GTX 580 Vs GTX 460's in SLI star in "What that extra 220 Dollars gets you"

[Jdawg84]

When i posted this thread i was pissed about the launch prices and missing out on the asus 580. When i returned home from dinner with the lady the Asus was in stock and i like i said a few times i have impulse control problems and bought a pair. When i said "Single" i was meaning not married but with this lady maybe someday.

Do i think the 460's are a great combo for 200 dollars less over the 580? F YES!!!
Would i buy a pair of 460's over a single 580? In a heartbeat
Is 580's Overkill on a single 1920X1200 monitor? Yes but i plan on running triple monitors in the future.

 

[MrRamon]

but are you single if you have a girlfriend?

Nvidia, The way it's meant to be PLAYED

 

[Keysplayr]

Still not the point I was making. If he was willing to put down 1.1k for 2 580s why was he comparing it to 460SLI?



Who dumped him and now he can spend all his cash on video cards?

Skurge, it might help if you just simply "stated" what your point is instead of "trying" to make your point in beat around the bush ways.

 

[Lonbjerg]

Funny how people forget to factor in MINIMUM FPS.

Wild fluctuations != smooth gaming.

 

[Lonyo]

Funny how people forget to factor in MINIMUM FPS.

Wild fluctuations != smooth gaming.

So you spend all day complaining that people spread misinformation and repeat the same 'lies' over and over. Then you post up FUD like that?

The relevant graph.
Notice how every multi-GPU setup, from NV or AMD, gets higher minimum FPS than the GTX580.

And why is that the relevant graph? Because that's the resolution we've been talking about all thread.
Throwing up the numbers for 2560x1600 is all well and good, where they are relevant, but they aren't, at least in this thread.

 

[biostud]

now if nvidia could do the same with the gtx 460 as they did with the gtx 480, the gtx 560 would be a killer midrange card.

 

[Lonbjerg]

So you spend all day complaining that people spread misinformation and repeat the same 'lies' over and over. Then you post up FUD like that?



The relevant graph.
Notice how every multi-GPU setup, from NV or AMD, gets higher minimum FPS than the GTX580.

And why is that the relevant graph? Because that's the resolution we've been talking about all thread.
Throwing up the numbers for 2560x1600 is all well and good, where they are relevant, but they aren't, at least in this thread.

So a midrange resolution is relevant for a HIGHEND card

Damn where are those 640x480 graphs!!! :hmm:

 

[Arkadrel]

So a midrange resolution is relevant for a HIGHEND card

Damn where are those 640x480 graphs!!! :hmm:

The 1920x1200 one he posted above doesnt count? where the 6850x2 have better minimum fps?

 

[Aristotelian]

Really now, if I had the money thats what I'd buy. Why not?

He wanted the fastest/futureproof setup money can buy and bought it.

Would you? You were supporting a rather negative take on multi GPU setups in another thread with respect to the 580 vs 5970. Though I have no doubt that you'd buy the 580 (right now, top tier single gpu card on the market).

I'd love to get a bit philosophical on the money/job/lady thing, but this isn't the right forum for it unfortunately. Enjoy your purchases OP. Hopefully you'll be a regular poster in the future so that we can get some 580 SLI Benchmarks on request.

 

[Lonbjerg]

The 1920x1200 one he posted above doesnt count? where the 6850x2 have better minimum fps?

Who buy the HIGHEND for gaming on such a low resolution?

Can you show me the 680x480 chart?

 

[betasub]

The 2560x1600 minimums are a smokescreen. There's no GTX460 SLI in there. And unsurprisingly the 1GB cards struggle, as would GTX460 SLI.

 

[Arkadrel]

The 2560x1600 minimums are a smokescreen. There's no GTX460 SLI in there. And unsurprisingly the 1GB cards struggle, as would GTX460 SLI.

^this.

the 580 has 1,5gig... which is 536 or something mb more than the others, which is the only reason they re getting beat. *IF* you dont have as much AA/res ect on, so you arnt memory limited, the other cards 460/6850's would be faster than a 580 even at 2560x1600 res.

 

[Lonyo]

Who buy the HIGHEND for gaming on such a low resolution?

Can you show me the 680x480 chart?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2118943
This thread. Read the first post. Look at the charts.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=30740379&postcount=22
Another post by the original poster. Notice he states his screen resolution.

Are you suggesting that the only valid application for 2 mid-range cards in SLI or Crossfire is 2560x1600?
Are you suggesting that we should ignore most of this thread because it doesn't agree with what you want to show?

Here's a question, what's YOUR screen resolution?

 

[Arkadrel]

I think more people use 1920x1200 than people use 2560x1600 or higher.

Here's a question, what's YOUR screen resolution?

1680x1050 <_<

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Funny how people forget to factor in MINIMUM FPS.

Wild fluctuations != smooth gaming.

A single data point != wild fluctuations. Minimums don't mean a whole lot without a time graph.

