then go for that.
 
i agree, though with SLI your not stuck with using SLI in the event you come across a game that does not work right or has issues with SLI you can just disable it in NVCP then play your game with just 1 card and even have the 2nd card handle physX to off load the main card if you want. SLI isn't just about performance its also about options like this and running more than 2 displays at once as well :)

I will say though that Nvidia is pretty good about making sure SLI works right esp with any popular game with as few of issues as possible, if you get into 3x and quad SLI thats when more obscure issues tend to come up.

I've found that 3-Way SLI is just as easy to deal with as regular SLI for the most part. Performance improvements are often less impressive going from two to three cards and keeping the whole damn mess of them cool becomes an issue. Aside from that I've found it just as reliable as regular SLI.
 
So we have posters that say 1 580 will run everything maxed in BF3 and others that say you need more than one. So which is it?

sure it will run with 1 but what kind of frame rates to you WANT to have?

i can run BF3 maxed on on one of my 560 Ti's that doesn't mean i enjoy the frame rates because i WANT my frame rates to never go under 60. 2x 560 ti's don't get me there either and its because of ether a VRAM limitation or MSAA + SLI problem with BF3 that has yet to be resolved or both i'm not positive witch one it is but i know guys with 2x 570's are having the same performance problem with MSAA and SLI as i am. this doesn't make me hate my setup, i love it still because it delviers high frame rates with good video settings and to be quite honest the various settings in BF3 do not alter visual quality all that much, MSAA is probably one of the only things you can really point out the differences, low vs ultra and high vs ultra esp. in this game is only very subtle changes in image quality very hard to notice.
 
sure it will run with 1 but what kind of frame rates to you WANT to have?

i can run BF3 maxed on on one of my 560 Ti's that doesn't mean i enjoy the frame rates because i WANT my frame rates to never go under 60. 2x 560 ti's don't get me there either and its because of ether a VRAM limitation or MSAA + SLI problem with BF3 that has yet to be resolved or both i'm not positive witch one it is but i know guys with 2x 570's are having the same performance problem with MSAA and SLI as i am.
of course your issue is lack of vram for 4x MSAA and Ultra settings.
 
I've found that 3-Way SLI is just as easy to deal with as regular SLI for the most part. Performance improvements are often less impressive going from two to three cards and keeping the whole damn mess of them cool becomes an issue. Aside from that I've found it just as reliable as regular SLI.

good to hear, i just gathered that because of people claiming it, should have known it probably was not that big of a deal considering the normal SLI fear-mongers say the same about SLI and my experience has also been very good with 2 card SLI.
 
I've found that 3-Way SLI is just as easy to deal with as regular SLI for the most part. Performance improvements are often less impressive going from two to three cards and keeping the whole damn mess of them cool becomes an issue. Aside from that I've found it just as reliable as regular SLI.

I would agree. But if you're going to run three high-end GPUs with a highly overclocked CPU you really shouldn't if are worried about thermals or acoustics or don't have a way to mitigate those issues.

When I went to 3x SLI with the GTX 280s three years ago I changed any office setup specifically to deal with heat and noise. My rig sits ten feet away from where I sit, there's just no way for me to sit right next to something that pulls 1 kW unless I'm looking for a space heater.
 
This may be a stupid question and I don't mean it to be mean sounding but what's the point of SLI'ing to 1.5GB 580's if your lack of VRAM is your only hinderance? Purely speaking on behalf of BF3 at the moment. I would want my game to run BF3 with HIGH EVERYTHING and if VRAM is the major issue, I don't see a reason to even buy an Nvidia card that's less than 2GB. Am I wrong with this reasoning? Sorry I'm pretty knew to the various ins and outs of video cards but just based off what I observe VRAM seems to be a pretty big issue with BF3 and future games for that matter.
 
This may be a stupid question and I don't mean it to be mean sounding but what's the point of SLI'ing to 1.5GB 580's if your lack of VRAM is your only hinderance? Purely speaking on behalf of BF3 at the moment. I would want my game to run BF3 with HIGH EVERYTHING and if VRAM is the major issue, I don't see a reason to even buy an Nvidia card that's less than 2GB. Am I wrong with this reasoning? Sorry I'm pretty knew to the various ins and outs of video cards but just based off what I observe VRAM seems to be a pretty big issue with BF3 and future games for that matter.

it is and for future proofing reasons if i was faced with a choice between 2x 570 2.5 GB cards in SLI vs 2x 580 1.5 GB cards in SLI for the same price roughly i would pick the 570's
 
it is and for future proofing reasons if i was faced with a choice between 2x 570 2.5 GB cards in SLI vs 2x 580 1.5 GB cards in SLI for the same price roughly i would pick the 570's
then you would be picking the slower setup. when that future gets here, it will be time to upgrade so you would have accomplished nothing during that time anyway.
 
then you would be picking the slower setup. when that future gets here, it will be time to upgrade so you would have accomplished nothing during that time anyway.

yeah well my experience with my current SLI setup says i don't lack GPU performance i lack VRAM. if your cards don't have the VRAM for the max settings in a new game then all that GPU power goes to waste.
 
then you would be picking the slower setup. when that future gets here, it will be time to upgrade so you would have accomplished nothing during that time anyway.

