SLI Build on a budget....

Scania

Scania

Scania

Caporegime
Joined
25 Nov 2004
Posts
25,977
Location
On the road....
I'm looking to upgrade my rig in the near (ish) future, my current heap (in sig below) still handles current games (BF4, not yet tried GTA 5) at high settings as I have a woefully low res monitor, two screens but the primary is 1280x1024 and the secondary 1440x900 (!)

I have my eye on two 1920x1080 monitors via a workmate - or source similar elsewhere such as the MM - which ultimately will replace my current screens.


I'm looking to SLI as I want to try it again (the last SLI setup I had was two Voodoo 2 cards!)

Currently have a 550W Coolermaster PSU which I'll have to update, three mechanical SATA drives, two SSD's and a DVD R/W drive.

Graphics wise I'm thinking of using my existing Asus GTX 580 Direct CU ii, and am thinking of another (Given they go for sub £60 on the MM) identical card for SLI to give me a performance boost that I guess I'll need for 1920x1080 gaming, at a later date, sell the 580's and SLI something more modern that'll cut the mustard....

So, I'm looking for a good CPU / RAM / SLI capable motherboard (that'll take 3 slot graphics cards in SLI as my current one is huge!) combo that won't break the bank and a PSU that'll handle it.

I do not need case, O.S., HDD, SSD, Keyboard etc as this'll be replacing the internals of my current heap.

What are my options? Ideally I don't want to exceed £400, less if dooable, bearing in mind I've managed just fine with very old kit up until now with no issues for the gaming I do.

Thanks.

Apologies if in wrong thread, but, I'm thinking bundle here.... :o
 
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Hi stulid,
Thanks for the prompt reply.

I currently have what I take to be a standard atx case, it's a bit tight in there as the picture shows, but I think everything will fit at a push.

Edit: thinking about it, a second monster card such as I have and my three mech drives will be well & truly in the way,assuming I can't move the drives to the CD ROM bays, erm, case suggestion? :o

I'm fairly sure I'll get by with 750w - I'm fairly sure I'm pushing my 550 beyond its rating, but, it's a good psu and never gets even warm.
I'd need a decent heat sink, ideally a beefed up 3rd party one rather than oem, not that I overclock much although my current quad is @ 3Ghz instead of its rated 2.5....

Tidy builds have never been me I'm afraid! :o :D

The case is an "iCute" made by whom I have no idea, just an old one scrounged off a mate.

Another thing, I live within a long dog walk of OC/UK so shipping isn't an issue. :)

Cheers.
 
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Rroff said:
I ran GTX470 SLI on a 700 watt OCZ Fata1ty PSU (Impervio unit was pretty much same specs as a good 750 watt) and when overclocked to stock GTX480 performance levels it was giving the PSU a good workout so your going to be cutting it close but it should be doable with the 580s probably.

EDIT: Also had a Q9550 @ 4GHz in there which was running a fair amount of voltage due to the board not being the best for overclocking quads.
Click to expand...

The 580 is more power efficient than the 470 / 480 from what I read, I hope it'll cut it. :)
 
The existing kit is going to end up as a Minecraft machine for my other halfs 8year old, I have a GTX260 that'll be going in it for this purpose.
Thanks for the pointer, I am now erring toward second hand tbh.
I'm thinking SLI simply because it's a cheap way of getting a performance boost from my existing 580 by adding another (they do go for buttons) - and I fancy doing it anyway - when / if upgrade time comes again, there is nothing stopping me going for a single slot solution and again SLI later if I wish.

The case will probably need replacing,although I have another spare it's no bigger,tbh my preference with regard to graphics has been Nvidia for a good while now.
 
It's got 4 CD ROM bays, I'd have to count the PCI slots, off the top of my head, 7 or 8? - I'll check when I get home.

Space in it isn't an issue currently but will be with 2x580's,unless I move my mechanical drives into the CD ROM bays....
 
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