Sli or not sli that is the question!

[sofie_59]

I have two 460 GTX 1 GB in sli and i have "some" trouble with heat on those cards!"

I have a lot of fans in my case but now i am thinking of get rid of this set up and buy a new graphics card .I would like to know which card to buy that is better than my set up?

[Bee_Sting]

keep the cards! when you SLI heat is always gonna be a problem.

[LawnDart]

Two 460/560s run roughly as fast as a single 580. In fact, you may have more streaming cores with the SLI setup. I'd keep the cards and try to improve cooling.

 

Are you sure your fans (both GPU and case fans) are working properly?

 

Download GPU-Z and CPU-Z... and RealTemp. It'll let you know how your system is performing in real time. (Can't remember if it has fan speeds. I know my EVGA Precision software has fan speed RPMs as well).

www.techpowerup.com/gpuz

www.cpuid.com

http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

 

You could always try a 560 Ti setup in SLI. I know Gigabyte have two massive fans on theirs, although it may be hard to fit two cards side-by-side. There's also the EE versions from EVGA with external exhaust for the GPU fans.

 

Running a single 580 might be cooler, but certainly not your best bang for the buck as the 580 (and 590s) are heavily overpriced.

Edited July 30, 2011 by LawnDart

[sofie_59]

Yes but right now i have two 3000 v fans so when i run them on full rpm it is like a jet is sitting in front of me!

I now that my cards is on the top and if i get a 580 or a 590 i will be better than my sli , but that is about 5000 sek hmm

[PeterP]

Drop that SLI thingy - it is -and was- only a marketing-hype. SLI only makes really sense when running cuda and parallel computing on it. No flight-simulator takes real advantage of SLI up to date.

+ lack of proper support

+ lack of proper drivers

Edited July 30, 2011 by PeterP

[LawnDart]

Sofie, what are your GPU temps under load/idle?

 

Drop that SLI thingy - it is -and was- only a marketing-hype. SLI only makes rally sense when running cuda and parallel computing on it. No flight-simulator takes real advantage of SLI up to date.

 

This is true when it comes to sims, but it makes a big difference running SLI in other games (BC2, Black Ops etc.).

Edited July 30, 2011 by LawnDart

[sofie_59]

Sofie, what are your GPU temps under load/idle?

 

 

 

This is true when it comes to sims, but it makes a big difference running SLI in other games (BC2, Black Ops etc.).

 

Hmm what my temps are, My pc just shuts off at 100 degrees at full load when i run OCCT, and sometimes in A10C , so i have some problems with temps.

[PeterP]

This is true when it comes to sims, but it makes a big difference running SLI in other games (BC2, Black Ops etc.).

Yes exactly! this is what i wanted to point out. - But if you run also other programs like "BC2, Black Ops etc." you will have much higher electricity bills (around 15€ in a month here in Germany)!

If you choose a up-to date single-core gpu than running a legacy SLI system you can reduce it by 15 € a moon.

...and when still want to runa "up to date" SLI system - you have to know that you have much more calculating power that one game will ever utilize.

- this is what you would never call a economic system.

 

This is "Marketing Hype"

Edited July 30, 2011 by PeterP

[LawnDart]

Hmm what my temps are, My pc just shuts off at 100 degrees at full load when i run OCCT, and sometimes in A10C , so i have some problems with temps.

 

That sounds like a CPU cooling issue to me (OCCT >100C). Is your heatsink/CPU fan attached properly and with thermal compound? Are you OC'ing your system btw?

 

I know this is off topic slightly, but are you sure the culprit for the heat are your graphics cards and not something else?

 

 

...and when you choose to run a up to date SLI system - you have much more calculating power that one game will ever utilize.

- even if talking abut computer-specs - it is way off what you would call a economic system.

 

True. It's definitely better, just like running your system on High Performance all the time instead of in adaptive mode.

 

SLI - If money (incl. ones power bill) is no obstacle I suppose! ;)

Edited July 30, 2011 by LawnDart

[RSharpe]

Yes exactly! this is what i wanted to point out. - But if you run also other programs like "BC2, Black Ops etc." you will have much higher electricity bills (around 15€ in a month here in Germany)!

If you choose a up-to date single-core gpu than running a legacy SLI system you can reduce it by 15 € a moon.

