Using 2GB 680 GTX with dedicated 1GB 560 Ti PhysX

[samuel welshans]

Currently I have two EVGA 560tis 1gb in sli. I want to sell one and get a 680 2gb and use the remaining 560ti 1gb as a DEDICATED physx driver or will both cards operate @ 1gb VRAM? (If so, I'll get rid of both 560s) I want to get better FPS at games like GW2 and BF3, SLI is crap in both.

Also, my CPU is AMD 980 black @ 3.7, will this bottleneck a 680+560ti?
Thanks

 

[MrBlkfx1]

Currently I have two EVGA 560tis 1gb in sli. I want to sell one and get a 680 2gb and use the remaining 560ti 1gb as a DEDICATED physx driver or will both cards operate @ 1gb VRAM?

The GTX 680 will operate using 2GB Vram. The GTX 560ti will only be used for PhysX it will not bottleneck Vram. Only something like that would happen if you were using SLI.

Also, my CPU is AMD 980 black @ 3.7, will this bottleneck a 680+560ti?

The 980 will not bottleneck the combination. The AMD 980 is a solid CPU.

 

[samuel welshans]

The GTX 680 will operate using 2GB Vram. The GTX 560ti will only be used for PhysX it will not bottleneck Vram. Only something like that would happen if you were using SLI.


The 980 will not bottleneck the combination. The AMD 980 is a solid CPU.

Thanks for your reply! Guess I'll just keep one Ti and throw a 680 in there.

 

[samuel welshans]

The GTX 680 will operate using 2GB Vram. The GTX 560ti will only be used for PhysX it will not bottleneck Vram. Only something like that would happen if you were using SLI.


The 980 will not bottleneck the combination. The AMD 980 is a solid CPU.

Will OCing the 980 to 3.90 Ghz increase the FPS of games any? As long as it stays cool, which it does, I raised the multiplier from 18.5 to 19.5 in the BIOS. Worth the extra wear you think?

 

[MrBlkfx1]

Will OCing the 980 to 3.90 Ghz increase the FPS of games any? As long as it stays cool, which it does, I raised the multiplier from 18.5 to 19.5 in the BIOS. Worth the extra wear you think?

Most games are GPU dependent so in the majority of games you will probably see no difference. While, some games rely on your CPU a bit more. I noticed that a lot of MMO's are bit more CPU heavy. Although, with just a increase from 3.6 - 3.9 you may not see a big difference. I personally do not think it is worth the wear.. but it is up to you. Maybe other members will give a bit more input on the question.

 

[samuel welshans]

Factory is 3.7, which is high, but maybe pushing to around 10%, 4.0, would net maybe 5-10 frames in MMOs. I'd like to run some benchmarks to test this. It's true, like you said, in MMOs that I've seen, the CPU normally bottlenecks the GPU. Especially in GW2, which is the only one I currently play. I wonder why MMOs are more CPU heavy. I don't think the CPU life expectancy deteriorates that much at 3.9 or 4.0, as long as it stays cool and the factory voltage is not raised. Voltage (and heat) increases are what shorten the life of OC'd components, wouldn't you agree?

 

[St1ckM4n]

Sell both cards. 560Ti as a physics card is slightly overkill, and the GTX680 is more than capable of handing PhysX by itself.

You're not running with AMD, so there's absolutely no point to keep the 560.


Edit: Actually, I can't really suggest that either. 560ti SLI and 680 are pretty much on par. I have no idea why you'd fork out extra money for a very very minimal upgrade.

 

[slh28]

I'd recommend selling both as well. PhysX does not require a 560Ti, and in most games the 680 will handle it easily by itself. By the way you realise neither BF3 nor GW2 use PhysX right?

Edit: Actually, I can't really suggest that either. 560ti SLI and 680 are pretty much on par. I have no idea why you'd fork out extra money for a very very minimal upgrade.

VRAM limitations maybe? His 560Ti setup only has 1GB VRAM. Also SLI scaling might be bad in some games, and there's extra power, heat etc. from an SLI setup.

 

[St1ckM4n]

VRAM limitations maybe? His 560Ti setup only has 1GB VRAM. Also SLI scaling might be bad in some games, and there's extra power, heat etc. from an SLI setup.

Yes of course. But the performance boost won't be anything huge. And the cost of this upgrade could be quite high.

Also, OP is running 560s and an AMD. I don't want to sound like an *** and assume, but I'm willing to bet OP is playing at 1080p.

 

[samuel welshans]

GTX680 alone rendering PhysX cuts FPS 20-30% from the benchmarks I've seen. I'll keep the other 560 for physx processing from games that use it. I realize it is overkill, but I'd rather not have issues with it running in SLI, and I cannot afford (and don't want) another 680 or SLI set up ever again until the drivers and technology are more up to date and supportive. I just wanted to try SLI out, and it was neat while it lasted, but I wouldn't do it again at this point. There are too many issues, and as soon as I ditched the second card, I noticed more stable FPS and less graphical anomalies while gaming. I wanted an i7, but the AMD fit better into my budget. Yes I game single monitor at 1920X1080. The 680 is a big step up from the 560, thought the extra price may not be worth it, I know it will tackle games like BF3 and GW2 more aggressivly. 560ti's did alright in both games, but I couldn't max out settings because of the 1gb VRAM.

 

[slh28]

Fair enough, if you're willing to spend the cash then the 680 will play BF3 with 4x MSAA nicely.

 

[samuel welshans]

That's what I was aiming for, and GW2 with super sampling on. anyway, what's your take on overclocking CPU from 3.7 to 3.9 or maybe 4.0 (10% increase) , think that would net any increase in average FPS? Or should I not theorize and run benchmarks myself?

 

[slh28]

In BF3 I doubt a 300Mhz bump in CPU speeds would make a difference as it's going to be GPU bound with your setup. In GW2 you might see a performance increase because it's quite CPU intensive. It's up to you to decide if the overclock is worth the higher temps and power consumption.

 

[St1ckM4n]

If you're getting >60fps, it doesn't matter much (if your monitor is 60Hz).

 

[samuel welshans]

I'm also debating whether or not to keep this new RAM I got, since I've pushed every last bit out of my system. It's Gskill 1866 cl8 (2x4) @ 1.5v, it nets me 3-4 fps avg over my Gskill 1600 cl9 (2x4). But since my mobo is synchronous, to run it I have to change my CPU frequency from 200 to 235, and therefore turnd own my multiplier to keep a stable/same clock speed. Sorry I got so off topic with this thread, but is this a good/bad idea?