Dual GTX 660 setup

[k3at0n]

Hey guys so i have decided to add a second gtx 660 to my rig. So i will have 2 gtx 660's. As of right now i only have one monitor but in the next few months i plan to get the new benq one that just came out recently. If i am running the two gtx 660's and i want 2 monitors what is the best way to set this up? Do i put them in sli and have one connected to one monitor and the other connected to the other monitor. I am a little shaky on the sli concept. If someone can inform me how im going to have 2 gtx 660s and 2 monitors( one for games one for twitch,youtube, browsing, etc.)? Here are my specs just in case. 

 

CPU: intel i5 3570k

GPU: evga gtx 660 ftw sig 2

psu: corsair enthusiast 650w psu

mobo: msi z77-g45 

HDD: 1 tb 

SSD: samsung 840 pro series 120gb

OS: windows 8

Current monitor: dell 1080p LED monitor( this will be my content monitor and the benq will be for games.)

[Cacao]

Run them in SLI and connect both to the primary (top) GPU. It's quite a simple process, don't worry about it.

[Osmium]

Hold off on that monitor. G-sync is right around the corner anyway. As for actually setting up SLI you simply plop the second card in and connect the bridge. Then go into the software and run them in SLI and there you go.

[k3at0n]

Run them in SLI and connect both to the primary (top) GPU. It's quite a simple process, don't worry about it.

 

Hold off on that monitor. G-sync is right around the corner anyway. As for actually setting up SLI you simply plop the second card in and connect the bridge. Then go into the software and run them in SLI and there you go.

okay so i connect them with the sli band and use the hdmi output on the top card and it will use the power from both? and i understand how cool g sync will be but i feel as if the monitors will be very expensive then.  

[sperkowsky]

It bugs me when people take lower line gpus and put them in sli instead of sellign 1 and buying one better single gpu which pretty much price to performance always does better

[Cacao]

okay so i connect them with the sli band and use the hdmi output on the top card and it will use the power from both? 

Yes, as long as you enable SLI from the Nvidia control panel, both cards will run together. You then connect all future monitors to your top card, as you would if you only had 1 GPU. It would be different if you were to run the displays in surround, but that doesn't apply here.

[nickbu1]

okay so i connect them with the sli band and use the hdmi output on the top card and it will use the power from both? and i understand how cool g sync will be but i feel as if the monitors will be very expensive then.  

 

Yea just connect SLI bridge and both monitors to any of the outputs (may as well stick to one card if you can) and then set up SLI in NVIDIA Control Panel, it will then power both.

[k3at0n]

It bugs me when people take lower line gpus and put them in sli instead of sellign 1 and buying one better single gpu which pretty much price to performance always does better

i actually posted a question about this on the forums a month ago and everyone told me that having 2 gtx 660's would be better than upgrading to a single gpu. also if i already have one buying a second one for only around $230 is much cheaper than doing away with my old one and spending say $400 on an entirely new card. Not to mention your comment does not help me in any way, and i posted this looking for help.

[k3at0n]

Yea just connect SLI bridge and both monitors to any of the outputs (may as well stick to one card if you can) and then set up SLI in NVIDIA Control Panel, it will then power both.

 

Yes, as long as you enable SLI from the Nvidia control panel, both cards will run together. You then connect all future monitors to your top card, as you would if you only had 1 GPU. It would be different if you were to run the displays in surround, but that doesn't apply here.

also are there any software problems at the moment that might present problems with running sli for current games like fps issues or screen tearing or anything?

[lachyman]

I woudn't get a second 660 but that's entirely up to you

[nickbu1]

also are there any software problems at the moment that might present problems with running sli for current games like fps issues or screen tearing or anything?

 

Recently bought another 560ti and now run SLI, I haven't noticed any problems when gaming, all seems smooth.

[k3at0n]

I woudn't get a second 660 but that's entirely up to you

why so? about a month ago I made a post asking if I should get something like a 770 or a 680 instead but most people seemed to say a second 660 would beat both of them also it would be so much cheaper as well. 

[lachyman]

why so? about a month ago I made a post asking if I should get something like a 770 or a 680 instead but most people seemed to say a second 660 would beat both of them also it would be so much cheaper as well. 

Ahem, the card has 192-bit bus and 2GB of VRAM, they were right about raw GPU power, but low bandwith and soon lack of VRAM would just bottleneck it. I have a 660 as well and I am looking to upgrade, but I surely won't buy another one because it looks like a dead end to me. If you sold it and didn't buy another one, you would have money for a 280X/770 which are much more reasonable GPU's. 

[KamiKatze]

It bugs me when people take lower line gpus and put them in sli instead of sellign 1 and buying one better single gpu which pretty much price to performance always does better

 

My words.

 

@k3at0n

 

I have a GTX 770 and won't buy a 2nd one for sure.

For one I'd have to upgrade my PSU with it (550W) and it also is much more expensive. With SLI you are basically hoarding old hardware that looses value every second. With one newer GPU you have more loss of value but you have only one card that loses it's value. Plus you can sell it in time and still get a good portion of money that you can spend on a newer GPU.

 

Edit: as ^lachyman said, GTX 660 are selling on ebay for around 130-160€ (i am doing the math in € if you don't mind). A new GTX 660 costs 170€ So adding that together we have 300-330€ for a brand new GPU. Enough for a GTX 770 on a deal or a R9 280X + cookies.

 

Edit 2: i looked up some benchmarks and a GTX 660 SLI will probably come out slightly ahead of a GTX 770 or GTX 680. But in return it has stability issues, bad scaling and higher power consumption.

 

Now, enough of ripping on your 660s in SLI. Keep them, they will perform great if maintained correctly. When you decide to move on you can use them either for folding@home or other small builds.