...and when still want to runa "up to date" SLI system - you have to know that you have much more calculating power that one game will ever utilize.

- this is what you would never call a economic system.

 

This is "Marketing Hype"

 

Your assertion that SLI is "Marketing hype" is itself hyperbole.

 

Your economic and technical circumstances may make SLI unfeasible for you, but not everyone is like you. My energy costs here in Canada are probably 1/5 your energy costs. Saving a couple of dollars per month at the expensive of GPU power is not an option here. Also I choose to game at 5860x1200, and use Nvidia. A single Nvidia GPU cannot run three monitors. Also, at this resolution I require more than 2GB VRAM, something that no single Nvidia GPU can offer.

 

Is SLI marketing hype? Not at all. It's just that you've decided to make the personal decision that SLI is not for you.

[PeterP]

Your assertion that SLI is "Marketing hype" is itself hyperbole.

 

Your economic and technical circumstances may make SLI unfeasible for you, but not everyone is like you. My energy costs here in Canada are probably 1/5 your energy costs. Saving a couple of dollars per month at the expensive of GPU power is not an option here. .

No big problem about that - My only big problem is that everyone behaves the same and no one takes responsibility.

 

A single Nvidia GPU cannot run three monitors. Also, at this resolution I require more than 2GB VRAM, something that no single Nvidia GPU can offer.

 

Is SLI marketing hype? Not at all. It's just that you've decided to make the personal decision that SLI is not for you.

Thats the problem of Nvidia - not my - I have made my own decision .

....and no one of you is responsible for this or have to follow.

This is a forum and it consists of opinions from subjects. - take your own conclusion - and I will make mine.

Edited July 31, 2011 by PeterP

[LawnDart]

On that note... I didn't need a SLI setup, but I went ahead anyway and I love it! Wouldn't want it any other way now, hehe. :P

[EtherealN]

Note on SLI/CF and simulators: it's not completely useless for simulators, but it is more specialized. For example, my 560Ti can run DCS:A-10C at max on 1080p without much problems at all, but I wouldn't give it much credit for something like a triple-screen 2560x1600 setup. (Well, a single nVidia can only drive 2 screens, but you get my point.)

 

But outside of specialized stuff like that, my opinion is that SLI, as far as simulators go, is mainly caused by people not quite getting that there's more to FPS than the GPU. (I'd ask people why they don't run their BattleField Bad Company 2 on an Intel Atom rig with SLI... :P )

 

Obviously, it also depends a lot on what you start with. For example, come another 6 months or so when the next generation of nVidia stuff hits, it might actually be a better upgrade for me personally to get a second 560Ti than getting whatever is "hot" - even if the SLI 560Ti only gets as much as a 300 dollar card of that generation would, the second 560 would, at that time, cost half that...

 

Lots of things that go into it, but I really don't understand people that buy things like dual 590's or dual 6990's... Absurd waste. :P

[Succellus]

Well it depends.. if someone as we ve seen here has triple 30" monitor or triple 42" TV + 1 22" monitor for gauges etc... you can bet 1 590 may even be on the short side.

 

I myself now am asking if it would be better to wait a new card release and get a 580 hopping that it will drop down from its 967 USD. Or get on the spot another 460 msI hawk at 387 USD.

At principle it shouldn t be a question, but as i live on a place where temp reach 40º c would it be a good idea ?

As i asked in another thread...would my Hawk hold the line (not forcefully) at full with a 37" TV and a 22" monitor at the same time ? would 2 of them work ? Or should i be patient work as i can and get the 580 when time comes.

[EtherealN]

Remember that the size of the screen is not relevant. A 1080p monitor is a 1080p monitor and will load your GPU equally, no matter if it's a 24'' or a 60''.

 

As for the 460, no, I wouldn't expect too much from it in dual-screen configurations. However, it is dated enough that I would suggest replacing it with something else that is cheaper.

 

However, 580 at 967 USD? I see the ASUS 580 at ~500 dollars on Newegg (the DirectCUII version, which is what you prefer if you live in a hot area - the DirectCUII cooler is fantastic.)

[Succellus]

You forgetting local taxes of import.

Direct import will bring your 500 usd to 1.000 USD (80% over original price+fret+assurance if any), same price as local market, with higher risk.

 

But anyway you answered my question, thank you Ethereal.