I need some GPU Help.

[Topi]

I have a prebuilt machine. Im not tech savvy and don’t know who to ask, I am running 2 Nvidia RTX 2080s in SLI (idk with an NV link bridge). I want to give one of them to my friend but im unsure if I can just unplug it and remove the bridge, or if I must do some software stuff beforehand or after to do so. I think I don’t need dual GPUs because when im playing games my second GPU, according to task manager, is barely getting any usage.

Im using an Alienware Area 51 that I bought quite a while ago. But the 2 GPUs im using are from MSI which I, with help of my co-worker, installed after the fact. I think I made a mistake by buying two at the time because now one of them is running at 85°C constantly and the other is not being used.

So can I just unplug the thing?

And

Will I get significant performance drops for COD warzone and other modern titles if I remove it?

 

Thanks for the help. Never used the forum before, im sorry if I did something wrong by posting it in this section.

[Radium_Angel]

You are fine, turn off PC, unplug NVlink and 2nd video card, give card to me friend and power your system back up, the nVidia software will handle the rest.

Depending on the games you play, your FPS may even go up, SLI isn't well supported anymore

[Skiiwee29]

<-- Moved to Graphics Cards -->

[Aaron_T]

Ideally, keep the one remaining card in your system in the PCIe slot closest to your CPU.