SLI

Now, honestly, I'm not one of the smart guys who can answer this... but I think they're going to need a bit more information.

Like motherboard specs, model, etc....

Hi Spetsnaz.... You have it right.    Install your second 780 in the next Pciex16 slot. Not the bottom one, that's only a x4 slot, bit the 2nd furthest from the CPU.

Install the sli bridge, make sure you've connected your power cables to ithe 780 and then enable sli in Nvidia Control Panel. Right click desktop to get to Nvidia CP.

That should do it.

Your sound card should be installed in the first smaller PCIEx1 slot, next to the CPU. Or the PCIE x16 furthest away.

Edited by bprat22 - 22 Nov 2015 at 2:37am

Your new added card will use the same drivers.


Good luck. Any problems let us know.     

The 16gb ram is more than enough for most gaming.   I have a gtx 970, 8gb ram, which is about 20% faster than your 780, and can play at 1080p at max for the most part. But that's for 60fps at 1080p 60hz.   If your monitor is more resolution or you're looking for faster frames, the single 780 will bog down.   Witcher 3 plays on max, except Hairworks which drops fps into the 40s. I don't use it.

if you can't find your mobo manual you can dl it from your manufacturer's web site in the support/download section in the form of pdf. 

no gaming needs more than 16GB of system ram.  you probably need more video ram.  even though you put in another 3GB vid card, that doesn't mean you're doubling your vram, you still only get 3GB.  if a game requires more at higher resolutions, it will start to grab it from the system ram, and system ram is way slower.  you will see in game performance start to crawl if that happens (and it sounds like that's what's happening).  what you should've done when purchasing that 2k monitor was upgrade your single card to a 4-6Gb card instead of going for sli with a 3GB 780. 


Edited by db188 - 22 Nov 2015 at 5:45pm

there's two "areas" to be cognizant of when it comes to graphics performance: 1) you need to make sure you have enough memory throughput (vram) on the card itself for whatever resolution you're planning to game at. 2) the actual graphics processing power/muscle.  you will see more processing power/performance from 2x970's over a single card, but that performance can be strangled by not enough memory throughput.  the thing is if you are gaming at 1080p on a single monitor a single 970 is more than capable of getting 60+fps on high/ultra settings in most games (The Witcher being a notable exception), so there is no need to sli that card (who cares if you get 60 or 90 fps you're not really going to notice the performance difference).  at 1440p, you could probably get by in some less demanding games, but it won't be as smooth.  you'll see much more hitching/micro stutter, dropped frames, freezes, crashes, etc.  it's just better these days to upgrade your single card as far as it will go the more you throw at it, rather than try sli'ing lower end graphics cards.  now at 4k, there is no single card solution for optimal 4k-you NEED 2 top end cards to run it well.   

if you can swing it, i'd go for a single 980ti with that monitor, otherwise the 980 is a better buy imo than an additional 970.  

That EVGA card is excellent but my choice would be the Asus 980ti Strix or the MSI Gaming 6G. The latter two are better performers and cooling.    Can't go wrong with any of them but might as well get the fastest with everything else top notch.

The new card will fit into the same PCIE slot as your 780.

Your 780 probably uses a 6 +8 pin power connection.   The newer 980ti Strix or Gaming 6g would use 2x 8 pin.   Your cables are fine with 8 pin connections.   The 6 pin used now would have the other 2 pins folded back and tywrapped.

Edited by bprat22 - 23 Nov 2015 at 2:24am

Just saying, Bprat. GTX 780 Ti > GTX 970. He just left the ti off all the other times he said it. You silly goose.

Second GPU's are a simple plug and play. Put card in slot, connect power cables, connect sli bridge.

Boot PC, once at desktop, right click anywhere on the desktop and click Nvidia Control Panel. You'll see an option to Configure SLI on the left hand side. Click that then click Maximize 3D performance (not spanning/surround).

Your screen will flicker a few times and bam... good to go.

Now in terms of gaming. The fact remains the GTX 780 Ti was designed for the 1440p market. You can still technically game at 1440p with really no issue at all. Even if it does hit the 3GB VRAM cap, it won't need the full 3GB all the time. People with the 6GB cards, reporting that games are using 4-5GB. That's just because there is extra to be hard. Yes it does help, but it's not a game breaker.

Now, the GTX 980 or the GTX 980 Ti are definitely better choices, but dual GTX 780 Ti's will still kill for you with really no real problems.

i'm gonna have to disagree with Meller on the point of higher (over 1080p) resolutions not needing the vram headroom of 4GB+.  there were plenty of reports of people suffering on today's more demanding games specifically from the 970's "4GB" allocation fiasco.  can you generally make a 3GB card work at 1440p?  sure, if you like to deal with frequent/annoying visual/game play disturbances.  or, you could just upgrade to a card that will allow you to enjoy your gaming experience ALL of the time.   

Hi Spetsnaz,

Newegg has some 980Ti at good prices right now. Kind of a Pre-Black Friday sale. You might want to check them out before you buy.

Frank

Newegg

Well I games on a Gtx 780ti sli set up at 1440p (using the PB278Q from ASUS) and I didn't experience stutter or anything, like ever. And I do tend to like to play my games on the highest of settings.

But to each their own. Lo, disagreeing is fine. Most of my opinions are from personal experience. Perhaps I just got lucky and was a one out of thousands to get multiple 780 ti's that worked wonders. And ti vs 780... Eh, still the same go vram.

Now on that note, i would rather have 2x 780 over a single 970... Even at 1440p. If I had one 780, it's just cheaper to buy another and get better performance over a single 970.

With that said, I agree on your choice to upgrade to the 980 ti. Amazing card, well worth it.

Meller, you failed to mention that your SLI 780 Ti set-up was 3-way SLI EVGA 780 Ti Classified under water, overclocked with the voltages cranked up Or was there another system you were gaming on, as well?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487142&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-


I ended up going with this one. I hope it is a good pick.

Originally posted by  Meller, you failed to mention that your SLI 780 Ti set-up was 3-way SLI EVGA 780 Ti Classified under water, overclocked with the voltages cranked up Or was there another system you were gaming on, as well?

Let the record show, I miss those triple GTX 780 Ti classifieds. They were my loves. *tears up*

Originally posted by Meller Originally posted by  Meller, you failed to mention that your SLI 780 Ti set-up was 3-way SLI EVGA 780 Ti Classified under water, overclocked with the voltages cranked up Or was there another system you were gaming on, as well? Let the record show, I miss those triple GTX 780 Ti classifieds. They were my loves. *tears up*

Noted