GTX 780 SLi, is it worth it?

Hey fellas, I'm thinking of getting another GTX 780 and have a few quick questions...soo

1) My PSU, it should be enough to power two of these bad boys eh?

It's this one to be exact.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817116016

I don't have much else in my system, just a Samsung 830 128GB, DVD burner and a 140MM fan on my Noctua NH-D14.

2) My motherboard, it's PCI-E 3.0 slots are x16 & x8. Will this be an issue?

User reviews on this board mention it's not great for SLi/Crossfire, but I've tested both x16 & x8 and my GTX 780 performed the same...

3) How are the drivers with SLi? Any microstutter or poor scaling issues?

I currently play BF3 at 2560x1440 120Hz and the only game I plan on playing next is BF4. So would it be worth getting another GTX 780?

After reading the GTX 780 SLi review and seeing how close the HD 7990 performs and costing the price of a single 780 it seems a bit crazy...I may hold off until there's a price drop...or not :banana:

 

You better wait till they release the next nvidia series and then get an used 780 perhaps on Ebay.

Or after the release of BF4 you figure it out if it's worth or not.

 

I would wait and see how Radeon R9-285 will perform then think about upgrade.

If nothing, nvidia prices will go down as well.

 

psu will be ok. I would wait for the 9xxx AMD cards to come out, they should make everything nvidia top end cheaper.

 

It's not over 9000 anymore.

 

BF3 at 2560x1600 with a 120Hz monitor.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_780_SLI/5.html


BF3 scales with SLI very nicely. If this is the only game you're concerned about, it would seem that the drivers are well optimized. It's almost a 2:1 performance gain.

 

Some will always say wait... if you wait on the new Radeon series and the get out, then you can again wait for Maxwell to see how they perform against the Radeon cards...and so it's an endless circle. Get the power for what you need now.

The problems I've encountered with SLi since running it permanently since 2006 can be counted on one hand. I don't have any issues at all.

 

Never had significant SLI-Problems. Running SLI since the 8800 GTX. I would miss my second GTX 770, so much Power, so much eyecandy,
so much silkyness for Crysis 3 or Project Cars.
There are not many games out there atm. that need the power of a GTX 780 SLI, but there are one or two. If you want to play them with
highest settings, some AA and Full HD you will need the second card. If you don't play those games stay with single card.
I don't know the requirements for BF4, but if you would like to play it with all its bloom and it needs another GTX 780: Buy the second card!
Your system will run it and the gain in performance will be good enough for the money. Next generation-cards won't double todays cards
performance, so waiting for a new card which gives you the same performance as a GTX 780 SLI will take some time. I am not a friend of
two GPUs on one card, too loud and hot...so a HD 7990 is a nogo for me.
:micro: And keep an eye on temperatures! Small Cases are no good for SLI-setups!

 

Considering your resolution and the fact you have 120hz, and from personal experience, I'd say go for it, you know you want to lol. :hatty: I think Nvidia is still the way to go for multi-gpu, although more expensive.

My PSU works very well with this setup, the two 780's draw about as much if not less than the two 580's I previously had. Your PSU is gold rated but that's only a very small diff from my silver. Your not going to get anywhere near using the full 850 watt, you can even look at full system power consumption readings here on Guru3d.

On top of my specs to the side I have an SSD, standard HDD, blueray/dvd writer, lamptron fc8 fan controller and 8 fans connected.

* 8x or 16x pci-e is a non-issue, the performance difference is negotiable.

* Scaling wise, BF3 scales well at that res.

* Micro-stutter is not even noticeable since the 600 series and up from what I'm seeing.

* Drivers are ok at the moment, no big issues, but it is early after the 780 release so more improvements will undoubtedly come.

* Regarding cooling
You'l want to consider how far away from each other your GPU's are, as they're 50% hot air into case and 50% hot air out. More than 2 slots and its not an issue, 2 slots or less like me and you'l have to use some serious side air pushing with great exhaust. I'm using a HAF X with HAF 932 side panel and 4x 120mm fans on side, 2 fans on the top. Like in this thread;

http://www.overclock.net/t/990030/msi-gtx580-twin-frozr-ii-best-case-airflow/10

Alternatively (if your cards are super close together) you could just get a 2nd stock cooler 780, then place the ACX at the top and stock at the bottom. You'd be fine with any decent airflow then.
Edit: I just looked at your motherboard and looks like you have 1 slot space? Definitely the ACX and stock option.

Maybe you know all this but thought I'd try help.

 

Grab another 780 for that resolution. You won't be disappointed.

 

i got 2 of gtx 780s in sli and 2d Surround @ 5940 x 1080 and love them ...

 

Mine is actually bronze rated, is there a significant difference?

