Mid-range cards in SLI: is it worth it?

[Norad-II]

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Wala pa koy plano mu upgrade or mupalit ug new hardware anytime soon, pero nag wonder lang ko ug worth it ba mag SLI ko ug mid-range GPUs?

Currently naa koy GTX 960, paired with a relatively weak Core i3-4160. Further down the line ug maka kwarta ko, is buying another 960 worth my ~10k php? I've seen some GTX 960 SLI benchmarks and it looks like the FPS gains depend largely on the game, mostly favoring the newer releases. Although VRAM will still be 2GB, posible nga mu stack na VRAM in SLI with the release of DirectX 12 (and as soon as games are written for DX12). Another factor that makes me consider going SLI is nindot tan-awon ang duha ka card sa sulod sa imong rig hehe, mura'g dato ba.

So anyway, kinsa ma'y nakasuway na ninyo ug SLI (or Crossfire) ug mid-range cards? Is it worth it? And do you think DX12 will make the SLI route more appealing in the future? Or is it better to just chuck the mid-range card and buy a newer high-end card.

[xy.techNOS]

crossfire user here
mid-range cards. R9 270x ba
nindot rman ang makuha nimo aside sa nindot cya tan-awn haha naa man gyud cyay perf difference. Dapat lng gyud nindot ug quality imung bridge kay akong CF bridge ang cause sa stuttering. Sauna smooth kaayu any games at max settings. Dapat sad nindot imung mobo kay tngaeg d musupport ug SLI. dapat PCIE 3.0 gyud ang duha ug dapat musupport ug x8x8. Naa nay diff if x16x4 imung mobo nga PCIE3.0 ug PCIE2.0

learned that through personal experience

[metzine]

Kung ako mas maayo e upgrade nimo una imong processor to Core i5 pra no problem ka sa future upgrade nimo sa imong video card kay kanang Core i3 nimo murag mo bottleneck na kung mag SLI ka and also ang gaming karon mas nindot ang performance kung naka quadcore cpu ka.

[keropi]

Pro on mid-end sli gpu is dili kaayo dako ang depreciation by the time you need to sell them. What i dont like about sli is the heat output. Been there done that with 2 8800gtx which i wasnt able to sell at even half the price after 2years.
If dx12 would offer cumulative vram buffer on sli, it would be a very viable choice to go sli. It would be a good thing for a 960 since it is being held back by its memory. Id even choose a 680 sli over it any time of the day. Otherwise, personally, id rather go single top end gpu. Ako lang to ha coz i believe functionality always comes before looks. Unless im not on a budget.



So bottomline is, it would depend on your budget, preference and unsa ka kasuyaon.

[igibouy]

why don't you sell the 960 and get a 970 instead?

[lloyd_joy]

@ TS,

if mag SLI ka, change your CPU to an i5 para sulit ang gasto nimo sa 2nd GPU. kun i3, medyo bitin, dili nya ma fully unleash ang power sa multi-GPUs. i was there too... hehehe... naka i3 ko before pero, sayangan ko's full potential sa multi GPUs maong nag change ko'g i5-2550K then OC sya... dah, 100% full power sa GTX 670 SLI, gipagawas nya...

before nag GTX 670 SLI ko, gamit ko'g GTX 660 Ti SLI on an i3-2120... sa kani na GPUs, kaya ra kaayo sa i3-2120, pag change nko'g GTX 670, nag kisi2x ko'g ilis sa i5-2550K...

for me, mid range GPUs in SLI or Crossfirex is worth it... this is just me though...

[Norad-II]

Salamat sa mga responses mga master. Ubay2x pud diay mo nga nag SLI ug mid-range cards.

By the way, unsay cooling nga inyong gigamit sa mga cards kung naka SLI? Stock coolers ra or nag water block mo? Unsa pud ang setup sa inyong case (full tower, mid, ITX) ug pila ka fans? Unsa pud ang idle ug load temps sa inyong cards?

[lloyd_joy]

^ me, just stock GPU coolers... water cooling is just a nice to have... not unless, abnormal gyud ang either GPU or CPU in terms of temperature...

for my GTX 660 Ti SLI... upgraded to GTX 670 SLI, its an ATX chassis (PCCooler 3000+)... naka gamit pud ni na rig ug MSI R9 270x Crossfirex... fans nya... 2 x 120 mm (front intake... 1,650 rpm each), 2 x 120 mm (top exhaust... 1,200 rpm each) then 2 x 120 mm rear exhaust in push n' pull config (cooling fans sa closed LCS)... 2,350 rpm each...

for HD 7770 GHz Edition on Crossfirex, its a m-ATX chassis (Sahara M2)... fans nya kay only 80 mm rear exhaust rotating @ 2,200 rpm...

[xy.techNOS]

By the way, unsay cooling nga inyong gigamit sa mga cards kung naka SLI? Stock coolers ra or nag water block mo? Unsa pud ang setup sa inyong case (full tower, mid, ITX) ug pila ka fans? Unsa pud ang idle ug load temps sa inyong cards?

Stock coolers ra bro. Mid-tower. 6 fans(excluding ang 2 fans para sa radiator sa CPU) and in balance airflow but planning to change it to negative airflow to get rid of heat and dust.
IDLE: 40-42°C (GPU1 rana since virtually off ang GPU2 sa CrossFire)
LOAD: GPU1 @ 69°C and GPU2 @ 62°C (Assassin's Creed Rogue akong giduwa ana karon lang )

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btw bro, summer reading na ha. Kay sa laeng seasons, mas bugnaw nah sila

[Norad-II]

Probably OT pero unsa may ideal fan airflow sa case, positive or negative pressure? Currently naa koy 2x120mm intake fans (front) ug 1x120mm exhaust fan (rear) sa akong case. Nipalit kog 2x120mm fans para ibutang sa side panel, pero nag wonder ko ug i exhaust ba ni nako or i intake.

Dili ko sure ug pila ang total CFM sa akong intake vs. exhaust kay wala koy specs sa intake fans nako, pero unsa may ika suggest ninyo? Bag-o paman ko aning bisyoha gud so wala pa kaayo koy alam aning cooling.