# 2 x gtx 480's in sli or 1 x GTX 670 4 gig card



## kdfresh09 (Aug 24, 2012)

my buddy is trying to get 2 x evga gtx 480's, and put them in sli, and im trying to tell him that he should just get a 670 4 gig card.  he seems to think it will be faster than a 670, and although it might be by a small amount, the fact that he will be stuck with only 1.5gigs of memmory, it would get taxed out pretty quick with games coming out in the future, and some right now.  but then he is like, "well sli 480's will only cost me $430.  a 670 4 gig card will run me $470"  i say yeah, but then your stuck with 2 480's, to where you get a 670 now, you can get another one later and sli that so it leaves roon to grow in the future.  plus 480's run hot, although his case will keep it cool, but 2 of em is alot of heat...so yeah, basicaly im just trying to get others to state their opinions so he can read them and realize that he should just listen to me when it comes to computer stuff....thanks guys


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## G80FTW (Aug 25, 2012)

I dont see how 2 480s can be faster than a single 670. I think even a 660ti will be faster.


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## kdfresh09 (Aug 25, 2012)

i cant see a single 660 ti being faster than 2 x 480's in sli, or even a single 670 being much faster.   if yu could show some benchmarks showing this, than that would be great.  but wither way, i still am trying to recomend to him a 670


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## FuryRosewood (Aug 25, 2012)

a 660Ti is as fast or faster than a 580, if a 580 is faster than slied 480s, then there might be some proof to that


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## kdfresh09 (Aug 25, 2012)

yeah, but a 580 is NOT faster than 2 x 480's in sli.  a 480 is = a 570, and i know a 580 is far from faster than 2 x 570's/480's.  where are you guys getting this info from?  please show me.  thanks


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## wolfeking (Aug 25, 2012)

make your own decisions and hard numbers could have solved this if you would have just looked. 
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/310


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## tech savvy (Aug 25, 2012)

670 all day, over the sli 480's. Yes, 2x480's would be faster(only by alittle), but would come at a cost. Way higher temps, louder, demand more power, and take up more space. Just get a single 670 for now. You would get great performance compared to the 480's in sli with it's draw backs.

Edit: The cons of the sli 480's are to great to over look, even with the little extra performance that the 480's offers.


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## kdfresh09 (Aug 25, 2012)

tech saaavy, i comp;etly agree.  and wolfeking, did you not think i tried to look these numbers up?  of course i did, as soon as the 1st 2 started saying the the 660ti could beat 2 x 480's sli'd.  i just couldnt find any benchmarks that compared the sli vs 660ti.  you obviously have mad searching skills compared to me.  anyways, those numbers are what i was expecting, since i used to have sli'd 470's.  i think he is beginning to lean towards the 670 now.  but the more comments, the better for him to decide.  thanks so far everyone......


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## Darren (Aug 25, 2012)

I would pick 670 for all the reasons tech savvy said as well.


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## ChrisUlrich (Aug 31, 2012)

Seems the 480SLI is much faster than a single 670/680.  That's way impressive


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## ChrisUlrich (Aug 31, 2012)

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=703280


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## kdfresh09 (Aug 31, 2012)

^ very nice thread on the topic.  it mae up his mind.  now all we need to do is figure out which version to get...the 2gig or 4 gig 670


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## G80FTW (Aug 31, 2012)

kdfresh09 said:


> ^ very nice thread on the topic.  it mae up his mind.  now all we need to do is figure out which version to get...the 2gig or 4 gig 670



4GB if you got the money.  2GB is fine for now, but next year it may not be with all the new engines coming out.  Games are already using excess of 1.5GB so a 2GB card wont leave much headroom.


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## tech savvy (Aug 31, 2012)

ChrisUlrich said:


> *Seems the 480SLI is much faster than a single 670/680.* * That's way impressive*



Much faster? I think not. 

"That's way impressive", considering the draw backs of SLI 480's, I think not.


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## ChrisUlrich (Aug 31, 2012)

Who cares about all other issues if your system runs great and lasts as long as you need it too...?  I had a GTX 295 that ran hot as hell but it played everything I threw at it.  I also kept it in a water cooled case that wasn't water cooled!  So it got real hot!  

