[SOLVED] CPU for SLI

[tyskeren]

Hello

I currently own an i5-7600k and a GTX 1080 ROG Strix

but in my boredom I’ve gone ahead and bought another GTX 1080 Strix for SLI use (Got a very good deal)
Now what I am interested in is, will my CPU bottleneck the SLI config (I assume it will) so more importantly, if I am to upgrade my CPU should I the aim for an i7 or is a newer i5, such as the i5-9600k enough? Or would it be better to go with a Ryzen 7 3700x instead of the i5?

Mainly gaming on a 32 inch 1440p display

Any input is appreciated

 

[punkncat]

What target resolution are you going for?

 

[tyskeren]

What target resolution are you going for?

Hello, sorry I forgot to mention that, will edit it.
i play on a 32 inch 1440p monitor, might sometimes play some 4k content on my TV, and will also be getting a 4K display for certain games at a later date, but mainly it will be 1440p

 

[punkncat]

As you increase resolution you transfer the load off to the GPU more so than at lower. My thoughts would be that if your current system is gaming fine at 1080 or better, this isn't going to hurt. Aside from that, you have it so you will see. This may be part of an U +1 adventure.

 

[mdd1963]

the 7600K is often getting slammed for it's minimum FPS (.1 and 1% lows), despite being in good shape for average FPS. The comparisons in many titles show the 6c/6t variants (i5-8400 thru the 9600K) faring much better, but, were I chasing max FPS, I'd probably be looking at the R5-3600 or 3700X (note: B450 boards do not support SLI, requires X470/570 ) or even a 9700K/Z390 combo.

You might try SLI first with your existing processor, and see if it's SLI performance meets your needs in the games you play. (I keep reading that SLI is 'almost dead', so am unfamiliar with it's current support in assorted games and/or drivers...; good luck!)

 

[Zizo007]

Hello

I currently own an i5-7600k and a GTX 1080 ROG Strix

but in my boredom I’ve gone ahead and bought another GTX 1080 Strix for SLI use (Got a very good deal)
Now what I am interested in is, will my CPU bottleneck the SLI config (I assume it will) so more importantly, if I am to upgrade my CPU should I the aim for an i7 or is a newer i5, such as the i5-9600k enough? Or would it be better to go with a Ryzen 7 3700x instead of the i5?

Mainly gaming on a 32 inch 1440p display

Any input is appreciated

Most games don't benefit from SLI and some games run slower with SLI than a single GPU.
Why did you choose SLI?
Is it for a particular game that supports SLI?

 

[tyskeren]

Most games don't benefit from SLI and some games run slower with SLI than a single GPU.
Why did you choose SLI?
Is it for a particular game that supports SLI?

Nope, just got an incredible deal, and if I don’t like it I can always sell the cards to a pretty nice price individually, and then buy an RTX, but I wanted to try it out first, was just curious about how my old CPU will do, and if it’s bad for it, I wanted to order a new one right away before my second GFX card arrives.

From what I’ve read online, there are now a pretty extensive list of games that benefit either Slightly or pretty heavily from SLI

 

[Rogue Leader]

Most games don't benefit from SLI and some games run slower with SLI than a single GPU.
Why did you choose SLI?
Is it for a particular game that supports SLI?

SLI has its downsides but games running slower isn't one of them. Lack of support and microstutter are the main issues. The expectation of double performance is the disappointment for most, since the additional card only adds like 50% better performance on average.

OP I wouldn't necessarily go out and buy a new motherboard and CPU for this (you really have no upgrade path with your current board except a 7700k which is not worth it), you will be disappointed. It should handle most games at higher resolution (1440p +) fine, the 7600k still has 4 pretty quick cores.

 

[tyskeren]

SLI has its downsides but games running slower isn't one of them. Lack of support and microstutter are the main issues. The expectation of double performance is the disappointment for most, since the additional card only adds like 50% better performance on average.

OP I wouldn't necessarily go out and buy a new motherboard and CPU for this (you really have no upgrade path with your current board except a 7700k which is not worth it), you will be disappointed. It should handle most games at higher resolution (1440p +) fine, the 7600k still has 4 pretty quick cores.

Okay, so would it be smarter to sell both, and get a RTX 2080?

My initial plan was to wait for news regarding the next gen cards, but seeing the current situation that is probably delayed quite significantly, and is my CPU still good with an RTX 2080 Super ?

 

[tyskeren]

SLI has its downsides but games running slower isn't one of them. Lack of support and microstutter are the main issues. The expectation of double performance is the disappointment for most, since the additional card only adds like 50% better performance on average.

OP I wouldn't necessarily go out and buy a new motherboard and CPU for this (you really have no upgrade path with your current board except a 7700k which is not worth it), you will be disappointed. It should handle most games at higher resolution (1440p +) fine, the 7600k still has 4 pretty quick cores.

Oh and BTW I have an ASUS ROG z270e Motherboard, which to my understanding does support SLI, so I don't think I would have to buy a new Motherboard

 

[Zizo007]

Hello

I currently own an i5-7600k and a GTX 1080 ROG Strix

but in my boredom I’ve gone ahead and bought another GTX 1080 Strix for SLI use (Got a very good deal)
Now what I am interested in is, will my CPU bottleneck the SLI config (I assume it will) so more importantly, if I am to upgrade my CPU should I the aim for an i7 or is a newer i5, such as the i5-9600k enough? Or would it be better to go with a Ryzen 7 3700x instead of the i5?

Mainly gaming on a 32 inch 1440p display

Any input is appreciated

I would sell both and get a 2080. You will only bottleneck in CPU heavy circumstances like BFV 64 player. Game should still get you 60+fps if you have 8+ threads.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Okay, so would it be smarter to sell both, and get a RTX 2080?

