What PSU for GTX970 Sli

[Blackwldow]

Hi everyone, 

 

i've been saving some money lately and i've decided to upgrade my computer. 

 

My old PC :

-i5 3570k @4.2 Ghz 

-AsRock Z77 Pro3

-Corsair Vengeance 8Go

-Asus GTX680

-H80 WC

-Corsair G700w (Non-modular)

-Asus Essence STX

-Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced

 

For my new rig i think i'll probably go with 

-2X GTX970.

 

However, i don't know what kind of psu i should get (a 750/850w maybe ?). Also my motherboard is kind of "small-ish" for two graphics cards, and i'd love to keep my soundcard in my reg.

 

So my question is rather simple : What PSU should i get ? Do you know a good Mobo for an SLI configuration ? (BTW, i have around 700-750€)

 

Thanks a lot.

P.S. : English isn't my main language, so sorry for the mistakes

[PineappleHolidays]

So do you want to upgrade cpu + motherboard or just motherboard ? Please be precise what you want to upgrade , as 700€ will barely get you sli 970's .

 

Why do you want to go 970 sli ? For 1080p it's more or less useless , and for 1440p or above you don't have the vram .

 

Also , where are you in europe ? francce , germany , spain , ... ? That can affect pricing a lot .

[Sorfex0]

750 sohuld be enough. I took 850 just to be sure.

[CalumGiff]

Id go for a good quality 600 or 650W PSU eg an antec tpc 650 or something similiar

[Blackwldow]

Currently am in France (Studies).

I don't want to upgrade my CPU because new intel/Amd cpus are going to be release in the very near future (Q3 2015 i think ?).

 

In terms of pricing, 2xGTX 970 cost around 660€ (+- 50€). So with my budget, i think i can squeeze a motherboard in there.

Currently am using a 1080p setup but i want to go with the GTX970 Sli in order to "future proof" my rig as much as possible (even though futur "proofing" is not a real thing). Since am a student, i don't have much money to spend every year on my rig, so i'd love to make one big purchase, and keep my rig for 2-3 years.

 

Thanks everyone

[SWAGGA]

So do you want to upgrade cpu + motherboard or just motherboard ? Please be precise what you want to upgrade , as 700€ will barely get you sli 970's .

 

Why do you want to go 970 sli ? For 1080p it's more or less useless , and for 1440p or above you don't have the vram .

 

Also , where are you in europe ? francce , germany , spain , ... ? That can affect pricing a lot .

3,5 GB Vram are enough for all current game resolutions

[Blackwldow]

The games that i'm willing to play are : 

- GTA V (Needs quite a bit of VRAM)

- The Witcher 3

- Farcry 4

- Cities Skyline 

- Assassin's Creed Unity

- Shadow of mordor

 

Some of them needs more than 3.5Gb, but am okey playing with medium/High texture instead of Ultra ^^

[PineappleHolidays]

The games that i'm willing to play are : 

- GTA V (Needs quite a bit of VRAM)

- The Witcher 3

- Farcry 4

- Cities Skyline 

- Assassin's Creed Unity

- Shadow of mordor

 

Some of them needs more than 3.5Gb, but am okey playing with medium/High texture instead of Ultra ^^

I would think twice about 970 SLI , the 3,5gb vram is quite bad for above 1080p ( and you should be going 1440p if you're spending that much on gpu's )  http://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/2tuqd4/i_benchmarked_gtx_970s_in_sli_at_1440p_and_above/

 

if I where you , I would either get a 295x2 ( I don't think this is the best option ) or a GTX 980 ,

 

The saved money on the GPU and on the motherboard and psu upgrade can go to your next CPU + mobo + ram combo or your next gpu and psu.

[Whorax]

750W would suffice, but I would strongly advise you to not get SLI 970s.

[Imakuni]

For 970 SLI, a 650w PSU is the sweetspot. You don't need to go 750/850w.

[Blackwldow]

Can you tell me why i shouldn't get two GTX970 ? everybordy seems to be happy with their SLI setups.

 

750W would suffice, but I would strongly advise you to not get SLI 970s.

[Tacitus]

Can you tell me why i shouldn't get two GTX970 ? everybordy seems to be happy with their SLI setups.

 

It really depends on your resolution. If you're at 1440p then SLI 970s is fantastic, if you're playing at 1080p only get one 970 - that's what I had for about 4 months and it was fantastic, never let me down once. But if you're going up to 4k it's ill-advised, there's a bottleneck somewhere, it may be the memory "issue" or it may be the 256 bit bus. At that resolution you're better getting 2 290xs (which I now have and love) or to get 2 980s if you can justify the extra cost. This info is vital for any future move you make.

 

I'm not sure how easy it is to find z77 boards now, you might be forced to check on sites like ebay. 

