550 TI in SLI, will it help?

[lucasrivers]

Hello,

I am upgrading my monitor to on Asus 27" Full HD LED 1920x1080 monitor. I'm currently running a MSI Geforce 550 TI cyclone OC graphics card, it runs games on max settings at 1400x1050 resolution but im not sure how it will handle the higher resolution.

My question is, Will adding a second card and running SLI improve my performance in full 1080p resolution? I want to play games like BF3, MW3 and the new elder scrolls on high to max settings. (I would prefer max settings).

My other question is, Would upgrading my graphics card to a Radeon 6970 give me a bigger performance boost?

I would prefer to spend as less as i can, so if adding a second card will give me what i want i would prefer to go that route.



Thanks for all the help.

 

[ilysaml]

SLI or crossfire would be perfect for higher resolution above 1080P or multiple monitors, get HD 6970 for the optimum performance over 1080P or GTX 570 it's on par with the HD 6970 and cheaper

 

[geofelt]

If your cpu and psu is sufficiently capable, SLI should help your frame rates.

That said, I suggest you wait to see how you actually do with your new monitor.
If you can, keep your old monitor connected; a second monitor is a most useful addition, and there should be little impact on gaming.
I use a second monitor to keep e-mail and some monitors open.

I am not much in favor of sli when a single good monitor will do the job. Some games do not do well with sli, and a single card will avoid microstuttering.

A 6970 should be a good improvement. Also look at a GTX570 which is in the same performance tier. Replacing with a Nvidia card will not require a driver removal/reinstallation procedure.

If you are looking 6 months out, you should see 28nm offerings from Nvidia and amd that should be a more attractive upgrade option.

 

[lucasrivers]

Ok thanks that makes a lot of since.

I'm running:

AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHZ
Asus Motherboard (lower-end)
750Watt powersupply

 

[lucasrivers]

Best answer selected by lucasrivers.