GTX 760 with 550ti as Dedicated PhysX (and related Mobo issue)

Sirflankalot

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I currently have an overclocked 760 and have a friend who is getting a new graphics card soon. He doesn't have room to keep his old card, so he agreed to give me his old 550ti. Now, because I have a low end motherboard, I have 1 PCI 3.0 x16 slot, 2 PCI 1.0 x16 slots, and 1 PCI 2.0 x4 slot. I have my 760 in the 3.0 slot. I also have read that the 550ti won't be bottlenecked by the PCI 1.0 x16 slot. (Cooling of the 760 is not a problem.)

My Mobo: Newegg

5 Questions:

1: If I put the 550ti in a 1.0 x16 slot, will it be bottlenecked?

2: If I use the 550ti for physX, will it help me (I play games with physX)?

3: Do I have to put my two monitors on the 760 or can I put my main one (1080p) on the 760 and the smaller one (1280 x 1024) on the 550ti?

4: As my 760 is on the edge of overclocking stability (10-20 mhz more and it's unstable) will having another card making it slightly hotter cause instability problems?

5: On my motherboard (MicroATX) there are 6 standoffs, but when I installed it, I missed the very bottom right standoff. I didn't think anything of it at the time because there was a standoff below my only gpu. However adding a 550ti on the 3rd slot (from the top) would put a lot of load on the one standoff on the right. Do I need that standoff? Is there a way to put a standoff in without taking the rest of the mobo out? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Sirflankalot
 
You could stuff something between the mounting panel and board where the missing standoff is? As long as it's not conductive and not touching a component on the board, should be fine.

The 550ti should work fine as a Physx card. It will not function as a second graphics card, nor will it be considered as an SLI setup.
It will not produce images to run a second monitor, but it will enhance the Physx features in supported games.

Your 760 will be fine.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/How-to-Install-and-Configure-a-Dedicated-PhysX-Video-Card/1763/1
 

Sirflankalot

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The mobo hitting the motherboard trey isn't the problem, too much force on the existing standoffs are the issue.
 

Sirflankalot

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I'm just paranoid that I'm going to damage something because of me missing a standoff. :)
 
The 550 Ti is a relatively small card and shouldn't put much stress on your mobo.

For PhysX, you can use it in any available PCIe slot, even x1 works since its not doing graphics. As a dedicated PhysX card, it is purely doing PhysX calculations, not rendering graphics, a lot of people miss that understanding. Not sure about plugging in a second monitor to the 550 Ti, but I think you need to plug both monitors into your primary graphics card, the GTX 760. Both of your cards are not particularly hot cards, but in an enclosed space, do your best to ensure proper airflow. You should be fine.

You should see approximately a ~25% performance boost in PhysX games, that is a very rough estimate. You will need to experiment to see just how much of a boost you get, and ultimately if the extra heat and power consumption is worth it. I'm personally looking forward to PhysX in the new COD: Ghosts. Here's a great site for PhysX benchmarks:
http://physxinfo.com/articles/

The last thing to do is to make sure you have a power supply that can handle an extra card. If you are already cutting it close on a lower quality PSU, then adding another probably won't work.
 

Spencer1

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The 550 Ti should be nice.

If I remember right Linus did a video a while ago testing different GPUs as PhysX cards. I think the 550 Ti was the "sweet spot" where higher end cards didn't really help any more.

PCIe 1.0 would work just fine even if you had your 760 plugged into it. Since it's a mid range card it's not going to use all of that bandwidth I don't think. However, PCIe x1 is a different story, because most of those slots on the motherboard physically wouldn't fit a GPU, since they're pretty tiny. You'll know the difference if you see it.

You shouldn't have any issues at all. Just make sure you have a good PSU of about 500-600 watts as a minimum assuming a "normal" system. And make sure to have your monitors plugged into the 760.

EDIT: About the standoffs, that's not an issue at all. I had big air cooling and a big fat MSI 660 Ti that uses a GTX 680 PCB IIRC and is pretty huge and heavy on a mobo missing a screw because I somehow skipped it. Oops. Nothing that resembled any damage though, not even any flex. Where the GPU screws into the rear expansion slots should take most of the weight. Just make sure the other screws on the board are secure, as is usually recommended :)
 

Sirflankalot

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I have a good 650w PSU so I should be fine.



I have a good enough PSU (see above) and I can put it in the 1.0 x16 slot. My 760's intake air will be going next to the 550ti but gigabyte's cooling for the 760 is absolutely beautiful. :)

Thanks for the help guys :)

Edit: What about my overclocking stability? Do you guys think that will be affected by having the 550 in there?
 

Spencer1

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The overclocking stability shouldn't be affected at all. However, if that 550 Ti is working really hard, the Gigabyte cooler will be pulling air off that card, and it will heat up a few degrees max because it's not pulling in cool intake air anymore, but slightly heated air. Overclocking should not be an issue at all unless heat was an issue in the first place. Shouldn't be with the huge heatsink. Gigabyte makes awesome coolers.

Also, what brand is the PSU? I'm wondering. I think Seasonic makes a 650w one and that would be my first guess. Just want to make 110% sure you're going to be OK. :)

EDIT: Ninja'd but we pretty much said the same thing. No issues should arise.
 

Sirflankalot

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No, it's a PNY 550ti with a regular fan, and semi-open enclosure(small gaps top and bottom). It also runs hot 95 (furmark) and about 85 (gaming) on my friends system. Newegg



It's a Rosewill Hive 650w PSU, and I have read that they are very good.
 

Spencer1

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Well even though the 550 Ti is really hot it shouldn't be an issue. Just make sure you have decent ventilation, as you'll never see temps that high if it's a PhysX card, I don't think. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The Hive is a decent PSU and should be plenty, I think.

Sorry about the delayed response. Give it a shot if you haven't already.
 

Sirflankalot

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No problem, and thanks. It's probably going to be a while until my friend gets a gpu upgrade so I can't try it. :)
 

Spencer1

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Sounds good! If that 550 Ti is running hot you should check if the factory screwed up the thermal compound installation. Even if the factory did a good job, you could make it run cooler by reapplying thermal compound. If your friend hasn't done so since he got it, it would be a good idea as it's probably been a while since that card was fresh from the factory.

Thermal compound tends to not work as well after a few years. When my parents complained that their 5 year old Pentium D (ha!) office PC was overheating a while back, I found that the thermal compound had the consistency of dirt/cement. Doesn't help that you could fry bacon on those stupid Pentiums.
 

Sirflankalot

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I don't actually know how to do that though. :(