Replacement for two 470’s in SLI

[Pablo 54]

Anyone have a single card option for two 470’s that are currently in SLI? I am looking for something comparable in performance but draws less power at idle and when maxed out. Does not necessarily have to be Nvidia.

[PP Mguire]

670.

[Scott]

You could go 670 or 680. My 680 keeps up with my old GTX590 just fine.

[Pablo 54]

I am leaning toward the 670. If I wait month, maybe the 680.

Thanks.

Paul

[brokenwave]

wait till cyber monday u might pick up 670 for $300

[Pablo 54]

That's my time line.
The 470's were nice, but the power drain was immense.
Thanks.

[brokenwave]

man the company i work for as a contractor just brought 12 pny 670 gtx and can't install them to dell t7600 due to the power plug are at the top not on the side like fx card do. they can't close the case back on without deadly force which might damage the 6 pins plug. i want one of those borderlands 2 game. lol

[Pablo 54]

You should build them a nice z68 system.

[Joshua_Mahr]

Hd5970?

[Pablo 54]

I had that on my list but I read some postings about driver issues. I have a three year old trusty 5770 that runs like a dream. I have it on an OC'ed q9550 and have 0 problems with it. For a short time it did double duty as my video rendering machine and HTPC. I will have to do some price comparisons when the time comes.

[Joshua_Mahr]

Let me know I have a HD5970 for sale. BTW driver issues are pretty much gone for those. Let me know if you have a LGA775 chip to get rid of also.

[Pablo 54]

Will do. What are you looking for?

I am a bit leery when it comes to my 775 stuff because I have run them all to death. The q9550 is OC’ed to within a hair’s breadth of 3.6 on an Asus P5Q Pro Turbo board. It’s maintained that OC for almost 2 years now. I will be honest; it has run above 78 C for extended periods of time. My E6550 runs a server on a 680i board but it has been on 24/7 since August 12th, 2009 (friend is using it but might be upgrading). Another buddy wants me to do a new i5 build for him replacing his E75xx something – I am not 100% sure which level, I will check over the weekend. But, he has it on an Asus P5N-D and I have had to reapply thermal paste at least twice in the past 3 years. He does not run it hard but that board just kicks out the heat. Probably the safest 775 chip I have is in an old HP Pavillion my wife bought (long story). It is at her mother’s house (another long story) running a projector. I have forgotten its specs but I think it is in the 2.6 or 2.8 range. I will check on that one as well and repost either Sunday or Monday.

[Pablo 54]

One other, guy I worked with just ditched his old Dell something with an old Q6600. When the original MOBO died, I helped him fix it. The HS fell off the chip. No twisting, no turning, nothing. The paste was dried up. That was in '07 I think. I will check on that one as well.

[Joshua_Mahr]

Cool, thank you.

[brokenwave]

i haven't build any computer since p3, nowaday it's all xeon to me now i haven't touch any i7 or i5 desktop cpu and don't want to lease computer anymore. the only two things i will lease are video card and hard drive, it's fun buildin computer but it cost so much now. no fun anymore, i rather get free three or more yrs old used xeon workstation for free and put my hd and video in it then buy stuff

[Pablo 54]

Where are you getting the workstations from?

[brokenwave]

surplus store that the company i work for

[Pablo 54]

Nice. My last builds have been cheapo HTPC's. Leftover HDD's and memory. Picked up cpu/mobo's on sale.

[swmeek]

I've got a Pentium 521 2.8 GHZ (SL8HX)you can have if you want it.
Basically they were throwing a bunch of computer stuff away at work to recycle it and I tore this old pc apart and took the chip out.
I can't guarantee it will work but if you want it I'll send it to you.

[Joshua_Mahr]

Thanks but I need something that supports VT-x. I think it has to be a Q9xxx or E8xxx LGA775. Not completely sure but I know the Pentium and celerons are not.

[Pablo 54]

Ah. My buddy has q6600 but he is hemhawing around about giving it up (it was part of an old Dell). All of my E's are 7500 and 6550's. The only Q is the 9550 but it is about crapped out. My daughter is using it until her Apple laptop comes.

[Buzzerbro]

Would a GTX 660 Ti be equvalent to two 470s in SLi?

