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SLI or save it?

EulersK
By EulersK
in Graphics Cards
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Posted

I'm sure this topic has been discussed before... in fact, I am certain that it has, as I have read quite a bit on the subject, which is why I'm turning to this forum. I am in a position where I am receiving what amounts to a free MSI GTX 980 Ti. I am currently running a EVGA GTX 980 on my system.

 

There is all the background needed, so here is the question - I recently bought an all-in-one water cooler for my EVGA 980, which means that I don't really want to get rid of it. So, here it is: should I really bother with SLI? That is, would I really want to go through the trouble of pairing my EVGA 980 with this MSI 980 Ti? I understand that this will increase the horsepower of my rig, but honestly, I've read mostly horror stories in regard to dealing with SLI configurations on builds. Not to mention, I can't say I'm really suffering in regards to my gaming. I only have a 60hz 1920x1080 monitor, so it's not like I'm trying to run 4K gaming. Would this be worth the extra power consumption, hassle, and cost needed to set up an SLI? Or should I just stick to a single card and call it a day?

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980 Ti and 980 cannot be put into SLI.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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Nah send it to me, he's in Canada, I'm in the US. Might as well avoid international shipping...

Ill cover shipping

BOOM

I will also make sure the cards gets to visit Egypt when I am visiting family 

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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Ill cover shipping

BOOM

I will also make sure the cards gets to visit Egypt when I am visiting family 

Please keep the posts on topic.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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Well you all took the wind out of my sails  :rolleyes:  I knew that it had to be the same chipset, and I just kind of assumed that the 980 and 980 Ti would be compatible. Oh well - thanks for the input, all! Sorry to waste time. 

 

EDIT:

Okay then, what about this - I sell the 980 Ti and buy a 980 AND earn some extra cash? Or, once again, move on from SLI? Honestly, the aesthetics alone are drawing me, but the performance boost (when it's working) seems to be a huge deal.

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Well you all took the wind out of my sails  :rolleyes:  I knew that it had to be the same chipset, and I just kind of assumed that the 980 and 980 Ti would be compatible. Oh well - thanks for the input, all! Sorry to waste time. 

 

EDIT:

Okay then, what about this - I sell the 980 Ti and buy a 980 AND earn some extra cash? Or, once again, move on from SLI? Honestly, the aesthetics alone are drawing me, but the performance boost (when it's working) seems to be a huge deal.

Depends. What are you going to be using SLI for? Gaming?
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Well you all took the wind out of my sails :rolleyes: I knew that it had to be the same chipset, and I just kind of assumed that the 980 and 980 Ti would be compatible. Oh well - thanks for the input, all! Sorry to waste time.

EDIT:

Okay then, what about this - I sell the 980 Ti and buy a 980 AND earn some extra cash? Or, once again, move on from SLI? Honestly, the aesthetics alone are drawing me, but the performance boost (when it's working) seems to be a huge deal.

Welcome to nvidia xD

They're of the diff chip anyways if i recall (titan x = 980ti with a lil more cuda cores)

I would sell 980 and use the 980ti

The BBQ: i7-4770 / 212x / Tri-X R9 290x 1075/1400 / MSI H87-G43 GAMING / EVGA G2 850W / Corsair Spec 03 / Samsung 840 EVO 250gb SSD / Toshiba 2TB HDD / 8gb Kingston DDR3 1600mhz

Peripherals: G710+ / G502 / Bose Companion 2 Series III / Audio Technica ATH-M40x / Sound Magic E50

Monitors: Dell U2414H 

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Yes, I'm looking for pure gaming. I don't really do anything else other than school on this computer.

 

I've looked at benchmarks and comparisons between the 980Ti and the 980, and honestly, it's not significant enough to constitute getting rid of my current 980. Not only have I invested in a water cooler for it, but I have also done a custom paint job on it. Tidbit of annoyance - the paint job is white, and the MSI 980 Ti is white out of the box. So yeah, frustration, but I'm fairly invested in this current 980. The only real option I see here is what my original question was, albeit the circumstances have changed: I could sell the 980 Ti and invest in another 980 plus make some extra money, or just sell it and pocket the funds entirely.

 

Running two 980's will outperform a 980 Ti on my setup (when they work, of course). At this resolution, several benchmarks are reporting a measly 30% improvement over the 980. If I were to run SLI on two 980's, on the low end of reporting benchmarks, I will see a 60% increase in performance. That's a huge difference. And even if the SLI doesn't work on particular games, I simply turn it off and run off a single GPU.

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I wouldn't bother with SLI. I personally would sell the 980 and go for the stronger single card solution. Even on water a 980 is not enough to beat a 980ti. I wouldn't bother going out and getting another 980 unless you can find a used one cheaply because new cards are just around the corner and the current values will depreciate.

CPU: Intel i7 4770k 4.3ghz MOBO: Asus Z87 Sabertooth RAM: 2x8GB RipJaws 1866mhz GPU: 2x GTX780ti SLI 1.2ghz SSD: 960GB 2x Intel 730 RAID0 CASE: Fractal Design Define S COOLING: Custom EK watercooling loop

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I'm sure this topic has been discussed before... in fact, I am certain that it has, as I have read quite a bit on the subject, which is why I'm turning to this forum. I am in a position where I am receiving what amounts to a free MSI GTX 980 Ti. I am currently running a EVGA GTX 980 on my system.

There is all the background needed, so here is the question - I recently bought an all-in-one water cooler for my EVGA 980, which means that I don't really want to get rid of it. So, here it is: should I really bother with SLI? That is, would I really want to go through the trouble of pairing my EVGA 980 with this MSI 980 Ti? I understand that this will increase the horsepower of my rig, but honestly, I've read mostly horror stories in regard to dealing with SLI configurations on builds. Not to mention, I can't say I'm really suffering in regards to my gaming. I only have a 60hz 1920x1080 monitor, so it's not like I'm trying to run 4K gaming. Would this be worth the extra power consumption, hassle, and cost needed to set up an SLI? Or should I just stick to a single card and call it a day?

Switch the 980 for the 980Ti boom done
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