GTX 1080 STRIX SLI worth it for non-4k?

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XViper

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I'm playing on a Acer x34 Predator monitor and it's maxed out at 1440p res and 100hz. Is it worth it to get another gtx 1080? I only play Overwatch, Witcher 3 and Tomb Raider. I can't get 100fps with tomb raider with widescreen 1440p and I doubt even if I added another card, I don't think there is driver support to get 100fps with tomb raider.
 
TW3 does scale pretty well with second card. RoTR only recently got SLI support, so I'd wait for more performance report on that front before making that decision.
 
Ok I tried running them in SLI and it overheats the card on the top. I think it would work better if there was spacing between the cards.
 
1440p is great with GTX 1080 SLI. Go for it!

In my opinion, GTX 1080 SLI is not enough for 4K. Perhaps next generation...I need over 100FPS in everything.

BTW - you never want to "sandwich" non-blower cards.
 
XViper said:
Ok I tried running them in SLI and it overheats the card on the top. I think it would work better if there was spacing between the cards.
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You should be running them in this case: the Cooler Master Haf XB Evo. My wife and I built our gaming systems around them and we are very happy we did.

It's my favorite case ever. I love having my CPU cooler (Noctua NH-D15) and GPUs sitting vertically rather than hanging cantilevered off the MB. And when you need to work on something, the top and sides come off for easy access.

Note that CM has changed the hot-swap bay power connector from the 4-pin one that people were plugging in upside down to a SATA power connector, so there's no worries anymore about frying your hot-swap hard drives.
 
sk3tch said:
1440p is great with GTX 1080 SLI. Go for it!

In my opinion, GTX 1080 SLI is not enough for 4K. Perhaps next generation...I need over 100FPS in everything.

BTW - you never want to "sandwich" non-blower cards.
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To give a different perspective I went from SLI 980s to a single 1080 and it's been very good for me @ 4k + max settings. Mind you I don't need 100FPS in everything.
 
Stanley Pain said:
To give a different perspective I went from SLI 980s to a single 1080 and it's been very good for me @ 4k + max settings. Mind you I don't need 100FPS in everything.
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Very true.

Once 4K/144Hz+/IPS panels (or better?) are out I'm in.
 
I'm debating getting a second card too for the system in my sig. Money is not an issue. Spending it wisely is. (I've already failed, I know)
 
Azrak said:
I'm debating getting a second card too for the system in my sig. Money is not an issue. Spending it wisely is. (I've already failed, I know)
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If you feel like you need more gpu horse power... the more the merrier, but I would think a single 1080 would do the trick at 2k (well, WQXGA 2.5k?). I have a single pushing 4k and am pretty happy. :)

You're running that force-gen3 hack on that x79 right? It made a significant difference for me when running 970 SLI on x79. I would imagine a single current gen card would benefit from it also.
 
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LOL your guys gaming requirements are way to high. Plus I though gsync adjusts your frame rate to refresh rate on the fly even if its less that 100? So why the need of 100fps if the gsync technology makes it smooth to run regradless. I mean isn't that the first point of buying a gsync monitor so you don't have to worry about matching refresh rate of your monitor?
 
revenant said:
If you feel like you need more gpu horse power... the more the merrier, but I would think a single 1080 would do the trick at 2k (well, WQXGA 2.5k?). I have a single pushing 4k and am pretty happy. :)

You're running that force-gen3 hack on that x79 right? It made a significant difference for me when running 970 SLI on x79. I would imagine a single current gen card would benefit from it also.
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Actually I wasn't running the force gen3 stuff. I kind of forgot about it with my prior video card (GTX 690). This article: Geforce Gen3 Support On X79 Platform appears to indicate that gen3 was enabled on X79 for the GTX 690 by default after 2014 so I never bothered to try it. As I recall, GPU-Z reported PCIe 3.0 when the card was under load, else 1.1 at idle.

Since I am not SLIing (is that a word?) the 1080 yet I hadn't given the gen3 support any thought. Now you have me curious.

Sorry for thread derail, OP. I'll stop now.
 