Who buy the HIGHEND for gaming on such a low resolution?

Can you show me the 680x480 chart?

So a midrange resolution is relevant for a HIGHEND card

Damn where are those 640x480 graphs!!!

We don't need the ghost of Wreckage on this forum.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

God what a troll

The reason the GTX 580 has been smoking everything at 2560 is the extra memory, nothing more nothing less... But Im sure he knows this, just playing the fanboy as usual

Lets see how good the 6900 is at 2560 minimums if it has 2 GB

 

[Lonyo]

God what a troll

The reason the GTX 580 has been smoking everything at 2560 is the extra memory, nothing more nothing less... But Im sure he knows this, just playing the fanboy as usual

Lets see how good the 6900 is at minimums if it has 2 GB

Not really.
The HD5870CF scores lower than a single HD5870, despite them being the same apart from 2 vs 1.
For whatever reason unrelated to RAM amounts, the minimum FPS drops of sharply at 2560x1600 in Crysis, and it doesn't seem to be RAM.

If anything, it says more about one of the problems inherent to multi-GPU, which is what Lonbjerg was arguing, it doesn't always work perfectly, so a single GPU can be better even if it's got lower average FPS.

If you compare to other games though (and to GTX470/480 SLI scaling), it doesn't always occur. Although that's "minimum" FPS (faked by applying a worst case scenario).
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph4008/33833.png

Drawing conclusions from one test at one resolution which gives weird results doesn't really say anything on the whole about the "stability" of FPS though, for that you would need Hocp type graphs.


Of course, if you looked at some graphs, you wouldn't want to buy any card, case in point: Civilization V.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/10/21/amd_radeon_hd_6870_6850_video_card_review/3

 

[betasub]

^ If the video RAM on a single-card system isn't enough, & it's forced to go to access system RAM, causing frame-rates to plummet - what do you think is the effect of two (or more) cards having to access system RAM at the same time?

 

[Makaveli]

God what a troll

The reason the GTX 580 has been smoking everything at 2560 is the extra memory, nothing more nothing less... But Im sure he knows this, just playing the fanboy as usual

Lets see how good the 6900 is at 2560 minimums if it has 2 GB

Couple things to point out.

1. Its a proven fact that the Geforce 4x series gets higher minimum frame rates than the current radeons in Xfire or single card setup.

2. Minimum FPS tend to be more important than Average or maximums.

3. Lonbjerg clearly was cherry picking which graphs to show for whatever his personal bias is, I believe it was already stated that is some kinda of driver issue with the Radeons at that res on crysis.

4. There are more people running 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 than 2560x1600

5. The 580 does have more memory than the radeons which will make a difference at 2560x1600



As for the other guy its your money but that is one unbalanced rig you build there with $1100 in GPU power.

What games are you playing that was worth dropping over a grand on?

And before someones mentions it there is no such thing as future proofing your rig.

 

[Skurge]

Skurge, it might help if you just simply "stated" what your point is instead of "trying" to make your point in beat around the bush ways.

What?

My 1st post was pretty clear. Read it again and you would know. Maybe my wording was confusing (I doubt that), but there was no "beating around the bush" there.

 

[Seero]

Guys, if you think one 580 is expensive, then buy 2x460SLI for lower price yet similar performance. If not, wait a week and see if AMD have something cool. If you need to spend it because you are allergic to cash, get it, there is nothing to regret about as it is the fastest single GPU card right now.

570 will be faster than 470/460, and you can wait 5 more years for something even faster. If waiting isn't your cup of tea, 460SLI is at a very good deal. It is compatible with PhysX, 3D vision, CUDA, and support up to 3 monitors (3d surround). All for under 500 USD(you need extra if you don't yet have a 3d setup).

 

[RobertR1]

I'd never get GTX580 in Sli without a 2560x1600 monitor but to each his own, I suppose!

 

[Genx87]

This has been the norm for awhile. But Multi-GPU setups have their drawbacks. Like profile support, micro-stuttering, and possible wide variations in performance.

There are a lot of us out there who would take a slightly less performing and more expensive single GPU setup for those reasons I stated.

 

[Aristotelian]

This has been the norm for awhile. But Multi-GPU setups have their drawbacks. Like profile support, micro-stuttering, and possible wide variations in performance.

There are a lot of us out there who would take a slightly less performing and more expensive single GPU setup for those reasons I stated.

Not that I'm calling you out in particular, but where were these posts back when the 460 1GB came out? The entire board was flooded with suggestions that people should just SLI 460s until the cows came home. Now that the 580 is out, suddenly the multi GPU drawbacks are being talked about?

I agree with you, by the way, and this is why I'll never have a multi GPU setup.

 

[tyl998]

My monitor only goes up to 1920x1080, so I generally don't care about the higher resolutions. And yes, I have a 460 SLI, so I care about high-end performance on non-max resolutions.