Question [HELP] is it possible/worth for me to add my second 1080 Ti GPU ? (NO SLI)

[Zazou38]

Hi,

I create this topic because i have a second unused 1080 Ti GPU and i want to know if it's possible and worth for me to add it to my system ? (NO SLI, mainly video editing usage)
I apologize for my low english level and thank everyone in advance for your support !

My system at the moment:
Motherboard : MSI Z370 Gaming M5 (https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/Z370-GAMING-M5/Specification)
CPU : Intel i7-8700K (https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...o-4-70-ghz/specifications.html?wapkw=i7-8700k)
GPU : x1 MSI 1080 Ti Gaming X (connected in my top PCI_E1: PCIe 3.0 x16)(https://us.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-GTX-1080-Ti-GAMING-X-11G/Specification)
RAM : 2 x 8 Go DDR4 3200MHz CL16 Corsair Vengeance (https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categories/Products/Memory/VENGEANCE-LPX/p/CMK16GX4M2B3200C16)
PowerSupply : 850 Watt Corsair HX850i (https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categ...-series-config/p/CP-9020073-UK#tab-tech-specs)
Cooling : Corsair H115i (https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categ...uid-CPU-Cooler/p/CW-9060027-WW#tab-tech-specs)
Storage : - SSD Samsung 960 EVO M.2 250Go (connected on my M2_2 slot Pcie ) (https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...ives/ssd-960-evo-m-2-250gb-mz-v6e250bw/#specs)
- HDD 2T0 on SATA
Monitor : 2k 144hz ROG SWIFT PG278Q (https://rog.asus.com/monitors/27-to-31-5-inches/rog-swift-pg278q-model/)


COMPATIBILITY ?

If i add my second 1080 Ti on my second PCIe slot, will it be compatible with my system ?
MotherBoard slots : 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16/x0/x4, x8/x8/x4 modes)
Question 1 : So apparently its ok but i will be in x8/x8 mode, is it better than only one GPU in x16 mode ?

PCIE Lanes :
Question 2 : My CPU as a max of 16 pcie lanes, if i'm in x8/x8, my cpu will be able to use my 2 GPU and my SSD correctly ?

Power supply :
According to Cooler master power supply calculator my 850 watts will be enought for my dual 1080ti (it recommand 700watt)


WORTH ?
My usage of computer : I used to have a gaming usage of my PC, but nowadays i mainly use it for Première pro video editing (80%) and sometimes gaming (20%)
I know that without SLI, i wont be able to have better performance in gaming situation, but my goal is to mainly increase my video editing performances.
Question 3 : If we consider my system compatible with this dual GPU setup, will it be worth for me in term of video editing performance ?


Windows & Premiere pro configuration
Question 4 : After connecting my second GPU to my system, what settings on windows and première pro should i do to totally benefit from my dual GPU setup ?


Thanks for all your help and advices !



(Bonus question : if i give you 500$ to upgrade my configuration, what would you change ? )

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums and a Happy New Year, newcomer!

(NO SLI, mainly video editing usage)
I don't see how you can leverage any software/app with regards to video rendering if you're outside of SLI, meaning your system has two discrete GPU's and the app needs to use one or the other as it doesn't see the two GPU's as one.

PowerSupply : 850 Watt Corsair HX850i
How old is the PSU in the build listed above?

(Bonus question : if i give you 500$ to upgrade my configuration, what would you change ? )
I'd add storage, if anything, or sell both GPU's and pick up a more powerful single GPU. If you do add storage to the build, I'm still going to suggest working with one discrete GPU instead of two.

 

[Zazou38]

Thank you for your answer ! Happy new year too !

(NO SLI, mainly video editing usage)
I don't see how you can leverage any software/app with regards to video rendering if you're outside of SLI, meaning your system has two discrete GPU's and the app needs to use one or the other as it doesn't see the two GPU's as one.

Premiere pro can't benefit from dual GPU no sli ?!
Do you think i should buy an SLI Bridge then ? Any specifics model recommandation?

PowerSupply : 850 Watt Corsair HX850i
How old is the PSU in the build listed above?

I dont remember exactly but around 2017/2018

(Bonus question : if i give you 500$ to upgrade my configuration, what would you change ? )
I'd add storage, if anything, or sell both GPU's and pick up a more powerful single GPU. If you do add storage to the build, I'm still going to suggest working with one discrete GPU instead of two.

