Single GTX 1080Ti or 1080 SLI?

Axdrenalin

Axdrenalin

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - Nov. 2009
Joined
Jan 28, 2004
Messages
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You know it was bound to come up sooner or later... :)

I'm currently running 12280 x 2160 over three 4k Samsung 6300 displays, driving them with two GTX 1080s in SLI. I'm asking the [H]ard community if any of you have done performance comparisons between the 1080Ti vs. 2x 1080 in SLI, and would there be any major benefit to getting the 1080Ti other than the decrease in power draw.

I know there are various opinions concerning single cards vs. SLI as far as game performance, and overall I know a single card would be preferable, but I'm looking for performance statistics.

For reference, my primary game using this setup is Elite Dangerous: Horizons. #FTM (Hutton Trucker reference!)
 
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If you're talking "in general", then there's a lot of debate for SLI vs non-SLI. If you're talking ONE specific title that has great SLI support, then clearly going with SLI will be a better choice.

And if you're gaming at 12280x2160, then power draw shouldn't even enter your calculations.
 
Ive I was in your shoes, I'd go ahead and get a second card for SLI. Overclock them. By itself a 1080 ti is 10-30 fps faster (minimal) than a 1080, but SLI 1080s are faster in games that support SLI.

But having sli would be good for your gaming over 3x 4k monitors anyways, to spread the workload.


If you game primarily with 1 of those monitors, then I would actually just go ahead and get a 1080 ti. Dedicate that card to the monitor you game, and the other two on your 1080. 3D surround tends to still suck... I have three large monitors and I hated doing .ini edits and trying to tweak a not-right hud, or pov to work.

Here's some benchmarks that show SLI and normal:
https://us.hardware.info/reviews/72...rd-for-the-same-price-benchmarksnproject-cars
 
You definitely need 2 x 1080Ti's if you're running 3 x 4k monitors. One 4k is hard enough to drive, but 3 is rediculous.
 
Nirad9er said:
You definitely need 2 x 1080Ti's if you're running 3 x 4k monitors. One 4k is hard enough to drive, but 3 is rediculous.
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cybereality said:
Yeah, at that resolution we should be talking about TWO 1080 Tis in SLI. I have a Surround rig (7680x1440) w/ 1080 SLI and many games are even a struggle. I can't imagine triple 4K, that's nuts.
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I've already got SLI with the two 1080's I'm running now, and I actually get about 60 FPS in Elite Dangerous so it isn't bad at all. There is a little stuttering at the beginning of my system jumps that will drop it as low as 29 FPS for a second, but other than that's it's pretty consistent.

My main question was wondering if a single GTX 1080Ti would compare to the existing SLI and would it be able to handle it as well. Based on the responses here and reviews that I have found, it seems that the SLI is probably a better option than a single 1080Ti at this point, so there is no real reason for me to go that route unless I get two of them and SLI them as well.

Thanks for all your input guys, it's much appreciated!
 
Axdrenalin said:
My main question was wondering if a single GTX 1080Ti would compare to the existing SLI
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Does the game scale well with SLI? If yes then 1080 SLI will be faster.
If it doesn't scale at all, a single 1080TI might be faster.

Its not a cut clean answer because some games dont "support" SLI but still see improvements. Wow doesnt officially support SLI, but in non-cpu bottlenecked resolutions, you can see 80-100% increased FPS.
 
Single-game anecdotal evidence that is worth a hill of beans: I had to use 2 x 1080's in SLI to get 2560x1600 @ 60fps in Far Cry 4 with all options maxed. I tried a single 1080Ti to see if it could sustain 60fps. It could not and the fps was not smooth. I now have 2 x 1080Ti's in SLI and get 60fps again. The end. :)
 
Azrak said:
Single-game anecdotal evidence that is worth a hill of beans: I had to use 2 x 1080's in SLI to get 2560x1600 @ 60fps in Far Cry 4 with all options maxed. I tried a single 1080Ti to see if it could sustain 60fps. It could not and the fps was not smooth. I now have 2 x 1080Ti's in SLI and get 60fps again. The end. :)
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That's strange, I had no problems getting constant 60 fps in Far Cry 4 @ 2560x1440 DSR on my 980 Ti, which is quite a lot weaker than your 1080 Ti. The only graphics setting that I didn't max out was the AA, I set it to SMAA.
 