 

This brings me to my next point - as a fellow student, money can be tight and while you're at 1080p I'd advise against getting 2 GPUs - get a 290x or a 290 or a 970 and it'll do perfectly well. When you upgrade your monitor grab another one, and if you're motherboard is crossfire capable then you might not need to replace that at all.

 

For SLI 970s, get a 650-700W PSU, and I use a 750W PSU for my 290x crossfire, so you know you'll certainly not need more than that!

[Imakuni]

It really depends on your resolution. If you're at 1440p then SLI 970s is fantastic, if you're playing at 1080p only get one 970 - that's what I had for about 4 months and it was fantastic, never let me down once. But if you're going up to 4k it's ill-advised, there's a bottleneck somewhere, it may be the memory "issue" or it may be the 256 bit bus. At that resolution you're better getting 2 290xs (which I now have and love) or to get 2 980s if you can justify the extra cost. This info is vital for any future move you make.

 

I'm not sure how easy it is to find z77 boards now, you might be forced to check on sites like ebay. 

 

This brings me to my next point - as a fellow student, money can be tight and while you're at 1080p I'd advise against getting 2 GPUs - get a 290x or a 290 or a 970 and it'll do perfectly well. When you upgrade your monitor grab another one, and if you're motherboard is crossfire capable then you might not need to replace that at all.

 

For SLI 970s, get a 650-700W PSU, and I use a 750W PSU for my 290x crossfire, so you know you'll certainly not need more than that!

Considering the fact that even 980 SLI is not enough for 4k, I think it's safe to assume that a weaker card isn't really recommended either.

[SWAGGA]

Considering the fact that even 980 SLI is not enough for 4k, I think it's safe to assume that a weaker card isn't really recommended either.

on medium without AA inb BF4 4k you can get good fps with 970 sli

[Whorax]

Can you tell me why i shouldn't get two GTX970 ? everybordy seems to be happy with their SLI setups.

I just wouldn't get SLI 970s especially if you have even the slightest chance of upgrading past a 1080p display. Games now on 1080p are already pushing the boundaries of 4GB VRAM and the 970 has 3.5 reliable GB of VRAM (yes, DX12 might make VRAM stackable but nobody has proof of that at the moment I believe and its smarter to go off of concrete information you have currently, not rumors and wishful thinking).

One 970 will run nearly all games fairly wonderfully on 1080p (and if you're dead set on getting the 970 only get one, if not I would honestly just suggest a 290X or better yet wait for the 300 series to come out from AMD), but adding two only increases the quality of the settings, while not increasing VRAM. In turn, your VRAM will limit how effective your SLI 970s will be. That's how I understand it based off of explanations of others.

In the end it's your choice. I had SLI 970s until the VRAM fiasco where I went to NewEgg and got a full refund for both of mine, and after a series of fortunate events I ended up with a free brand new 290X.

[Tacitus]

Considering the fact that even 980 SLI is not enough for 4k, I think it's safe to assume that a weaker card isn't really recommended either.

 

Of course it is, just turn down the AA and in most games you're good to go.

[Blackwldow]

What about the R9295x2?

I haven't checked any reviews yet, but locking to most benchmarks, the card seems to be quite capable (but power hungry).

I can get it for around 550€. Is it a wiser choice than two GTX970. Since it's a single graphic cards I don't need to change my motherboard.

[Elapo]

The games that i'm willing to play are : 

- GTA V (Needs quite a bit of VRAM)

- The Witcher 3

- Farcry 4

- Cities Skyline 

- Assassin's Creed Unity

- Shadow of mordor

 

Some of them needs more than 3.5Gb, but am okey playing with medium/High texture instead of Ultra ^^

 GTA V is more than fine on SLI 970, even with everything maxed out (I did turn off the advanced graphics stuff, but those are just plain BS, They still don't fill the VRAM though).

TW3 should probably be fine as well, given CDPR doesn't fuck up.

FC4 has SLI issues for me, forcing me to run in windowed/borderless in order to not have ridiculous flickering, and then proceeds to only use one GPU. it still runs fine on 1 970 though, but still...

CS runs fine, it's not that GPU bound anyway

 

Can't speak for the last 2, since I don't own either of them, but I guess  shadows won't run at max settings because it uses a ridiculous amount of VRAM.

[Blackwldow]

 GTA V is more than fine on SLI 970, even with everything maxed out (I did turn off the advanced graphics stuff, but those are just plain BS, They still don't fill the VRAM though).

TW3 should probably be fine as well, given CDPR doesn't fuck up.

FC4 has SLI issues for me, forcing me to run in windowed/borderless in order to not have ridiculous flickering, and then proceeds to only use one GPU. it still runs fine on 1 970 though, but still...

