SLI or not SLI

[karikapu]

Hi,

well i currently am using a ASUS GTX660 OC DC2 single card and is thinking of upgrading it for gaming purposes. What i cant decide upon is whether getting another GTX660 card so i can SLI it or to get a single better card like the Sapphire R9-280 Dual-X OC 3GB GDDR5 384bit. Budget would also be a factor in this case. By the way im in the philippines.. thanks in advance..

 

[ATMINSIDE]

What's your budget and where can you buy from?

I would recommend just going to a better single GPU since you're at 1080p.

 

[EarthDog]

Choice is up to you honestly...

2 660's would be better than a single 280 pretty easily. However, there is double the power consumption, heat dissipation, and more potential issues with multiple GPUs (lack of scaling of some titles for example).

At 1080p, I am a fan of a more powerful single card personally. I would go no less than a 280x though.

 

[karikapu]

What's your budget and where can you buy from?

I would recommend just going to a better single GPU since you're at 1080p.

the price of a 2nd hand GTX660 OC DC2 would only be around ₱5000.00 - ₱7000.00 but the brand new Sapphire R9-280 Dual-X OC 3GB GDDR5 384bit would be ₱12,850.00 this would be in peso since im in the philippines.

Choice is up to you honestly...

2 660's would be better than a single 280 pretty easily. However, there is double the power consumption, heat dissipation, and more potential issues with multiple GPUs (lack of scaling of some titles for example).

At 1080p, I am a fan of a more powerful single card personally. I would go no less than a 280x though.

im also planning on using 2-3 screens with this setup using 2 GTX 660 though the 280 has multiple for ports for that too.

 

[EarthDog]

2-3 screens for gaming? You will be vram limited on the 660 (it has 2GB I believe?). You would want to step up to at least a 3GB card at that point.

 

[karikapu]

2-3 screens for gaming? You will be vram limited on the 660 (it has 2GB I believe?). You would want to step up to at least a 3GB card at that point.

well maybe thinking of just 2 screens. basically one is for gaming and the other is for other tasks like checking emails and all. does that make sense? im sorry im not really that familiar with this kinds of stuff.

 

[ninjacore]

In both, scenarios (two 660s or a single 280), they could drive 2-3 monitors for different tasks. What ED was saying is that you'll run into VRAM issues if you are trying to stretch the resolution of your games across more than just the one monitor. You'll be fine.

+1 for at least a 280X for 1080P. Although, if the second 660 is really that much cheaper, SLI should at least be considered.

Also,

What's your budget and where can you buy from?

 

[karikapu]

In both, scenarios (two 660s or a single 280), they could drive 2-3 monitors for different tasks. What ED was saying is that you'll run into VRAM issues if you are trying to stretch the resolution of your games across more than just the one monitor. You'll be fine.

+1 for at least a 280X for 1080P. Although, if the second 660 is really that much cheaper, SLI should at least be considered.

Also,

no im not planning on stretching the game display itself to 2-3 monitors. im just gonna play it on one monitor and do another thing on the other ones. my budget would be around P5000-P7000 pesos and im just gonna buy the card through a friend.

 

[EarthDog]

Having other monitors up still uses resources. Clearly not as much as gaming across them, but something none the less. I really would save up for a better card personally... nothing less than a 280x/760

 

[caddi daddi]

I have the gtx 760's that earthdog mentioned, great bang for the buck cards.
I don't multi monitor so i can't speak to that.
they do every thing i need them to do, game well, not to loud unless I clock the pee out of them and do not run to hot. I do everything at 1080p on a 46 inch tv and I am a happy clam with them.