cheap 2-way SLI mother board

[Unknown-bjorn]

Hi all.
In the future i might want to sli my gpu and Im wondering what would be a good cheap-ish mother board. I have the i5-4670. I also live in South Afica and the budget would just be as low as possible but still a decent board. Thanks

 

[JackNaylorPE]

ASUS Z87-A is the board I use in budget builds but the MSI Z87 G45 is an award wining board for just $10 more.

 

[Unknown-bjorn]

ASUS Z87-A is the board I use in budget builds but the MSI Z87 G45 is an award wining board for just $10 more.

How much are they over there? because if i convert them to $ here they are $240 both over here. Which isnt too bad for over here.

 

[geofelt]

What gpu do you have now?
What is your monitor configuration?
Most of us do not need sli.
Here is my canned rant on planning for dual cards:
-----------------------------Start of rant----------------------------------------------------
Dual graphics cards vs. a good single card.

a) How good do you really need to be?
A single GTX650/ti or 7770 can give you good performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.

A single GTX660 or 7850 will give you excellent performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.
Even 2560 x 1600 will be good with lowered detail.
A single gtx690 or 7990 is about as good as it gets.

Only if you are looking at triple monitor gaming, then sli/cf will be needed.
Even that is now changing with triple monitor support on top end cards.

b) The costs for a single card are lower.
You require a less expensive motherboard; no need for sli/cf or multiple pci-e slots.
Even a ITX motherboard will do.

Your psu costs are less.
A GTX660 needs a 430w psu, even a GTX780 only needs a 575w psu.
When you add another card to the mix, plan on adding 150-200w to your psu requirements.

Even the most power hungry GTX690 only needs 620w, or a 7990 needs 700w.

Case cooling becomes more of an issue with dual cards.
That means a more expensive case with more and stronger fans.
You will also look at more noise.

c) Dual cards do not always render their half of the display in sync, causing microstuttering. It is an annoying effect.
The benefit of higher benchmark fps can be offset, particularly with lower tier cards.
Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

d) dual card support is dependent on the driver. Not all games can benefit from dual cards.

e) cf/sli up front reduces your option to get another card for an upgrade. Not that I suggest you plan for that.
It will often be the case that replacing your current card with a newer gen card will offer a better upgrade path.
The Maxwell and amd 8000 or 9000 series are due next year.
-------------------------------End of rant-----------------------------------------------------------

 

[Unknown-bjorn]

What gpu do you have now?
What is your monitor configuration?
Most of us do not need sli.
Here is my canned rant on planning for dual cards:
-----------------------------Start of rant----------------------------------------------------
Dual graphics cards vs. a good single card.

a) How good do you really need to be?
A single GTX650/ti or 7770 can give you good performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.

A single GTX660 or 7850 will give you excellent performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.
Even 2560 x 1600 will be good with lowered detail.
A single gtx690 or 7990 is about as good as it gets.

Only if you are looking at triple monitor gaming, then sli/cf will be needed.
Even that is now changing with triple monitor support on top end cards.

b) The costs for a single card are lower.
You require a less expensive motherboard; no need for sli/cf or multiple pci-e slots.
Even a ITX motherboard will do.

Your psu costs are less.
A GTX660 needs a 430w psu, even a GTX780 only needs a 575w psu.
When you add another card to the mix, plan on adding 150-200w to your psu requirements.

Even the most power hungry GTX690 only needs 620w, or a 7990 needs 700w.

Case cooling becomes more of an issue with dual cards.
That means a more expensive case with more and stronger fans.
You will also look at more noise.

c) Dual cards do not always render their half of the display in sync, causing microstuttering. It is an annoying effect.
The benefit of higher benchmark fps can be offset, particularly with lower tier cards.
Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

d) dual card support is dependent on the driver. Not all games can benefit from dual cards.

e) cf/sli up front reduces your option to get another card for an upgrade. Not that I suggest you plan for that.
It will often be the case that replacing your current card with a newer gen card will offer a better upgrade path.
The Maxwell and amd 8000 or 9000 series are due next year.
-------------------------------End of rant-----------------------------------------------------------

Hi my Gigabyte Gtx 660ti oc will be arriving shortly and I use 3 monitors of 1440/900 which becomes 4320/900 I think.

 

[geofelt]

For normal desktop work, you will have no problem with a GTX660ti.
If you intend to play fast action games on triple monitors, you may well need more than GTX660ti sli.
I suggest you see how you do first.

 

[Unknown-bjorn]

For normal desktop work, you will have no problem with a GTX660ti.
If you intend to play fast action games on triple monitors, you may well need more than GTX660ti sli.
I suggest you see how you do first.

Well I used to have a 7770 oc and ran across 3 screens in bf3 at low settings with about 40 fps. But i got the opportunity to sell it to a friend. so i did and ordered a 660ti which is about 100% better in all benchmarks so it will also handle the three screens well alone and in sli Even better. but my current mobo isnt compatible for SLI and I wanted to see how much a good 1 would cost and if getting sli is worth it.

 

[geofelt]

Again, see how you do before buying.
A sli capable 1150 motherboard need not be expensive.
Here is one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157372
If the M-ATX size is ok, this one is a bit cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157373

You will need a 620w psu with 4 6 pin connectors. for sli GTX660ti.
A psu that strong could also run a card as good as a GTX780 superclocked or titan.

 

[Unknown-bjorn]

Again, see how you do before buying.
A sli capable 1150 motherboard need not be expensive.
Here is one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157372
If the M-ATX size is ok, this one is a bit cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157373

You will need a 620w psu with 4 6 pin connectors. for sli GTX660ti.
A psu that strong could also run a card as good as a GTX780 superclocked or titan.

Yeah Like i said its more a plan for the future. But thanks anyways! been a great help