should i SLI my gtx285?

[Homer Simpson]

so my local micorcenter has a couple bfg gtx285's for cheap. its the exact same card i already have so i figure it would be perfect for SLI. question is, is it $210 well spent? i think i'd need a new PSU as well. my corsair hx620 probably has enough juice but it only has 2 pcie connectors. i'd need 4. so about $400 with a $175 corsair hx750 and tax. not sure if the increase in heat is worth it either.

i guess question is, whats the better use for the money:

add a 285 and new PSU for about $400
get a new case (HAF-X) and new PSU for just under $400 and wait for the next big thing or get a used 285 later for even less $$.

rest of system is i920 @ 3.6, evga x58 3xsli mobo, 6GB, xfi (w/ front IO Drive), 1tb wd black, antec p182. game at 1920x1080. case is ok, wish it was cooler running and quieter. read a forum post from a guy who did the haf-x upgrade and said it was 3 degrees cooler AND quieter than his p182. performance wise, im satisfied for the most part. only considering the SLI because its available and local.

 

[mhouck]

NO! You can get a 460 for the same or less than that price for the 285. if you are interested in SLI anyway, 460 will crush what you would get with 285 sli. I'd much rather sell your existing 285 and move on to more power and dx11 capability.

 

[Keysplayr]

so my local micorcenter has a couple bfg gtx285's for cheap. its the exact same card i already have so i figure it would be perfect for SLI. question is, is it $210 well spent? i think i'd need a new PSU as well. my corsair hx620 probably has enough juice but it only has 2 pcie connectors. i'd need 4. so about $400 with a $175 corsair hx750 and tax. not sure if the increase in heat is worth it either.

i guess question is, whats the better use for the money:

add a 285 and new PSU for about $400
get a new case (HAF-X) and new PSU for just under $400 and wait for the next big thing or get a used 285 later for even less $$.

rest of system is i920 @ 3.6, evga x58 3xsli mobo, 6GB, xfi (w/ front IO Drive), 1tb wd black, antec p182. game at 1920x1080. case is ok, wish it was cooler running and quieter. read a forum post from a guy who did the haf-x upgrade and said it was 3 degrees cooler AND quieter than his p182. performance wise, im satisfied for the most part. only considering the SLI because its available and local.

If you're going to spend 400 on a 2nd 285 and new PSU, I'd say consider selling your GTX285 and pick up a pair of GTX460's and a new PSU.
A corsair TX750 would be plenty for two 460's and has the proper PCI-e connectors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 109.00

 

[Madcatatlas]

2 gtx 460s = about 400, give or take 15-30 bucks

1 ..corsair psu at 650 wats is an additional 125 bucks?

525 for what Keys is suggesting.

If your going to spend that kind of money, i think you will be happy with Slid GTX 460s which are factory overclocked to something around 800 on the core.

But you could also consider upgrading in a few months (hope HD 6xxx doesnt turn into a Fermi...lol) and get the newest generation of cards.

 

[JAG87]

I hate when people ask these questions.

No. The smart thing to do is to sell your GTX 285 and buy a GTX 480.

Better performance, less power usage, no need to upgrade your PSU, no need to worry about SLI profiles, dx 11 support, TRAA in dx10 and 11, god you'd have to be stupid to go the other way.

 

[Insomniator]

NO! You can get a 460 for the same or less than that price for the 285. if you are interested in SLI anyway, 460 will crush what you would get with 285 sli. I'd much rather sell your existing 285 and move on to more power and dx11 capability.

One 285 is very close in performance to a 460 and not worth the upgrade unless you can sell the 285. 285 SLI absolutely crushes a single 460, and I would take that with DX10 over a single 460 with DX11 any day.

I do see 285's going for $160+ on ebay... so if you did that and then put the money towards a new 460 it could be worth it. That could also let you get a second 460 for SLI sooner.

But yeah, I don't think I'd pay 210 for a 285. I think if you could find one for $150 then it would be a good deal. No hassle selling anything of your own, just a simple drop in.

 

[Madcatatlas]

I hate when people ask these questions.

No. The smart thing to do is to sell your GTX 285 and buy a GTX 480.

Better performance, less power usage, no need to upgrade your PSU, no need to worry about SLI profiles, dx 11 support, TRAA in dx10 and 11, god you'd have to be stupid to go the other way.

The smart thing to do, according to you. I would think im not the only one disliking gtx480 for several reasons, among them its power draw, heat and noise issues.
I would much rather recommend hd5870 as second most powerfull single gpu card.

suggestions to the OP: let us know how much your willing to spend and the replies should increase in accuracy.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Two 285s would be cutting it close with that power supply, but should fall just a hair under. It's a pretty good one and is rated conservatively.

For two 460s you shouldn't need to get a new power supply at all. Just use adapters.

You really just need to ask yourself if you need more performance.

 

[Keysplayr]

2 gtx 460s = about 400, give or take 15-30 bucks

1 ..corsair psu at 650 wats is an additional 125 bucks?

525 for what Keys is suggesting.

If your going to spend that kind of money, i think you will be happy with Slid GTX 460s which are factory overclocked to something around 800 on the core.

