A Few Questions about Going the SLI Route

[Ajido]

I upgraded my PC recently to a 6600K with an Asus Z170-P D3, reusing a Gigabyte GTX 970 I already owned, and reused my two year old Cooler Master 700W PSU. So I have a couple of questions.

 

1) Is this power supply likely to be sufficient for two GTX 970's? At the moment, I am not overclocking my CPU, but it's something I'd like to do in the future. From what I can tell on Google, people recommend anywhere from 700-850W, so I'm uncertain.

 

2) If it turns out the PSU isn't sufficient, is there any harm in running the system until problems arise, disconnect the second GPU and wait till I get a beefier PSU? Could I potentially cause permanent damage here by letting it run and seeing if it works or not?

 

3) When I go to buy a second GTX 970, can I buy any GTX 970, does it have to be Gigabyte? What other things are important to note when looking at compatibility?

 

4) Does my motherboard have enough PCI-E lanes so that SLI is worth it? On the NewEgg specs sheet it says:

 

1 x PCI Express 3.0/2.0 x16 slot (at x16 mode) 1 x PCI Express 3.0/2.0 x16 slot (max. at x4 mode, compatible with PCIe x1 and x4 devices)

 

[The Official Czex]

Not even 80+ Bronze... It'll work, but at what cost?

[Godlygamer23]

3.) It can be any brand as long as it's a 970.

4.) Your motherboard does not support SLI. NVIDIA requires x8 on PCIe slots regardless of generation.

 

As far as your power supply is concerned, I am getting the idea that the platform is overall not very good based on two Hardware Secret's reviews.

[Ajido]

4.) Your motherboard does not support SLI. NVIDIA requires x8 on PCIe slots regardless of generation.

 

Ah, that's too bad. Would single cards with dual GPUs not work either?

[Godlygamer23]

Ah, that's too bad. Would single cards with dual GPUs not work either?

That'll work fine. The lanes of the slot are getting split between the two GPUs effectively so that each gets x8.

[Arwanell]

Ah, that's too bad. Would single cards with dual GPUs not work either?

that would work

x4 isn't good even for crossfire, it bottlenecks GPU

when going for dual GPU, you should have at least x8

[Ajido]

Is there a card that comes to mind that would be a good upgrade from a GTX 970 from a price/performance standpoint? I know there's some beastly cards out there but I don't think I could spend over $400-500 or so at the moment. The 970 was adequate for me originally because I was gaming at 1080p60fps, but I got a new 144hz monitor and trying to keep at 1080p144fps is proving more difficult in some games. It is a gsync monitor though, so I don't necessarily have to stay at 144fps for smooth gameplay.

[Arwanell]

Is there a card that comes to mind that would be a good upgrade from a GTX 970 from a price/performance standpoint? I know there's some beastly cards out there but I don't think I could spend over $400-500 or so at the moment. The 970 was adequate for me originally because I was gaming at 1080p60fps, but I got a new 144hz monitor and trying to keep at 1080p144fps is proving more difficult in some games. It is a gsync monitor though, so I don't necessarily have to stay at 144fps for smooth gameplay.

the only worth upgrade from 970 would be 980ti or Fury X

or you could get Fury, it should reach 140fps

 

but if i were you, i would wait another year, 970 will be great until then, just not 140fps.

both nvidia and AMD will have new cards next year at this time