That time of the upgrade cycle...video cards question

[suryad]

Hey guys,

I was looking to replace my aging BFG 285 GTX OC edition cards in SLI with 2 of these bad boys:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130801

Would like your feedback on the choice. I think the Titan is too rich for my blood especially since I doubt just one of it can run most games maxed out at 2560 x 1600 and it costs near as makes no difference $1k each.

Also I am curious but these 4 gb cards...they are still dual slot cards right? I think they are but I just wanted to make sure.

Cheers!

PS: I am so looking forward to this upgrade because i have a ton of games that are now DX11 capable that are in my queue and I want to start demolishing them!

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Basically get a GTX 680 if you like Nvidia or a 7970 if you like AMD.

If you don't care about vendor than the 7970 is a very compelling buy if you like the games that are featured in its bundle.

The GTX 680 gives you in game credit for some Free to Play games, so that could be an attraction to some as well.

Regards,
SB

 

[Davros]

Im going to commit a bit of heresy here but what does 2x 285's run badly

i have a ton of games that are now DX11 capable

That dont look that much different in dx9

 

[Malo]

You're committing heresy by stating a PC should run the same DX feature level as a console.

 

[Mize]

I just (a month ago) put in two of the non "classified" version of that 4GB 680 and love them. I went with the non-classified as it's stock layout and accommodates a standard full-cover waterblock. With both watercooled and with turbo kicked up they are great at 3600x1920.

 

[suryad]

I just (a month ago) put in two of the non "classified" version of that 4GB 680 and love them. I went with the non-classified as it's stock layout and accommodates a standard full-cover waterblock. With both watercooled and with turbo kicked up they are great at 3600x1920.

@Davros - you surprise me by your statement. The gaming gods are disappoint!

@Mize - now that's just cool! I think my next PC will probably be water cooled.

I am still reading all the reviews of the Titans and I am on the fence actually. Performance looks phenomenal with just one of those bad boys.

 

[Davros]

Hey far be it from me do discourage anyone from buying new hardware, Im just trying to prepare him for the shock he will get when he enables dx11 in his games, they dont look much different

 

[HMBR]

Im going to commit a bit of heresy here but what does 2x 285's run badly


That dont look that much different in dx9

you are right for most games, BUT,
the 285 SLI can't even run Crysis 3, while a much slower HD5770 can play the game with decent framerate with lowered details...
I think the lack of DX11 support is starting to be a real problem now...

also SLI not always work perfectly, and a single 285 is probably only comparable to a HD7770 for DX9/DX10...

I think something like a single HD7950 would already be a decent upgrade all things considered.

 

[ArcticCircle]

I'd buy Titan right now if I had to upgrade. Just because of 6GB memory, rather then great single card performance speed and avoiding possible problems with micro stuttering.

Anyway, if you choose to buy dual 680's, there's probably plenty of cheap used ones in various boards and auction sites since so many are upgrading or sidegrading to Titans.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I'd buy Titan right now if I had to upgrade.

I'd buy Titan right now if I had $1,000 to spare for it, it's just I do not and it's a bit steep for a graphics card.

Great card, but a very niche market imho.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Right now isn't a good time to go all-in in graphics cards.

Next-gen consoles are coming within a year with ~7GB available for graphics, all the current graphics cards are using >1-year-old architectures and let's be honest: Titan is kind of a waste of money, power and heat if it's used for gaming only.

A single HD7970 GHz or a GTX680 should do the job wonderfully until the ports from next-gen titles come around, and by then your money will be better spent in next-gen graphics cards with more memory to handle the PS4/Durango ports with the original assets (which a couple of SLI'd 4GB GTX680 may not be able to).

 

[Mize]

So this is one of those unusual times in computer hardware when, if you're willing to wait a year, the technology will progress?

 

[Arwin]

No, but this is one of those unusual times in computer hardware where the upcoming console cycle revision will boost how demanding games are considerably.

That said, a single 680 should tide you over nicely until the point where upgrading again makes sense. Not sure yet why you would want two of them.

Has anyone ever showed you a price-performance curve? If you don't get too high up on it, you can afford to upgrade a whole lot more often ...

(I mean seriously: 2 x $599??)

 

[suryad]

No, but this is one of those unusual times in computer hardware where the upcoming console cycle revision will boost how demanding games are considerably.

That said, a single 680 should tide you over nicely until the point where upgrading again makes sense. Not sure yet why you would want two of them.

Has anyone ever showed you a price-performance curve? If you don't get too high up on it, you can afford to upgrade a whole lot more often ...

(I mean seriously: 2 x $599??)

2560*1600 has a funny way of bringing frame rates down. Especially if you have Physx thrown in to the mix. Hence the need for sli. I even considered going with just 1 titan since it seems to handle the high resolution with ease and I won't need SLI.

You guys seriously think that consoles are going to be that powerful that even a titan will be not keeping up with them?

 

[Deleted member 13524]

2560*1600 has a funny way of bringing frame rates down. Especially if you have Physx thrown in to the mix. Hence the need for sli. I even considered going with just 1 titan since it seems to handle the high resolution with ease and I won't need SLI.

If you keep one of your GTX280 and set it as a dedicated PhysX GPU in the drivers, you shouldn't have any performance hit from PhysX at all.

