Graphics card advice

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damon99
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Graphics card advice

Post by damon99 »

So I need some advice on what I should do here. I currently have 2 GTX 970's (4GB each) SLI together. Now back when I added the second GPU it was no problem. Performance went up. Everything was fine.

But now it seems less games are supporting SLI and its basically like I just have an extra $250 sitting in my PC doing nothing.

So my question is.. Would it be wise to sell these GPU's and purchase something like a 1080? I gather I might be able to sell both of them together for around $400 maybe. What would be the best bang for my buck for upgrading and making it worth my while? Let me know what you guys think.

Here's a little bit about my set up:

AMD FX-8350 (8 core) CPU
16GB DDR3 RAM
(2) GTX 970 4GB SLI
850W PSU

Thanks in advance for any help.
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SMR 510RR
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Re: Graphics card advice

Post by SMR 510RR »

The 8350 will probably bottleneck the 1080 quite a bit. Have you considered saving for a more modern build entirely? You could get the 1080 now I guess and then save for a Mobo, CPU, and RAM later.
damon99
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Re: Graphics card advice

Post by damon99 »

SMR 510RR wrote:The 8350 will probably bottleneck the 1080 quite a bit. Have you considered saving for a more modern build entirely? You could get the 1080 now I guess and then save for a Mobo, CPU, and RAM later.
I have considered it. Don't quite have the funds yet for complete rebuild.
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SMR 510RR
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Re: Graphics card advice

Post by SMR 510RR »

There have been some nuts deals popping up on https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/ the last few days. May want to keep an eye on there, problem is they sell out quick. There was a Ryzen 5 mobo combo for $209 after MIR and gift card (that you could use toward RAM anyway).
Pumaxcs
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Re: Graphics card advice

Post by Pumaxcs »

I agree that SLI has slacked off a bit disappointingly so and my next build will likely not have it. However, I think that its much more likely that games are running into a CPU bottleneck and your 970's aren't doing what they could before. Getting a 1080 would be cool but the improvement you'd see would be negligible simply because of the FX series.

When I upgraded my brother from a FX 4 to a Ryzen 5 I actually did this as a test myself with my old GTX 780. So not an exact match but coincidentally really close.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/14516631
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/14619283

If you check those links you can see the "Graphics Score", which is GPU only, "Physics Score", which is CPU only, and "Combined Score" which is a different benchmark combining both. As you can see the graphics score is within a few points of each other but the Physics and Combined are wildly different.
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damon99
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Re: Graphics card advice

Post by damon99 »

Pumaxcs wrote:I agree that SLI has slacked off a bit disappointingly so and my next build will likely not have it. However, I think that its much more likely that games are running into a CPU bottleneck and your 970's aren't doing what they could before. Getting a 1080 would be cool but the improvement you'd see would be negligible simply because of the FX series.

When I upgraded my brother from a FX 4 to a Ryzen 5 I actually did this as a test myself with my old GTX 780. So not an exact match but coincidentally really close.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/14516631
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/14619283

If you check those links you can see the "Graphics Score", which is GPU only, "Physics Score", which is CPU only, and "Combined Score" which is a different benchmark combining both. As you can see the graphics score is within a few points of each other but the Physics and Combined are wildly different.
Oh wow ya thats a pretty big difference. So maybe a cpu upgrade would be more beneficial for now before upgrading the other things? Do you guys think upgrading to a ryzen 5 would help with my current build or might there be something better for my situation?
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SMR 510RR
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Re: Graphics card advice

Post by SMR 510RR »

Hard to beat the price/performance of Ryzen 5.
motokid499
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Re: Graphics card advice

Post by motokid499 »

Personally I would sell one of the 970's, buy a new MOBO/cpu and then upgrade gpu later. Your current cpu is going to hold back any new gpu you pair it with, you'll literally see more of an fps boost in most games by only upgrading the cpu compared to only upgrading the GPU. Most newer titles are starting to become really cpu intensive too, so it's not just MX simulator that's cpu heavy. A good measure of your CPU's gaming capability is to play a game with the lowest graphical settings possible at your normal playing resolution. With minimal stress on your gpu(s) you'll be able to see the fps capabilities of your cpu. If by raising the graphics settings you still maintain the same or similar fps then it can mean your cpu is most definitely holding back your gpu. To be completely honest I feel like your cpu is a bottleneck to your current gpu.
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