SLi Question

[ScarisRacer]

For those who are wondering, yes, I would be going for an SLi configuration for my new rig. But I am curious about one thing. I'll only be able to afford one GPU one month, and the other the next. In case you're also wondering, they'll be GTX 970s.

 

What I'd like to know is, will I be able to build the rig and run it with ONE GPU for about a month, and then add the SECOND one later? Or, do I have to have BOTH GPUs before I can even start building?

 

Cheers for the help in advance

[H4X3R]

You can add in the 2nd GPU (and 3rd) later on. Just make sure to route the power cables required so you don't have to do that once you get the 2nd GPU.

[Sharif]

No problem at all 

plus the 970 is a good choice 

[WoodenMarker]

No, you don't need both cards to build the system. For sli, you would just need to add the second card with an sli bridge and enable sli through the control panel.

[rustikles]

Nope! People run a single card and upgrade down the road all the time. Just put on the SLI bridge and enable it.

[Godlygamer23]

You can add in the 2nd GPU (and 3rd) later on.

Only on certain motherboards.

[cloclo8003]

You'll be fine, just make sure your motherboard has SLI support

[ScarisRacer]

Only on certain motherboards.

 

 

You'll be fine, just make sure your motherboard has SLI support

 

The mobo I've just got for the build is an Asus Z97 PRO, which supports up to 4-way sli

[xToFxREAPER]

You can easily add a second gpu later i didnt add my second 780 until about 6 months after the build when i got into triple monitor gaming.

[Godlygamer23]

The mobo I've just got for the build is an Asus Z97 PRO, which supports up to 4-way sli

It supports two way SLI.

[ScarisRacer]

It supports two way SLI.

http://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z97PRO/specifications/ - see multi-gpu support

[Godlygamer23]

http://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z97PRO/specifications/ - see multi-gpu support

Look at the slots. It's only for two way SLI. When they say Quad SLI, they're referring to two 590s and 690s. Not 4 physical cards.

 

Looking at the slots, first there are only three physical PCIe x16 slots. 4 way SLI is out of the question. Number two: The third slot is wired for x4, not x16 or x8. NVIDIA requires x8 to have support for SLI.

[ScarisRacer]

Look at the slots. It's only for two way SLI. When they say Quad SLI, they're referring to two 590s and 690s. Not 4 physical cards.

 

Looking at the slots, first there are only three physical PCIe x16 slots. 4 way SLI is out of the question. Number two: The third slot is wired for x4, not x16 or x8. NVIDIA requires x8 to have support for SLI.

Ah ok. Sorry, I am new to this after all. At least the mobo supports the two cards, that's good to know.

[ScarisRacer]

Thanks for the help and advice everyone. I really, really appreciate it