GTX 970 SLI : Is it worth it for a budget?

[Faze Savage]

So I have my system. I could go for 2 RX 460s or 2 GTX 970s. These are my only GPU options. My system has a 5820K overclocked along with a cooler master hyper 212x (non turbo).

 

[Justiceinacan]

Background?
Paying for two GTX 970's would be around the price of a 1070 unless you're buying used ones, and single card > SLI, and 1070 is pretty good at 1080p though it might be less performance.

To answer original question ; GTX 970 > RX 460

 

[clarkjd]

Motherboard?
Do you already have a 970? As a general rule, a single, higher performing GPU is better than two weaker cards in SLI. Not all games support SLI, Two Vid cards require twice the power of one, and produce twice the heat.

 

[ZaneDragon]

1070 pretty good at 1080p?
It's GREAT.
I wouldn't but another 970 because SLI is supported by so few games that...I don't know. What games are you planning to play?

 

[Dooop805]

one 970 is more than 2 times faster than a 460. Adding another GPU wont give you 100% increase in speed. it doesnt work like that. so 2 460s would be a downgrade from a single 970. but 2 970s is like 300 watts so... That....

 

[1LiquidPC]

I came from using 2 970s in SLI to my current 1080. Also using OC'd 5820k. I had plenty of performance at 3440 x 1440P which is native resolution for my monitor. I ran mostly maxed settings, but had to turn down in some games a bit. What resolution are you running at? What card are you currently using? Like others say though, if SLI isn't scaling well, performance can drop considerably. Even at best, scaling isn't 100%, and you would use 250 to 300w to power the GPUs.