SLI or new card?

M

motorboatink1ng

New Member
I've been wanting to upgrade my computer a little more. I just don't know if I should be a second graphics card and SLI, or sell it and buy a whole new one (probably a gtx 980). I've never ran more than one card and I've read a few things saying it can cause problems. So I figured I'd post here and ask if I should get a second GTX 780 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130918 or get a whole new one. I'm not too worried about price.
 
Here are some benchmarks comparing the two: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1063?vs=1351

In my opinion, SLI is more for people who want to get the absolute best performance from the get go, such as with two top of the line cards. After a few years, buying a newer card is generally better than buying a second older card. For you though, I'd consider the price of a second 780 vs selling your current one and buying a 980.
 
I've been doing a lot of looking around, and I think I'm going to buy 2 gtx 970's. The price would be just a little more than one 980, and from everything I've read SLI 970's would be a much better choice. I have one question about power though. It says the minimum power is 500W. Does that mean I need around a 1200w psu?
 
It depends really what you want it for, if you want over 1440p then SLI. The 780 is still a good card and I think very similar to the gtx 970 in performance.
 
I recommend the best single gpu card you can get. My experience with SLI hasn't been that great. Games are now developed with consoles in mind. Personally I dealt with far too many problems with the more gpus I add, with diminishing or even negative performance..
 
I went with two 970's. I got them in a few days ago. I'm loving them so far. I'm a little worried about heat though. I think just because of their close proximity to each other they are getting hot. Far cry 4 is upper 70's to 81C is the lowest I've seen it. Hopefully that isn't too hot. If so I'm not sure what to do. I can't add any more fans to my case.
 
Temperatures look OK. You have to expect higher temperatures with multiple cards though. Just the way it goes. You might want to consider water cooling or getting aftermarket air coolers on each card if you are concerned.
 
I am actually googling how to liquid cool right now. I will probably end up going that route. I just need to figure out exactly how. I was going to make a separate thread asking if I can cool both GPU's and my CPU in one loop, or if I need a pump with more than one inlet and outlet and how that works.
 
You might be able to do it one loop. I've never needed to use liquid cooling so I'm not the one to ask really.
 
xxmorpheus said:
I recommend the best single gpu card you can get. My experience with SLI hasn't been that great. Games are now developed with consoles in mind. Personally I dealt with far too many problems with the more gpus I add, with diminishing or even negative performance..
Click to expand...

insufficient pcie lanes and under powered. we've dealt with this before
 
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