My initial plan was to wait for news regarding the next gen cards, but seeing the current situation that is probably delayed quite significantly, and is my CPU still good with an RTX 2080 Super ?

Heres the thing, 2 1080 in SLI will give you more FPS, but the 2080 will "run better" if that makes any sense. To give you an example I had 2 AMD R9 280 in Crossfire, I sold them and bought an RX 480. While I lost about 2000pts in 3DMark, my games all ran smoother and nicer, and didn't require messing with settings for each game just to get them to run.

As for waiting for next gen, they may be delayed yes, that said when released the value of your current GPUs will decrease. There has been no confirmation, but I'd imagine if something is coming out this year it will be in the latter half. Yes your CPU is still good with a 2080 Super, you could benefit from a faster one, but the 7600k will do it.

Oh and BTW I have an ASUS ROG z270e Motherboard, which to my understanding does support SLI, so I don't think I would have to buy a new Motherboard

If you want to upgrade your CPU your only option on that board is a 7700k which is not worth it. If you want to get a real CPU upgrade you need a new motherboard. If you go AMD and your ram is any slower than 3000mhz you will want to replace that too.

I would sell both and get a 2080. You will only bottleneck in CPU heavy circumstances like BFV 64 player. Game should still get you 60+fps if you have 8+ threads.

He doesn't he has a 7600k which is a 4 core 4 thread processor.

 

[Zizo007]

4c 4t is enough for most games but my Ryzen 4c 4t was not playable with BFV 64 player. Game was stuttering a lot, it was unplayable with all 4t at 100%.

Edit: I had a Vega 64 at that time so the issue was really the CPU. I upgraded to 1800X and game became extremely smooth and fast.

 

[Rogue Leader]

4c 4t is enough for most games but my Ryzen 4c 4t was not playable with BFV 64 player. Game was stuttering a lot, it was unplayable with all 4t at 100%.

Edit: I had a Vega 64 at that time so the issue was really the CPU. I upgraded to 1800X and game became extremely smooth and fast.

I agree a 4c4t processor is becoming an issue for some titles, but most work well enough.

 

[Deicidium369]

Most games don't benefit from SLI and some games run slower with SLI than a single GPU.
Why did you choose SLI?
Is it for a particular game that supports SLI?

Not at the low resolution - but quite a benefit at 4K - I run 4K 120Hz with Dual 2080TIs and the difference in some games is massive. So running at 1440 - then a single card is where it's at - and even 4K at 50-60fps can be done on a single card.

I read all the write-ups about how SLI was dead - and with people like L*nus not knowing how to optimize games, and getting terribad framerates in games like GTA5 - don't blame the tech on the lack of skill of the short between the seat and keyboard.

What is needed is a Manhattan style push to devise tech that makes it simple for programmers to make their code more parallel - and make use of all those extra cores (anything over 4 in games) - scientific apps are massivel parallel - but they are hand tuned, and no where near as complex as a modern games.

 

[geofelt]

@op:
Assuming you have a suitably strong psu(750w+) you have the means to try out sli and see if you like it.
Your synthetic fps benchmarks will be wonderful.
But, you will be prone to screen tearing and stuttering.

After you try it, then decide what you might want to do.

Have you overclocked your 7600K?
As of 6/19/17
What percent of samples can get an overclock
at a vcore around 1.4v.
I5-7600K
4.9 72%
5.0 52%
5.1 27%
5.2 16%
5.3 samples exist, unknown % of occurrence

 

[Zizo007]

Not at the low resolution - but quite a benefit at 4K - I run 4K 120Hz with Dual 2080TIs and the difference in some games is massive. So running at 1440 - then a single card is where it's at - and even 4K at 50-60fps can be done on a single card.

I read all the write-ups about how SLI was dead - and with people like L*nus not knowing how to optimize games, and getting terribad framerates in games like GTA5 - don't blame the tech on the lack of skill of the short between the seat and keyboard.

What is needed is a Manhattan style push to devise tech that makes it simple for programmers to make their code more parallel - and make use of all those extra cores (anything over 4 in games) - scientific apps are massivel parallel - but they are hand tuned, and no where near as complex as a modern games.

I miss my dual gpu single card HD5970.
It was ahead of its time. My 2080Ti OC is enough to run anything 60+ fps 4K.
I was looking at 2080Ti nvlink review here, fps increase is game dependant, sometimes there is less fps with sli than single gpu:

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-ti-sli-rtx-2080-sli-nvlink/4.html

 

[Rogue Leader]

What is needed is a Manhattan style push to devise tech that makes it simple for programmers to make their code more parallel - and make use of all those extra cores (anything over 4 in games) - scientific apps are massivel parallel - but they are hand tuned, and no where near as complex as a modern games.

Something that will never happen, in reference to SLI/Crossfire. Crossfire is already dead, SLI is on its death bed with Nvidia only supporting it in a dual configuration and many games not supporting it. Noone is disputing your points of it pulling monster frame rates, but its inherent flaws will never go away. Microstutter is still there, the need for a much larger PSU which we haven't even mentioned.

Microsoft even added dual GPU support to DirectX 12, called MultiGPU. in the end 2 AAA titles supported it over a 3 year period.

As for games needing more than 4 CPU cores, thats already been happening for years and there are now plenty of titles that benefit from 6 or more cores. Considering the Ryzen 5 1600 and 2600's price and availability, even a new build budget gaming system should never have less than 6 cores these days.

Your synthetic fps benchmarks will be wonderful.
But, you will be prone to screen tearing and stuttering.

The problem in a nutshell.