New to this thread, but desperately need SLI advice

[rolldog]

I've had this card for about 6 months or so, but I need to run a second card in SLI and would like to know what the best card is on the market that will run SLI with my current card. I've heard, and read on Nvidia's website, that the brand of card doesn't matter. As long as it's a 780 Ti, it should run SLI with my current card. What I would like to know is if any particular manufacturer makes a better card that the EVGA Superclocked, and when Nvidia mentioned that the model GPU is the only determining factor about SLI compatibility, does this mean even a 780 Ti Classified will run SLI with my Superclocked card as well?

 

I've never run, or setup an SLI configuration, but since quite a few models have been released since I bought my card, I know it's just a matter of time before the 780 Ti will need to be replaced. So, I want to buy whatever manufacturer, whatever version of the 780 Ti will run the best and still be compatible with the card I have when running SLI. Should I stick to the exact make, model, part number (03G-P4-2883-KR) as my current card or would anyone recommend another manufacturer besides EVGA or even a different model 780 Ti made by EVGA? I want to get the best performance possible, but I also don't want problems when running SLI.

 

Any suggestions anyone might have would be greatly appreciated. Oh, one more thing, I took the heat sinks, fans, etc off my current card and installed a full EK waterblock along with the backplate so I would probably doing the same with this second card. Hopefully someone will be able to make this easier for me since I want to get this done asap.

[WarWeeny]

You NEED to SLI a GTX 780 Ti?

 

About your question, the brand (EVGA, ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte etc.) doesn't matter, as long as it is a GTX 780 ti.

 

If you were to buy a card with higher clocks than the one you currently have, usually, the cards sync to the lowest clock rated card.

Example: if your current card runs at 1000MHz core/mem, and the one you bought runs 1100MHz core/mem, that card will be clocked down to 1000MHz core/mem.

 

You can always manually overclock both cards when all is said and done.

 

The "type" (classified, superclocked etc.) doesn't matter as well, since the biggest changes would be the clock speeds of the said card. 

Maybe some PCB changes to gain those speeds, but nothing that would interfere with an SLI set-up.

[ir_cow]

Shouldn't we ask what else if in that computer?  much more goes into SLI than just a second vidoe card. You have to make sure you have a power supply that can handle 2x 780 Ti. If your system has a slow cpu, you may be already a the limits and a second card won't be any use. somes games do not even support sli and others will not see any benfits of a second card unless you are playing at 4k.

 

So I ask what is you current setup and what games are you playing @ what resolution?

[WarWeeny]

Shouldn't we ask what else is in that computer? Much more goes into SLI than just a second video card. You have to make sure you have a power supply that can handle two GTX 780 Ti. If your system has a slow CPU, you may be already at the limit, and a second card won't be any use. Some games do not even support SLI and others will not see any benefits of a second card unless you are playing at 4k resolution.

 

So I ask, what is you current setup and what games are you playing on what resolution?

 

Fair enough, I should have asked that too.

So +1 on this comment.

[Black64]

 I want to get the best performance possible, but I also don't want problems when running SLI.

 

Your in for surprise. 

[ir_cow]

 

 I want to get the best performance possible, but I also don't want problems when running SLI.

 

Your in for surprise. 

 

yeah SLi has its quirks.

[rolldog]

Ok, I'm running a Corsair AX1200i Digital ATX 80 Plus Platinum PSU, Asus Maximus VI Formula ROG Z87 MB with EK Asus Maximus VI Formula Liquid Cooling Nickel+Acetal Block Set (swapped out the original Cross Chill since it's made with aluminum and installed a Z87 chipset waterblock), Intel i7-4770K Haswell OC'd to 4.5Ghz with a Koolance 380I waterblock, 16GB G.SKILL Trident X 2133 DDR3 (which run horribly. G.SKILL has already agreed to swap them out. The XMP OC profiles lock my system Gaming up and same happens when I manually set the timings), Asus ROG Front Base & Overclocking Panel, (and as you already know) EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Superclocked (then OC'D a little more) 3GB with full EK Nickel+Acetal waterblock and backplate, 2 Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSDs running in RAID0, Seagate 2TB Hybrid drive (holds all my data files), Hitachi 1TB 7200RPM SATA III drive, Lamptron CM615 6 channel liquid cooling controller, Asus 12x Blu-ray burner, EK-Multi Option Res X3 250, EK D5 X-Top Acetal Pump Top CSQ - Laing D5 & Swiftech MCP-650/655 Alphacool VPP Single Edition Pump, EK Ultimate Performance Coolstream 480 XTX and 360 XTX radiators, 8 Cougar 120mm CFD Series Fans and 2 Cougar 140mm CFD Series Fans, Koolance INS-FM19 Coolant Flow Meter w/ flow meter frequency adapter all housed in a Little Devil PC-V8 case.

 

I've been running 3 monitors, a 27" HP ZR2740w IPS running at 2560x1440 and 10 bit color and 2 23" HP 2311x running at 1920x1080. I've been running these monitors until recently, when I bought a 4K monitor and swapped it with one of my 1920x1080 monitors. Now, if I try running these 3 monitors nothing even comes up on my display. I can run the 4K and the 1920x1080 with no problem. If I try running the 4K and the 2560x1440 monitor, I can't even make out the text on the 2560 monitor. I would like to run all 3 monitors and possibly even the one I replaced (4 monitors total). I figured the only way I was going to be able to do this is to buy a 2nd card, maybe a third, and run them in SLI. I thought about replacing my 780Ti, but the card is still a nice card and I can pickup some second hand cards from people who upgraded already for half the price I paid for mine brand new. So, if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Let me know if you think upgrading would be better or adding another card. I think it's going to be a while before the 980Ti hits the market.

[ccokeman]

 

 

 I want to get the best performance possible, but I also don't want problems when running SLI.

 

Your in for surprise. 

 

yeah SLi has its quirks.

 

Much fewer than Crossfire I can guarantee you! 

[ccokeman]

If you are water cooling it you could get a reference card and just maximize the clock speeds on the weakest card then back off 10Mhz and set both cards to that speed and you should be fine. 

[Fight Game]

nvm, where's the delete button lol

Edited December 31, 2014 by Fight Game

[ccokeman]

nvm, where's the delete button lol

For me right next to the Multiquote button! 

[WarWeeny]

 

nvm, where's the delete button lol

For me right next to the Multiquote button! 

 

 

He doesn't have fancy buttons like we staff do