New GPU wanted ~ help me decide!?

I'm in the market for a new GPU, and I have a few choices to decide on. Thought I'd ask you all here what I should get and hopefully more from the average gamer thats not obsessed with overclocking and running 3-4 580 in SLi BS. {yeah the forums at EVGA piss me off, ask a simple question but the community tend to focus on mass OCing everything…}


Anyway, I built this new PC mid last year primarily for FFXIV, but besides that also for the plethora of other RPGs, but never decided on a GPU yet. I keep thinking I should wait for the next best card or model. After E3 though and seeing how great Skyrim is going to look, not to mention the obsession with mods I enjoy playing the Elder Scrolls with; I want an extremely beefy GPU setup to take advantage of everything Skyrim has to offer and then some at excellent fps. {When Morrowind and Oblivion were released my PC at the time could barely play them and I really didn't enjoy them as much as I should have} I have a very nice PC this time around and currently have little to no problems playing anything on max or at least high settings -minus most the AA/AF enthusiast settings.

I also play MMOs, and I'm greatly looking forward to SW:TOR and Guild Wars II too.


So here is my PC:

Motherboard:EVGA P55 FTW 200 SLI
CPU:Intel Core i7-K875 Lynnfield 2.93GHz
Heatsink: Thermaltake SpinQ VT
GPU: EVGA GTX 275
Monitor: 40" Proscan HDTV
Case: Antec 1200
PSU: Antec 750w
RAM: 8GB A-DATA Gaming Series DDR3 1600
HDD: Hitachi 1TB 7200
Sound: Creative X-FI 7.1 Gamer Edition
Speakers: Creative 7.1 Surround


Sometimes I keep asking myself why I want a new GPU when I can already play nearly everything on max or at least high settings. One of the main reasons are because my GTX 275 for some reason doesn't like the latest drivers from nVidia and the control panel keeps locking up. Also I've been seeing some stuttering and slowdown with video playback in-game or just watching a TV show or movie. {Its not much or too bothersome, but it tells me its time to upgrade…}


So here are the choices I'm interested in, but havn't yet been able to make a decision:

1x EVGA GTX 570 ~ $360 ~ $330 after rebates
2x EVGA GTX 570 in SLi ~ $720 ~ $660 after rebates
1x EVGA GTX 580 ~ $470 ~ $440 after rebates
1x EVGA GTX 590 ~ $730

I did briefly own a GTX 570 a week after it launched in Dec 2010, but had to RMA it a 2 weeks later…got a bad one. It performed really well and I enjoyed it, but at the same time, I now think that I'd like more fps than what one offered. I've been reading through reviews and benchmarks for the past week and the 580 offers about 7-15/20 more fps depending on the game, and has a bit more power overall than the 570, and should be better for the long haul {2-3yrs before upgrading again…} My GTX 275 is over 2yrs old now and still going strong and I hope to repeat that scenario.

The other 2 options involve SLi, with the GTX 590 {runs in SLi, on one card instead of two} destroying anything you run, and the GTX 570s that make the 590 look weak. Seriously all the benchmarks show the 570s defeating the 590 by a huge margin. However, even though nVidia has been creating SLi profiles for damn near every new game of late and even some older ones, I still hear there can be some issues with compatibility. Where running SLi can make ones performance even less than a single GPU, forcing you to turn off SLi. That could be fixed in time, but I wonder if I should bother with dealing with that possibility or just go the single GPU route as I always have!

Lastly, I could always try and purchase a used GTX 275 on eBay and see how I like SLi before committing to the costs above, but again I'd still be having driver issues and the like. Older drivers are working ok, but don't support the new SLi configs of newer games. I've read that the 275 in SLi are more powerful than a single GTX 580…



Anyway, this has become much longer than I had thought it would. So if ya have an opinion on my situation or own one of the possible GPU setups I'm interested in, I'd love to hear some feedback as to the performance. Also, please don't recommend that I use AMD or create a flame war over manufacturer. {I'm an nVidia and EVGA loyalist through and through…thanks}

Damn, what a long post.

While I'm not up-to-date with the latest cards I would stay away from SLI. Potential problems: micro-stuttering, driver issues, low performance if the game doesn't support SLI.
I would rather buy a bigger card.

Maybe you should simply go to a couple of hardware sites and find a few performance comparison charts. Then decide the performance you need and go hunting for a silent card with those specs.

For me (absence of) noise is more important than the last 5%.

Two options you didn't mention:
1. buy small, upgrade again when the real next-gen cards are out. AFAIK this is still 5 years old tech.
2. Maybe your Windows is the problem and not your card?

