[SOLVED] Dual Card GPU & PSU

[KidTao]

Hello, PC Gurus;

I have an 850W PSU liquid cooled chassis, and I have been looking into a dual card GPU upgrade. Most video cards that I have looked at are listing 250w for their power consumption, and pretty much all of them ask for 650w system power supply. For my upgraded rig, with 350w above the dual cards' power consumption (250w X 2 = 500w), wouldn't the computer stay operational most of the time? The second card won't be in full throttle mode most of the time anyway...

Would you think this move is worth a try?

 

[Wolfshadw]

Depends on your intended usage, the cards you intend to use, and the specific model of your power supply.

-Wolf sends

 

[KidTao]

Depends on your intended usage, the cards you intend to use, and the specific model of your power supply.

-Wolf sends

INTENDED USAGE
I am not a gamer. The most intensive activity will be 3D modeling in Maya, and there won't be any overclocking.

MONITORS
I have BenQ XL2420T, and the 2nd one will be coming. Probably Dell UltraSharp 27”.

Video Cards that I’m looking at
PNY GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB Blower
I have checked physically it will fit, including 4 8-pin power cables, so the missing puzzle is enough power supply for 2.

PSU
850W Liquid Cooled Chassis
Its model number is 13p1-4yuoc12, but I couldn’t get any meaningful data through system scanning.


I'd appreciate it if you can share your insight.

 

[Wolfshadw]

As I understand it, Maya does not support SLI or Multiple GPU set ups. Actually, it is more CPU dependent, so adding more graphics power does not make sense here.

As for the power requirements, I'm not sure why you're thinking an RTX 2080Ti only has a 250 watt draw. The inclusion of two 8-pin aux power connectors (@ up to 150 watts each) suggests each card would draw between 301 and 375 watts. Two of these cards could potentially require up to 750 watts of power and those 8-pin power ports are not optional. If your power supply doesn't have four 8-pin (6+2pin) PCIE power cables, even at 850 watts, it's not designed to run two of those cards.

You'd be better off ditching the multi-GPU set up and perhaps going with a better processor/more RAM (if possible).

-Wolf sends

 

[KidTao]

As I understand it, Maya does not support SLI or Multiple GPU set ups. Actually, it is more CPU dependent, so adding more graphics power does not make sense here.

As for the power requirements, I'm not sure why you're thinking an RTX 2080Ti only has a 250 watt draw. The inclusion of two 8-pin aux power connectors (@ up to 150 watts each) suggests each card would draw between 301 and 375 watts. Two of these cards could potentially require up to 750 watts of power and those 8-pin power ports are not optional. If your power supply doesn't have four 8-pin (6+2pin) PCIE power cables, even at 850 watts, it's not designed to run two of those cards.

You'd be better off ditching the multi-GPU set up and perhaps going with a better processor/more RAM (if possible).

-Wolf sends

This is great stuff. It does de-mystify. Thank you so much, Wolfshadw. 🙏

Let me ask you one more question if I could:

Would TITAN RTX offer any advantage over 2080 Ti for what I want to do—3D modeling in Maya on 2 monitors? The price difference is more than double, and I wonder there is still a redeeming value…

 

[Wolfshadw]

Given the slight increase in performance (in general) that the Titan has over the 2080Ti and given the price premium, I would say, "No way in hell!" In my honest opinion (and it IS just my opinion), the only time you'd actually notice a difference between these two cards in what you're doing is if with each render, you're timing it with a stop watch.

If the 2080Ti finishes the render in eight hours, the Titan might finish it in seven and a half hours. But these aren't things you typically wait around for. You start them at night and hope they're done when you get back the next morning.

-Wolf sends

 

[KidTao]

Given the slight increase in performance (in general) that the Titan has over the 2080Ti and given the price premium, I would say, "No way in hell!" In my honest opinion (and it IS just my opinion), the only time you'd actually notice a difference between these two cards in what you're doing is if with each render, you're timing it with a stop watch.

If the 2080Ti finishes the render in eight hours, the Titan might finish it in seven and a half hours. But these aren't things you typically wait around for. You start them at night and hope they're done when you get back the next morning.

-Wolf sends

Thank you again for sharing your insight, Wolfshadow.

Ironically, that PNY card got sold out on all the reputed vendors virtually overnight, but now that I have a sense my dual card plan was basically a vanity project thanks to your advice, I have more flexibility. Worst comes worst, maybe 3080 will come out by then.

Also, speaking of Maya being CPU-intensive, with Intel Core i7-7700K and 64gb RAM on Aurora R6, I may have already maxed out in that regard, so I think I'd better take things in moderation as at a certain point, pouring and pouring money into an old computer wouldn’t add up.