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SLI, upgrade or keep current?

R

RSt0ver

n00b
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Messages
14
My current rig is in my signature. I am wondering if I will be fine running COD Ghosts and BF4 at higher setting? This build is only about a month old and so far I have been able to run most things at max: Dirt 3, BF3, Dirt Showdown, Boarderlands 2.

Worth it to grab a second card and SLI. Or sell current card and buy bigger? I've already put a decent amount into the build, don't really want to spend more unless I have to. Also, currently using a 23" 1080p. Upgrading to a 27" 1080 in October.
 
You should wait for those games to come out before thinking about upgrading them.
 
Waiting is a good idea. If you are not satisfied I would go for a GTX 680/780. I had a 560ti,660,670, then a 680 before I was content... Then the 780 came out... Stepping up for that. I play Arma, Batman, Tomb Raider, BF3 maxed out.
 
Wait. Possible AMD release corresponding with BF4 release should make for some Nvidia price drops or incentive to go over to team Red.
 
Poik said:
Wait. Possible AMD release corresponding with BF4 release should make for some Nvidia price drops or incentive to go over to team Red.
Click to expand...

^ This.. by far the best option.
 
Waiting does sound good, especially if you're happy with the fps you're getting in all the games you play.
Though if you are going to "upgrade" to a bigger screen you might thank yourself later if you either go high resolution(2560x1440) or 120+ Hz Refresh @ 1080p.
Ive had a 26inch 1920*1200 and I truly prefer slightly smaller 23-24 inch monitors. My point is if you upgrade size make it do more than just size. That way you'll better utilize any gpu upgrade in the future as well.
My 2c
- run
 
Anything under an fx8350 over clocked with bottleneck 660sli pretty bad (going by your sig). Something about that CPU makes it work a lot better with multi GPU setups. I'd wait for price drops when amd next gen comes out and grab current gen for cheap. AMD struggles with multi GPU setups. My buddy has 2 7850s and only gets like 40-50% GPU usage with the same CPU as you at 4.4ghz in bf3.
 
Sounds good. Im pretty happy with how everything is now. My last PC had two HD2600XT's in crossfire. lol. I enjoy what I have now. I'm still unsure about going to a 27". Its between a 24" or a 27". I really want a 27 because of size, but I dont want to pay the good amount of extra $$$ for higher res or 120hz

@HOODedDucthman, are you saying that there is a bottleneck in my current system? This is something I've been wondering.
 
Waiting is never a bad idea unless you need more GPU power right now. However, bottleneck issues aside, gtx 660's in SLI are very potent. At your 1080p resolution, two of them should handle any upcoming games very nicely if you have the CPU to drive them.
 
RSt0ver said:
Sounds good. Im pretty happy with how everything is now. My last PC had two HD2600XT's in crossfire. lol. I enjoy what I have now. I'm still unsure about going to a 27". Its between a 24" or a 27". I really want a 27 because of size, but I dont want to pay the good amount of extra $$$ for higher res or 120hz

@HOODedDucthman, are you saying that there is a bottleneck in my current system? This is something I've been wondering.
Click to expand...

Likely you will not see a large bottleneck in graphics intense games with a single 660. The issue with AMD platforms is largely in sli/crossfire setups. Still id bet if you go in a 64 player full bf3 server and run the settings the 660 is capable of staying over 60fps (id guess all high and msaa off) youd very like get drops into the 40-50fps and your gpu usage graph would not have significant drops. Even with my cpu and video card i try for 120fps so i run with msaa off and i get a slight cpu bottleneck in full servers dropping me down to 90-100fps and my gpu usage drops down to 80-90% at times. I'd say you'd be better off trying to find yourself a used 670 or 7950 for a good price. Hell you can find 7950s at just over $200 right nownew, great deal, if you really want an upgrade.
 
Get on Craigslist and find a 660 for $100. Yes, they are that cheap. SLI it and then upgrade later.
 
I just went from a 660 to a 770 and I can't complain. I would rather have SLI'd the 660, though. My motherboard isn't SLI compatible.
 
