Cheap, Easy SLI

[H0R53]

What are some cheap cards that I can SLI that still have decent performance?

 

Couple of requirements for this build:

 

Cards $100 or less

Only cards with a single 6-pin

 

but that's it.

 

If I could tri-SLI GTX 550ti's I would.

[Akinfenwa]

Not really familiar with sli performance but why don't you try and find a 770/680/7970 for 100$?

[H0R53]

Just now, Akinfenwa said:

Not really familiar with sli performance but why don't you try and find a 770/680/7970 for 100$?

Because that's insane, nobody in their right mind sells a 770 for $100

 

I mean there's a 760 on Craigslist for $80 but the seller hasn't responded to my emails.

[Moress]

Running a single card that costs ~$200 would be leaps and bounds better than 2 $100 cards. Like, Rx 580 4gb (When they come back, soon hopefully) vs 2x old cards

[H0R53]

6 minutes ago, Moress said:

Running a single card that costs ~$200 would be leaps and bounds better than 2 $100 cards. Like, Rx 580 4gb (When they come back, soon hopefully) vs 2x old cards

yeah but bottleneck

 

It's an older system (Xeon X5460, nForce 680SLI)

[Belgarathian]

1 minute ago, H0R53 said:

yeah but bottleneck

 

It's an older system (Xeon X5460, nForce 680SLI)

So you want to spend more money to have lessor performance? 

 

Super sample to reduce your FPS then. 

[Moress]

Just now, H0R53 said:

yeah but bottleneck

 

It's an older system (Xeon X5460, nForce 680SLI)

1050 or 1050ti then. Old cards in sli will always be a waste unless you get a crazy deal. (Say 2 780s for $100, ect)

[Mira Yurizaki]

I sold my GTX 980 for something like $200 last year when I bought my GTX 1080, so I don't see it in the realm of impossibility of getting a GTX 770 for $100

 

However, I don't find SLI useful unless it's the current gen and you're going high end. If you want to double up on an old card, just get a new one. On top of improved performance, you also get all the new features

[H0R53]

3 minutes ago, Belgarathian said:

So you want to spend more money to have lessor performance? 

 

Super sample to reduce your FPS then. 

Delete that if you're not going to contribute to the conversation

 

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I sold my GTX 980 for something like $200 last year when I bought my GTX 1080, so I don't see it in the realm of impossibility of getting a GTX 770 for $100

 

However, I don't find SLI useful unless it's the current gen and you're going high end. If you want to double up on an old card, just get a new one. On top of improved performance, you also get all the new features

 

Yeah but two GPUs looks cooler than one, that's the whole reason why I have a 550ti just sitting in my rig. Looks really ugly with all this empty space

2 minutes ago, Moress said:

1050 or 1050ti then. Old cards in sli will always be a waste unless you get a crazy deal. (Say 2 780s for $100, ect)

I have a 1050ti FTW in my main rig and a spare-ish 550ti, two performs about as well as a GTX 460 when in SLI.

[iRileyx]

Waste of money imo. 

 

Try some old AMD cards and run crossfire? Can probably get them within the budget

 

[Zando_]

20 minutes ago, Moress said:

1050 or 1050ti then. Old cards in sli will always be a waste unless you get a crazy deal. (Say 2 780s for $100, ect)

Yeah, or you go way out of your price range and SLI 980 Tis. 

[Biggerboot]

I'll echo what others are saying - your better price:performance will be found with a single/better card.

 

BUT, if I was tasked with the challenge you present, I'd try looking for 4gb GTX 960's under $100.  The gtx 960 4gb was not sought after since it's performance didn't benefit from the extra vram that much, but it does with SLI.

 

Still, you're best case scenario is somewhere between 980-980 ti performance.  A 980 probably costs the same or slightly less.

 

Don't consider 3 or 4 way sli.  It's really bad.

 

EDIT: taking a quick look on ebay, the 960 4gb isn't as cheap as I'd hoped.

[Mira Yurizaki]

15 minutes ago, H0R53 said:

Yeah but two GPUs looks cooler than one, that's the whole reason why I have a 550ti just sitting in my rig. Looks really ugly with all this empty space

Then that's why you don't get cases and motherboards that are big :3

[Zando_]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Then that's why you don't get cases and motherboards that are big :3

Spend the $200 on an mATX/ITX mobo and case, then you won't have empty space burning your eyes out and hollowing your soul, as your life is sucked into its black abyss. 

[H0R53]

17 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Then that's why you don't get cases and motherboards that are big :3

This motherboard along with CPU and 8GB of RAM were free and I've had them for a long while

13 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Spend the $200 on an mATX/ITX mobo and case, then you won't have empty space burning your eyes out and hollowing your soul, as your life is sucked into its black abyss. 

Nope. There's no reason to do so for this build.

[Moress]

Im not really interested in helping growing the best looking potato on the block so Im out ✌

[H0R53]

Just now, Moress said:

Im not really interested in helping growing the best looking potato on the block so Im out ✌

Lol

[Belgarathian]

48 minutes ago, H0R53 said:

Delete that if you're not going to contribute to the conversation

 

 

Yeah but two GPUs looks cooler than one, that's the whole reason why I have a 550ti just sitting in my rig. Looks really ugly with all this empty space

I have a 1050ti FTW in my main rig and a spare-ish 550ti, two performs about as well as a GTX 460 when in SLI.

I'm sorry for wasting my time then giving you my honest opinion on the best way to spend your money. 

 

as someone who used to have SLI, I'd thoroughly recommend avoiding it for gaming. If you're worried about bottlenecks, then use super sampling on the card to render a higher resolution frame and then downsize it to your screen. The image will look better, and it will reduce your bottleneck. 

 

If you're worried about bottlenecks on a single card, SLI or Xfire isn't going to make it any better.

[Akinfenwa]

I saw a 780 for around 85 on r/hardwareswap. You can find good deals like that if you wait. A 770 for under 100 usd is easy to find fam just look a bit.