I'm just about to upgrade from a GTX 285 to a 580, partly because I get intermittent black screens and partly because I've just got that 2 year itch I get to upgrade - even though it doesn't add a great deal, I want my DX11 features.

I'm avoiding SLI for the reasons Gorath says. A fast single card solution should be sufficient.

Where running SLi can make ones performance even less than a single GPU, forcing you to turn off SLi. That could be fixed in time...

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This has been the case since SLI got started so don't plan on it changing now. SLI has one consistent benefit: bigger benchmark scores to brag about to friends. Otherwise, you're left with a platform that may or may not work with different applications and a boost in heat/noise/power consumption.

Personally, (if going with Nvidia and their bloated drivers) I would opt for the 580. You could always buy another later in the year if you absolutely must have another in SLI, but I'm betting you will be satisfied with the performance of one card.

Drithius said:

Personally, (if going with Nvidia and their bloated drivers) I would opt for the 580. You could always buy another later in the year if you absolutely must have another in SLI, but I'm betting you will be satisfied with the performance of one card.

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You think ATI drivers are better? They seems to come with crap as well. This is not a loaded question btw

lostforever said:

You think ATI drivers are better? They seems to come with crap as well. This is not a loaded question btw

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When I say 'bloated', I'm specifically referencing the size of Nvidia driver packages. Currently, Nvidia's package stands at 134mb while the Catalyst package is 86mb. That's nearly a 50mb difference.

And, additionally, new Catalyst packages are released every month, so there's a much better chance for issues to get fixed over Nvidia's erratic scheduling of patches. I had an Nvidia 8800gtx whose aspect scaling issues NEVER got fixed in the 3 years I owned it. Every time I'd download yet another new 100+ megabyte package, I would hold my breath but end up uninstalling.

Drithius said:

And, additionally, new Catalyst packages are released every month.

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With all the glitches that ATI cards seem to have with games, they pretty much have to release updates that often.

That was a loaded response btw. Nvidia FTW!

I've had cards from both companies and can honestly say in my experience it's six of one, half dozen of another, so to speak.

Some games are clearly designed around Nvidia (like the Witcher 2, minus the 3D vision of course) and others are clearly designed around ATI (like Dragon Age 2). In the end, if it's a big AAA title the developer and/or GPU producer will have to come up with new drivers or hotfixes to meet any shortcomings.

I'd go for a 580 GTX. The 590 does offer a performance boost, but it's a costly one.

I'd stay away from any dual card solution (X-fire or SLI). It's just not worth the hassle.

Isn't the 590 a dual card solution? My (limited) understanding is that it is effectively 2 cards bolted together like the 295; so still potentially suffers from the same SLI issues.

I had a single card, dual GPU ATI and which cost a bomb but ultimately was very disappointing. It rocked in some games, sucked in others, and I just couldn't stand not knowing if it was using it's cores correctly, because often there were different tricks for different games, driver issues, patches required, etc.

Single GPU is the way to go - less heat, less noise, and consistent.

ROFL…I forgot to check this thread again since I posted it. Anyway, last week I decided to just go for the single card upgrade with a GTX 580. At the price of $470 w/ a $30 MIR, thats a pretty damn good deal. I also opted to order from Amazon which is unusual for me as I normally use Newegg for my PC parts, but they convinced me with a $3.99 overnight shipping deal, and sure enough upon placing my order at nearly 6pm Wed evening, the card was on my doorstep at 3:30pm the next day…nices!


I did look into SLi more, and it just seems that no matter where I checked for info there were mass complaints, and you're right it does seem to be more of an "who has the larger e-peen score" rather than playing games with them. Thus far the 580 has been incredible.

• I can play Crysis on Ultra High settings and still getting 33-37fps.
• I logged into LOTRO, turned on DX11, everything on Ultra High and I'm now getting 110-130fps, before I was barely getting 30fps.
• Checked into FFXIV, everything on Max settings besides AA at 8xQ MSAA, and I was getting 35-40+fps
• Crysis II easily 60-70 fps, though I havn't tried it with the new DX11 HD graphics pack just released. already beat it so don't really care.
• I'm now playing The Witcher II, again with everything on max and its smooth as butter at 25-35+ fps.

The GTX 580 was quite an expensive purchase but its been well worth every penny thus far. Can't wait to play Skyrim with it, as well as SW:TOR, TERA & GW2. I have not OC'd it either, don't see a reason to as everything is running perfectly.

On a less than savory note, I now have all the time in the world to play games, cause I was just laid off again two nights ago...doh! ARGH...