I completely agree. I don't get the whole future proofing concept.
 
I completely agree. I don't get the whole future proofing concept.

SLI has two benefits, and the same is also true of CrossFire. You can buy multiple cheaper cards and where it works you can get more performance than a more expensive single top end card. And of course when combined in multiples top end cards can provide more performance today than a top single card in the future.

So in a way you can get "future proofing" in that you can have at least single top end card performance for a good while. But of course the same money in the future buys even more performance. As long as the future provides more performance and features for less money there's really no such thing as future proofing.
 
I don't know. Spending $1000 on video cards for 1080 doesn't seem the best way to go. If you've got that kind of cash to spend, why not move up to a 2560x1600 30" monitor?

This. Or at least a 27" 2560x1440 monitor. High resolutions like this, 3D, and/or multiple monitors are really the best investment for SLI.
 
SLI has two benefits, and the same is also true of CrossFire. You can buy multiple cheaper cards and where it works you can get more performance than a more expensive single top end card. And of course when combined in multiples top end cards can provide more performance today than a top single card in the future.

Yeah, sli and crossfire have their downsides like microstutter and they rely on profiles. I would never buy two cheaper cards in an attempt to get the performance of a high end card.

So in a way you can get "future proofing" in that you can have at least single top end card performance for a good while. But of course the same money in the future buys even more performance. As long as the future provides more performance and features for less money there's really no such thing as future proofing.

Exactly :)
 
I generally recommend a single high end card if you can afford it. This gives you flexibility down the line but gives you the best performance you can have today. I usually only recommend SLI for ultra high end setups these days when performance matters and everything else is secondary. Often individuals with systems like these can only get the performance they want with two cards as no single card yet exists that can run the games of that time maxed out on their high resolution monitors or multiple monitors.
 
This thread is silly. If you got the cash have at it, if not then don't. Two cards are generally more of a pain in the ass than one card -- if you just want to play the damn games with little issues then stick with one card.

If you're bored, or like the nerd status of having $1,000 worth of cards then by all means get two, that's why the option is there.

/overanalyze
/thread

You're silly, just because one has money doesn't mean they can spend it recklessly without thinking. Even if you can afford to drop down $1000 on a pair of videocards, its not silly to spend some time and analyze the situation before pulling the trigger.
 
So we have posters that say 1 580 will run everything maxed in BF3 and others that say you need more than one. So which is it?

If you truly want to run everything MAXED out, particularly is games like BF3, then one 580 is not going to be enough. And when I say maxed out I mean that, as in: ALL ultra settings, high levels of AA and full AF.

Many people on here say stuff like "oh my 560 runs bf3 maxed out no problem." Then you get to asking them, and they are like oh well, i run settings a, b, c and d at high, and e and f at medium, and the low level of FXAA. Oh, and in big outdoor scenes in the middle of a firefight, my FPS drops to 30. That is NOT maxed out. Some people have a funny description of "maxed out."

The simple short answer is no, one card will not be sufficient if you want or are used to having the highest image quality settings and running a constant 60 FPS. Don't let those who tell you it is a "waste" talk you out of it if you want to run SLI, you really will benefit. The naysayers seem to confuse running a game at good settings with decent FPS with pushing absolutely beautiful games to the max at silky smooth FPS rates. It is necessary and worth it, IMO.
 
The simple short answer is no, one card will not be sufficient if you want or are used to having the highest image quality settings and running a constant 60 FPS. Don't let those who tell you it is a "waste" talk you out of it if you want to run SLI, you really will benefit. The naysayers seem to confuse running a game at good settings with decent FPS with pushing absolutely beautiful games to the max at silky smooth FPS rates. It is necessary and worth it, IMO.

Couldn't agree more here. One 580 at 1920x1200 can run most games at TRUE max, not BF3 though. Whenever this question comes up the only real answer is "it depends" and then only in a few cases. But 580 SLI at 1920x1200 can be utilized nicely in those few cases.
 
If you truly want to run everything MAXED out, particularly is games like BF3, then one 580 is not going to be enough. And when I say maxed out I mean that, as in: ALL ultra settings, high levels of AA and full AF.

Many people on here say stuff like "oh my 560 runs bf3 maxed out no problem." Then you get to asking them, and they are like oh well, i run settings a, b, c and d at high, and e and f at medium, and the low level of FXAA. Oh, and in big outdoor scenes in the middle of a firefight, my FPS drops to 30. That is NOT maxed out. Some people have a funny description of "maxed out."

The simple short answer is no, one card will not be sufficient if you want or are used to having the highest image quality settings and running a constant 60 FPS. Don't let those who tell you it is a "waste" talk you out of it if you want to run SLI, you really will benefit. The naysayers seem to confuse running a game at good settings with decent FPS with pushing absolutely beautiful games to the max at silky smooth FPS rates. It is necessary and worth it, IMO.

Even if all the settings are maxed out, I wouldn't count that if their monitor resolution is 1920x1080 or less.
 
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