[peti1212]

As far as I know a single GTX 660 Ti is faster than two GTX 470s in SLI.

[PP Mguire]

It indeed is, even though not by much.

[Martin_B]

I made a little analysis, and the performance would be equal or inferior with a GTX 660Ti.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_660_ti_windforce_oc_review,17 .html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_470_2_and_3_way_sli_review,15.html

If you look at these reviews, a sli of GTX 470 without OC in march 2010 have a FPS of 80. Since this time, with the change of driver, the performance should be better by at least 15%, so ±90. Presently, a normal GTX 660ti have a FPS of 81. A OC one have 85.

So, like a said, equal or lower performance. But, it's true you could take an other thing in consideration, the stability of a unique card instead of the glitchs of a sli. You can also take in considaration the fact than a single GTX 660Ti have a really lower consumption than 2 GTX 470.

Personnally, i would say that a GTX 670 that you OC yourself would be a really better choice instead of a GTX 660Ti. Especially when considering a GTX 670 OC are the same performance than a GTX 680.

[Pablo 54]

Could not wait any longer. Got a EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW. Wicked fast for about half the juice of my 470's.

[brokenwave]

buy another one for sli later on ,it's kind lightweight for a video card (i hold one pny 670 b4)

[PP Mguire]

I made a little analysis, and the performance would be equal or inferior with a GTX 660Ti.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_660_ti_windforce_oc_review,17 .html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_470_2_and_3_way_sli_review,15.html

If you look at these reviews, a sli of GTX 470 without OC in march 2010 have a FPS of 80. Since this time, with the change of driver, the performance should be better by at least 15%, so ±90. Presently, a normal GTX 660ti have a FPS of 81. A OC one have 85.

So, like a said, equal or lower performance. But, it's true you could take an other thing in consideration, the stability of a unique card instead of the glitchs of a sli. You can also take in considaration the fact than a single GTX 660Ti have a really lower consumption than 2 GTX 470.

Personnally, i would say that a GTX 670 that you OC yourself would be a really better choice instead of a GTX 660Ti. Especially when considering a GTX 670 OC are the same performance than a GTX 680.400 series performance hasn't exactly changed at all in the past year or so. A 660ti is generally better than a 580 depending on the game and 2 470s are about the performance of a single 580 with drivers, scaling, and game compatibility. So a 660ti would be a better choice over all. Then take power consumption, size, and heat and it's a pure winner.


Could not wait any longer. Got a EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW. Wicked fast for about half the juice of my 470's.Good choice.

[peti1212]

Yeah, they are nice cards and even in SLI they should pull less power than your previous cards with less heat also. But you'll be future proofed for at least 2-3 years.

Edit: Running a GTX 690 in my desktop system and this thing can drive three monitors in Nvidia Surround without any problem. I play games like Battlefield 3, Tower Wars, Dishonored, Left 4 Dead 2, Alan Wake, Skyrim. All these games were flawless in Surround maxed out (used with the Flawless Widescreen tool). This might not be the case with all games though. Some games just pull so much juice that you might need a 2nd GTX 690. But then again if you're ever going for a Surround setup, I'd recommend the 4GB cards, like 3-way SLI of GTX 670 or GTX 680 4GB.

[ryandigweed]

Congrats on getting a new 670 FTW .I love the quality that EVGA puts into their products.

I mistreated my older EVGA 560 for quite a few months with a crappy psu. But It was mostly fine once I upgraded the psu .

[PP Mguire]

Yeah, they are nice cards and even in SLI they should pull less power than your previous cards with less heat also. But you'll be future proofed for at least 2-3 years.

Edit: Running a GTX 690 in my desktop system and this thing can drive three monitors in Nvidia Surround without any problem. I play games like Battlefield 3, Tower Wars, Dishonored, Left 4 Dead 2, Alan Wake, Skyrim. All these games were flawless in Surround maxed out (used with the Flawless Widescreen tool). This might not be the case with all games though. Some games just pull so much juice that you might need a 2nd GTX 690. But then again if you're ever going for a Surround setup, I'd recommend the 4GB cards, like 3-way SLI of GTX 670 or GTX 680 4GB.My best friend is regretting not listening to me and getting 2 4GB 680s instead. My copy of Skyrim caps his 2GB limit and starts hammering at his FPS hehehe.