CS runs fine, it's not that GPU bound anyway

 

Can't speak for the last 2, since I don't own either of them, but I guess  shadows won't run at max settings because it uses a ridiculous amount of VRAM.

Thanks for the comment ^^

And thank you all for your help. 

Since Z77 MOBO aren't available in most shops, i think i might upgrade my CPU... I don't know Maybe go with an i5 4670k ? 

For a budget under 1000€, what would you advice me to get (GPU, CPU+MOBO and maybe PSU ?)

 

Thanks everyone !!

[Elapo]

Thanks for the comment ^^

And thank you all for your help. 

Since Z77 MOBO aren't available in most shops, i think i might upgrade my CPU... I don't know Maybe go with an i5 4670k ? 

For a budget under 1000€, what would you advice me to get (GPU, CPU+MOBO and maybe PSU ?)

 

Thanks everyone !!

 Your PSU should be fine. If you didn't already have one, I'd advised a slightly higher one (750-850), but a good quality 700W shouldn't be a problem.

 

As for CPU/Mobo, you won't be able to go for SLI 970 for under €1k I'm afraid, unless you find a cheap SLI mobo and go for a cheaper CPU, which would probably be a slight downgrade. Upgrading to a 4690K + Mobo + SLI 970 would set you back more than 1000:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€255.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€116.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (€366.74 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (€366.74 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Total: €1106.26

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-19 10:54 CEST+0200

 

And I'm not really sure spending ~400 on a minor CPU upgrade is worth it

 

You could look around for a second hand 1155 Mobo with SLI support and just migrate to that, or get a single 970 now, and then upgrade when you upgrade the rest.

 

Alternatively, you could go for a single 980, which would not be as cost effective as 970 SLI, but it gives you a nice bump in performance, albeit not as big.

 

Another option is to go for a crossfire setup (or an R9 295x2), but then you'd *probably* have to upgrade your PSU (correct me if I4m wrong, anyone), if you plan on OCing.

[Blackwldow]

 

 Your PSU should be fine. If you didn't already have one, I'd advised a slightly higher one (750-850), but a good quality 700W shouldn't be a problem.

 

As for CPU/Mobo, you won't be able to go for SLI 970 for under €1k I'm afraid, unless you find a cheap SLI mobo and go for a cheaper CPU, which would probably be a slight downgrade. Upgrading to a 4690K + Mobo + SLI 970 would set you back more than 1000:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€255.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (€116.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (€366.74 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (€366.74 @ Amazon Deutschland) 

Total: €1106.26

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-19 10:54 CEST+0200

 

And I'm not really sure spending ~400 on a minor CPU upgrade is worth it

 

You could look around for a second hand 1155 Mobo with SLI support and just migrate to that, or get a single 970 now, and then upgrade when you upgrade the rest.

 

Alternatively, you could go for a single 980, which would not be as cost effective as 970 SLI, but it gives you a nice bump in performance, albeit not as big.

 

Another option is to go for a crossfire setup (or an R9 295x2), but then you'd *probably* have to upgrade your PSU (correct me if I4m wrong, anyone), if you plan on OCing.

 

If i keep my CPU, i'll probably stay with my 4.2Ghz OC. However, upgrading to an R9 295X2 seems to be a good idea. A good PSU cost around 100-150€ and i can get the GPU for 660€ brand new from LDLC (french website). So in total, i won't spend as much as upgrading my whole rig.

However, i've never been an AMD users. So i don't know how good (or bad?) the drivers are, and the in-game optimization... 

 

Btw, is your motherboard capable 2 ways SLI + a soundcard (Essence STX?) ?.

Thanks a lot mate ^^

[Elapo]

If i keep my CPU, i'll probably stay with my 4.2Ghz OC. However, upgrading to an R9 295X2 seems to be a good idea. A good PSU cost around 100-150€ and i can get the GPU for 660€ brand new from LDLC (french website). So in total, i won't spend as much as upgrading my whole rig.

However, i've never been an AMD users. So i don't know how good (or bad?) the drivers are, and the in-game optimization... 

 

Btw, is your motherboard capable 2 ways SLI + a soundcard (Essence STX?) ?.

Thanks a lot mate ^^

Crap, I forgot about the soundcard!

 

Something like this should work, has a PCIe 1X slot above the GPU's: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z87extreme3

 

As for AMD's drivers, they used to suck, especially for linux, but they've improved a lot. I personally still find Catalyst control center a steaming pile of crap, but at least the drivers are stable and you won't have weird issues while gaming. Nvidia control panel is still better in terms of per-application settings, and Geforce experience is miles ahead of Raptr as wel IMO(as far as I can tell, I rarely use either), but those things don't really affect the drivers themselves.