Will running two video cards in SLI give me better FPS

[kegga62]

Motherboard is: ASUS, M2N32-SLI, Deluxe
CPU/Prossesor is: AMD Athlon 64x2 6400+
Ram/Memory is: 3070MB
Video Card is: PNY 550 Ti
Res. is set at: 1920x1080px32
Using Windows XP

I know I should have bought a better Video card but I didn't. So for the sake of money If I buy another PNY 550 Ti and run them in SLI will it give me better FPS while Gaming.

 

[bob100684]

Pretty sure it's not just your video card. Your cpu is holding you back too no matter what card is in there.

 

[phishy714]

Yes it would, but you have to consider other factors as well before you just go and add another video card. For one, what is your current power supply wattage and make/model? For two 550ti's in SLI, you will want at least a 600W power supply from a QUALITY manufacturer. If you don't have that, then that's what you have to upgrade first.

Secondly you have to consider heat and airflow. I don't know what case you have, but runing SLI will cause ALOT of heat from the cards, especially if they are close together. You need to have plenty of airflow going through the case to be able to get rid of that heat. If not, it might dmg your system if it gets too hot.

Aside from that, if you have those things covered, yes, you can run another 550ti and get a nice performance increase.

 

[kegga62]

I'm also thinking about upgrading my CPU to a: AMD Athlon ll x4 605e Quad Core.
2.30GHz. it is campatable with my older Mobo. I'd like to get out of this as cheeply as I can.

 

[kegga62]

I'm pretty sure my power supply is at least 650 watt. How do I tell ? Also I've been running SLI. Just got rid of Two PNY 9800 video cards. I have a great case with 3 cooling fans.

 

[kegga62]

Best answer selected by kegga62.

 

[phishy714]

You can just open up your case and see who the manufacturer is of the PSU. Anything by corsair, antec, seasonic, PC power & cooling, OCZ, Cougar will be fine.

 

[kegga62]

P/S is a: Xfinity 600 Watt. ATX SLI ready

 

[phishy714]

hmmm.. a quick google search says its a relatively good product, so I think you should be fine overall. If you do have any problems, though, like crappy performance in games or even worse performance in games than just using 1 card, the PSU is the first thing I would look into replacing, just cause there isn't alot of information out there about it. Otherwise, I think you are good to go sir. Enjoy your SLI!