Thinking about running SLI, need some advice

[Omnomious]

Been thinking about getting another GTX 760 card and running SLI, but before I do it, is it even worth it? How much performance gain will I get?

I currently have an AMD FX 8350, Geforce GTX 760, 8g ram, ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0, Corsair 600W ATX12V, and Hyper 212 EVO.

 

[clutchc]

The 970 series chipset only has x16, x4 SLI. Not a good choice for dual cards. The x4 lane slot will drag down performance of its card and the other card too. I had this problem in the past. Best to do SLI/CF at x8, x8 or better.

 

[Omnomious]

That doesn't make sense. Judging by the layout in the manual there's 2 16x slots, 2 1x slots and 2 PCI slots.

My current card is in the slot numbered 34.

 

[damric]

I would just keep what you have, and overclock your CPU/GPU/RAM to the max.

 

[clutchc]

That doesn't make sense. Judging by the layout in the manual there's 2 16x slots, 2 1x slots and 2 PCI slots.

Yes, they are both x16 slots. But one is 16 lanes and the other is only 4 lanes. Go to specifications/slots: http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/970%20Extreme3%20R2.0/?cat=Specifications
"2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (PCIE2 @ x16 mode; PCIE4 @ x4 mode)"

 

[Omnomious]

I totally read that wrong then, so with mine being in the 4 lane slot, that is downing my GPU performance then, isn't it? I should move it up to the PCIE2 slot.

 

[clutchc]

If your single card is in the 2nd slot, YES!

 

[Omnomious]

Well, I am feeling stupid. All this time I thought they were both 16 lanes and SLI ready..... I am glad I made this post. I learned a mistake when I wasn't even looking for it.

 

[clutchc]

Well, I am feeling stupid. All this time I thought they were both 16 lanes and SLI ready..... I am glad I made this post. I learned a mistake when I wasn't even looking for it.

I learned the same way.
Btw, they are SLI ready. You can run 2 cards just fine. But performance will suffer because of the x4 lane slot.

 

[Omnomious]

Thanks for the help. I can tell a big difference in moving slots. I'll just keep a single card for now until I can get a different MOBO too.

 

[clutchc]

Thanks for the help. I can tell a big difference in moving slots. I'll just keep a single card for now until I can get a different MOBO too.

That's why it pays to always read the MB manual *wink, wink*...
Page 21:
1. In single VGA card mode, it is recommended to install a PCI Express x16 graphics card on PCIE2 slot.
2. In CrossFireX TM mode, please install PCI Express x16 graphics cards on PCIE2 and PCIE4 slots. Therefore, PCIE2 slot will work at x16 bandwidth while PCIE4 slot will work at x4 bandwidth