980 SLI or......

[ToeJullar]

Currently have a GTX 980 that's been serving me well for quite a while.  Saw GTX 980's on Ebay selling for ~$260 which is insane.  Wondering if it would be better to buy a second 980 (and a new PSU lol) or sell my current 980 and find a new card for ~$550

 

Thanks

[Thorimus]

For $550 you will at most get a 1070, which will be easily beaten by two 980s, so the second card will probably be a better deal. 

 

I love the look of two GPUs in one system, it just looks so much cooler than a single GPU

[SeanAngelo]

5 minutes ago, ToeJullar said:

Currently have a GTX 980 that's been serving me well for quite a while.  Saw GTX 980's on Ebay selling for ~$260 which is insane.  Wondering if it would be better to buy a second 980 (and a new PSU lol) or sell my current 980 and find a new card for ~$550

 

Thanks

i would go for a single powerful card. so... a gtx 1070/1080

[Thinkfreely]

1 minute ago, Thorimus said:

For $550 you will at most get a 1070, which will be easily beaten by two 980s, so the second card will probably be a better deal. 

 

I love the look of two GPUs in one system, it just looks so much cooler than a single GPU

You forget though that not all games support SLI or Crossfire. A 2nd card is rarely a better move then getting a single better GPU.

[Thorimus]

3 minutes ago, Thinkfreely said:

You forget though that not all games support SLI or Crossfire. A 2nd card is rarely a better move then getting a single better GPU.

If he @ToeJullar can afford a 1080, that would be better. But two 980s is what I would go for if 550 is all he has to spend.

Edited October 12, 2016 by Thorimus
Clarity

[RadiatingLight]

If you live in the USA, you may be able to get a 1080 for 550 USD from jet.com, and that would easily beat 980 SLI in terms of overall usefulness (because some games don't support SLI). use the code SHOP10 for 50$ off some of the 600$ models of the 1080

[revl8er]

1 hour ago, Thinkfreely said:

You forget though that not all games support SLI or Crossfire. A 2nd card is rarely a better move then getting a single better GPU.

That was true in the past, however most games tend to have SLI support now.  There are a few AAA releases though that have issues which usually get resolved within the week either by the company or by the users.  SLI 980s will have better performance than the 1070, however if he can find a decently priced 1080 then I say go for that as the performance is roughly the same or the 1080 might be slightly better.   

[EntryLevelScrub]

Generally this is the thing. If you can, then always, ALWAYS go for the single most high end graphics card you can, since the slight bit of extra performance does not cover the extra cost, heat and power that will be created by the SLI cards, however since you already have a great graphics card and you found another one for a ridiculous price, then it is worth considering, but keep in mind that the high end PSU needed to drive two card like 980s will cost more, so if you can, get a 1070 or 1080.