I'm a fan of SLI. I think the higher performance in the games that support it is worth it. Most games have generally decent support these days.
 
NannerBeans said:
I'm a fan of SLI. I think the higher performance in the games that support it is worth it. Most games have generally decent support these days.
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I've found games these days to be the exact opposite. Seems more games don't support SLI or are very late to get support now then ever before.

That said, at the resolutions the OP is talking about, even a well scaling SLI solution is going to have a hard time
 
RamonGTP said:
I've found games these days to be the exact opposite. Seems more games don't support SLI or are very late to get support now then ever before.

That said, at the resolutions the OP is talking about, even a well scaling SLI solution is going to have a hard time
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This sli is worst now then years past for number of big games that support it. its amzzing when it works but the other1/2 it sucks and you spend hours trying things in nvinspector trying to make it work when google turns up nothing.
 
There are a few other threads about this in general already

https://hardforum.com/threads/how-good-is-sli-support-in-newer-games.1927937/

..
https://hardforum.com/threads/convince-me-not-to-sli-1080-ti.1926630/

If you are looking for game specifics be careful where you look..

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Vashypooh said:
Pretty interesting article.

One thing of note is, if you run Doom in non Vulkan, it does support SLI. I am not sure if the person doing that article knew it or not though.
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I'd throw that whole review out. It's obviously biased.

elvn said:
if your performance were a car it would be more like...
It goes the speed of other cars 20% of the roads, but 80% of the roads it goes 25% to 90% faster.

That Babel site refused to run direct x 11 mode on many of those games which require it for sli scaling support, and they also refused to do simple known sli enabling workarounds/profiles on others... and also seemed to have missed some sli enabling patches on others. It seems very biased considering this. Google the titan pascal sli and gtx 1080sli benchmark sites to get a more fair look.
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http://www.techspot.com/review/1195-palit-geforce-gtx-1080-sli/page4.html

"Though we mostly focused on games that support Nvidia’s multi-GPU technology, these also happen to be some of the most popular PC games released as of late. On average SLI enabled 63% more performance -- or 71% if we ignore Ashes of the Singularity. We'd call that a solid score for SLI scaling.

Granted, this may not convince many to spend another $600+ on a second GPU but in a good number of scenarios at 4K, it pushed performance from playable to smooth-as-silk.

Overall, while I'm not generally a big advocate of multi-GPU technology, it does make sense here assuming that you can afford it.
The 4K gaming experience delivered by these cards is the best I have seen yet. For those willing and able to drop four figures on this GPU configuration, you won’t be disappointed with the results."
-----------------------------------------------

http://techbuyersguru.com/4k-gaming...1070-sli-vs-1080-sli-vs-titan-x-pascal?page=4

"All told, both Titan X Pascal and modern-day SLI make playable 4K framerates the rule rather than the exception. But alas, TBG's motto is "bringing tech to light," and sometimes that means shining a harsh light on chasing the limits of technology for technology's sake. As we've shown, you can certainly game at 4K with SLI or the Titan X Pascal, and enthusiasts no doubt consider 4K benchmarks to be the ultimate test of a modern gaming PC's mettle. The problem inherent in this approach is that 4K gaming may in fact not be the end-all-and-be-all of modern PC gaming. That's because 4K monitors are currently limited to 60Hz, and throughout our testing, it was painfully obvious that our overall gaming experience on our 27" 4K monitor wasn't nearly as good as it is on the Acer 27" 1440p 144Hz G-Sync monitor we typically test with. Yes, the added resolution is nice when you're sitting still admiring the scenery, but once the action starts up, the tearing, lag, and just plain sluggishness of a 60Hz monitor rears its ugly head."

