I can get a pair of 680 gtx ftw 4gig cards off CL for 300$ or i can spend 340$ for a gtx 970. My question is what is better?
Forget everything I just said, I was wrong. I looked up benchmarks and it looks like it may be much closer then I thought. 20% MAYBE. I will say I'm using benchmarks from sli 770's which are the same chip as the 680, like the exact same architecture and same core count. The 770 is a 680 rebranded. These benchmarks are using 2gb cards but that should not be an issue. I recommend reading through both of these reviews from Guru3D.
Sli 770's: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_770_sli_review,15.html
Single 970/980 benchmarks: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/nvidia_geforce_gtx_970_and_980_reference_review,13.html
for the price the 680s are probably the better deal. 2gb should be plenty of Vram. but you should look at a R9 290x aswell.
The 680's are 4gb each not 2gb. they are the ftw edition not the reference 680
The FTW editions with the stock coolers?
yes but was gonna replace them with aio coolers. also from what im seeing i only see a 20fps boost with the dual 680's versus the single 970. Also as far as noise and heat issues you shouldlook at my profile for my parts list. I have the core X9 case. i dont think i will ever have heat issues ever again.
oh i shouold also mention that i am only doing 1080p gaming right now
It is important to note that the review I sited is using 770's, which have memory clocked a Ghz faster then the 680's did. Although the FTW 680's had slightly faster core clocks. If it was me, I would go for a single 970. You get way less power draw, and don't have to deal with the long list of things that can go wrong with sli. It's widely recommended you don't sli unless you have the newest generation, highest tier of nvidia/amd card excluding the Titan series.
sounds good i think i will just save up the extra $40 and get a 970 instead
I think thats a really good choice! Have fun with all the fps! hehe
which brand of 970 is the best though? i personally love msi but i like to know other peoples opinion.
Since it's the 4gb version sli it, I think you'll be happy with the results HOWEVER if you are into games off the beat in path that may not work well with SLI. just research the games you're interested in.
The msi, asus and gigabyte versions are all great. I haven't been a fan personally of the Evga acx 2.0 since its had some bad results for a couple forum members. I personally like the Asus Strix because that cooler is really efficient and it does the full fan off mode when idling or under light load.
well here is another question then. if you have seen my profile then you know my rig. My current gtx 680 2gb windforce, is it worth upgrading to a 970 or should i wait till the next series?
depends.. are you having issues running out of vram playing the games you do? (my bet is on you are) if you aren't wait it's a strong card, if you are then upgrade.
i have never had that problem before. i am starting to see stuttering when playing dying light. but that is the only game thus far. shadows of mordor and the evil within all work great.
Maybe wait just a little - there will be quite the price war once the 3xx series comes out - I can see the 970's having their rrp slashed.
As good as sli'd 680's are you will always have less headaches with a single card over multi. Yes scaling etc has come a long way but there is (well for me anyway) always some game that cracks the shits so you have to disable the 2nd gpu.
You would still get pretty good money for a 2gb wf3 680. They still fetch upwards of $200 AUD here in oz.
I could get $100 pretty fast for it here on CL but i could wait a little longer a try for $150 for it. Then use it and $200 cash for the 970.
Do the 970s
I have always bought evga cards, never had one problem with them.