[th3illusiveman]

hello people!

Okay so i'm planning on buying a second GTX570 here and i just wanted your opinions on this decision, granted if i made it about awhile ago it would be a no brainer but now that AMD is releasing some real graphics cards i have some doubts...

First off let me go on record as saying i will NOT be buying any AMD cards, i don't hold anything against them, it's just that i like Nvidia more so 7970 and 7950 are not on the table.

What bothers me is the capabilities of a GTX570 Sli configuration, yes i know 960 Cuda cores is BEAST but how good are the drivers and optimizations for it? are all new games supported? how is microstutter? will the 1280Mb frame buffer screw me over @ 1080p?

Games i commonly play, Shift 2, BF3!, COD:mw3, gta4, Just Cause 2, Dead space 2 and Batman Akham city how is support for these?

Obviously i have looked at some generic reviews, but i'm here for the opinion of people who currently run these configs and anyone knowledgeable in dual card configuration because this would be my first!

 

[brian19876]

I say go for it you will get a nice boost with 2nd 570. 1280mb should be fine for 1080p I have 2 580s in sli i got the 3 gb version only because i use 3 monitor surround 5880x1080

 

[wint0nic]

SLi is something you will never live without after, it's worth it.

 

[ACHILEE5]

SLI here, and loving it

 

[xsf]

You'll have more than enough power running at 1080p with dual 570's.

Micro-stutter / driver problems (for sli) aren't really around anymore. nVidia constantly updates their drivers for new games to include profiles, etc, which help tons.

I wouldn't see any problems with the upgrade for you

 

[Gib007]

I never believed in SLI because of the extra expense, heat and power consumption. However, I must admit I love it now. As with everything though, if you don't need it, you shouldn't go for it. I felt I needed it to get the most out of my system for a few years of hardcore gaming so I went for it. Next stop is probably NVIDIA GeForce GTX 800 or even 900/1000 series.

I haven't noticed any problems whatsoever. What I do notice is my FPS in games is about 1.9x what it used to be with one card. I too have 1280 MB versions and with two of them, BF3 runs at an average of 120 FPS with rare minimums of about 90 FPS (highs of 160 FPS) and no stutter whatsoever. This is at 1920x1080, Ultra, MSAA off and FXAA at High. I also used to play Skyrim with LOTS of texture mods that increased Skyrim's VRAM usage to over 1400 MB. Still, amazing FPS and no stutter whatsoever. A good thing to note here is that Skyrim with stock textures (~1000 MB VRAM usage) and Skyrim with lots of texture mods (~1400 MB VRAM usage) yielded the same performance for me overall, with no stutter on either. So yeah, it's worth it.

 

[Mattbag]

Well in my opinion you can always wait for the next gen nvidia and sell off your current card to get one of the newer ones but that might be a few more months, but getting a second 570 now should last you even through the next gen of nvidia cards anyway. even if you wait for the next gen nvidia you'll probably want to end up sli'ing them too!

Just get the 570 and be happy now!

 

[fatlardo]

I'm a noob in pc stuff and just got SLI setup and love it!! I haven't run into issues of what everyone is talking about. So I am assuming most SLI issues are for newer games that have not been optimized yet or just havent at atll. Only thing I regret is the 1gb setup. Wish I had went with 2gb so I can max everything. Do go SLI!!

 

[Sean Webster]

Pfft, high end GFX cards for gaming is a waste, get a Xbox.

But if you must you get ~85-95% increase in FPS most of the time in SLi. Buy another card used imo.

And the whole VRAM @1080 is not really a big deal at all...very little difference.

 

[th3illusiveman]

haha soo much support!

i love you OCN! i will be visiting NCIX today

"oh wait, whats that wallet?.... NO you don't get to have an opinion! you're a wallet"

 

[Kommanche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean Webster

Pfft, high end GFX cards for gaming is a waste, get a Xbox.
But if you must you get ~85-95% increase in FPS most of the time in SLi. Buy another card used imo.

And the whole VRAM @1080 is not really a big deal at all...very little difference.

Can't tell if serious....

Also: AN Xbox

 

[Sean Webster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kommanche

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean Webster

Pfft, high end GFX cards for gaming is a waste, get a Xbox.
But if you must you get ~85-95% increase in FPS most of the time in SLi. Buy another card used imo.

And the whole VRAM @1080 is not really a big deal at all...very little difference.

Can't tell if serious....

Also: AN Xbox

I <3 my Xbox 360

I went semi pro in tournaments with it for COD.

 

[vulpecula]

I ran a single card for a few months before going to 2-Way SLI. Then a few months later I went to 3-Way. The gains within games from 1-2 were noticeable, but from 2-3, not so much.

The additional gains in FAH going from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 were noticeable though. I picked up an extra 18-19k PPD.

I'd say that you'd be happy with making the jump to 2-Way SLI. I haven't had any issues with SLI yet.

 

[th3illusiveman]

Haha GOT IT!!

MSI GTX 570 Power Edition Twin Frozer 3 to go along with my reference.

OMG the antec 300 is an EXTREME PAIN IN THE $$$ for SLi ... my case looks like a Frankenstein creation lol >>> Dat lack of a modular PSU

But here she is with a modest OC

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2583525

gtx570 Sli .GIF 49k .GIF file

 

[Sean Webster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by th3illusiveman

Haha GOT IT!!

MSI GTX 570 Power Edition Twin Frozer 3 to go along with my reference.

OMG the antec 300 is an EXTREME PAIN IN THE $$$ for SLi ... my case looks like a Frankenstein creation lol >>> Dat lack of a modular PSU

But here she is with a modest OC

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2583525

gtx570 Sli .GIF 49k .GIF file

 

[falcon26]

I went threw this debate just a few weeks ago. I can tell you going from a single GTX 570 playing BF3 to SLI 560 TI 2GB cards is like night and day different. And since you are going 570 SLI that will be even more of a difference. With my single 570 and it was the 2.5 model, I could play with everything on HIGH and no AA but high post AA and get 40-60 frames on every map. Large fights though it would dip around 40 especially on maps like Caspian boarder. It wasn't always smooth. Now that I have gone SLI, I can now play with everything on Ultra still no differed AA but high post AA and HBAO on and get 60 frames steady without any dips on every map. At the most it will dip to 59 sometimes. It is sooo much smooth with SLI vs the single card. I haven't had any issues with SLI its been rock solid. I play at 1920x1200 also. I got the cards on sale so I paid about $480 for the 2 560ti 2GB and I think they are faster at BF3 than the 7970 which is going for like $600. Not bad, try SLI I bet you would love it...

EDIT: Forgot to mention I use vysnc so I'm sure my frames would be much higher

 

[K62-RIG]

I can tell you from experience that 2 570's in SLI will mean you won't need to upgrade for a loooooooooooooooooong time. They are absolutely bloody fantastic.

 

[2thAche]

I honestly don't know why you'd need two 570s for 1080p. My single 570 on an old-ass Q9550 rocks 1080p.

I have SLI and non-SLI rigs. Unless you just want the e-peen and the $$ doesn't matter, single card is the way to go. If you start running multiple monitors or a 30" panel at 2560, you should look at SLI. Know also that you'll be sucking the watts from your wall socket with two 570s.

 

[Foxrun]

2 is always better than 1, well for the most part

 

[falcon26]

If you want to run every game on the planet maxed out without losing any frames go SLI