May need to upgrade GPU

[Nitro58]

Hey again, as you can see in my specs I'm running 2 GTX 550TI in SLI. I've come to the conclusion that my graphic set-up is bottlenecking my CPU. I'm thinking this because, from day one I've not been able to run any of the games I built this system for (BF3, BC2 or flight Sim) without the inevitable crash or freeze. I'm now thinking able buying a new card, and using one of the 550's for PhysX. I have linked a couple of cards I'm looking at, but am open to all suggestions. Also if you see another possible reason for these crashes and freezing in my specs please enlighten me.

EVGA 025-P3-1579-AR GeForce GTX 570 HD Video Card - 2560MB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16), Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, DirectX 11, Dual-Slot, SLI Ready at TigerDirect.com

Newegg.com - Refurbished: EVGA 025-P3-1579-RX GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 2560MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I realize that the one from NewEgg is a refub, is this something to stay away from?

 

[Nitro58]

Well, after posting this about 30 hours ago there have been 132 views, but no replies. Could it be that this post is being viewed as just lame, or what? I hope not.

 

[bobohenriksen]

go for a gtx 670 if you have the money its really good i had 2 gtx 465 before i got ma 670

 

[bobkn]

Well, after posting this about 30 hours ago there have been 132 views, but no replies. Could it be that this post is being viewed as just lame, or what? I hope not.

I looked for re views, but I didn't find a good comparison between a pair of 550 ti cards in SLI vs. a single 670.

It's not clear to me that the 670 will be a lot more powerful. On the plus side: no SLI.

 

[zijincheng]

Although you can't use both your 550s, get a 7850. I can anandtech has a thread on 7850 OC and many of us have reached near gtx580 performance with a 40% overclock, max temps of 75C, I have an Asus DCII 7850, getting around 60fps after OC

The gtx570 will beat a stock 7850 but when the 7850 is OCed it will be miles ahead of a 570, and they can be had for $220 after rebate or $250 full pop

 

[Nitro58]

I guess I'm really trying to figure out why I can't seem to run the games I want with these two cards. I've stress tested them using MSI Afterburner (Kombustor). The main card does hit 89c and the secondary one hit 70c. Even using Afterburner benchmark I freeze-up about half way through.

 

[zijincheng]

Do they crash when only using 1 card?

 

[Nitro58]

To be honest, I haven't try with just one card installed. I'll give that a shot and see how things work.