which i5 to SLI 2x GTX 970?

EV_Creeper · Nov 12, 2014

Hello guys, I'm trying to make a Gaming PC but I'm not sure about the CPU
This is my list of what I've been thinking so far:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/h66mQ7

I'm pretty sure any i5 can handle a single GTX 970, but I'm not sure which ones can handle a SLI.
The biggest problem of all, is that I live in Mexico, and here there aren't many i5 CPUs available for buying. I'll give you a list of the available ones:

i5-4440
i5-4460
i5-4590
i5-4670
i5-4690

Here are also the K versions of the i5-4670 and i5-4690, but I don't want to overclock. What I'm looking forward to, is right now buying a single GTX 970 and leave everything prepared, so in a few years I could buy another card and just plug it in. Which i5 of these, is slightly above the minimum required for a GTX 970 SLI, with no bottlenecks? Also, I first considered the AMD FX 8350 (which is the most powerful available in Mexico) and I heard somewhere that it can't even handle one 970, so, I guess AMD is not an option.

iron8orn · Nov 12, 2014

A i5 will waist a 8350 in gaming. Just get a 1150 Haswell with the highest clock you can get.

rolli59 · Nov 12, 2014

If you are not overclocking really does not matter in gaming performance since the GPU's will drive most of that value wise I belief the 4590 has the best price/GHz today. http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54590

rowdymoody · Nov 12, 2014

Intel chips are really good. You shouldn't have to worry about any of them bottlenecking 2 970s.

I would be more concerned about the power supply you chose. That 650w will be fine for one 970 but you should really get at least an 850w if you want to run dual 970s later on.

EV_Creeper · Nov 12, 2014

rowdymoody :

Actually, I did my own math, and the SLI looks like it needs only 600 W with everything in full load. But you're saying that even the i5-4440 will not bottleneck dual 970s? That's really nice.

rolli59 · Nov 12, 2014

Recommendations for 2 x970 SLI is 750watt so with a 600watt load PSU will run at 80% which is good. Running it higher and it will burn out faster.

EV_Creeper · Nov 12, 2014

rolli59 :

Help me out trying to understand this.
According to my math,
145W each 970 in full load, I assume the SLI is 290W
84W CPU on full load -all Haswells have the same TDP-
Mobo: Up to 70W (not sure about this one)
HDD and RAMs: according to some youtube video, 1 HDD and 2 RAMs is approximately 45W

The result of this is 489W. I made this become 80% of the PSU, because of the 80+ certification. So the minimum should be 611.25W or more. For these reasons I picked the 650W. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

rolli59 · Nov 12, 2014

EV_Creeper :

You are pretty close on the calcs except Efficiency. The efficiency means that 500watt PSU will pull 600watts out of the wall at 80% efficiency! They are rated on DC output not AC input.
750 watt recommendations are because there are generic 750watt units that do not deliver on the market. The setup will run on a quality 650watt PSU no problem but will have problems on generic 650 ones.

rowdymoody · Nov 12, 2014

Well, why get a 650w and run it at 80% all the time when you can get a 750w cheaper and run it at a lower load? http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b10750vr

EV_Creeper · Nov 12, 2014

rowdymoody :

Because for the kind of games that I play, I'm sure very few of them will fully load both the SLI and the CPU, so the PSU will not always be at 80%. And here in Mexico, to have a certified 750W 80+, the difference is more that 40 dollars, and I prefer using that money to get a better CPU.

rowdymoody · Nov 12, 2014

EV_Creeper :

rowdymoody :

Because for the kind of games that I play, I'm sure very few of them will fully load both the SLI and the CPU, so the PSU will not always be at 80%. And here in Mexico, to have a certified 750W 80+, the difference is more that 40 dollars, and I prefer using that money to get a better CPU.

I see. How many monitors?

EV_Creeper · Nov 13, 2014

rowdymoody :

Only one, currently 1680x1050. But I was just thinking about what I will need in 5-6 years, that's it. Maybe in that time I'll get a better monitor, and use the old one just for battlescreen (BF4), check out broadcasting or stuff like that. I don't really see myself gaming in more than one monitor.

Ryanrenesis · Nov 13, 2014

I know you said you don't want to overclock. But for the best performance for price, getting an i5-4690K and overclocking it to 4.5-4.7Ghz will deliver some serious performance that will last several years over multiple generations.

Ever since Sandy Bridge, overclocking these i5/i7 CPUs are a breeze. It takes 1-2 days to learn and only 2-4 hours to find a stable clock for the first time. Just Google Haswell Overclocking guide or 4690K overclocking guide.

It is also really fun to play the silicon lottery and see how high of a binned CPU you got

Additionally, if you only game on 1 monitor and its resolution is only 1680x1050, there's no need to SLI. A single 970 will drive that baby way over 100 FPS in most games. Save that money for something else like an SSD/better CPU cooler.

That's the best advice I can give.

rolli59 · Nov 13, 2014

Or instead of SLI buy a good monitor for a single GTX970 to stretch its legs.

EV_Creeper · Nov 13, 2014

Come on, people. I don't want to SLI right now! I am just thinking that in some years, there will be games where a single 970 will not be able to handle 60+ fps. So it will be cheaper just buying another 970, and when that happens, I'll just buy another one and that's it. And if anyone wants to know, I decided for i5-4670.

seithan · Nov 13, 2014

Tbh, in a few years timetable, you should be also able to upgrade your psu. Also, its a bit of grant hypothesis to assume that a 970 sli will be able to drive the kind of gametech that will b available at the time. Plan for something along 6months to a year, not 5-6 years and you are golden.

rowdymoody · Nov 15, 2014

EV_Creeper :

A single powerful GPU solution is always better than 2 older cards in SLI, for a multitute of reasons.

In all actuality, by the time games roll around where a single gtx 970 won't be able to run them at 60fps on one monitor, they won't even be making 970's anymore as it will be obsolete technology by then, you will have to buy one used. I would recommend just running the 970 as long as you can until it absolutely can't keep up anymore, and then look to buy one brand new latest and greatest card. Rest assured, even with one 970, you should be good for AT LEAST 5 years only running a single monitor.

Ryanrenesis · Nov 15, 2014

Also, if you have the money, get the i7 over the i5. It has more future-proof as more games in the future cater to increasingly more threads. Is it worth the extra $100 imo? No. But if $100 is nothing to you, get the i7.

which i5 to SLI 2x GTX 970?

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