Can i add another card to my rig

[ROGUE10501]

Howzit guys

I just recently put in an ASUS GTX 980 Ti STRIX Edition GFX card into my PC Rig , with this i have the ASUS MAXIMUS VII Formula Motherboard and the i7 4790k CPU. I also have a sound card in my bottem PCI Slot (One Asus Phoebus 7.1 Surround sound card).

My question is would it be possible to add another 980 ti STRIX to the board to run in SLI without any issues ? Not sure if the PCI lanes will be a problem, can somebody give me some good advise on if i can do what i asked or if i will run into problems.

Thanks guys

 

[jg900ss]

We would need more information. What PSU are you using? What other devices are in the machine using power that must be taken into account when determining whether the PSU is enough power to run two cards? What resolution do you want to game at, and do you have a monitor that allows for variable sync gaming using things like Freesync or G-sync? More data in questions like this is helpful. Resubmit with a full config.
EDIT: After seeing the other posts, its perhaps important to lay out all the issues. First PSU. Its seems your PSU may have the right amount of power to manage two cards in SLI. NVIDIA cards of the Maxwell family are easier to support with smaller PSUs since they are more thrifty than AMD. I might still think about 1200W. Second, the SLI card slot. This board has three large slots and you have a sound card in the last slot. Inserting a second 980 in the second slot might make it impossible to keep the sound card if the second 980 is too wide. Its going to be VERY tight. The fan of the 980, depending on the model you buy, might be challenged to provide enough airflow if the sound card is right next to it. This could cause heating problems. The options to move the graphics card to the last slot, and move the sound card inboard to slot two is also problematic, because my bet is that the last slot will not support 8 lanes, and NVIDIA will not support SLI in slots that have less than 8 lanes, such as 16+4, or 8+4. You can certainly put NVIDIA cards in slots of less lane support, but they will not run in SLI. Crossfire does not have this limitation. THIRD, sound. The ROG MAXIMUS VII has a pretty stout soundcard capability. It would seem to be an option to remove the PCIe sound card you currently use, and make use of the onboard soundcard, making it straightforward to use two 980s in SLI in the first two slots without any cooling or lane issues. Have you considered this option?

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

Your CPU and motherboard are fine for SLI, but how about your PSU? What make and model is it?

 

[George Phillips]

If the system runs SLI, PCI-Express lanes will run at x8 and x8 at PCI-E 3.0 which is more than enough. However it is very important to buy a high quality PSU that provides high quality power to all major components. I personally would recommend SeaSonic, and there are of course many good brands out there.

 

[ROGUE10501]

I have a Cooler master M2 Silent Pro 1000 Watt PSU, I am gaming at 1440p with the ASUS Swift Screen, 5 HDDs , 1 SSD, 8 fans and a CPU water cooling pump and normal peripherals.
I'm concerned about the PCI lanes with my processor not the power, power is an easy fix which i will calculate later, what I need to know now is if i have enough lanes to add another card and run it at max performance in SLI with the original GFX card and the sound card ; So 3 of my PCI slots will be taken up.
I do not want to remove the sounds card due to restricted PCI lanes due to the CPU not having enough etc etc,
Can someone please tell me if I am on the correct track.

 

[RobCrezz]

Your sound card might make it not possible. SLI wont work unless they cards can run at 8x each minimum i believe.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

Your PSU has sufficient amps and wattage, so there's no problem with that.

Your CPU only has 16 PCIe lanes, some of which will be used by your sound card. On that basis, SLI wouldn't be suitable.

 

[RobCrezz]

Your PSU delivers sufficient amps and wattage on the +12V rail for SLI, but adding a third card will be pushing it as the PSU isn't of the highest quality.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Your CPU supports 16 PCIe lanes (2x8) so SLI isn't a problem. Your sound card will use PCI, not PCIe, so the amount of lanes doesn't factor into the equation.

You sure about that? The Asus Xonar Pheobus cards look like PCI-E to me...

His motherboard doesnt even have PCI slots.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

You sure about that? The Asus Xonar Pheobus cards look like PCI-E to me...

His motherboard doesnt even have PCI slots.

Yeah, my mistake, I went back and edited.

 

[Ra_V_en]

Are you both sure this card is certainly PCI not PCIE-X?
You based your answer on his misleading statement.... i couldn't find any PCI version of that sound card.
Please revoke that best answer until it gets any sense.

PCIE lanes are shared and depending on the mobo it would mostly take down the SLI setup to 4+4, 8+4 or 8+8 + PLX switch .

You better read this mobo manual for more information about shared PCI-X lanes and how it handles it. From what i know for certified SLI you need at least x8, but maybe there is internal workaround on the mobo side for this.