wich one should i get ??

[DrBlack]

(2)gtx 260 sli --- 100 $ (used for 1-2 months)
or
ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti Fermi 1GB GDDR5 - 195 $ (new)

wich one should i get ??

[ZeR0]

GTX 260 is probably a better deal at first glance but note that they are MASSIVE cards especially length wise (I have one in another computer) so make sure your case will fit it let alone 2, and the GTX 260 (let alone two again) burn more watts than a GTX 560. Furthermore, you need 4 6 pin connectors from your PSU so make sure that you've got a somewhat current one that is SLI ready.

Overally the big question is: What PSU do you have or are you willing to invest in a new one? You will likely want a 800+ (I'd personally recommend 900w) PSU ESPECIALLY if you overclock. For a good one that's another $150. GTX 560 only needs a min 400 watt PSU, so you can get away with 650 or 700watts and OC it.

Furthermore, if you plan to run DX10/DX11, the GTX560 will hands down beat the SLI 260s. And you'll get further benefits out of AA than the dual 260s even with a 50% performance boost.

On a personal note, I've never been a big fan of SLI but that's me. More hardware I have to deal with if something goes wrong and more crap I have to invest in to reduce heat... bleh. Not to mention case space. It's like jamming your **** in a Cheerio with SLI unless you're using a full tower. I also don't like used unless the buyer is a KNOWN reliable person. God only knows what they've done to violate a warranty.

[ShyguyXPC]

GTX 560 Ti does not need 650-700W PSU, hell even a full System with a 560 Ti does not need that much.

You can easily get away with a good system with 450-500W tops with a 560 Ti in it.

the 560 Ti only pulls about 170-180W of power. a GTX 260 (original) pulls about 180-ish: nVidia GeForce GTX 260 Video Card - Reviews, Specifications, and Pictures - GPUReview.com

so roughly 360-370W total for 2 in SLI.

Even with that said, a good 600-650W would be sufficient for the PSU for the entire system.

I've used an Antec Neo Eco 400W in a build with a 1792MB GTX 260 and Celeron Dual Core, 2GB DDR2, etc, with no problems, and some power to spare, though never OC'd anything. But of course it depends on what they have for CPU and other hardware.

as to OCing, depends on how much they OC, a stable power supply is needed for this, not necessarily more power.

with out knowing more on the System specs they have, we can keep speculating on what they need, but would be nice to know what they have already.


The GTX 260's would be fine for DX10 games, but DX11, you'd want the 560 Ti.

Personally I'd go with the 560 Ti (since I already have one, and have used a GTX 260 as well, along with GTX 285, and GTX 470), runs cooler, runs quieter in general, uses less power, and slightly shorter in length cards.

plus leaves open the option of stuffing a 2nd later if needed.

On a personal note, I've never been a big fan of SLI but that's me. More hardware I have to deal with if something goes wrong and more crap I have to invest in to reduce heat... bleh. Not to mention case space. It's like jamming your **** in a Cheerio with SLI unless you're using a full tower. I also don't like used unless the buyer is a KNOWN reliable person. God only knows what they've done to violate a warranty.

Have to agree with most of this, though I don't mind SLI, its just the thought of dropping twice the cash for less than twice the performance. PSU power isn't a problem for me, as I tend to buy PSU's way over what I need, just in case, but still, as to the stuffing 2 cards in a case and cooling issues, as well as buying used, I agree. I have bought used before, my current CPU for example, but I made sure to check about the seller before hand, and seemed legit.

I usually buy Refurb, Recertified, or Open box to save money though, at least those carry 30 day to 90 day warranties if something goes wrong.