Ok, so those benchmarks weren't entirely accurat (first one provided).  But GTX 480s in SLi being faster than a card 2 generations newer... is impressive.


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## tech savvy (Aug 31, 2012)

ChrisUlrich said:


> *Who cares about all other issues if your system *runs great and lasts as long as you need it too...?  I had a GTX 295 that ran hot as hell but it played everything I threw at it.  I also kept it in a water cooled case that wasn't water cooled!  So it got real hot!
> 
> Ok, so those benchmarks weren't entirely accurat (first one provided).  But GTX 480s in SLi being faster than a card 2 generations newer... is impressive.



Who cares that the run waay hotter, who cares that they draw mad power, who cares that there louder, who cares that they take two slots, who cares that one card can almost beat 2 cards, I don't know, uhmmm... everyone. Why take two cards that are, like you said,"2 generations old"? When you can get one 670, which offers almost the same amount of performance as two 480's. 

At the time, yeah, 480's was the shit, not no more. For the price of 2 480's he can get one 670 4gb that offers outstanding performance compared to 2 480's, and on top that, you have an empty slot for another 670 down the road. Which by the way, would murder two 480's.

Edit: Also got to consider that the 480 was the flagship GPU(Not including the 590) back in the day, the 670 in not the flagship.


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## ChrisUlrich (Aug 31, 2012)

Because if he has a GTX 480 already or already has them SLied... there is NO REASON to spend any money, at all if his system is operating the way it should and not crashing.

I love my 680, I do.  But I am gonna sell my GTX 570 and end up only spending $100-$125 or whatever.


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## kdfresh09 (Aug 31, 2012)

i agree with tachsavy...iv decided to order this....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130824

im not too keen on 2 older cards compared to one thats new with more memmory, and similar performance....i had 2 x 470;s sli;d and loved them...this should perform the same as those.... i can always get a 2nd 670 later at the end of next year.  thanks all for the help and opinions


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## tech savvy (Aug 31, 2012)

kdfresh09 said:


> i agree with tachsavy...iv decided to order this....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130824
> 
> im not too keen on 2 older cards compared to one thats new with more memmory, and similar performance....i had 2 x 470;s sli;d and loved them...this should perform the same as those.... i can always get a 2nd 670 later at the end of next year.  thanks all for the help and opinions



Np, gl with everything.

ChrisUlrich, my 560ti 448 offers the same amount of performance as one 480, with less power, less noise, and less heat. And if you need a bench, I be more then happy to supple one.


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## ChrisUlrich (Sep 1, 2012)

kdfresh09 said:


> i agree with tachsavy...iv decided to order this....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130824
> 
> im not too keen on 2 older cards compared to one thats new with more memmory, and similar performance....i had 2 x 470;s sli;d and loved them...this should perform the same as those.... i can always get a 2nd 670 later at the end of next year.  thanks all for the help and opinions



See, that's crazy to me.  Assuming you had a good air cooling case...you could SLi that 480 for only $180.  Instead of $500!  That's plenty reason to not go 670.  

Although I gotta say... I love my GTX 680!


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## kdfresh09 (Sep 1, 2012)

^ what makes you think i already have a 480 thats for me to use?  right now, im running a 480, but its not mine.  its a different costomers, that uses it for adobe premiere.  i realisticly, have just the gpu that is on the i7.  so yes, a 670 was the choice that my friend and i chose for our systems.  even if i did have a 480, i wouldnt get another one.  $190 for the card, plus id need to upgrade my psu, which would be at leat anothe $100.  id rather jus tsell the 480 (if i had one to sell), and put it towards a 670.  but since this isnt my situation, i feel i made the no brainer choice, and went with the right card.  thanks all for your help.  when they come in, im going to run them in sli with an i7 3770k clocked at 4.6Ghz, and 2 samsung ssd'd in raid 0.(over 1 Gps!!), just to get some benchmarks.  then it time to seperate them and put one in the other computer.  should be a great 3dmark11 score!


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