SLI Disadvantage?

[Jupiter0026]

I am currently in the process of replacing essentially every component of my computer. Back in 2011, I made the awful decision of purchasing an Alienware (bloatware) Aurora R4. So far I've replaced the cramped case and weak power supply - two things which pose a very serious potential bottleneck for the future when I upgrade my graphic card(s). I am bidding on a new closed-loop water cooler and Sabertooth X79 board both on eBay.

 

Everything I have bought thus far is preparation for a graphic(s) card, which I intend to buy last. I am looking at the EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Superclocked w/ EVGA ACX Cooler. However, I can't decide on whether or not saving for two would be an investment or end up making things more difficult. My friend insists SLI is a bad idea, saying many of the game's on market today do not support it and will refuse to run unless I unplug one. This can't be true, can it? Worst case scenario the application would only utilize one, right? Or would it really cause problems and not only not give improvements? I have read on another forum that SLI can cause microstutter. I can't seem to find confidence in the credibility of these posts; I am hearing mixed messaged from both sides of the argument, in fact. I am asking advice from knowledgeable individuals, not noobies (like me). This is two months of work salary we're talking about, I need to be sure.

[wng_kingsley7]

I love that case...but was never willing to pay for it, some games aren't as well optimized for sli or crossfire x and don't even use the second graphics card at all.

Personally I would run something like a R9 290 or 780.

@Jupiter0026 I'm guessing your budget is maybe $500+?

[DavidTheWin]

He's over exaggerating the disadvantages. There are some games that don't support SLI, but all that will happen is that your second GPU isn't used at all, no need to unplug or anything, unless its an absolutely atrocious console port that probably won't run well anyway. Scaling with SLI these days is much better too. The microstutter stuff was really investigated last summer and (so far as I'm aware at least) mostly fixed. The issue was that the frames weren't coming at regular intervals, although NVidia had hardware frame pacing that made sure the frames came out regularly and they never really had major problems, it was mainly on AMD's side which they have since all but fixed. Best course is to buy a single one then upgrade later when they get cheaper, or not at all if you find that just one is enough.

[Guest Kloaked]

There's not many games that don't support SLI, or don't play well with it if it's enabled. Diablo 3's new patch was being wonky with mine, so I had to turn it off until they fixed it. Other than that, I haven't run into a game that has given me any SLI issues. Only thing I can think of is newer games will possibly have texture flickering for the first few weeks of release until it's fixed.

 

I really don't know any other disadvantage other than more heat in the case, but if you're getting a 780ti you can max out anything with no issues anyways.

[Guest Emrye]

It really depends on the game. Most current AAA games will support it, but old(er) games and some indie games may not support it. Most games will support it., though, so don't be too worried about it.

[jamese669]

well the only one i can think of is one card might not be used in some game apart from that cant think off any thing have had amazing experience with sli

[Izaya Orihara]

I really don't know any other disadvantage other than more heat in the case, but if you're getting a 780ti you can max out anything with no issues anyways.

I have dual Titan Blacks and I can't max ou all my games while getting 60 fps but then again I game in 4k. 

[Guest Kloaked]

I have dual Titan Blacks and I can't max ou all my games while getting 60 fps but then again I game in 4k. 

 

Have a cookie.

 

 

 

[Izaya Orihara]

Have a cookie.

 

Thanks? 

[Sharif]

If you haven't watched it,

you can check this out

[Gauzl]

I am currently in the process of replacing essentially every component of my computer. Back in 2011, I made the awful decision of purchasing an Alienware (bloatware) Aurora R4. So far I've replaced the cramped case and weak power supply - two things which pose a very serious potential bottleneck for the future when I upgrade my graphic card(s). I am bidding on a new closed-loop water cooler and Sabertooth X79 board both on eBay.

Everything I have bought thus far is preparation for a graphic(s) card, which I intend to buy last. I am looking at the EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Superclocked w/ EVGA ACX Cooler. However, I can't decide on whether or not saving for two would be an investment or end up making things more difficult. My friend insists SLI is a bad idea, saying many of the game's on market today do not support it and will refuse to run unless I unplug one. This can't be true, can it? Worst case scenario the application would only utilize one, right? Or would it really cause problems and not only not give improvements? I have read on another forum that SLI can cause microstutter. I can't seem to find confidence in the credibility of these posts; I am hearing mixed messaged from both sides of the argument, in fact. I am asking advice from knowledgeable individuals, not noobies (like me). This is two months of work salary we're talking about, I need to be sure.

Your friend is very wrong about SLI, obviously tried it once and had a bad experience now assumes that's just how it is, yet it's not, I have always had 2 nvidia GPU's at a time and the oy game I know that doesn't support SLI is Star Wars knights of the old republic, which was made before SLI existed.