Upgrading 560 Ti 2Gb SLI from single card?

[Se7en114]

I currently own a PALIT 560 Ti 2Gb and am wanting to upgrade to SLI. So far with my setup the card stays relatively cool under load, no more than 60 F when gaming, occasionally reaches 70-75F. I was considering buying another identical PALIT card, but considering the history of these cards giving off so much heat especially in a SLI setup, I am considering buying EVGA's version of same model, because I have heard it keeps the GPU alot cooler compared to PALIT. the next PCIE-2 slot free would be between my PSU and the other PALIT card, so I am concerned with excess heat and limited airflow, so I am trying to decide if this would be worth it or not. As of now I have no problem maxing out any games with solid 50-60 frames at 1920 x 1080p resolution such as crysis 2- Dx11, farcry 2-dx10, Hunted Demons Forge, Age of Conan Dx10, RIFT, DA2, and FEAR 3.

I guess I have always wanted the extra raw performance from SLI and being able to comfortably max out any new dx10-11 games that come out. These games include Dead Island, RAGE, Deus Ex Evolution, BF3, and of course Skyrim. Any advice/input would be greatly appreciated

Specs:

2600K i7 3.4 Ghz
AsRock P67 Extreme4 MB
8 GB GSkill RipJaw DDR3 1600 Mhz
PALIT 560Ti 2GB VRAM (SLI to come)
CorsairTX 750W
Samsung 50" Plasma 1920 x 1080
1 TB Samsung HDD
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit

 

[phishy714]

I currently own a PALIT 560 Ti 2Gb and am wanting to upgrade to SLI. So far with my setup the card stays relatively cool under load, no more than 60 F when gaming, occasionally reaches 70-75F. I was considering buying another identical PALIT card, but considering the history of these cards giving off so much heat especially in a SLI setup, I am considering buying EVGA's version of same model, because I have heard it keeps the GPU alot cooler compared to PALIT. the next PCIE-2 slot free would be between my PSU and the other PALIT card, so I am concerned with excess heat and limited airflow, so I am trying to decide if this would be worth it or not. As of now I have no problem maxing out any games with solid 50-60 frames at 1920 x 1080p resolution such as crysis 2- Dx11, farcry 2-dx10, Hunted Demons Forge, Age of Conan Dx10, RIFT, DA2, and FEAR 3.

I guess I have always wanted the extra raw performance from SLI and being able to comfortably max out any new dx10-11 games that come out. These games include Dead Island, RAGE, Deus Ex Evolution, BF3, and of course Skyrim. Any advice/input would be greatly appreciated

Specs:

2600K i7 3.4 Ghz
AsRock P67 Extreme4 MB
8 GB GSkill RipJaw DDR3 1600 Mhz
PALIT 560Ti 2GB VRAM (SLI to come)
CorsairTX 750W
Samsung 50" Plasma 1920 x 1080
1 TB Samsung HDD
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit

My recommendation would be to sell that card and buy yourself a gtx580. It will destroy everything at 1080p for a long time to come. While two 560ti's might give you more performance, you are looking at having 120 fps instead of 130fps. Big whoop. Also, you won't have to worry about SLI and all the headaches it can bring. These include driver support (for new games that don't come with sli support, you will probably need to install a new driver each game, and you will have to wait a while for the drivers to come out), heat, space, and noise.

IMO, get a GTX 580 and call it a day.

 

[Se7en114]

Yea but I have read several reviews and benchmarks that claim two 560Ti's scale amazing and blow a single 580 outta the water

 

[Guest]

Do what you want, but I would go for a single card setup. There's microstutter on SLI which is why I have never gone that route, do some research on that first and then determine if you still want 2 cards. Also, 60fps is really what you should shoot for.

 

[Se7en114]

My recommendation would be to sell that card and buy yourself a gtx580. It will destroy everything at 1080p for a long time to come. While two 560ti's might give you more performance, you are looking at having 120 fps instead of 130fps. Big whoop. Also, you won't have to worry about SLI and all the headaches it can bring. These include driver support (for new games that don't come with sli support, you will probably need to install a new driver each game, and you will have to wait a while for the drivers to come out), heat, space, and noise.

IMO, get a GTX 580 and call it a day.

Also i just bought this card less than a month ago, so going through effort of selling it and buying a pricier 580 is not an option for me right now, sorry.

 

[Se7en114]

My recommendation would be to sell that card and buy yourself a gtx580. It will destroy everything at 1080p for a long time to come. While two 560ti's might give you more performance, you are looking at having 120 fps instead of 130fps. Big whoop. Also, you won't have to worry about SLI and all the headaches it can bring. These include driver support (for new games that don't come with sli support, you will probably need to install a new driver each game, and you will have to wait a while for the drivers to come out), heat, space, and noise.