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Practically every game I play on the GoTY and top pc games of 2016, 2015 and top pc games of all time lists supports SLI once the dust settled on patches and drivers. The only one I miss it on is forza 3 personally.

If you aren't getting at least 100fps-hz average (~ 70 - 100 - 130+ fps-hz band), you aren't getting any appreciable benefit out of a high hz monitor. DP 1.4 144hz 3440 x 1440 and 3840 x 2160 monitors due out later this year.
Pretty meaningless unless you feed it new, unique frames of action anyway.
We are just getting to the point (since titan pascal) where on the most demanding games a top end single gpu can do 100fps-hz average or so at 2560 x1440, sometimes requiring some features to be turned off in the game settings at that. And that is an average in a sort of vibrating blend +/- 30fps all over the place seconds to seconds so has half of the mix being 70 to 100 or so depending on the game(see example graph). You don't get really appreciable blur reduction and motion definition increases until you are around at least 100fps-hz (fps and hz) average so much below that you are getting no appreciable benefit out of a high hz monitor even if it was 300hz. Some old source games and other simpler games and some isometrics can get well over 200fps average though of course.
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Both unreal engine and work on final fantasy XV are implementing SLI support, and I'm assuming the sequel to shadow of mordor.. so there should be a lot of titles going forward.

With unreal engine going for HDR and sli support there should be a lot of games in the future that support SLI just on that engine alone.

Also
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/56156/final-fantasy-xv-pc-tech-test-uses-dual-gtx-1080s-sli/index.html


Another SLI game list from top games (incomplete list)

The Witcher 2, 3
Dishonored 1, 2
Half-Life games
Portal 2
Orange Box ganes
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (assuming the sequel "Shadow of War" will too)
The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim
Borderlands 2 games
Mass Effect games
Fallout Games
Far Cry Games
Metro Games
S.T.A.L.K.E.R games
Overwatch
DOOM 2016
Alien Isolation

Path of Exile
World of Warcraft
Guild Wars 2
The Elder Scrolls Online
Diablo III
Torchlight games
Tomb Raider Games
Bioshock Games
Assassin's creed games
Grand Theft Auto Games
Star Wars games
Civilization games
Quake games
Doom games
Homeworld2 -(some SLI problems at 4k remaster release, then patched and fixed among other gameplay bugs)
Thief games
Resident Evil Games
Evolve
Starcraft 2
Doom 3
Dirt Rally

Metal Gear solid V
Hitman
Crysis
Batman Ark
Battlefield games
Call of Duty games (incl Black Ops 2)
Dark souls games
Dota 2
Pillars of Eternity
Wasteland
Grid
Saint's Row
Watch Dogs 2
Shadow Warrior 2
Max Payne
The Talos Principle
Dying Light

titanfall 2: Use TF1 SLI profile + forum config fix. some flickering looking at sun in multiplayer

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/973578/sli/titanfall-2-sli-profile/3/

Battlefield 1: SLI fixes and general gameplay fixes from DICE and drivers Dec 6, 2016

Some reports of occasional flickering remain in forums for some people

"at the start of round for 2 - 3 seconds, occasionally in chat menu in round, slight flickering of numbers and words at end of round screens.Situation is much better than before the December patch.." - suspect overlays - some recommend using dx11 rather than dx 12

-many others report no sli problems after patch and driver updates


edit:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/56156/final-fantasy-xv-pc-tech-test-uses-dual-gtx-1080s-sli/index.html
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Upcoming/Recent Game Releases 2017
--------------------------------------------------------------
Unreal Engine 4.15 HDR, SLI .. could be implemented in a lot of UE games
Final Fantasy XV development showcased 1080 sli

Unity Engine now has support for VRWorks, suppors VR SLI and More March 17, 2016 <-- tweaktown
GDC 2016: Unity Game Engine to Add VRWorks Support <- nvidia blogs
(recent unity games with potential? .. P.A.M.E.L.A. , Vikings:Wolves of Midgard, Syberia 3, System Shock remake, Strafe)

Mass Effect Andromeda ... SLI confirmed by Dev
MiddleEarth: Shadow of War (SLI likely)

Prey:Arkane ... CryEngine , so potentially SLI support.. nothing confirmed
..................." it’s a different engine so the constraints are different. In the case of Dishonored 2 we created a new engine really, even though it’s based on idTech most of it has been redone. In the case of Prey we’re using CryEngine and it’s an engine that’s already shipped stuff before, so it’s not the same configuration. "
..................

