Yet another GTX 680 SLI vs Titan topic

[solomoshv]

I was exploring the possibility of purchasing a GTX Titan or 780 and selling my GTX 680. I run a single monitor, an ASUS PB278, 2560x1440 at 85 MHz. Some games stutter even with the GTX 680 in the computer. I only wish to play games the way the good lord intended they be played, with every setting maxed out.

I currently have an EVGA GTX 680 Signature Superclocked card in my computer, sitting in a Gigabyte Z68X-UD4 board with 16 GB of RAM and powered by a 1000 watt Platinum rated PSU.

While looking at resale prices of the GTX 680 on ebay i decided to take a quick peak at Newegg and saw the ASUS GTX 680 Direct CU card selling for only $330 after rebate and started thinking about SLI.

Now here come the actual questions:
1) will my motherboards PCI-E 2.0 8x slots be a bottleneck for these puppies in SLI? When using 1 GPU the slot runs at 16x, when using SLI the slots clock down to 8x each.
2) IS GTX 680 SLI worth the extra 150 watts of power over the 780?
3) Yes, I have tried google. but if you can point me to related professional reviews I will be grateful. when i say related, i mean something that shows PCI 2.0 8x vs 16x.


PS: Please don't mention AMD cards. I hate them. they have given me nothing but headaches. I don't care what benchmarks numbers are like.

 

[Knufire]

2.0 x8 shouldn't bottleneck much, if at all. Anandtech did some testing on the subject if I remember correctly.

That being said, the 680 is a bit bottlenecked by vRAM at that resolution. I'd go with a 780.

 

[Rotary]

or get the 4GB 680s

 

[ATMINSIDE]

or get the 4GB 680s

That won't help with bus width, which is necessary for 1440p.

 

[Rotary]

when it came out it did fine, now it cant?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

when it came out it did fine, now it cant?

Not saying it won't do the job, I'm saying the 780 does higher res better because it simply has the technology to transfer more data at once.

 

[SeeThruHead]

I recommend the SLI. I run two 670 for 1440p and can max out most things without crazy AA settings. The 780 has more vram but I dont feel its powerful enough to maintain 60 fps on the newest games at 1440p. The best option for 1440p IMO is two 770's in sli. 224gb/s memory bandwidth vs 192 on the 680 and it has the power to maintain the highest settings at 1440p without dropping below 60fps in most games. I guess it really depends on your tolerance for 60 dropping below 60 during gameplay. I have very little so I opt for the more powerful SLI with higher performance per dollar cards almost everytime.

 

[solomoshv]

Thanks guys, i opted to go for the second GTX 680. I got an Asus GTX 680 DC II to go with my EVGA 680 Signature Superclocked After coupons and rebates it's going to cost about $310. plus a free copy of splinter cell, which i don't think i will play.

i was thinking of upgrading my CPU/Mobo to get PCI E 3.0 instead of 2.0, but based on my research, I don't think it will make a difference.

The 4GB versions of the GTX 680 are a rip off. even though the memory is doubled, the memory interface width remains at 256 bits. so that 4GB of VRAM wont be used adequately. it is something companies do to make higher profits from the silicon they buy from nVIDIA and AMD. they add $20 worth of memory and drive the price up by over $100