IMO, get a GTX 580 and call it a day.

Also, SLI driver support is still weak for new games? I heard that used to be an issue, but it should be better improved by now right? Having to download a new driver for every new game coming out in fall would be a huge inconvenience imo

 

[Mousemonkey]

Microstutter and lack of SLi support are two things I have yet to see and I'm currently on my third SLi rig in seven years.

 

[phishy714]

Microstutter and lack of SLi support are two things I have yet to see and I'm currently on my third SLi rig in seven years.

Some people have it, some people don't. Doesn't mean that he will experience it, doesn't mean he won't. I have read about it alot, so I guess its up to you to decide if you want to give it a shot.

---------

As for selling it, its as simple as putting it up for sale and seeing if anyone bites in a couple weeks. Like you said, you can max everything out right now without any problems, so just continue to enjoy the card. If someone bites, sell it and order your card that same day, God forbid that you will be without games for a few days lol. If no one bites, then look into getting another card to SLI or just keep it up on the market.

Yeah, SLI will be better than a 580, of course. But its like bringing a gun(580) to a knife fight.. except you bring a canon. You don't need the SLI feature, but at the same time, I know the feeling of getting the best of the best in your system.

All i was simply saying was that if you are that worried about heat build up and compatibility and space, you might as well just sell the card and get 1 more powerful card. Less headaches and worries about your system running more stable. But that's just me.

 

[Se7en114]

Microstutter and lack of SLi support are two things I have yet to see and I'm currently on my third SLi rig in seven years.

That's comforting to hear for a future sli-enthusiast

 

[ubercake]

Do what you want, but I would go for a single card setup. There's microstutter on SLI which is why I have never gone that route, do some research on that first and then determine if you still want 2 cards. Also, 60fps is really what you should shoot for.

I've run both crossfire and SLI within the last few months. I've had no microstutter or issues with SLI. On the other hand, I had microstutter and tons of other issues with crossfire.

You must have personal experience with both technologies, too, lmulder?

An SLI setup with two 560s would be great and OP has the PSU to run two with no problem.

 

[Mousemonkey]

That's comforting to hear for a future sli-enthusiast

I look forward to welcoming you to the fold.

 

[Se7en114]

Some people have it, some people don't. Doesn't mean that he will experience it, doesn't mean he won't. I have read about it alot, so I guess its up to you to decide if you want to give it a shot.

---------

As for selling it, its as simple as putting it up for sale and seeing if anyone bites in a couple weeks. Like you said, you can max everything out right now without any problems, so just continue to enjoy the card. If someone bites, sell it and order your card that same day, God forbid that you will be without games for a few days lol. If no one bites, then look into getting another card to SLI or just keep it up on the market.

Yeah, SLI will be better than a 580, of course. But its like bringing a gun(580) to a knife fight.. except you bring a canon. You don't need the SLI feature, but at the same time, I know the feeling of getting the best of the best in your system.

All i was simply saying was that if you are that worried about heat build up and compatibility and space, you might as well just sell the card and get 1 more powerful card. Less headaches and worries about your system running more stable. But that's just me.

So what exactly is microstutter and what is the percentage chance people experience this with SLI? I am thinking I will go out on limb and take my chances. Only thing worrying me is heat build upland restricted inflow in my case. Like I said the second card would have to be in next pci-e 2 slot which would be almost touching other card and then my corsair 750tx psu would be like another slot down on the other side. There is a side case fan blowing directly over the gpu currently but I don't know if it will still be enough space. I can take a photo and upload it on here later today to show u guys what im working with if that helps?

 

[ubercake]

Also, SLI driver support is still weak for new games? I heard that used to be an issue, but it should be better improved by now right? Having to download a new driver for every new game coming out in fall would be a huge inconvenience imo

While SLI might not perform great with Angry Birds, every major release for the last 3-5 years has had SLI support.

Nvidia does a great job of working with software production houses to ensure the performance of their cards is not second-rate. This is why they don't need a monthly driver release consistently followed by daily "hotfixes".

As for SLI v Crossfire... when I was a crossfire customer AMD made it clear through their drivers that crossfire customers were in the minority and provided terrible driver support for their crossfire customers. If you've had experience with crossfire, I can see how you could generalize that any multi-card setup gives people headaches.

Having had experience with SLI AND crossfire, I can tell you crossfire bites and SLI works as advertised.

