SLI vs GPU upgrade question

[SShadowSStalker]

So here's my question, I'm wanting to play through Skyrim moderate-heavy modded with ENB. I have a decently good rig for todays standards but I feel my gfx card Is lacking.

 

AMD3 3.5+ghz (only mildly OC) MB

Phenon II X6 (HEXCore) Processor

12gb RAM

1/2 teragb harddrive via SATA

NVIDIA Geforce 570 GTX HD (1gb)

 

I've modded out my game with ~100mods, installed ENB and my framerate is atrocious. I have to cut back significantly on visual settings in order to get decent FPS with playability. Also I get occasional CTD w/ gfx card/driver failures. I want to upgrade my gfx card without spending a whole lot of money. I've looked around and I know I can pick up another 570 gtx for ~$100. My question is this, can I get reasonable graphical performance by SLI to run Skyrim the way I want or am I forced to upgrade the card? I don't have any experience with SLI but I'm curious to try it out. I just want to make sure it won't be a waste. I feel the single 570 is powerful enough to run the game, but doesn't have the VRAM capability to hand the extra data requirements I'm throwing at it with the numerous 2k texture mods.

 

Input greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

 

[Thor.]

If you are on a budget the gtx760 is a good start, if you want performance and price.

 

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125494

Edited March 11, 2014 by Thor.

[Rennn]

Adding another 570 in SLI won't increase VRAM, the extra 1GB on the second card will just get mirrored and essentially disappear.

 

That said, 2x 570s would be higher in raw performance than a 760, although a 760 will be more efficient, less prone to bugs, and far superior in VRAM.

Are you only planning to spend about $100? If you are, you won't be able to get much. :/ In that case I'd recommend waiting until Nvidia's new Maxwell based GPUs release in the 8xx series. They're supposed to be far more efficient and powerful than anything today. The GTX 750 uses the new architecture, and despite being a medium grade card it's leaps and bounds ahead of anything at its price point.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Rennn

[Thor.]

True at that, that laptop gpu is a beast, topples all radeon cards when it comes to performance...

Edited March 12, 2014 by Thor.

[Werne]

that laptop gpu is a beast

Rennn is talking about Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 and 750 Ti series of desktop cards, no one even mentioned mobile graphics.

 

I'd recommend waiting until Nvidia's new Maxwell based GPUs release in the 8xx series. They're supposed to be far more efficient and powerful than anything today.

They could bring lower power consumption but I very, very much doubt they would bring "far more power than anything today". Anyway...

 

 

 

Getting another 570 for SLI won't bring much, it could actually make things worse since Skyrim isn't known for liking multi-GPU setups. Not to mention 2x570 with 1GB VRA misn't 2GB VRAM, it's 1GB VRAM mirrored across two cards. 570 SLI especially won't bring much if OP uses huge textures that swap in and out of system RAM due to low VRAM (and he does) and/or graphical mods/ENBs that bog down the GPU (and he likely does). Basically, get a new card, something in the line of GTX 760 would be enough of a jump (though seeing how bogged down a 570 is, I'd rather make that a 770).

[Thor.]

I know they have a laptop model that out performs the previous cards by 10%. Its the same series with low power consumption which is a big threat to amd.

http://videocardz.com/49517/nvidia-maxwell-gm107-gpu-pictured-detailed

 

Its a big threat because it can be used a desktop gpu as well a laptop gpu, because of its low wattage and power consumption. Minimum of 75watts.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-750-ti-review,3750.html

Edited March 12, 2014 by Thor.

[SShadowSStalker]

Awesome. Thanks for the advise and input. Didn't know that about SLI mirroring. That's essentially what I wanted to know. Guess I'll save up a little more for a 760. Much appreciated!

[Rennn]

 

I'd recommend waiting until Nvidia's new Maxwell based GPUs release in the 8xx series. They're supposed to be far more efficient and powerful than anything today.

They could bring lower power consumption but I very, very much doubt they would bring "far more power than anything today". Anyway...

 

 

You seem to have misunderstood what I said.

 

Individually, the 8xx series of cards so far shows increased performance over the 7xx series by 30-60%. Will a single 860 beat 2x 760s in SLI? Of course not, but that's not what I was saying. A single 8xx card will offer much more power than a single corresponding 7xx card. That's all I was saying. So although a 760 may not be a worthwhile upgrade over a 570, an 860 would be. (depending on what each person considers to be a worthwhile upgrade, ofc...)

Edited March 14, 2014 by Rennn