Best second card for SLI?

[Chris.]

Currently have a GTX 460 Zotac Amp with the OC in my sig.

What is best to go with this, and is it right that both cards will be downclocked to the lowest denominator?

Also, how does OC'ing work when in SLI?

 

[harmony]

When doing SLI, the temperature of the case may increase, making oc a bit more difficult, depending on the cooling capability of your case, and more importantly, the spacing of the PCI-E slots on the motherboard. Also, you roll a silicon dice twice, and it is more difficult to roll big twice than once.

What res do you play at? If for 1680x1050 it looks good; if for 1920x1200 then I won't put 1GB cards into SLI/CF unless I can get the second card for a very good price.

 

[Chris.]

When doing SLI, the temperature of the case may increase, making oc a bit more difficult, depending on the cooling capability of your case, and more importantly, the spacing of the PCI-E slots on the motherboard. Also, you roll a silicon dice twice, and it is more difficult to roll big twice than once.

What res do you play at? If for 1680x1050 it looks good; if for 1920x1200 then I won't put 1GB cards into SLI/CF unless I can get the second card for a very good price.

I play 1920x1080 atm.

Im having to do a lot to accomodate SLI, including a new motherboard, If i would be better off just getting a new single GPU that would be the best option. Just want to max my games with proper FPS, instead of either having FPS drops or reducing the Graphics.

 

[harmony]

I play 1920x1080 atm.

Im having to do a lot to accomodate SLI, including a new motherboard, If i would be better off just getting a new single GPU that would be the best option. Just want to max my games with proper FPS, instead of either having FPS drops or reducing the Graphics.

Then it depends on which games you play. Some games are vram whores and the fps drops significantly when out of vram; some games may suffer from lag spikes; some games may run very smoothly without problems.

Some notorious games are already listed in this list but I haven't played every one of them myself so I can't tell the real experience. It only serves as a reference and you may listen to the others not to believe it.

I'd say if you have to change a motherboard then it may not be worth it. I'd get a single GPU setup. (Note: you might be able to flash the BIOS of your current motherboard to enable support of SLI if that helps.)

 

[bru]

personally I would get another 460 like the ocuk one on offer and overclock/downclock to a less stressful core speed that they can both run at without too many heating issues. what you would lose out on single GPU performance will be more than made up for due to two GPU's

 

[bhavv]

Then it depends on which games you play. Some games are vram whores and the fps drops significantly when out of vram; some games may suffer from lag spikes; some games may run very smoothly without problems.

Completely proven wrong in the Vram thread, please stop giving false advice.

To the op, there is absolutely nothing wrong with running two 1 Gb cards in SLI or CF if you want to do that. Plenty of people already do and dont have any issues with Vram at 1920x1080.

 

[Chris.]

Then it depends on which games you play. Some games are vram whores and the fps drops significantly when out of vram; some games may suffer from lag spikes; some games may run very smoothly without problems.

Some notorious games are already listed in this list but I haven't played every one of them myself so I can't tell the real experience. It only serves as a reference and you may listen to the others not to believe it.

I'd say if you have to change a motherboard then it may not be worth it. I'd get a single GPU setup. (Note: you might be able to flash the BIOS of your current motherboard to enable support of SLI if that helps.)

Unfortunately im running a gigabyte mATX board so I literally dont have the PCI-e slots lol

personally I would get another 460 like the ocuk one on offer and overclock/downclock to a less stressful core speed that they can both run at without too many heating issues. what you would lose out on single GPU performance will be more than made up for due to two GPU's

There any devout twin GPU coolers I could look at then maybe?

Also, thanks for the reccomendation, ill take a look.

Completely proven wrong in the Vram thread, please stop giving false advice.

To the op, there is absolutely nothing wrong with running two 1 Gb cards in SLI or CF if you want to do that. Plenty of people already do and dont have any issues with Vram at 1920x1080.

Ill price it up then lol

 

[Muel]

Personally I would always use matching cards, as I believe if they match then you reduce the effects of microstutter. (This is on ATI, not nVidia, and before anyone cries it does exist, I have experienced it myself).

 

[Chris.]

Only thing though, ive just looked at the specs of the OCUK one and its nowhere near mine. Does this mean that both cards will be running at the lower power?

 

[harmony]

Completely proven wrong in the Vram thread, please stop giving false advice.

To the op, there is absolutely nothing wrong with running two 1 Gb cards in SLI or CF if you want to do that. Plenty of people already do and dont have any issues with Vram at 1920x1080.

Completely thought wrong by you.

To the OP: be ware of the fate of 8800 GS 384MB and 8800 GTS 320MB.

 

[bhavv]

To the OP, ignore harmony.