My Silverstone SST-TJ04B-E has horrible cooling and the side panel presses against the PCI-E cables on my GPU which would make my already sagging GPU sag worse.

I'm thinking of getting a Cooler Master HAF XB. The cards would be on their side without any sagging and the cases top panel protrudes so there would be room for my stiff PCI-E cables also there would be a fan blowing directly on the cards.

Would it still be necessary for the stock cooled GTX 780 then?

Here's my rig (before the 120MM Noctua fan died)

Spoiler

To free up top PCI-E 3.0 slot I'll need to flip the NH-D14 horizontal.

 

Sorry meant to say bronze, and negative not much difference, I think its 3/4 % more energy efficient in general. No other difference as long as its a quality brand your good.

With your current motherboard I wouldn't be getting anything other than a stock cooler 780 to go with the ACX. ACX on top and stock at bottom is the best config, have tried both.

Two ACX that close things are going to get real hot (A real problem at full load 98/99% GPU usage, possible GPU throttling if things get too hot). I had to completely change my cooling setup to what I mentioned even with a full tower case and 2 slots separating the cards.

Regarding your case, well your basically exchanging one shoe box for another so its not going to aid cooling very much. The only option in my opinion if you want to significantly improve cooling is to go full tower or maybe a better mid tower (with serious side airflow and top exhaust) and/or get a different motherboard with more spacing between PCI-e slots. Otherwise just look at improving air flow in your current case.

What kind of temps are you getting with your single 780 at the moment? If they are good then a 2nd stock 780 should be ok. If it was me, I would try the stock with ACX in your current case and see how things go under full load, then make the decision to get a new case or not.

Just by looking at that pic it looks like you have room. It looks like it would be close (which is fine) but would still fit?

 

I'm not sure if NZXT is a quality brand, but from what I read about my PSU though is it's a re-branded Seasonic.

What motherboard & case do you recommend?

ASUS P8Z77 WS & Rosewill THOR V2?

I don't have the time/skill to do any type of hardcore modding, it'd probably turn out looking like an abortion :wanker:

If I use my current case, at most I'd take a 250mm fan and hang it next to the side of my cards.

Or if I went with a stock cooled 780 I wouldn't have to bother right?...

60C used to be my max temp, but recently I've been seeing 69C. Could just be dust buildup, the driver (326.80) or something

The metal clip that holds the Noctua fan in place covers the PCI-E x16 slot. It's not an issue when the NH-D14 is horizontal.

 

Yep its decent, no worries there.

That motherboard is good, nicely laid out.

Ideally I'd go 2x ACX with that motherboard and a case with similar cooling setup as the case you mentioned. I'm not sure if that Rosewill has filters. You need one with full fan filters that are easily cleaned, don't make that mistake lol. I use a HAF X with HAF 932 side panel.

You will get optimal results using 4x 120mm fans at the side and strong top exhaust. I knocked off 10 degrees from those two changes. BUT this will add noise (solved with fan controller). You also could just use a single quieter large fan for the side no problems, just won't be quite as effective. I'd get a full tower (just much better for SLI or XFire). Unless you actually need something smaller and lighter, like if you move your PC a bit. Will be heavier and bigger of course, but if you don't mind spending there is is always full alloy for something super light. :nerd:

That's about right for the ACX, seems fine. But might be some dust build up. I guess you use Afterburner or Precision X for fan control?

Yeah that motherboard seems to screw things up nicely lol. No good for dual GPU by the looks of it. For SLI, I can't see any option other than to get something different.

 

Is it worth it?

Man I see this question so often and it makes NO sense to me.

Only you can decide if it's worth it.

What FPS do you want, what FPS are you getting, what details do you want to play at.

Ask yourself these questions and decide if you want more or are happy with your current details/fps.

 

I like to converse with people that own products that I'm hesitant on buying myself.

Hearing them out on whether they themselves feel it was worth it or if it's just a waste.

So far it's seems to be more of a hassle, I may have to buy a different type of video card, motherboard, case, high CFM fans, fan controller etc..

Do I think it's worth it? No, not now...maybe next month after BF4 is out, still it doesn't hurt asking a tad early.

It's nice to get as much input as possible before making a final decision.

 

True, would be a hassle and not that cheap. This is what I went through when I first got SLI. I didn't consider that I may get a second video card in the future, so had to change my mid tower to full. Which solved my 80c/80c full load temps.

 

That does seem like a lot of hassle, me myself, I just buy a second card, and plug it in.

However if you have a strange mobo, or very small case, then sure, there are things to consider, most people when they ask this question, it's a question purely about is the extra performance worth it.

 

i am getting other gtx 780 that's 3 of them that's worth it ......