Need help with a video card

[volodko]

Hello, I know that i have a gtx 460. So i want to get another one to sli them. And from reading a few articles i found out that the brand doesnt matter but the speed and memory does. And since i got my 460 as an open box on newegg im not sure of what memory n speed it has. So is there any way that i can find out? thank you for your help.

 

[drums101]

yes you can find that out by downloading a program called GPUZ it is free....it will tell you the speeds of your card...but to SLI the speeds do not have to be the same...the faster of the two cards will just downclock to the slower of the two cards speeds....you should be more concerned with if you have a motherboard that supports sli...a case that will allow the second card to fit and a powersupply that can handle both cards.

 

[volodko]

i have a p8p67 deluxe, i believe that it can SLI cards. and does that mean that i can just get any 460?

 

[drums101]

pretty much any 460 provided it has the same amount of RAM (not sure if 460 comes with different amounts of RAM)...do you know the vendor of the 460 you have now?

 

[volodko]

its an asus 460

 

[drums101]

ok cool yea you should be fine with any other gtx 460

 

[echondo]

May we know what PSU you have and the wattage?

There should be a label on the side of the PSU somewhere, or at least a brand and a number with a "W" following it. Can you tell us that? And how old is the PSU?

 

[volodko]

The PSU is an antec truepower 650..... and does the amount of memory on gpu matter? Cause there r a 2gb, 1gb and a 768 mb versions

 

[echondo]

The PSU is an antec truepower 650..... and does the amount of memory on gpu matter? Cause there r a 2gb, 1gb and a 768 mb versions

The memory does matter, since your current ASUS card has 768MB, you're going to want to purchase another 768MB GTX 460, if you purchase a 2GB or 1GB version, then it's only going to be able to use 768MB of it because your other card only has a max of 768MB.

The clock and brands do not matter. What does matter is the memory and the GPU, you need another GTX 460 and that one has to have 768MB, if you get a 2GB version for example it will still work but over a GB won't be able to be used because your other one only has 768MB.


Now, that is a very good PSU, but I do not believe that 650w would be enough to power 2xGTX 460's...can anyone else clarify? I've been seeing some 460's going up to 300w of power consumption, with 2 it'll be around 600w of power and that only leaves 50w for everything else(CPU, hard drives, case fans, motherboard, etc.)

 

[drums101]

yea as I said in my first post it does matter what amount of memory it has...you need to have two cards with the same amount

 

[volodko]

Can I just hook up the 2nd 460 to a different psu? If not what do you suggest I do?

 

[drums101]

no you should be fine with a 650watt psu...two 460s in sli consume about the same as one gtx 480 and that can be run on a 650watt psu and antec is a good brand so I would feel confident powering the rig with that
to echondo two 460's consume somewhere around 400watts total....so that leaves around 250watts available for the rest of the system (300watts per card is def not right...that is the max any GPU can be 150watts from PCIE lanes +75 from each of the PCIE power cables = 300watts)

 

[volodko]

Do you think its a good idea to get another 460 or should I just get another card

 

[badtaylorx]

itll run just fine.....

 

[drums101]

get another 460 it will all work out well for you