Warhammer 40k (sli manual methods, UnrealEngine 4 game has sli potential in new UE4 HDR/SLI)
Resident Evil 7 (sli manual method working, last several RE's had sli patched in so potentially dev patched)
Conan Exiles (manual sli fix.. Unreal Engine 4 game, could implement new SLI and HDR UE framework)
Tekken 7 ... UnrealEngine 4 game so has sli potential
Dead Island 2 ... UnrealEngine 4 game

Dead Rising 4 (sli patched/nvidia driver support ... state of game??)

South Park: The Fractured But Whole .. same Snowdrop Engine as Tom Clancy's: The Division which supports SLI

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 .. CyrEngine
..................................(beta version.. CI Games Dev "Chatia" : We're working on providing the SLI support to the game.)
..................................http://www.tweaktown.com/news/55090/ghost-sniper-warrior-3-multi-gpu-support-dx12/index.html

Ghost Recon: Wildlands ... official SLI support by devs , ongoing via patches (latest early march 2017)
...........
Patch 1.1.5 notes are below, and the update is around 4GB depending on your client.
  • Multi-GPU improved support: Worked with partners to improve both SLI and Crossfire support. Various stuttering and graphical corruption issues have now been fixed.
  • Quad-core CPUs improved support:Several freezes and performance issues have been
The Surge ... Deck 13's proprietary "Fledge Engine" .. ???

Dirt 4 .....http://wccftech.com/dirt-4-appears-nvidia-drivers-sli-3d-support-announcement-incoming/
.............http://www.dsogaming.com/news/dirt-...rs-rated-excellent-for-3d-vision-sli-profile/



Most Played Games 2016 (general)
-----------------------------------------------------

CS:GO
World of Warcraft ....SLI
Dota 2
Overwatch .... SLI
Hearthstone
League of Legends
Far Cry Primal ... SLI
Euro Truck Simulator ......
Tom Clancy's The Division ... SLI

Steam's Most Played 2016
---------------------------------
Dota 2........
CS:GO.......
Team Fortress 2 .............
Grand Theft Auto V ......... 2560 x1440 ~ 65% increase, 4k 53% increase
Civilization V SLI ... ......... 2560 x1600 .. 70 to almost 100% scaling
No Man's Sky ................ console port w/ poor optimization in general, patches, issues
........................................reddit user 'how to' sli after nvidia driver release support .. planned fixes by developer stated Dec 2016
XCOM 2 .......................... SLI here originally manually and later officially in patch nov 2016
Dark Souls III .................. SLI profile day 1. dsogaming post patch "SLI scaling was amazing and we did not notice any stutters while gaming" . "fps to be essential in such a game. Therefore, those interested in such high resolutions will need to invest in a high end sli system"
Paladins.......

Peak Player Count Steam
------------------------------
Dota 2
CS:Go
No Man's Sky
XCOM 2
Dark Souls III
Paladins (overwatch-like free to play)

