Doubleing up ?

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 11:53

Hi,

Wanting some advice on putting 2 graphics cards inside my machine, just wanted some advice on what components I would need in order to do this if possible. Only wanting to do this as I've upgrade to a 1440p monitor and wanting to max it out.

My specs are

My spec of computer is

Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefield 4 PC Game £241.66

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £159.99

MSI Z87I Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ITX Motherboard £87.49

Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £62.49

Toshiba SSD HDTS212EZSTA 9.5mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £59.99

Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £58.29

BitFenix Prodigy 'Yang' Mini-ITX Cube Case - Black/White £58.29

TeamGroup Xtreem LV "Frost Edition" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit £49.99

Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £36.66

OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.16

Corsair Hydro H90 140m

Ch3m1c4L · 21 Jan 2015 at 12:08

You will need, due to yours being an ITX build:
Second GPU,
New PSU (maybe)
New motherboard
New case

Probably better off just buying a better single card...

egnshane · 21 Jan 2015 at 12:14

I agree with Ch3m1c4L, you could sell the 280x and get a better card. Its just a lot less hassle.

Clocking up your i5 and getting a 290x (if you want to keep with AMD) should perform well.

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 12:23

egnshane said:
I agree with Ch3m1c4L, you could sell the 280x and get a better card. Its just a lot less hassle.

Clocking up your i5 and getting a 290x (if you want to keep with AMD) should perform well.

What graphics card would you recommend that would fit my spec ?

Ch3m1c4L · 21 Jan 2015 at 12:34

Budget? 290x if AMD, 970 or 980 if nvidia. Unless AMD has a better dual card that would fit.
Rest of spec is fine, just get the best dual slot card you can find.

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 12:42

Haven't realy got a budget, could you link the cards in a basket please.

DaleTheWhale · 21 Jan 2015 at 12:44

GTX 970 will eat 1440p, would recommend one of them.

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 12:54

ThaReaperGuy said:
GTX 970 will eat 1440p, would recommend one of them.

Would you link it please ? Also would my power supply be still ok ?

pastymuncher · 21 Jan 2015 at 13:04

Power supply is fine. GTX970's are extremely efficient and a pair in SLI only pull around 450w total system power.

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 13:11

Would you link the one I need please ? Cheers

varkanoid · 21 Jan 2015 at 13:25

Its not hard to find

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 "Mini-ITX" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 13:30

varkanoid said:
Its not hard to find

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 "Mini-ITX" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Thanks, and is that card you have linked better than the one I have now ?

Ch3m1c4L · 21 Jan 2015 at 13:35

Google for 970 gtx vs 280x benchmark.

It is better. Whether its worth the increase for the price is up to you.

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 13:40

Ch3m1c4L said:
Google for 970 gtx vs 280x benchmark.

It is better. Whether its worth the increase for the price is up to you.

Ok. If I wanted one that I would see quite a big difference would you choose a better one ?

ED209 · 21 Jan 2015 at 13:48

go here to compare gpus

www.gpuboss.com

Ch3m1c4L · 21 Jan 2015 at 14:45

970 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1355?vs=1041

980 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1351?vs=1041

290x http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1056?vs=1041

The only card I personally know for sure that will fit, is the 970 itx version above. I havent looked at the specs for your case beyond the fact it only supports itx motherboards, not how long a gpu it supports.

Evil-I · 21 Jan 2015 at 15:09

As pretty much everyone has pointed out, unless you want to replace quite a lot of your existing machine then you can't really go for dual GPU.

Also be aware of whether you will be able to fit a more butch card in your current case. A quick look suggests the case is 359mm deep, how much of that translates to space to fit a GPU is something you will need to check. Quick look with a tape measure advised to confirm that maximum length a card could be in your case without fouling other things.

If possible do try and fit a full size version of a graphics card like the GTX970 (great balance of price/ performance/ power draw/ heat output). I have a pair of the Gigabyte Gaming G1 units which are great but pretty long at 310mm, so probably starting to get too big for your case. Other manufacturers have the same GPU with not as long cooler (check out the MSI gtx970, has very good reviews and isn't as massive as the Gigabyte G1), I'd avoid the ITX specific ones unless they are the ONLY one that will fit in your case, as a smaller card and cooler will basically mean louder, as a single fan will have to spin much quicker to dissipate the heat than a multi fan cooler.

FYI, i tested my GTX970's individually on my 1440p monitor and even current games like Farcry4 and COD Advanced warfare ran like a dream on pretty high settings. Don't know whether you'd get a GTX980 in it, both because of length of cards and also power draw. A 550 watt supply might be pushing it with a 980....

Good luck!

E-I

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 15:28

I'll get some measurements tonight and post after work.

Telecaster · 21 Jan 2015 at 15:33

I think the Prodigy will breeze a full length graphics card, back when it was flavour of the month there were all sorts of ostentatious builds with huge cards.

baz178 · 21 Jan 2015 at 16:22

I've got a full size graphics card in now in the one below

Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefield 4 PC Game