How identical do graphics cards need to be for a dual setup?

[SilverfoxAlpha]

I just got into computer gaming and got my first gaming computer about 2 months ago. When I look it up on my system it just says Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti, but the orderform from where I got the system says ASUS*GeForce*GTX*780Ti*3GB*PhysX CUDA

Now with the new 980 on the market, people are selling off 780 Ti cards cheap, so I was wondering, if I want to upgrade to a dual setup buying a used 780 Ti, does it have to be the exact one I have from Asus, or can it be any 780 Ti? How close do I need to get, what do I need to look for and consider?

 

[PP Mguire]

For SLI to work the GPUs themselves need to be identical, IE 780ti to 780ti, or 680 to 680. The manufacturer name doesn't matter. Just make sure your PSU is up to par before you go blowing parts, as well as your motherboard supports SLI.

 

[patonb]

Also to add, the "overclock" edition doesn't matter either.

 

[the1truegamer]

I do suggest choosing carefully where you buy the used card though. Some people buy new cards use them for Bit mining and then sell them. Not always a bad thing, but it can cause problems with the life expectancy of the card.

 

[SilverfoxAlpha]

I have no idea what PSU is, is that the power supply? I don't know what I have, but I specifically asked them to put a little extra juice in the power, motherboard, cooling and processor so that I would have room for upgrades, including a second graphics card, so I'm assuming I'll be allright.

The motherboard is ASRock Z97.

Ok, so there's nothing standing in the way of me getting a used Zotac Gtx 780ti then and using it with my Asus as long as they're both 780 Ti ? Is there anything else I need to make sure "matches up" or will anything labeled 780 Ti work? I see a bunch of "black edition" and "classified" this and that, is that of any consequence? What else, if anything, would I need to check before buying one?

 

[PP Mguire]

Never assume. Pre-builts come with **** for PSU units. Pop the side panel off and give us a shout at what exactly you have. 780ti cards suck a lot of juice.

Also, which ASRock Z97 do you have? If it's the Extreme4 or 6 then you have support for SLI. If it's the Anniversary board it doesn't support multi-GPU.

Yes you can SLI a Zotac and an Asus. Like I said, as long as they are identical GPUs it'll work. Just know that if both cards are running full blast they can take as much as 600w out of the PSU by themselves leaving little room left unless you have a good quality 650w or above PSU.

 

[carnageX]

I do suggest choosing carefully where you buy the used card though. Some people buy new cards use them for Bit mining and then sell them. Not always a bad thing, but it can cause problems with the life expectancy of the card.

People really only mined with AMD GPU's as they provided the best efficiency / power for mining. nVIdia cards weren't really used as dedicated mining GPU's.

 

[SilverfoxAlpha]

Well, it was a custom build, and we specifically went with a better than standard PSU, so it should be up to snuff.

Here are the specs:
ASRock*Z97*Fatal1ty*Killer*-*Socket*1150
Intel*Core*i7-4790K
Kingston*DDR3*HyperX*1600MHz*8GB
BenQ*27"*3D*LED*XL2720Z
Fortron*AURUM*PRO,*850W,*80*GOLD
Noctua*NH-D14*CPU*Cooler,*140mm
ASUS*GeForce*GTX*780Ti*3GB*PhysX
CUDA


Not all of it relevant, but there it is anyways.


I'm not sure I'm going to get a second GPU, but it's good to know in case I see a great deal on one. A bunch of people are probably switching out their 780 Ti for 980 now, or soon will be, so if I find a 780Ti at a good price, is there any reason not to go for it? Anything with mysetup that would cause a problem?

Also, how much overclocking should I be doing? I got the 780Ti clocked a bit, GPU running at 1080 MHz (up from 1020) and the memory clock at 7800 MHz (up from 7000), but I haven't been messing around with it for more than a day, and I havent done anything advanced like change the power flow or the target temperature. Is this about what I can get "safely" or is there a lot more juice that can be squeezed out here? I'd rather not get an unstable PC that will wear out, but noise is not an issue (so if the fans can take the extra load, I dont mind them working harder).

Should I be overclocking my CPU too? I have a utility from ASRock called F-stream Tuning, but I have no idea how to use it properly. Same thing applies to the CPU as the graphics card, except here I'm even more focused on longevity as I plan on upgrading graphics cards more frequently than CPU, but if there's extra performance to be found without any major drawbacks, I'll happily take it.

 

[PP Mguire]

Guru approves of the PSU so that should be fine.

No you shouldn't need to OC either the card or the CPU. A 780ti should be more than enough for 1080p gaming.

That board doesn't support SLI.

There's really no point for people to go 980 unless they really want DSR badly or something.

 

[SilverfoxAlpha]

****, really? So I'm stuck with one graphics card? Well that blows....

Yeah it works well for most games, but when I play competitive multiplayer shooters, I want as high a framerate as possible, and with a 144hz screen, there are more frames to be picked up as I tend between 110 and 130 frames in BF4.