Thinking about getting another GTX 670, have some questions.

[SuperPieGuy]

Hello everyone, as you've read I'm thinking about getting a second GTX 670 and getting some SLI action going. But the only SLI I've done is with sandwich cards, so I've got a few questions.

1) How does the mix matching of brands/cards work with SLI? For example, I've got this in my computer right now:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4811224

This card is sold out from major retailers, other than 1 in stock from Amazon, for $499.99, which obviously isn't a very appealing price. So, could I buy this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637

even though they're not entirely the same, and use them in SLI, I assume with a combined dedicated video memory of 6GB.

2) My system's specs are below, and as you can see some of my hardware is a little dated. I'm wondering if 2 GTX 670's would cause my system to bottleneck. Now, I have no idea how bottleneck-ing works, and while I should just do some of my own research to learn about it, I'm gonna be lazy and ask you guys if you could give me a quick summary; or really, just how to know if something is going to bottleneck and what to look for.


Specs:
GPU: Asus GTX 670-DC2-4GB
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 945 @ 3.0GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2 @ ~1066MHz (I'm like 75% sure on this, if not 1066, 800MHz; I may not have set it to 1066 in the BIOS, I'll have to check later.)
MotherBoard: ASUS M4N82 Deluxe
OS: Win 7 64bit.
PSU: 1200W

I'm pretty sure that's just about everything, I'm greatly appreciative of the help guys, thank you very much.

 

[Anas Bashar]

running two cards with different memory (4GB & 2GB) forces them to work both at the lowest memory (2GB).
when running two cards, The operating system will report a graphics card memory size that is found on a single graphics board (so they will not be combined).
it is recommended to get another 4GB card (even if it was from a different manufacturer, any GTX670 4GB will do, even if it have a different clock speed, OCed for example). getting a 2GB card will result in wasting 2GB of memory on the first card, and your system will end up working on a total memory of 2GB.

 

[potpolima]

go for 670 sli but you need to upgrade your AMD Phenom II X4 945 later because it will bottleneck your 670 sli

 

[Anas Bashar]

go for 670 sli but you need to upgrade your AMD Phenom II X4 945 later because it will bottleneck your 670 sli

this CPU is comparable to i3 ivy bridge, and it is more than the minimum system requirements for upcoming AAA games like AC, watch dogs etc..
ofcourse upgrading the CPU will provide more performance, but gamingwise: GPU is far more important. i would wait for a good deal and upgrade the CPU later.

 

[SuperPieGuy]

Thank you very much Anas Bashar, you've answered my questions perfectly. I'll buy a 4BG 670 now, and probably a year or so down the road when I've got the dosh I'll upgrade that CPU. I'll probably wind up getting a new motherboard and RAM while I'm at it, beings, my MoBo is holding me back to DDR2.

 

[Anas Bashar]

Thank you very much Anas Bashar, you've answered my questions perfectly. I'll buy a 4BG 670 now, and probably a year or so down the road when I've got the dosh I'll upgrade that CPU. I'll probably wind up getting a new motherboard and RAM while I'm at it, beings, my MoBo is holding me back to DDR2.

ya, next step is Mobo/CPU/RAM combo.
you are welcome, good luck.

 

[madcap42]

i'm using gigabyte's gtx 670 oc version in sli there's no game outhere YET lol, i cannot use ultra settings on .
ALSO note when installing second card reload drivers from nvidia otherwise sli will not work

 

[BlankInsanity]

If I were you instead of going SLI I would just use all that money to purchase the best single card you can get.

Doing SLI can pose problems, because some games don't support them and others only show a 10% increase in performance, while you can just a much single gpu and have 30-40% increase in performance.

Id suggest crew the SLI and get a GTX 780, R9 280X, GTX 770...

which will provide you a much better result than sli 2 670s.

But if you really want to sli I'd rather get the 760s

 

[SuperPieGuy]

If I were you instead of going SLI I would just use all that money to purchase the best single card you can get.

Doing SLI can pose problems, because some games don't support them and others only show a 10% increase in performance, while you can just a much single gpu and have 30-40% increase in performance.

Id suggest crew the SLI and get a GTX 780, R9 280X, GTX 770...

which will provide you a much better result than sli 2 670s.

But if you really want to sli I'd rather get the 760s

While I value your opinion, I'd have to respectfully disagree. I already have one 670, so I'm not paying the price of 2. I've found the price of 4GB 670s to be in the low $300s, which is a little less than what the 770s go for, and much cheaper than a 780, while usually performing better than both.

While I understand that SLI can be a pain sometimes, as I've owned a GTX 295 at one point, I think buying a second 670 is simply the best thing I can do in terms of price and performance.

 

[tougas]

like what was already said. the speeds do not add together. essentially they both work as hard as the slowest one and then they split the work. so by not using identical cards there will be a waste in at least one category. someone correct me if im wrong please lol.