May end up just getting a new 24" monitor and a second 660. When it comes to SLI, does it have to be the same exact card? When I did crossfire, I just happened to have the same two cards.
 
Borderlands 2 I think you'll be better off using the 2nd 660 as physx. Bf3 you are going to be absolutely dissapointed due to your CPU. You'll be lucky if your minimum frame rate doesn't go down due to the CPU overhead. Most single player games you will see a decent gain though. Crysis 3 you will be just as dissapointed if you play it. People think crysis is all graphics and traditionally it is. But the multiplayer in 3 is very CPU heavy.
 
HOODedDutchman said:
Borderlands 2 I think you'll be better off using the 2nd 660 as physx. Bf3 you are going to be absolutely dissapointed due to your CPU. You'll be lucky if your minimum frame rate doesn't go down due to the CPU overhead. Most single player games you will see a decent gain though. Crysis 3 you will be just as dissapointed if you play it. People think crysis is all graphics and traditionally it is. But the multiplayer in 3 is very CPU heavy.
Click to expand...

Damn, his CPU isn't that bad...
 
Agreed it will play fine. My point is u will not get good scaling at all in bf3. Should be fine with 32 player tdm. Don't expect what you see in reviews though. There's a reason they use Intel setups. It will be an upgrade. I really think a single GPU upgrade would be much better on your platform. Your CPU will perform quite well with a faster GPU (670,770 for example). My guess would be the same or better when you take your CPU into consideration. I ran 2 5850s with a 4.2ghz 1090t way back when and found extreme bottlenecks in bc2 and quite a few other games(6300 is in no way better than a 1090t other than clocking slightly higher). Went to an i5 750, and boom huge gains. Many reviews will show this. AMD even performs better than Intel in many titles with single card but are cannot compare in multi GPU.
 
MetalX said:
Damn, his CPU isn't that bad...
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It isn't. Depending on his refresh rate, the minimums could become an issue (especially in bf3 multi). At 120hz, it can be quite problematic at times.

I would wait for AMD's new cards before deciding, since october is around the corner.
 
RSt0ver said:
May end up just getting a new 24" monitor and a second 660. When it comes to SLI, does it have to be the same exact card? When I did crossfire, I just happened to have the same two cards.
Click to expand...

It has to be the same GPU and amount of memory, but not the same brand or even clock speed. There is conflicting stories whether they have to have the same amount of memory, but much better to play it safe. So a 660 2 gig vanilla will SLI with a 660 2 gig overclocked, but not a 3 gig, or a 660 Ti. I am running gtx 670's in SLI right now, one is a vanilla EVGA, the other an overclocked Galaxy. The nVidia drivers take care of everything fine.

SLI is not without its problems though, you need good airflow and PSU, both of which you apparently have from your sig, although thats the minimum PSU I would go with for your system. Bare minimum actually for SLI. Things will be a bit warmer in your case. Some games don't benefit from SLI. All in all, I am really happy with my SLI setup though, no regrets, though I am going to put an aftermarket cooler on the EVGA vanilla soon and overclock it to the same speeds as the Galaxy. I have the Artic cooling twin turbo sitting right here, just have to pull the card out and put the darn thing on it!
 
Thanks for the detailed response. That was my concern with SLI. When I built this system I was trying to stay on budget and never really planned to do SLI so I got this PSU. I'll give it a couple months before I decide what I am going to do.

While I was playing BF3 today, I went into the setting and realized everything was on Ultra with everything else as high as it would go. Went down to High everything with nothing else bumped up and everything played a lot smoother.

I am moving next Monday and will have my rig in the finished basement. Thinking once I get settled I will mess around with overclocking. How do you see what FPS you are getting while playing. I'm sure this is a simple Google search away, just looking for a recommendation.
 
I think most people use fraps to view fps in games, but there might be better options out there these days. Sometimes the manufacturer software that comes bundled with your video card (ex: EVGA Precision) has the option as well.
 
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