Which is better? (Video Card Setup)

[Shocklink]

Quick Bio of me: Hey guys, for those of you who don't know or have no clue who I am, I was gone for quite a while on the forums (Life has a tendency on doing this) and so I am back, hopefully for a little longer before life slaps me again lol

I wanted to ask the community a question. Right now my PC is running a Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 on PCI-E 2.0 16x with output via HDMI (47" LCD) and VGA (Simple flat computer screen). What I am looking into is upgrading my video card. This PC was custom built by me so I know my way around the PC. What I wanted to know is which is better: Buying 2 video cards and SLI them or buy one big beefy video card (GTX 590 is a grand example of "Beefy").

note: if the setup you recommend requires more power, plz do inform

For now, ignore funds, and output

Specs of PC: (If this sounds too advance or need more specs, feel free to ask)
CPU: i7
GPU: GTS 450 (1gb)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64x
RAM: 2x4gb (8gb)
HD: 1Tb
MoBo: ASRock (Has USB 3.0, SATA, 2xPCI-E 2.0 16x)
Power: 800w

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[turntechGodhead]

clearly you need to buy the biggest and most expensive ones

it doesnt matter because i heard the z sector in your vitrification drive could brown townyze the point nodes so the graphical properties of reality could be projected from mars

[Captain Crazy]

boy I love gimmick accounts !!!!!!!!!!!



I dunno about the graphics cards. I'm not too knowledgeable with the inner workings of computers.

[Shocklink]

@Captain Crazy: Cant blame you, we cant all know everything right? lol

@turntechGodHead: What if you had a flux-capacitor? wouldn't that matter?

[Shocklink]

Double Toast for help

[HelplessNobb88]

Get one beefy video card. Less to go wrong and less heat.

[blaman]

Get one card.
As said less to go wrong with it.
I don't know much about SLI, but I'm pretty sure it can cause a loss in power depending on PCI bandwidth. And I'm not sure everything runs on dual cards, so you may not get the full effect using some things.

[Fredulus]

obviously depends on the particular cards. look at benchmarks n stuff.

another thing to consider is wait til you see a good deal on a card then buy 2 of them.

[Shocklink]

@HelplessNobb88 - Hmmm, less heat would be cool and less issues...

@blaman - My MoBo does take both cards at the same time. I can also program it so that one slot is physics (Run it at x8 instead of x16) and have the other one handle the rest

@Fredulus - What im looking is to which is better. Money is of no concern AT THE MOMENT. I am just curious as to which is better that is all.

Awesome inputs btw guys, thanks for the insight :D

[Faoeoa]

Get a beefy card, overall it's better because if one card breaks then your performance could be shambled, plus some games do not support
Go with a beefer

[Ethan]

I'd go with 2 cards. Performance is higher with 2 separate cards, in this case 580s (they have to downclock the 590 in order for it to not overheat as there are 2 GPUs on one card).
Also, the 590 is just 580s in SLI anyway, but in a smaller form factor. So you still have every possibility that one will "go wrong" which in the case of a single card, can leave the other useless as they share components. If you get 2 cards, you can turn one off.
Also also, if you're gonna get 2 cards, I'd suggest getting 2 6970s as they scale better than nVidia cards, so you'd get more performance and they're cheaper.

[Ethan]

Also, 800W PSU may need upgrading. Depends on the brand and the amps on the 12v rail(s). Post your PSU model.

[Shocklink]

@Faoeoa - If the beefy breaks, wouldnt that leave me video card-less? Plus, the majority of my games run fine with 1gb and SLI should act as a back-up at most...

@Ethan - PSU
I wana try keeping it Nvidia. I can't say that Radeon is better then Nvidia or vice versa because they are both good. Also since I already have the drivers for Nvidia, switching them out and SLI-ing them shouldn't be a problem. (Also the black and green match my overall PC colors XP)

[Ethan]

I'd really suggest getting a PSU with a higher wattage. That PSU that you currently have is really really good, but would possibly be working at the edge of it's capacity which isn't a good idea. I'd go with about 1000W.

Also, if you are going to go with the 2 cards, I'd suggest getting ones with a non-reference design cooler, for better airflow.
The 590 doesn't have the best cooler in the world and also is always out of stock.

[Shocklink]

I'd really suggest getting a PSU with a higher wattage. That PSU that you currently have is really really good, but would possibly be working at the edge of it's capacity which isn't a good idea. I'd go with about 1000W.

Also, if you are going to go with the 2 cards, I'd suggest getting ones with a non-reference design cooler, for better airflow.
The 590 doesn't have the best cooler in the world and also is always out of stock.

Your saying its working at its edge now or when I upgrade?

Also, seems like im going for a SLI set-up. Any regrets? lol