Sell and upgrade, or SLI ?

[clouter]

Hey guys...
I'm finally upgrading my old Core2duo E8500 to an Asus Sabertooth Z77, 3570K and 8gb or corsair dominator platinum 1600...

My gpu is a gigabyte GTX 570 windforce...

Since my new motherboard supports SLI, I was wondering if I could simply buy another GTX 570 and go SLI or would it be better to sell it and get a GTX 670 or 680...

I've seen GTX570s pretty cheap :

EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Fermi 732MHZ 1280MB GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card - eVGA - 012-P3-1571-KR

I've never done an SLI so I don't know if I can sli two different brands together...
My exact card is this one : Gigabyte GTX 570 Overclock edition Windforce


it's overclocked from the factory to 780mhz instead of 732mhz

Could I add the EVGA one ?
I can't find any other GTX 570s on ncix other than EVGA and MSI...

Or should I sell my 570 and get a 680 ?
I have no clue how much my card is worth but I'd guess under 200 if you can get a new one for 200-250...
And a 680 is in the 500$ range...

So option #1 : going SLI, would cost me around 200$-250$
Option #2 : is I manage to sell my 570 for 200, my net cost for a 680 would be 300-350$

I've checked out reviews and benchmarks, a 570SLI is way better than a 680...

So I'm leaning towards the SLI option, but any external opinion is always welcome ! Maybe I forgot something that you guys can point out...


The rest of my system is :
Corsair 650D case
Corsair H50 cooler (upgrading it is in the plans)
Corsair HX850 PSU
Intel X25M 80gb SSD
Two 500GB drives that will be in Raid when I get the new mobo
Standard optical drive

I'm currently gaming on a single 1680x1050, upgrading it is in the plans

Thanks in advance for the input !
Nick

[dandelioneater]

Are you sure that you really need more gpu horsepower at your resolution? A single 570 should be perfect for your monitor size. If you are really itching for an upgrade I would sell the 570 and get a single 670 or 680. I prefer single cards instead of sli - less things to go wrong.

[Apathetik]

I personally would SLI it. You can mix any brand of card, as long as the memory of the card is the same. Since they're both 1280MB, you're good to go! Your card at a higher frequency will clock down to match the lower speed @ 732MHz if you SLI. There will be no real world difference from 780MHz to 732MHz if you were wondering that also. You could also slightly overclock the EVGA one to 780MHz if you really wanted with a program like MSI Afterburner, or EVGA Precision, then you would match your factory overclocked speeds on your current card.

[Dzzope]

Wait till you upgrade your monitor, see how the performance it and then decide.. A single 570 should be fine for up to 1920 x 1200..


If you do decide to spend then look at something like the MSI 670 PE, $100 cheaper than a 680, cooler and the same performance.

My preference would be single card unless your going to High res (27" IPS or 3 x 1080 etc etc) on the monitor. Close performance, no SLI worries, cooler, less power, quieter.

[kirbster]

You should see a decent gain in performance even if you dont change the GPU right away. At that resolution i would try it before making a decision. A 570 is still a viable card for single display gaming.

[rjbarker]

SLi all the way....once you get used to having 2 Cards you'll always feel "naked" with only one and all those vacant PCI-E slots. "Problems" with SLi is nothing more than a myth that still seems to get mentioned here. Been running running 2 Cards since GTX 280 days (even tried Tri SLi), no major issues at all, only awesome performance, particularly at 1920 x 1200 n higher Res.

[Bond007]

I would stay single 570. It's more than enough for your resolution and will still be fine at 1080p. If you feel you have to upgrade now then order an evga gtx 670 that is on sale at memory express for 310( it's on back order, but there is no rush) and sell you 570.

[mrjuggles]

I would recommend getting a 670, $100 cheaper than a 680, pretty much the same performance.

Also less power consumption than 2 570s.

[elmorejohn46]

I also agree that your card is more then enough at 1680 x1050.But if you want a faster card that is quiet and uses less power then I would go with a GTX-670 also.If you can sell that one for around $200 and spend another $200 and get a gigabyte Windforce GTX-670.I am sure your card with three fans should'nt be that lound .I think MSI has a two fan solution ,if you got enough power supply then going with two GTX-570 would be faster.Altho a GTX-670 want be as fast it will be faster then a GTX-570 plus you get the new Kepler chip and it does use a lot less power.I run two ASUS GTX-670 Direct CU II in SLI and I cannot hear then over my case fans which are 120mm SilenX.

[draemn]

Stick with the single card for a bit and see how it goes and how happy you are. I would also like to say that "SLI problems" are few and far between these days and are pretty rare. Yes, there is the odd time a game is not well know and doesn't get SLI support or even more rare that a game performs worse in SLI vs single card, but you can always just turn off SLI to play that game. I really wouldn't suggest the hassle of trying to upgrade your 570 to a 670 or anything like that unless you've got spare money to burn or find a wicked price on a 670... I know many people are quick to suggest the 670 as it is a great upgrade, but the downside is the hassle of selling your 570 (if that is the plan).