You guys seriously think that consoles are going to be that powerful that even a titan will be not keeping up with them?

The GPU itself should be a lot faster than the ones in either PS4 or Durango, but we still don't know how the PC parts are going to handle the lower amount of VRAM and the lack of HSA.
For example, maybe you'll only be able to use all the gameplay physics from a console port if you have an AMD HSA system with an AMD APU and GPU.. And such a combo can only be purchased in a year.
And maybe nVidia can only counter this when they launch their GPUs with integrated ARM CPUs, the Maxwell family, also within a year.

Also, you may only be able to enable the largest textures if you have 8GB of dedicated VRAM.

All we're trying to say is that, sinde we're on the "verge" of changing the gaming development paradigm because of a new console generation coming this year (which does not happen often, the last time was almost 10 years ago), right now is a terrible time to spend >$1000 on graphics cards, even more if you intend to keep them for over 2 years.

You should be much better served if you spend $400/450 on a high-end graphics card like a HD7970 GHz or an overclocked GTX670 and maybe another $500 in the high-end options of Q2 2014, than spending $1000 right now.

 

[suryad]

If you keep one of your GTX280 and set it as a dedicated PhysX GPU in the drivers, you shouldn't have any performance hit from PhysX at all.

That is a great idea. I had forgotten about that! Nice!

The GPU itself should be a lot faster than the ones in either PS4 or Durango, but we still don't know how the PC parts are going to handle the lower amount of VRAM and the lack of HSA.
For example, maybe you'll only be able to use all the gameplay physics from a console port if you have an AMD HSA system with an AMD APU and GPU.. And such a combo can only be purchased in a year.
And maybe nVidia can only counter this when they launch their GPUs with integrated ARM CPUs, the Maxwell family, also within a year.

Also, you may only be able to enable the largest textures if you have 8GB of dedicated VRAM.

All we're trying to say is that, sinde we're on the "verge" of changing the gaming development paradigm because of a new console generation coming this year (which does not happen often, the last time was almost 10 years ago), right now is a terrible time to spend >$1000 on graphics cards, even more if you intend to keep them for over 2 years.

You should be much better served if you spend $400/450 on a high-end graphics card like a HD7970 GHz or an overclocked GTX670 and maybe another $500 in the high-end options of Q2 2014, than spending $1000 right now.

I understand what you are saying. Great point!

However my thinking was along the lines of a single 680 is not going to cut it at 2560 x 1600. A nice 680 will set me back say 400-500 bucks. So that will mean I will need 2 of those bad boys...which means that's a 1000 bucks out of my pocket. Instead of that if i channel that money to 1 x Titan, I definitely know then I won't need anything else to get my gaming on at 2560 x 1600 especially if I make the 285 the physx processor. So in my mind it seems like I am getting more out of the Titan purchase.

 

[Grall]

If you keep one of your GTX280 and set it as a dedicated PhysX GPU in the drivers, you shouldn't have any performance hit from PhysX at all.

Well, there will be some hit, due to PCIe latency in transferring data back and forth between system and video cards, and whatever additional host system processing which may be involved as well.

Plus, that 280 sitting there drawing what, 40-50 watts constantly even when not being used, just from being plugged into the system...except maybe the cost of electricity and its environmental impact isn't a concern.

 

[Mize]

No, but this is one of those unusual times in computer hardware where the upcoming console cycle revision will boost how demanding games are considerably.

That said, a single 680 should tide you over nicely until the point where upgrading again makes sense. Not sure yet why you would want two of them.

Has anyone ever showed you a price-performance curve? If you don't get too high up on it, you can afford to upgrade a whole lot more often ...

(I mean seriously: 2 x $599??)

Arwin, if I stuck with only what I needed for my hobbies I wouldn't have a water-cooled PC, a carbon fiber road bike or a set of Shun knives...

Besides, driving 3x 1920x1200 monitors is substantially slower with a single card than with two

 

[Babel-17]

Games for the PC that benefit from having videocards with more than three gigabytes of memory?

Well, if I'm still using my 1920 x 1080p monitor and not using super sampling aa or 3d glasses I think I'll be waiting a few years for three gigabytes of video memory to be a bottle neck.

I hope I'm wrong. I'd love to see games with that level of assets. I'm a fan of huge textures. Heck, I'd love to see game assets that tax my 7950's bandwidth and amount of memory.

But we're talking a chicken and egg situation here. What developer is going to sink a lot of coin into developing a game for video cards that don't yet exist? Edit: I assumed that developers can't just copy over the assets. A bad assumption, I now think.

And what kind of lead time are we talking here? At what point in time did PS4 developers start targeting more than around three gig's of memory for the games assets and whatnot? And if they aren't developing for the PC in tandem then how long after the eventual console release will there be a PC release?

I see no especial reason to wait for cards with more than three gig's of memory. Even two gig's is fine for most users.

In my not very informed opinion. And I'll say again, I'll be thrilled to see PC games that take advantage of a ton of memory.

Not an expert, but won't we also need more bandwidth?

 

[Arwin]

Arwin, if I stuck with only what I needed for my hobbies I wouldn't have a water-cooled PC, a carbon fiber road bike or a set of Shun knives...

Besides, driving 3x 1920x1200 monitors is substantially slower with a single card than with two

For multiple displays I can definitely see a big advantage from having multiple GPUs.