Selection of games from Metacritic Top PC games 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witcher 3: Blood and Wine SLI 64%+ scaling (hairworks disabled)
Overwatch SLI
Dark Souls III SLI
XCOM 2 SLI
Civilization VI SLI, CPU bottleneck .. e.g. here.. 780ti 54fps.. 780ti sli 92fps .. gtx 1080 single, 980 sli, 1080sli all 92fps.
Battlefield 1 SLI , scaling varies from patch to patch
World of Warcraft Legion SLI
Forza Horizon 3 - nope
Rise of the Tomb Raider SLI - great scaling
Total War: Warhammer SLI , small scaling .. examples
Dishonored 2 general performance issues being patched out.. SLI working official patch
F1 2016 ... general bugs in game. crossfire officially, no sli officially
Titanfall 2 ... originally - Titanfall 1profile works... some flicker staring at sun, text flicker in menus (probably overlay issue)
...................new - Feb 2017 patch
...................Improved SLI/Crossfire compatibility. Players are recommended to not use TSAA when running in multi-GPU mode because TSAA can negatively affect performance scaling.
..................Fixed various UI scaling issues when running in Eyefinity/Surround ultrawide resolution.
DOOM SLI , initially very poor scaling ~ 23%. Patched Nov 2016 near 100% scaling
Final Fantasy IX
Grim Dawn .. sli manual fix, near 100% scaling
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD remaster ??
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided .. SLI patched nov 2016 .. scaling ??, (crossfire scales 100%)
Hitman ??
Fallout 4 : Far Harbor SLI scaling ~ 70%
Tom Clancy's The Division SLI patched.. dex 2016 e.g. gtx 1070 max detail AF 1440p= 59fps , gtx 1070 sli = 90 fps
Pillars of Eternity :The white march part 2 ... manual sli implementation, CPU bound game
Hitman: Episode 3
Shadow Warrior 2 SLI, great scaling



Selection of games from Metacritic Top PC games 2015*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GTA V.... SLI .. 2560 x1440 ~ 65% increase, 4k 53% increase
The Witcher 3...... SLI 64%+ scaling (hairworks disabled)
Undertale
Metal Gear Solid V
Pillars of Eternity ... manual sli implementation, CPU bound game
Starcraft II .... SLI
Ori and the Blind Forest
Tales from Borderlands ... SLI
Final Fantasy VIV.. SLI
Homeworld Remastered.. SLI
Heroes of the storm
Dirt Rally.... SLI
Fallout 4.... SLI
Project Cars .... SLI
Guild Wars 2 : Hearth of Thorns ... SLI
FIFA 16 ... nvidia sli profile, SLI unconfirmed
Warhammer End Time Vermintide ... manual sli workaround
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin .... SLI
Evolve ... SLI

Top Grossing Steam Games 2016
----------------------------------

(Platinum sales numbers)
Dota 2
The Division
The Witcher 3
GTA V
Civilization VI
Fallout 4
No Man's Sky
Rocket League
Dark Souls III
CS:GO
XCOM2
Total War Warhammer

(Gold sales numbers)
Dead by Daylight
Stardew Valley
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Warframe
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Stellaris
Team Fortress 2
Arma III
Ark: Survival Evolved ...... SLI manual fix.. current UnrealEngine's HDR/SLI code could be implemented in future
H1Z1: King of the Kill
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Doom

(Silver Sales)
Watch Dogs 2
Hearts of Iron IV
Cities Skylines
Europa Universalis IV
War and Thunder
Dying Light: The following enhanced ed
Subnautica
Smite
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Civilization V
Far Cry Primal
Payday 2
Rust
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
Planet Coaster
Skyrim
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RamonGTP said:
I've found games these days to be the exact opposite. Seems more games don't support SLI or are very late to get support now then ever before.

That said, at the resolutions the OP is talking about, even a well scaling SLI solution is going to have a hard time
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I guess it's just the games I play then. I don't usually get new games until they're out for a while because of cost.
 
This is a really easy answer. If you have the money, then get the 1080ti sli. At triple 4k surround you're looking at 24MP which is essentially insane with current tech. You're not gonna get 60fps native on games like witcher 3 or deus ex HR, but if you play with things I'm sure you'll get something you find satisfactory.
 