[k3at0n]

Ahem, the card has 192-bit bus and 2GB of VRAM, they were right about raw GPU power, but low bandwith and soon lack of VRAM would just bottleneck it. I have a 660 as well and I am looking to upgrade, but I surely won't buy another one because it looks like a dead end to me. If you sold it and didn't buy another one, you would have money for a 280X/770 which are much more reasonable GPU's. 

selling a used gpu seems like a lot of pain and i would not get a significant amount for it and another gtx 660 is only $230 so it would be better price to performance. and with the second card i would have 4gb of vram.  

[k3at0n]

My words.

 

@k3at0n

 

I have a GTX 770 and won't buy a 2nd one for sure.

For one I'd have to upgrade my PSU with it (550W) and it also is much more expensive. With SLI you are basically hoarding old hardware that looses value every second. With one newer GPU you have more loss of value but you have only one card that loses it's value. Plus you can sell it in time and still get a good portion of money that you can spend on a newer GPU.

but getting a second 660 would save me $200+ and with 2 gtx 660's i wont run into problems for awhile, bf4 for example i could run ultra 1080p with 60fps+

[lachyman]

selling a used gpu seems like a lot of pain and i would not get a significant amount for it and another gtx 660 is only $230 so it would be better price to performance. and with the second card i would have 4gb of vram.  

No. You will have only 2GB, it doesn't stack up. And you can easily sell it for $120 so you can afford a 770.

[KamiKatze]

but getting a second 660 would save me $200+ and with 2 gtx 660's i wont run into problems for awhile, bf4 for example i could run ultra 1080p with 60fps+

 

 

We will see about BF4. Depends on how much VRAM the 660s have. I don't remember if all of them have 2 GB. if they do, then you might get reasonable performance. as said above, software and stability maintainance is important for a great SLI.

[k3at0n]

No. You will have only 2GB, it doesn't stack up. And you can easily sell it for $120 so you can afford a 770.

okay so last month the people all said go for the dual gtx 660 and now people are telling me to go for a single card so idk which one to do now, also if i were to go for a 770 how would i go upon selling my 660 i have no friends that would want it so idk how i would sell it anyway. 

[k3at0n]

We will see about BF4. Depends on how much VRAM the 660s have. I don't remember if all of them have 2 GB. if they do, then you might get reasonable performance. as said above, software and stability maintainance is important for a great SLI.

the 660's that i would have are 2gb vram

[KamiKatze]

No. You will have only 2GB, it doesn't stack up. And you can easily sell it for $120 so you can afford a 770.

 

It's hard to say. If he really spent $230 on a 660 it was a bad deal and he could've gotten a 770 (assuming those are not new zealand dollars). Anyways a 280X would allways fit in his budget.

[k3at0n]

It's hard to say. If he really spent $230 on a 660 it was a bad deal and he could've gotten a 770 (assuming those are not new zealand dollars). Anyways a 280X would allways fit in his budget.

on my first 660 i spent about $230 usd. and the 4gb 770 i would get is about $380 so overall the 770 might be a better deal but since i bought a 660 8 months ago im not really considering that part of the cost. Im looking at spending $230 or $380 which is why im leaning towards the 660 just because it is cheaper. 

[KamiKatze]

okay so last month the people all said go for the dual gtx 660 and now people are telling me to go for a single card so idk which one to do now, also if i were to go for a 770 how would i go upon selling my 660 i have no friends that would want it so idk how i would sell it anyway. 

 

 

Since when do you have the 2nd gtx 660? Maybe you can give it back within the first 14 days after buying.

 

If that's not an option, I'd just keep them. it's not a bad thing to have two, it's just more difficult to maintain and with lower end cards it doesn't pay out as much as getting a high end single GPU or even high end cards in SLI.

On the plus side it also looks better. Anyways, you don't have to find reasons to justify your purchase, it's not bad at all. The fact that people on this forum suggested it is weird though. SLI-ing mid range cards isn't that typical. Even more since the GTX 660 is still a great card and has much value for sale, not only because the 700 series are just rebrands.

 

Anyways, just roll with it, it'll perform good.

[k3at0n]

Since when do you have the 2nd gtx 660? Maybe you can give it back within the first 14 days after buying.

 

If that's not an option, I'd just keep them. it's not a bad thing to have two, it's just more difficult to maintain and with lower end cards it doesn't pay out as much as getting a high end single GPU or even high end cards in SLI.

On the plus side it also looks better. Anyways, you don't have to find reasons to justify your purchase, it's not bad at all. The fact that people on this forum suggested it is weird though. SLI-ing mid range cards isn't that typical. Even more since the GTX 660 is still a great card and has much value for sale, not only because the 700 series are just rebrands.

 

Anyways, just roll with it, it'll perform good.

no i havent bought the second card yet. i only have one 660 as of right now. the point of this forum post was to ask how to setup the sli with 2 screens and it turned into a debate about single card vs sli. The 4gb 770 looks really nice but on youtube videos of benchmarks the 660 sli beats both that and  the 680 in performance on most games so i will probably get the second 660 anyway because its cheaper. 

[KamiKatze]

no i havent bought the second card yet. i only have one 660 as of right now. the point of this forum post was to ask how to setup the sli with 2 screens and it turned into a debate about single card vs sli. The 4gb 770 looks really nice but on youtube videos of benchmarks the 660 sli beats both that and  the 680 in performance on most games so i will probably get the second 660 anyway because its cheaper. 

 

Yeah true, this thread got a little out of hand.

 

If money is a problem you should seriously consider the red team. The AMD R9 280X has 3 GB of VRAM, so no worries there, larger bandwidth and performs like a GTX 770, give or take. A good model costs around 300 USD, sell your 660, lay ~150 on top, you have it.