SLI GTX 550 Ti on Corsair TX 650W

[ChuckFerrera]

Hello all,

Thank you very much in advance for any help you can give. I really appreciate it.

So below is my system as is:

ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
Intel Core i5-3570K
GeForce GTX 550 Ti 2 GB
2 X Samsung 830 Series 128 GB SSD
2 X 4GB G.Skill Ripjaw X Series (8-8-8-24)
Corsair TX650W
COMBO Disc Drive
NZXT Source 220 Case

I am contemplating getting another 550 Ti 2 GB or possibly a 560 if a nice price appears during Black Friday. Do you think my TX650 would be able to handle the 550-550 SLI? and the 550-560 SLI?

 

[cuecuemore]

The TX650 is plenty for any of those setups.

 

[blazorthon]

You can't do SLI with Nvidia cards of different models unless they're the same card with a different name (this is not the case here). Also, low end SLI such as GTX 550 Ti SLI (it's 550 Ti, not 550) is more stutter ridden and power inefficient than buying a new single GPU card. I recommend selling that GTX 550 Ti and buying a Radeon 7870.

 

[ChuckFerrera]

You can't do SLI with Nvidia cards of different models unless they're the same card with a different name (this is not the case here). Also, low end SLI such as GTX 550 Ti SLI (it's 550 Ti, not 550) is more stutter ridden and power inefficient than buying a new single GPU card. I recommend selling that GTX 550 Ti and buying a Radeon 7870.

Hmmmph. That's tough to swallow. I just got the card, and for a solid price. The 550 Ti is definitely a budget card. I will have to think about that for a little while. Thank you for the quick and honest reply.

 

[cuecuemore]

Oops, I didn't see what was going on there. Of course blazorthon is right, you can't SLI different GPUS. But as far as power goes, even 2x 560 would run just fine on the TX650.

 

[blazorthon]

If you want a Nvidia card, then you could wait, the GTX 660 will be out soon and would be a good Nvidia alternative to the 7870. I'd still get the 7870, but that'd be a decent option too.

 

[oxford373]

550ti SLI should be a little bit slower than single 7850, so i think if 7870 don't fit in budget, 7850 for 200$ is great graphics card deal .
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004
7850 2GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102998

 

[blazorthon]

Those are 7850 1GB cards. Don't buy those, 1GB of VRAM is not enough for many games today even at 1080p. Also, some 7870s can be as cheap as the cheapest 7850 2GB cards since the price cuts, so the 7850s are only a better buy when cheap 7870s aren't available.

 

[ChuckFerrera]

Well, my plan was to wait for the 660 Ti to come out and then snag a 550 Ti or 560 Ti cheap. I saw the EVGA 550 Ti 2GB above for $120 so I took it. After thinking about what has been posted on here (thanks everyone!) I have come to the conclusion that the 550 Ti will meet my needs for now. I will play this year out (no pun intended) and see where I am next year.

Thank you all very much for your help!

 

[ChuckFerrera]

Best answer selected by ChuckFerrera.

 

[blazorthon]

Glad to help.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey