2 GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming Cards?

[gridironcj]

I'm seeking to get 2 GTX 980 ti cards and people always mention that it's better to go with reference cards for SLI. I understand the reasoning, but I have a 900D and I can always add more fans, so would that make a difference? I'm looking for the best overclocking ability in SLI. If you have any other recommendations outside of the G1 Gaming, let me know please.

 

[mrmez]

I've never heard that reference cards are any better for SLI. Those should be fine.

Just make sure you have at least 1,000w PSU and plenty of CPU to drive those.

 

[unksol]

Blower coolers are better for SLI. If you don't exhaust the heat out the back the bottom card will overheat the top card. For nvidia the reference cards have the best blowers

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

The cooler on a reference design will intake air in the front and exhaust it through the back. Other designs tend to just throw it all over the place. This can be a issue when you have 1 card being "chocked" by the second. The first cards will not only have trouble drawing air in, but will be using the hot air from the second card. In these cases a custom liquid cooling loop can really lower temps.

Speaking of liquid cooling, if you decide to go that route, full size GPU water blocks are usually made for reference designs first. Custom PCB blocks take much longer, if they even come to market at all.

 

[sizzling]

Fyi a good quality 850w PSU is plenty for Sli.

 

[gridironcj]

Here are my relevant specs:

Chassis: Corsair 900D
Mobo: Rampage IV Formula (I've always had SLI with the second card in the third slot)
CPU: i7 3930k @4.4GHz
PSU: Corsair AX 1200i

Given that my lower card won't be "choking" the upper one, should this be fine? I figured good airflow and a massive case should alleviate most of the issues people see with SLI and non-reference cards.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

The cards will work fine in you case but the top card will still be taking hot air in from the second. The issue is only going to show as the top card being a a couple of degrees hotter then the bottom. (probably nothing past single digits.)

 

[gridironcj]

The cards will work fine in you case but the top card will still be taking hot air in from the second. The issue is only going to show as the top card being a a couple of degrees hotter then the bottom. (probably nothing past single digits.)

Thanks for the info.

Which of the following SLI options would you personally go with given my setup? I would just like to see someone else's choice given my setup. Multiple opinions would be great.

- Gigabyte G1 Gaming
- EVGA ACX 2.0+
- Wait for MSI or Asus
- Reference cards

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

Me personally I like reference cards. Even if the card is a bit hotter overall, the heat it generates is exhausted out the back. This lowers overall system temps keeping my other components that much safer. It also allows me to run my fans at the lowest possible speed for a pretty near silent rig even with overclocks.

However if you really want to go with a custom unit, my choice would be the gigabyte g1. Mostly because it has 2 x dual link dvi and a hdmi connector. This would allow me to setup my 3 displays without having to rely on DP adapters which can be problematic or having to buy more expensive monitors that have DP already.