If Nvidia were to do something with their drivers to tick me off, I'd be the first on here to tell. This not the case, though.

SLI is great tech.

 

[Mousemonkey]

My GTX560Ti's are currently running at 77c and 73c respectively @ 99% load (F@H), meltdown point is about 99 - 100c.

 

[Se7en114]

My GTX560Ti's are currently running at 77c and 73c respectively @ 99% load (F@H), meltdown point is about 99 - 100c.

Ok cool but how close are they to each other and what is ur space to airflow ratio like?

 

[phishy714]

Microstutter is exactly what it sounds like. The screen will stutter and be very annoying. Percentage? Well I don't think it has to do with percentages. It seems more of different setups produce different results. Pretty impossible to predict, really, but it looks like your mind is set on SLI (a very nice option, don't get me wrong.)

What case do you have? A picture would be nice, though not necessary. I would go as far as getting a gtx560ti that has a good history and reviews of being very cool. This way, you can put it on the upper slot (the card that will get the excess heat and run much hotter than the other) so that it at least you have a good cooling solution for that.

 

[Se7en114]

Large tower coolermaster. So if I have a palit in upper slot could I get the evga version(which I think runs tad cooler) and put the evga in upper slot then put palit in slot below? Are different manufacturers ok if there both 560ti 2gb?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Ok cool but how close are they to each other and what is ur space to airflow ratio like?

I'm using an Asus P8P67 Pro board in an Xigmatek Midgard case, my cable management is not too shabby but I've never measured the distance between the cards.

 

[ubercake]

Large tower coolermaster. So if I have a palit in upper slot could I get the evga version(which I think runs tad cooler) and put the evga in upper slot then put palit in slot below? Are different manufacturers ok if there both 560ti 2gb?

Both have to be the same model (ie 560 ti) and have the same amount of RAM (ie 2GB) for SLI. They can be different brands and clock speeds.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Both have to be the same model (ie 560 ti) and have the same amount of RAM (ie 2GB) for SLI. They can be different brands and clock speeds.

You should be able to SLi a 1GB card with a 2GB card but if you do then you will effectively be running two 1GB cards as they both hold the same data at the same time, there are a couple of exceptions to that rule like the GTX460 768MB and the 1GB version which won't SLi and a couple of others but for the most part RAM amount does not have to be the same.

 

[ubercake]

You should be able to SLi a 1GB card with a 2GB card but if you do then you will effectively be running two 1GB cards as they both hold the same data at the same time, there are a couple of exceptions to that rule like the GTX460 768MB and the 1GB version which won't SLi and a couple of others but for the most part RAM amount does not have to be the same.

Sorry, but I have to call you out on this one (and I don't mind if you ever do it for me because it's how we learn):

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c16

Can I mix and match graphics cards with different sizes of memory?

No. For example, an XXXGT 512MB cannot be paired with a XXXGT 1GB in an SLI configuration.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Sorry, but I have to call you out on this one (and I don't mind if you ever do it for me because it's how we learn):

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c16

Can I mix and match graphics cards with different sizes of memory?

No. For example, an XXXGT 512MB cannot be paired with a XXXGT 1GB in an SLI configuration.

I know what slizone says but it has been tried by users who have found that you can do it but like I said it doesn't work with every model variation and Nvidia have to cover their asses in the same way they have to with PSU requirements.

 

[ubercake]

I know what slizone says but it has been tried by users who have found that you can do it but like I said it doesn't work with every model variation and Nvidia have to cover their asses in the same way they have to with PSU requirements.

Ah. Ok.

 

[phishy714]

I have to agree with ubercake on this one. I think you can mixmatch the ATI cards with different memory sizes, but I don't think you can do that with Nvidia.

With a coolermaster HAF case, you shouldn't have too much problem with airflow. Looking at your mobo, you should have plenty of room between the cards. As long as they are not barely touching you will be good to go. Since there will be one slot between the two cards, you won't notice too much of a difference in temps.

Since it is a 2gb card, I think you are stuck with getting another 2bg card, so that evga one will work.

 

[ubercake]

I have to agree with ubercake on this one. I think you can mixmatch the ATI cards with different memory sizes, but I don't think you can do that with Nvidia.

With a coolermaster HAF case, you shouldn't have too much problem with airflow. Looking at your mobo, you should have plenty of room between the cards. As long as they are not barely touching you will be good to go. Since there will be one slot between the two cards, you won't notice too much of a difference in temps.

Since it is a 2gb card, I think you are stuck with getting another 2bg card, so that evga one will work.

I wouldn't exactly call it "stuck", though. That will be a great setup.