can you sli a gtx 980 and 970?(one of each)

[Phunly]

So I am going to buy a gtx 980 ,this is not a debate I can not afford 970 sli, however I was wondering down the road once new graphics cards are realised weather I should sli. However I fear that a second 980 might still be too expensive then so I was wondering weather it is possible to sli a 970 with a 980. The only reason I think this is because my friend has sli-ed a 770 with a 970 and it works fine.

Thanks for the help

 

[ZachyBeat]

You can run multiple cards in the same computer independently but you cannot SLI two different cards. I'm not sure if your friend is being honest with you. He might have them both in his computer but not setup for SLI. Nvidia requires the same gpu and vram for SLI to work. For example you would need two gtx 970s that are 4gb. One with 2gb wouldn't work (I don't think that card exists but this is just as an example).

What resolution and games are you planning on playing? 60hz or 144hz monitor? If you're going for 1080p 60hz I would just grab a 970/r9 390. If you want to spend the extra cash and have it last you an extra year then feel free to grab the 980.

 

[sizzling]

Currently you cannot sli 2 different cards, not sure what your friend is doing but it's not sli with a 770 and a 970.

In the future when DX12 becomes mainstream and games and drivers are released to support all it's features DX12 it should be possible in those games that support it but we are years from that being a reality.

 

[Sumo999]

If you had simply googled the question you would of got your answer. Your friend has not sli those cards what he might of done is use one for physX and one for graphics.

 

[Phunly]

You can run multiple cards in the same computer independently but you cannot SLI two different cards. I'm not sure if your friend is being honest with you. He might have them both in his computer but not setup for SLI. Nvidia requires the same gpu and vram for SLI to work. For example you would need two gtx 970s that are 4gb. One with 2gb wouldn't work (I don't think that card exists but this is just as an example).

What resolution and games are you planning on playing? 60hz or 144hz monitor? If you're going for 1080p 60hz I would just grab a 970/r9 390. If you want to spend the extra cash and have it last you an extra year then feel free to grab the 980.

Thanks for the answer. The monitor I will be getting is the Acer KA220HQbid (on Amazon:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-KA220HQbid-21-5-Black-Full/dp/B00Z03HSP2) as my current monitor is d-sub which I will still keep. I will still most likely get the 980 just for the future proofing unless the new 8GB cards are announced to be sold soon and then if the price of the 4GB 900's drop I might sli 970's or even 980's. Also i currently ave 16GB of RAM and a 4.2 GHz possessor so I want to make a my good rig great (as currently I am am running a k2000 XD)
edit: just looked at my motherboard it does not have 2 pcix16 it only has a pci and pcix1 so if i wanted to sli i would have to buy a new motherboard too...shame :{

 

[ZachyBeat]

You can run multiple cards in the same computer independently but you cannot SLI two different cards. I'm not sure if your friend is being honest with you. He might have them both in his computer but not setup for SLI. Nvidia requires the same gpu and vram for SLI to work. For example you would need two gtx 970s that are 4gb. One with 2gb wouldn't work (I don't think that card exists but this is just as an example).

What resolution and games are you planning on playing? 60hz or 144hz monitor? If you're going for 1080p 60hz I would just grab a 970/r9 390. If you want to spend the extra cash and have it last you an extra year then feel free to grab the 980.

Thanks for the answer. The monitor I will be getting is the Acer KA220HQbid (on Amazon:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-KA220HQbid-21-5-Black-Full/dp/B00Z03HSP2) as my current monitor is d-sub which I will still keep. I will still most likely get the 980 just for the future proofing unless the new 8GB cards are announced to be sold soon and then if the price of the 4GB 900's drop I might sli 970's or even 980's. Also i currently ave 16GB of RAM and a 4.2 GHz possessor so I want to make a my good rig great (as currently I am am running a k2000 XD)
edit: just looked at my motherboard it does not have 2 pcix16 it only has a pci and pcix1 so if i wanted to sli i would have to buy a new motherboard too...shame :{

Haha upgrading computers can be a pain in the butt sometimes. I'm looking to go from AMD FX to a Skylake I5 but the mobo, cpu, and OS cost is making me put it off. Do you plan on overclocking your GPU at all? If so try and get a 980 with a good cooler. Looking at their clock speeds is a little irrelevant as you'll be able to overclock cards with the better coolers and binned chips. If not, grab the best card you can afford. Unfortunately I don't follow how good the coolers are all that closely so I can't recommend a specific one. Maybe someone can chime in with recommendations.

Best of luck with your build,
Zac