Worth buying a second 570 for SLI ?

[paulthephil]

Hello,

I have a question. I currently have a Gainward GTX 570 Phantom and I really want more power in my rig. I was thinking on buying a second 570 Phantom so I am able to skip the whole Kepler-Series and then buy a new 800-Series graphics card. I also thought about getting two 660Ti´s or one 670/680 which I then keep thill the first or second 800-Seires graphics card. What would you recommend me ?
Thanks a lot
Paul

My system:

Asus P8Z68 V-Pro/gen3 Motherboard
Intel i7 26ook CPU
Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB RAM
Gainward GTX 570 Phantom
Be quiet Dark Rock Advanced CPU-Cooler
Be quiet Dark Power 750W PSU
Crucial M4 256Gb SSD
Scythe Kaze Master Fan Controller
Be quiet Shadow Wing
Corsair C70+ 5xAf120 case fans

 

[Cru]

Well depends on your budget
two 660ti's will perform the best out of the options you listed
and i think 570s would outperform a 670, not sure about the 680

 

[FTR.4500MHz]

If you SLI your 570 Phantom be careful about your mobo layout (pci-e lanes) beause iirc the phantom is a 3 slot card. Having no space between the cards will give you high temps on your cards.

 

[paulthephil]

If you SLI your 570 Phantom be careful about your mobo layout (pci-e lanes) beause iirc the phantom is a 3 slot card. Having no space between the cards will give you high temps on your cards.

It would be roughly 1cm... is this enough ?

 

[paulthephil]

Well depends on your budget
two 660ti's will perform the best out of the options you listed
and i think 570s would outperform a 670, not sure about the 680

I dont really want to spend that much, I would like to buy a real new graphics card next year when the Nvidea Maxwell Series is going to get released...

 

[tinytomlogan]

post a photo of your rig so we can see the lanes.

 

[paulthephil]

post a photo of your rig so we can see the lanes.

sure:

 

[tinytomlogan]

That top card will struggle to breathe so be prepared for the fan speeds to go up fella.

 

[alienware]

Hmm white PCIE slot.

You need to make sure that lane will provide 8x. If not SLI won't work.

I don't see an SLI logo on the board so I would check that.

Edit. Just had a look and it does support SLI so you should be OK.

 

[paulthephil]

Hmm white PCIE slot.

You need to make sure that lane will provide 8x. If not SLI won't work.

I don't see an SLI logo on the board so I would check that.

Edit. Just had a look and it does support SLI so you should be OK.

yeah, I checked that out before asking for advice. 2 way SLI is supported... but thanks!

That top card will struggle to breathe so be prepared for the fan speeds to go up fella.

dammit, but thanks for the advice. How much do you think would the temps and noise increase? Is it worth the extra power or should I just get a new card?

Thanks for your help Logan!

 

[alienware]

What sort of temps do you get now?

Take that and add around 8c extra to your top card.

You will probably have to work the fans a little harder to keep within safe temps but you have good cards with great cooling. I think your biggest issue will be finding a second Phantom as they were quite scarce in the first place.

 

[paulthephil]

What sort of temps do you get now?

Take that and add around 8c extra to your top card.

You will probably have to work the fans a little harder to keep within safe temps but you have good cards with great cooling. I think your biggest issue will be finding a second Phantom as they were quite scarce in the first place.

My Idle temperature with case fans on half speed (700rpm) is around 33°C (card fan speed on 32%) and while playing games I get like 45-50°C with card fans at auto mode (roughly 1600rpm) and case fans at 1000rpm. During Unigine Valley I got around 60°C at 100% gpu load. So the normal temperature of the gpu when im doing school work or gaming would be like between 30-45°C so 10°C more wouldnt be that hard to handle?

With those scare phantoms... I found some deals on used phantoms on Amazon, I really don´t need a new one because they will only be used for 1-1,5 years. The costs are around 190-210€/160-180£ If want to get a card that hadn´t been overclocked and comes with the bill. Or I have the option to get a used card for 210€/180£ from a local computer store. They might have used the card for a rig in the shop-window or something like that. I tend to buy this card because I´ll get 12 month gurantee by them and 6 month gurantee by the manufacturer.

What are you thinking about that, thanks for your help!
and have a nice evening!

 

[alienware]

I think you would be OK tbh. You may need to add a couple of fans to help out but the Phantom is a very cool card.

I can't envisage any huge problems with it.

 

[paulthephil]

I think you would be OK tbh. You may need to add a couple of fans to help out but the Phantom is a very cool card.

I can't envisage any huge problems with it.

thanks, I think I´ll buy the used Phantom from the computer store in the easter holidays after I bought a H100i.

Thanks for your advice and help!
If I have any other questions I´ll post them here...

Paul

 

[Mysterae]

Don't be too scared of overclocked Phantoms. The one I had (sold on ebay for £160) clocked up to 900 easily, nice card. The 3 slot design was a pain though. The 670 version of the Phantom was a pathetic shadow of it's older brother (cooler design, not processor!).

Keep that card clean though!

 

[paulthephil]

Don't be too scared of overclocked Phantoms. The one I had (sold on ebay for £160) clocked up to 900 easily, nice card. The 3 slot design was a pain though. The 670 version of the Phantom was a pathetic shadow of it's older brother (cooler design, not processor!).

Keep that card clean though!

yeah thanks! I think I´ll go and grab a second Phantom and see how the temps are. If theres enough cooling for overclocking I´ll try 800MHz on both or what would you overclock an SLI config to? Thanks for your comment!

I have one question, what model are the two cards in the front I just can´t see the model number?

Paul

 

[nepas]

Does it have to be another Phantom that you buy?cheaper way would be to look at other 570's(just a way to save a bit of money)

 

[paulthephil]

Does it have to be another Phantom that you buy?cheaper way would be to look at other 570's(just a way to save a bit of money)

It would be nice to save money but having the same model just looks better and I like good looking things...

But still a good advice!

Paul

 

[Mysterae]

yeah thanks! I think I´ll go and grab a second Phantom and see how the temps are. If theres enough cooling for overclocking I´ll try 800MHz on both or what would you overclock an SLI config to? Thanks for your comment!

I have one question, what model are the two cards in the front I just can´t see the model number?

Paul

Those two cards are 670's:

Unfortunately the type of coolers weren't very good in my case, too much air circulating around instead of being removed. I sent them back and got EVGAs as replacements. I did have a pic comparing the 570 with the 670 but can't find it. The 570 has a much better cooler, mostly metal as opposed to the plastic in the 670's.

I didn't SLI the 570 has I only had one, I was in the same position as you - thought about getting another 570 and see the 600 series out. But I buckled and went 670 SLI instead . I

 

[paulthephil]

I just ordered a second GTX 570 Phantom and a H100i, I´m happy!

Paul