I'm not mentally ready to sell my GPUs, but yeah i plan to expand my storage, do you have any model recommandation to upgrade my 250go m2 gen3 ?

 

[Lutfij]

Do you think i should buy an SLI Bridge then ? Any specifics model recommandation?
You're asking a person who has always said: "get the single most powerful GPU that your wallet can buy." That suggestion won't change here. Simply put, no I wouldn't buy an SLI bridge, you're not going to do SLI and it's effectively dead in 2022(or a couple of years). You're only burning through your PSU and your (power)utility bills, not to mention more heat dumped into your system.

 

[Zazou38]

You're asking a person who has always said: "get the single most powerful GPU that your wallet can buy." That suggestion won't change here. Simply put, no I wouldn't buy an SLI bridge, you're not going to do SLI and it's effectively dead in 2022(or a couple of years). You're only burning through your PSU and your (power)utility bills, not to mention more heat dumped into your system.

I agree about SLI being a bad plan in 2022 2023... And i would have never bought a second graphic card, but a friend of mine gave me this second 1080 Ti after upgrading his GPU and i wanted to make a use of it...
So if we exclude the SLI possibilty, adding my second graphic card will give me zero benefit ? Damn sometime hardwars is disapointing !

 

[Lutfij]

Yeah, sorry I'm slowly adjusting to the new year.

 

[Zazou38]

Yeah, sorry I'm slowly adjusting to the new year.

Ahah same thing around here

i found this video :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoHuY2KZn3I


Apparently this guys succeeded to benefit from a second video card for video rendering on premiere pro ! No too much, but 2minutes saved on a 11minute rendering time, so 20% speed up !
I think i will try to do my own test


Concerning the compatibility (question 1 & 2), you think its safe to add my second card ?

 

[USAFRet]

RAM : 2 x 8 Go DDR4 3200MHz CL16 Corsair Vengeance

Your performance would benefit MUCH more from more RAM, rather than a second GPU.

That the guy in the video shaved off 2 minutes is sort of irrelevant. You have totally different hardware.

 

[Zazou38]

Thx for your answer!

Your performance would benefit MUCH more from more RAM, rather than a second GPU.

That the guy in the video shaved off 2 minutes is sort of irrelevant. You have totally different hardware.

You think RAM is my limiting factor in my config for video rendering ?
What do you recommand ? Adding 2x8go of same Ram to setup in quad channel ?

 

[USAFRet]

Thx for your answer!

You think RAM is my limiting factor in my config for video rendering ?
What do you recommand ? Adding 2x8go of same Ram to setup in quad channel ?

Comparing to the video you linked, yes.

Not add, replace your existing 16GB with 2x16 or 2x 32.

 

[Zazou38]

Not add, replace your existing 16GB with 2x16 or 2x 32.

With the Ram low prices of these days i will definitly to that,
2x16 is enought no ?
do you have recommandation of ram model for my config ?
Thx for your help !!

 

[Bazzy 505]

CPU and RAM is mainly what you should be looking at, adding second 1080ti won't net you much in a way of performance. NVlink (SLI) in cosumer grade productw has been on the side lines of NVIDIA interests since about 9th geneation geforce. If you don't know what to do witht he second 1080ti, the smartest thing you can do with it is to sell it.

For video editing in general, you're at highest bus bandwidth and largest ram pool you can afford. ( not even mentioning storage_

Max. memory bandwidth of 8700K sits at 41.6GB/s with current 13th intel generation it's more than double at 89,6GB/S.
Together with the memory pool, has substabtial impact on scanning/previewing speed on raw footage editing, chroma keying, overlaying all the way to final render.
Pretty much all noteworthy video editing packages be Avid or Premiere now make very heavy use of AVX2 extensions, which also has significant imact on overall performance (8700K AVX2 performance is not great tbh)

If you have 500 to spare, buy yourself a mid tier B or H 12/13 gen motherboard, 12600/13600K CPU and 64gig of DDR4 3600 RAM.

 

[Zazou38]

Thanks you for your answer!

May i ask you some clarification about your answer ? With my low hardwarde knowledges and medium english level, i'm not sure to totally understood it...😓

CPU and RAM is mainly what you should be looking at, adding second 1080ti won't net you much in a way of performance. NVlink (SLI) in cosumer grade productw has been on the side lines of NVIDIA interests since about 9th geneation geforce. If you don't know what to do witht he second 1080ti, the smartest thing you can do with it is to sell it.

if i understand it correctly, what u mean is : with my current configuration, i will obtain better video editing performance if i sell my second GPU and use the money it to upgrade my CPU (and motherboard) and my RAM instead of just use my second card.

