SLI after a couple of years - anyone?

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sphinx99

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I want to know if anyone here has added a second card to their existing one, for SLI, a couple of years after the initial purchase, and what your experiences are.

Whenever a new card shows up, I think there always is a "I can always SLI later if I need more performance" mindset but I wonder whether, when that time comes, people find it easier to simply upgrade to the latest generation card (for performance, warranty, power savings benefits) rather than start searching for a used example of the card they already have.

I have a GTX580. I would like more performance. When I bought it, I rationalized that I would get another 580 when I got to this point, but now that I'm here, I look around and see that I can either by a used 580 of unknown wear-and-tear or, for not much more, simply switch to something like the GTX770 or its Radeon peer. So, I'm wondering whether anyone actually found an older "second card" a few years after the initial purchase and, did the equation work out for you? Would you do it again?
 
Fantastic thread OP. I bought my GPU with the same mindset, but I haven't gotten to the point of buying the second yet. Interested in the responses here as well.
 
I bought my second 5850 within a few months. I would say I'm glad I did as it has gotten to where I am now, and will until the 8xxx series from AMD. My friend has the 7970 ghz edition, and based on my two 5850's against his at 1680x1050 with Furkmark, my two cards were around 10k-ish points ahead. So, roughly two 5850's = 7970 ghz. His would win in higher resolution though.

I wouldn't buy another 5850 at this time, but it's coming upon 4 years, so obviously not. I say, sell it used and buy a new card.
 
Microcenter had a deal I could not resist I went from a Q9400/750i to a 3770k/Z77. I at that time had one 560ti and in month or so bought a second 560ti from these forums. At my monitor resolution of 1920x1200, sli 560ti's are all I need for now. So for me going sli years later has worked out well. with my CPU @4.5 ghz 16 gigs ram and 2x ssd drives, until a game comes out that can bog down my sli gpu's I'm good to go
 
I got 2 7870s for bitcoin while I game, am loving it as well :)

though OP did ask for SLI not CF :p
 
I've had 3 different multi-GPU setups now. Here are my thoughts. Depends how long you are going to wait. If you wait longer than 1 generation I think you will generally be much better served by buying the latest card. For example, SLI 580s would have been faster than a single 680. But a GTX 780 would be a much better setup than SLI 580s. So if you are buying and plan on grabbing a second card down the road a few months, it's not a bad idea. But I wouldn't buy it under the impression you'll pick up another card a year or two later - it's just not worth it by that time.
 
factor in also that you usually have to deal with some headaches for the gain(sometimes negative) in going SLI or CF, not always worth it, usually better to get a decently powerful mid-range card to run games at X setting/reso then it is to get mid-range weaker and SLI them. Exceptions of course if the reso you are running is massive, then it becomes a give and take. Sometimes worth it, not always
 
i did this with my 550ti's and loved it. it was great. Only recently did i sell the cards to pick up a 780, i plan on keeping this for many years and maybe SLI them down the road
 
I added another GTX580 2 years after I bought my first one. First time ever using SLI.

So far the experience has been outstanding. I bought it because games like Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, Far Cry 3 etc. were really struggling on a single GTX580 @ 1080p without lowering or turning off many gfx settings. I really need a constant 60fps for most games.

Now with 2 of them, can again basically max out all settings besides AA @ 1080p. Not Crysis 3, but it did play well on very high with FXAA and stupid motion blur off.

This was a few months ago though. Got tired of waiting and waiting for the 700 series. Titan was just lol retarded price. $200 or less for this boost is well worth it imo. Both my cards were used off this forum.
 
My experience has been if you can't afford to buy the second card within a few months, don't do it. A year or more is too long.
 
I had a friend that recently did it and he's got a TV setup like mine. Honestly, it didn't seem worth it. Since he was capped at 1080p, it felt like a lot of the horsepower was wasted and performance didn't increase all that much for the few games he needed it for.
I had been thinking about a similar setup, but after seeing it in action (at 1080p mind you), I'm not going to do it. For those with higher resolutions - then it probably becomes worthwhile.
Personally, I plan to simply craiglist my current card whenever the next big thing comes out and then use that money to make that new card a lot more affordable.
 
