Can the MSI Z77A-G45 run 2 GTX690 in SLi?

[zacharias]

Hi all,

I wanted to buy one of the cheapest motherboards with PCI-E 3.0 for the monster GTX690 that I wanted to pair it with. I'm hoping to buy another GTX690 in a few months to add to it in SLi.
However I've read a few reviews saying that the card is rather large, so they weren't sure if standard motherboards would fit...

This is the MSI Z77A-G45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130645

What do you think? Will 2 GTX690's in SLi fit on this motherboard?

Also, is there a benefit in paying about 50% more for the MSI Z77A-GD65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130643

Thanks.

 

[arzbhatia]

It sure can. Make sure you have a nice PSU and cooling system.

 

[help me_83]

yes the GTX 690 will fit on the motherboard but I'm not too sure if it'll fit in your case give me a link to your case and I'll check it out for you. Also as for benefits for getting the MSI Z77A-GD65 you'll get an extra PCI express 3.0 instead of a 2.0 from the MSI Z77A-G45 (maybe do a 3-way sli), 2 extra sata 6/Gbs and if you want more info try here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001312%2040000280%204017&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=280%7C13-130-645%5E13-130-645-TS%2C13-130-643%5E13-130-643-TS

as for a PSU you'll need at least a 650 watt for 1 card as each card takes 300 watts and 2 8 pin PCI express power connectors are also required for each card try this link if you need more info

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-690/specifications

if you need to know what's available on newegg here is a link for that

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600328254&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=48%7C14-121-636%5E14-121-636-TS%2C14-130-781%5E14-130-781-TS%2C14-130-790%5E14-130-790-TS%2C14-130-803%5E14-130-803-TS

if you give me more info on your build I can give you a full watt rating for your PSU

 

[zacharias]

Hi,

I'm living out here in Hong Kong where I can pick up most of the parts for a pretty decent price at local computer malls.

Just bought a BenQ GW2750 VA 27inch Monitor, so I gave into my temptation to get a proper gaming PC. I want this to be my gaming rig for at least 3 years to come and I hope to do that by getting a 2nd GTX690 in the next 3 months.
I want to know if the MSI Z77A-G45 has enough space to run 2x GTX690 in SLi. I've been looking at a few reviews that have mentioned that the GTX690 is quite large, and may not fit in many older motherboards.

I'm aware I'm offering prices available in Hong Kong and offering a rough US Dollar equivalent, so I'm looking for suggestions into similarly priced parts to swap in if there is a significant benefit.

I'm buying the 'barebones' off a friend for $2500 HKD ($322.40 USD).

CPU Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074

RAM ADATA Premier Series 4GB (+4GB included in the motherboard deal)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211548

Case Coolermaster Silencio 550
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119251

HDD Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136767

& generic DVD Burner

The following is what I found in the computer malls to make my gaming PC. btw I can just about afford this...

Motherboard MSI Z77A-G45 $1220 HKD ($157.32 USD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130645

Graphics Card Inno3D GEFORCE GTX 690 4GB DDR5 $8080 HKD ($1042 USD)
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/24473/inno3d_geforce_gtx_690_and_i_chill_based_gpus_get_caught_on_camera/index.html

Solid State Drive (for OS and Games) OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3 120GB $699 HKD ($90.14 USD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

PSU SILVERSTONE ST1000-P 1000W ATX 12V $1580 HKD ($203.75 USD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256057

Total: $14,079 HKD ($1815 USD)

My thoughts are to use the SSD for the OS and whatever games I'm playing at the time. I wanted to save on parts that could be saved on (apart from the PSU!) and spent big on what I thought would make the biggest differences in games (GFX card, SSD, RAM).

 

[zacharias]

Also, thanks for verifying that the GTX690 will fit in the motherboard.

However i'd like to know if the MSI Z77A-GD65 or the MSI Z77A-G45 will fit TWO (2x) GTX690's in SLi or Quad SLi....

Cause ultimately I intend to run a SLi GTX690 setup with 16gigs of ram and an i7.

If not how about a cheap motherboard suggestion for SLi GTX690's!

 

[help me_83]

I don't know much about sli but the max you'll be able to do is 3 way sli if its supported but if it is supported here are some psu's that will power it
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007657%20600014027%20600014118&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=58%7C17-194-106%5E17-194-106-TS%2C17-171-069%5E17-171-069-TS%2C17-438-004%5E17-438-004-TS

If you are doing 2 way sli here are psu's that will power it

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007657%20600014026&IsNodeId=1&name=1001W%20-%201100W

if you will have 1 card the psu you have picked out will be fine and here is the link to calculate the psu wattage with your parts

http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html?name=Power-Supply-Wattage-Calculator

good luck!

 

[help me_83]

***IMPORTANT***I'm pretty sure you'll only be able to do 3 way sli on the MSI Z77A-GD65 and if I'm wrong then it'll be better performance as the MSI Z77A-G45 only has 2 pci exp. 3.0 and 1 pci exp. 2.0 and the MSI Z77A-GD65 has 3 pci exp. 3.0 slots and 3-way is max cause there is only 3 pci exp. slots on each board***IMPORTANT***

 

[zacharias]

***IMPORTANT***I'm pretty sure you'll only be able to do 3 way sli on the MSI Z77A-GD65 and if I'm wrong then it'll be better performance as the MSI Z77A-G45 only has 2 pci exp. 3.0 and 1 pci exp. 2.0 and the MSI Z77A-GD65 has 3 pci exp. 3.0 slots and 3-way is max cause there is only 3 pci exp. slots on each board***IMPORTANT***

Hey,

So I went for the ASUS P877-V PRO to power it instead. I heard it's got 2 full powered x16 PCI-E 3.0 slots.

Looks awesome. I'm collecting it tomorrow. Got a 250GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD thrown in free of charge.

So excited!