Help with SLI

[Guest]

I have never done a SLI build before, but i am thinking about upgrading my single gtx 980 ti, to two cards in SLI. My first question is, will i see much of an improvement in gaming? and is it worth it if i just have the money spare?

The second problem i have is, the motherboard i have purchased (MSI z97 gaming 9 ACK) has a small distance between the first and second pcie slots. Will i just have to try to fit it in? or are there any other placement solutions?

Link to imgur image of the motherboard

Apart from the clearance issue, everything else is compatible, so should be no other problems.

Thanks for your time

 

[harboym]

SLI technology has come a long way and has overcome a lot of issues it used to imply. I have been sli-ing nvidia cards for 2 years now, and I am currently running a dual 980ti setup. Sli will definitely improve your gaming experience if you can take advantage of the improvements.

If you are currently tearing through every game you play on ultra settings and getting the fps you want than theres not need for upgrade right now. However, if you're playing demanding games and not getting that 60 fps or maybe you're trying to drive a 120/144Hz panel and want to match that with beefier graphics. Or maybe you're looking into higher resolutions or multiple displays. These are all great reasons to consider an sli setup.

To answer your second question, you can set up two cards in that mother board in a couple ways. Using the top slot for gpu1, you can put gpu2 in either slot2 or slot3, they both have wide enough PCIe lanes. If gpu2 is in slot2, gpu1 will run hotter because it's fans will be blocked but it will fit.

 

[Guest]

SLI technology has come a long way and has overcome a lot of issues it used to imply. I have been sli-ing nvidia cards for 2 years now, and I am currently running a dual 980ti setup. Sli will definitely improve your gaming experience if you can take advantage of the improvements.

If you are currently tearing through every game you play on ultra settings and getting the fps you want than theres not need for upgrade right now. However, if you're playing demanding games and not getting that 60 fps or maybe you're trying to drive a 120/144Hz panel and want to match that with beefier graphics. Or maybe you're looking into higher resolutions or multiple displays. These are all great reasons to consider an sli setup.

To answer your second question, you can set up two cards in that mother board in a couple ways. Using the top slot for gpu1, you can put gpu2 in either slot2 or slot3, they both have wide enough PCIe lanes. If gpu2 is in slot2, gpu1 will run hotter because it's fans will be blocked but it will fit.

Thanks for the answer! I am running 3x 144hz monitors and i want to be able to play some games on all 3 of them. With the clearance issue, ill take your advice but i might just measure it all before i buy the card, but if you think it should fit, im sure it will. Thanks for the help!

P.S what would happen if i put it in the third slot? because i got a long sli bridge cable thing that reaches from the first slot to the third slot with my motherboard, would it preform any better or just not work?