If the best graphics card available isn't meeting your needs, you should probably reconsider what you're trying to do unless money is no object. GPU's depreciate very quickly because there's always another one on the way promising significant performance advantages. My current GPU is a GTX 980 and I just purchased a GTX1080ti. That's less than 3 years and there's no way that I'd take two GTX 980's over a single GTX 1080ti. My last SLI system was a GTX 680. The memory in the GTX 680 was 2GB, the 980 was 4GB, the 1080TI is 11GB which kind of shows that it's not just the GPU that needs upgrading over time. SLI requires a motherboard that can handle it plus a beefier PSU plus better airflow and it doesn't work at all in some games. The Nvidia Volta will be out next year and probably perform a lot better than the 1080TI. SLI is usually a gamble that two of something now will meet your current needs better plus give you a longer timeline before you should do a future upgrade. I doubt that the latter is ever true but certainly won't be at the tail end of the architecture type unless Volta is somehow a flop.
 
you'll need 2...but you're using resolutions that aren't really capable with today's graphics cards
 
I went ahead and upgraded my SLI from using GTX 1080's to GTX 1080Ti's, and my frame rates now seem to have increased by a third, which makes sense because the Ti's were supposed to be about 1/3 faster. As I mentioned in my OP, my reference game is Elite Dangerous, so during travel and jumping through star systems (exploration) I'm now seeing mid to high 90 FPS at 12280 x 2160. I've not yet been in a Combat Zone or Resource Extraction Area to determine my FPS there yet, still 6000 Light Years outside the bubble. That was where my previous SLI setup was a bit lacking. Hopefully I'll be getting a 1/3 increase in that environment as well, because rendering all of the asteroids and rock in the rings was dropping frames like crazy.
 
I was running (5x30 inch in portrait) 8800x2560 with three GTX 980ti's in surround. Mostly flight and space sims. Scaled it back to (3x30 inch in portrait) 5200x2560 because of stability issues with X-Plane10 and P3D. Thinking about replacing the three 980ti's with two 1080ti's for surround. I don't play FPS games and only have the three cards for surround, not so much SLI. Anyone here replaced three 980ti with two 1080ti's for surround? Happy? If performance is the same I'd rather skip a generation and get a single card in two years. Guess I can order two 1080ti's and try it out. I've also thought about three 1080ti's but at some point I want to go single 65+ inch 4k tv as a monitor and that would be overkill.
 
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Bigc208 said:
I was running (5x30 inch in portrait) 8800x2560 with three GTX 980ti's in surround. Mostly flight and space sims. Scaled it back to (3x30 inch un portrait) 5200x2560 because of stability issues with X-Plane10 and P3D. Thinking about replacing the three 980ti's with two 1080ti's for surround. I don't play FPS games and only have the three cards for surround, not so much SLI. Anyone here replaced three 980ti with two 1080ti's for surround? Happy? If performance is the same I'd rather skip a generation and get a single card in two years. Guess I can order two 1080ti's and try it out. I've also thought about three 1080ti's but at some point I want to go single 65+ inch 4k tv as a monitor and that would be overkill.
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Only in cases where 3x scaling works very well and isn't memory limited will 3x 980 Tis be even somewhat close to 2x 1080 Tis. Overall you looking at a pretty significant upgrade going from 3 to 2 in this case.
 
Nvidia only supports up to 2 cards now, so you can't do 3 (or 4) way SLI even if you wanted.

In terms of going from 3x 980Ti to 2x 1080Ti, I think it would be better. I went from 3x 980 to 2x 1080 and there was certainly an improvement. It was not night and day, but it was definitely better and I believe eliminated some of the stutter issues I had randomly. It's also great for games that don't scale to SLI.
 
Going to give it a try as soon as I can get my hands on two MSI 1080ti gaming cards. Even if it's equal there's going to be less heat and powerdraw. I should get some money back for the three 980ti's if I don't wait too long.
 
Bigc208 said:
Going to give it a try as soon as I can get my hands on two MSI 1080ti gaming cards. Even if it's equal there's going to be less heat and powerdraw. I should get some money back for the three 980ti's if I don't wait too long.
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I'm jealous!
 
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