Point is, when do you upgrade? Is your current card pumping out 20fps in de latest games. Sli'ing it will get you 35 at best. While the new card will do 40fps on its own. In this situation you will buy the new one.

If the old ones still gives 40, sli will get you 70fps, if a new card does 50 on his own. sli is the route to go.

Pinning this down into a time frame. Depends on market, gpu tech available, and what YOU think is more important.
 
I would say that dual 580's is still a very viable solution for todays games, no its not a Titan, but its more power than say a 770.
 
257Tony said:
I would say that dual 580's is still a very viable solution for todays games, no its not a Titan, but its more power than say a 770.
Click to expand...
You might run into memory issues with only 1.5GB of VRAM though.
 
TBH I think the best use of sli is to save money in the present rather than in the future. for example you could A. buy a 780 for $650. or B. buy 2 660ti's for around $450 (takes a little shopping but definitely. doable). option B. gives you similar to better performance and is $200 cheaper. now if you have the extra cash and it's not an issue then by all means get the 780 and avoid any sli issues but for someone on a budget sli can be incredibly attractive.

All that being said in regards to the OP's original question I think that for every ten people that say they will sli down the road probably one of them actually does it and the rest of us end up just buying whatever the new hotness is in order to feed our tech addiction.
 
Rizen said:
You might run into memory issues with only 1.5GB of VRAM though.
Click to expand...

That's an over used scenario, imo. Plenty of guys are running 3 monitor setups with 2gb and 3gb cards with no issues, myself included.
 
Hey OP, I made this exact thread about 2-3 weeks ago and it got a lot of responses (same 580 situation)

here it is if you wana have a look: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1764413&highlight=

I think I regret getting a 780 a little bit, I think getting a 2nd 580 would've been better, its just too much money for only a few games (metro and crysis 3) a 580 is still pretty good by itself for 1080p if you don't need EVERYTHING maxxed out.

I was scared of micro-stuttering and getting a 2nd hand gpu that would fail (since the new 580s are crazy expensive)
 
sphinx99 said:
I want to know if anyone here has added a second card to their existing one, for SLI, a couple of years after the initial purchase, and what your experiences are.

Whenever a new card shows up, I think there always is a "I can always SLI later if I need more performance" mindset but I wonder whether, when that time comes, people find it easier to simply upgrade to the latest generation card (for performance, warranty, power savings benefits) rather than start searching for a used example of the card they already have.

I have a GTX580. I would like more performance. When I bought it, I rationalized that I would get another 580 when I got to this point, but now that I'm here, I look around and see that I can either by a used 580 of unknown wear-and-tear or, for not much more, simply switch to something like the GTX770 or its Radeon peer. So, I'm wondering whether anyone actually found an older "second card" a few years after the initial purchase and, did the equation work out for you? Would you do it again?
Click to expand...

While it's true it does add additional performance with another video card. You also have to factor in VRAM. I assume you know you won't get double the VRAM when you get your second video card right? ;)

I don't know what resolution you play it. So I assume single display monitor at 1920x1080 resolution. As you scale up in resolution or game texture modifications (skyrim) you will hit the VRAM limit. When you hit that limit it will be a slide show.

You might as well save for the GTX 770 for newer tech and more VRAM. Also check to see if the performance difference warrants the price premium over a GTX 580. But I personally will be looking at the GTX 770.
 
257Tony said:
That's an over used scenario, imo. Plenty of guys are running 3 monitor setups with 2gb and 3gb cards with no issues, myself included.
Click to expand...
1.5GB of memory is quite a different scenario than a 3GB card...

And yes 2GB is fine for most resolutions but there are many games now that will push that to the edge, and with upcoming titles I think most people would be better served with >2GB of memory on a new purchase. 2GB is the bare minimum I would consider.
 
I picked up my second 460 last year for almost nothing. I have been happy with the performance gaming on a single 1080 monitor.
 
Rizen said:
1.5GB of memory is quite a different scenario than a 3GB card...

And yes 2GB is fine for most resolutions but there are many games now that will push that to the edge, and with upcoming titles I think most people would be better served with >2GB of memory on a new purchase. 2GB is the bare minimum I would consider.
Click to expand...

A 3 gb card with 3 monitors is 1gb per monior, 50% less than a 580 has for a single monitor..... Its a non issue for 99% of gaming.
 
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