Interesting that you posted this thread, I'm using a X34 Predator too and am currently awaiting to collect my second GTX 1080. At 2560x1440 I would say a single GTX 1080 would suffice but at 3440x1440 a second one is not an extravagance. Case in point? The Witcher 3 and Crysis 3 still can't go above 60 fps constantly fully maxed out. 3440x1440 is just a notch below 4K, although at 60% of 4K, it's a fair bit less demanding to run. I would say 3440x1440 is the sweet spot between 1040p (16:9) and 4K, with the added bonus of more screen estate. A single GTX 1080 could easily run older games (COD-Ghost, Battlefield 4 etc) at above 100 fps, but not so for newer games like RoTR and Doom, and I would think being able to play most new games at above 100 fps is a good indication that the card/s would last for quite a while longer. Well, when my card/s eventually run out of steam a year or two later, I can always switch back to a 1040p/1080p monitor lol.
 
Apparently you already got two.

There's mobos that space the cards a lot, like my Rampage.

Personally I think one 1080 does a really good job at 3440x1440 and that's one of the reasons I love this resolution. A 1080ti (when available) should be perfect.
 
Honestly, I'm thinking of actually upgrading my board as my board is actually dying. I don't know how it happened but my board's USB has started going out. Which mobos space out the cards? If it's spaced out more, I may attempt SLI again.

Sandwiching these cards is a bad idea. I tried it and the top card runs up to 92c....
 
Just get another and lower a few settings? I agree with the guy who said if you got the money to blow why the hell not. And yes why not get 4 while you're at it. lol
 
if money is no issue. Buy it and enjoy. You only live once! I know I would but i don't game much to justify 2 in sli. I don't even know why the fuck I bought one. I guess when someone sees my case and sees the graphic card lit up through the case window they ask me is it 1070 or 1080, I really like to say 1080. LOL. Makes my day! and When I wanna play a game or two, I don't have to think about if my computer will handle it or not.

I kinda felt bad. My nephew was drooling over my system. I think I broke his heart when I told him what was inside my computer. Should have seen his face poor guy. I am an asshole I know! He told me 2 weeks ago what he wishes was in his system and I built one better 2 weeks later. Sucker still got a 390x since last christmas. He doesn't like his amd fx setup. His new christmas list is i5 6600k, new motherboard, ddr4 memory, and a newer power supply. He is in love with his 390x though, it has been serving him well.
 
Stanley Pain said:
To give a different perspective I went from SLI 980s to a single 1080 and it's been very good for me @ 4k + max settings. Mind you I don't need 100FPS in everything.
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Same here. Except I've been using a 1070 with the factory overclock and haven't found something yet that wasn't playable at 4k. Sometimes I turn turn AA down a bit, but I max everything else.

So the myth about needing SLI 1080's to play games at 4k is nuts. I never drop below 60 FPS and I use 60 hz monitors.
 
jmilcher said:
So the myth about needing SLI 1080's to play games at 4k is nuts. I never drop below 60 FPS and I use 60 hz monitors.
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Depends on the game and settings. There are plenty of games that can't sustain 60 FPS at max settings at 4k with a single 1080. But most of them would still be very playable.
 
heatlesssun said:
Depends on the game and settings. There are plenty of games that can't sustain 60 FPS at max settings at 4k with a single 1080. But most of them would still be very playable.
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Bingo. Most likely we'll have to wait for the next Titan iteration/GTX 1080 Ti or Vega 10 for maxing out 4K@60Hz on the most demanding games (possibly requiring an decent OC on custom cards as well, so it's all aftermarket for me if they hit next year). 4K is just a massive amount for a single video card to push ATM, without even hitting 120/144Hz territory.
 
heatlesssun said:
Depends on the game and settings. There are plenty of games that can't sustain 60 FPS at max settings at 4k with a single 1080. But most of them would still be very playable.
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Bingo, I play The Division on my X34 Predator and there are times my FPS dips below 50s on my EVGA 1080 FE SLI.
 
RMXO said:
Bingo, I play The Division on my X34 Predator and there are times my FPS dips below 50s on my EVGA 1080 FE SLI.
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You have SLI with two 1080's and it still dips below 50s? That just might be driver optimization.
 
RMXO said:
Bingo, I play The Division on my X34 Predator and there are times my FPS dips below 50s on my EVGA 1080 FE SLI.
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I don't think Division supports SLI that's why you're not getting higher FPS. I have the ASUS34 and single 1080 oclocked to 2050/5000 with all max settings except HBAO and my system still dips around 50s in some areas. Gets really hot too 83c
 
Betauser, with regards to the high temps, I would do what I described in the STRIX review thread. Tighten the screws just a touch. We found that this fixes high temp issues. It did with my card.
 
Thanks XV, I'll try that this weekend hopefully that works.

Edit: Just checked my FE card, I dont think it's possible to tighten the screws. Has anyone done it on FE cards?
 
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