For video editing in general, you're at highest bus bandwidth and largest ram pool you can afford. ( not even mentioning storage_

Max. memory bandwidth of 8700K sits at 41.6GB/s with current 13th intel generation it's more than double at 89,6GB/S.

Can you explain to me what u mean here, im not sure to have the knowledge to truely understand it.... My CPU bus bandwidth is satured with my current composents ?

Together with the memory pool, has substabtial impact on scanning/previewing speed on raw footage editing, chroma keying, overlaying all the way to final render.

Here u tell me that for usual editing task, i'm mainly limited by my CPU and RAM, not by GPU right ?

Pretty much all noteworthy video editing packages be Avid or Premiere now make very heavy use of AVX2 extensions, which also has significant imact on overall performance (8700K AVX2 performance is not great tbh)

Here u explain me that newer specialized CPU for editing have better "AVX2 performances" compare to my old i7-8700K which is particulary important for video editing program of theses days ?

If you have 500 to spare, buy yourself a mid tier B or H 12/13 gen motherboard, 12600/13600K CPU and 64gig of DDR4 3600 RAM.

Ok, if i want to invest in updrading my config, i should invest on CPU and RAM
question : 64Go of RAM will have big impact compare to 32go ? at the moment, with only 16Go, i'm rarely using all of it, i understand why i could use 3600MHz ram but why what benefit 64Go could give me ?

Thx again for all ur help! Damn sometimes it's hard to learn hardware, but its really interesting and i learn as fast as i can

 

[Bazzy 505]

Thanks you for your answer!

May i ask you some clarification about your answer ? With my low hardwarde knowledges and medium english level, i'm not sure to totally understood it...😓


if i understand it correctly, what u mean is : with my current configuration, i will obtain better video editing performance if i sell my second GPU and use the money it to upgrade my CPU (and motherboard) and my RAM instead of just use my second card.


Can you explain to me what u mean here, im not sure to have the knowledge to truely understand it.... My CPU bus bandwidth is satured with my current composents ?


Here u tell me that for usual editing task, i'm mainly limited by my CPU and RAM, not by GPU right ?



Here u explain me that newer specialized CPU for editing have better "AVX2 performances" compare to my old i7-8700K which is particulary important for video editing program of theses days ?



Ok, if i want to invest in updrading my config, i should invest on CPU and RAM
question : 64Go of RAM will have big impact compare to 32go ? at the moment, with only 16Go, i'm rarely using all of it, i understand why i could use 3600MHz ram but why what benefit 64Go could give me ?

Thx again for all ur help! Damn sometimes it's hard to learn hardware, but its really interesting and i learn as fast as i can

While Adobe Premiere in particular does make use of GPU acceleration in certain tasks, most of the heavy lifting is done by CPU.

Without needlessly going too deep into details AVX is a group of vector extensions that greatly accelerate SIMD (single instruction multiple data) paralelized type worloads. Video processing is a good example of such kind of workload .

As for memory, the maximum amount of memory reads/writes CPU can perfrom is limited not only by speed of memory stick but also my maximum speed at which memory controller can operate. Memory controller is part of the CPU. While your motherboard can support faster ram, CPU can't make effective use of it beyound the limits of controller itself. Newer intel CPUs are just much faster at it.

In regards to how much total RAM you actually need, optimim for editing raw 1080p footage is 32GB of RAM, for 4K video a good standard is 64GB.

Even if your final render is only 1080p, it is a good practice to have the working material in higher resolution. Final output with your effects tends to look much better the more source date you have to work with; especially when layering multiple effects on the top of each other. It also allows your material to be somewhat future proof, and allows you to get back to it few years.

In terms of GPU video memory, 1080Ti has 11GB of GDDR5 memory, which is technically pretty decent for working all the way to 4K resolution and even 8K if you're patient enough
You can also find pretty dencent rundown of what impacts performance in Premiere under this link

Hardware Recommendations

Our workstations for Adobe Premiere Pro are tested and optimized to give you the best performance and reliability. View our hardware recommendations.

www.pugetsystems.com

 

[Zazou38]

Thank you for all your help !