But you could also consider upgrading in a few months (hope HD 6xxx doesnt turn into a Fermi...lol) and get the newest generation of cards.

And he can possibly get 150.00 (Ebay average for 285s) if he sells his 285. Bringing him back down to the 400.00 he was planning on spending for a PSU and 2nd 285. But he'll end up with a much faster rig with an appropriate PSU. He could also sell his old PSU for a few bucks.

GTX460 1GB x2 = @ 440 to 460 bucks.
Corsair 750TX = @ 110.00

Total 550 - 570.

Sell GTX285 for about 150.00 (seems to be the average on Ebay)
Sell the HX620 for at least 75.00.

No guarantees, but he could be looking at a total expense of about 350 give or take, for a much faster system.

 

[bryanW1995]

the psu would be fine. you can get the other two pci-e connectors from corsair. they used to be free, I contacted yellowbeard for mine about 18 mos ago and all I had to do was pay for shipping. if not then they are pretty cheap, probably $10-20 for 2 of them I would think.

as far as the cards go, I would sell the gtx 285 that you have right now. You should be able to buy two gtx 460 1gb cards for ~ $300 plus the profit from the gtx 285. gtx 460 1gb sli is quite comparable to 5970 and 5870 sli, so you'll be gtg for quite a while with that setup.


Ok, just read the rest of your post. You can do the above if you want, but I think that your best upgrade would be to just sit tight for now and get a nice high quality ssd. you can get ~ 120gb right now for $300. That will give you much more of a noticeable performance boost than another video card.

 

[Homer Simpson]

initially i wanted to spend the $210 and be done until i realized my PSU wouldnt have enough connectors. $400 would be the max really. like i said, im ok with my current performance so its looking like money is more wisely spent on a case instead and just wait for the next big thing. of all the cards ive owned, ive always said, "one day ill SLI that" but never have. someone mentioned SLI profiles. if running SLI is a hassle, maybe ill just stick to single cards solutions and if thats the case, ill just wait as there is no current single card that is worth the cost considering what i already have. moving to a single 460 would be a waste of money, two would still require me to get a PSU and push me over my budget.

 

[bryanW1995]

you absolutely would NOT need a new psu if you went to 2 x 460, but I still don't think that's a wise move atm.

new case could be nice as well if it's enough of an upgrade over the p182.

check this out:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/166?vs=180

gtx 460 is about 70 w LESS at load running crysis, and even better on furmark.

 

[digitaldurandal]

NO! You can get a 460 for the same or less than that price for the 285. if you are interested in SLI anyway, 460 will crush what you would get with 285 sli. I'd much rather sell your existing 285 and move on to more power and dx11 capability.

This is not correct. I have owned SLI 285s and they are much faster than a 5870. A single 460 is not going to crush anything, in order to crush anything he would have to buy two 460s and then he would be doubling his budget. My suggestion would be to sell the 285 and pick up a 5870.

You'll be slightly lower than the performance of 2x285 SLI, BUT you wont have to worry about titles not using the second card (mw2 for instance), jittering, power issues, driver issues, etc. Which are all issues i had with the sli setup.

 

[Homer Simpson]

thanks for the input all. i think my money is more wisely spent on a case for now. ill wait on the vid card and when the time is right, stick with a single card solution. wont need a new PSU either and im now under my initial plan to spend 210 as the case is only 180

 

[Madcatatlas]

Good point Keys, i didnt count in the selling of his current card.

 

[mhouck]

One 285 is very close in performance to a 460 and not worth the upgrade unless you can sell the 285. 285 SLI absolutely crushes a single 460, and I would take that with DX10 over a single 460 with DX11 any day.

I do see 285's going for $160+ on ebay... so if you did that and then put the money towards a new 460 it could be worth it. That could also let you get a second 460 for SLI sooner.

But yeah, I don't think I'd pay 210 for a 285. I think if you could find one for $150 then it would be a good deal. No hassle selling anything of your own, just a simple drop in.

maybe i didn't make myself clear. if OP wants to go SLI it is not worth it to use two 285s at $210 for the second because he can buy a 460 for same or less depending on the site. Instead he should sell his 285 and get 2 460s because from a pure fps, it would be much better than 2 285s in SLI. As far as cost, he would end up spending roughly the same. I am not advocating a single 460 at all.

 

[Keysplayr]

you absolutely would NOT need a new psu if you went to 2 x 460, but I still don't think that's a wise move atm.

new case could be nice as well if it's enough of an upgrade over the p182.

check this out:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/166?vs=180

gtx 460 is about 70 w LESS at load running crysis, and even better on furmark.

Very cool charts!

Here is GTX285 SLI vs GTX460 SLI.

Bryan, you were right, I think that Corsair HX620 would be fine with two 460s in SLI.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/167?vs=181

 

[Powermoloch]

Sell off your old card.

Use the extra cash + the budget you had in mind for a pair of 460 GTX !!!!

 

[Grooveriding]

Get a single 480 ()

If you're set on buying a 460, might as well wait till they refresh them and come out with the ones with all their shaders available, I think they are going to call that one gtx 475.

ATI's new cards are coming in November though, could just wait a couple months and get in on the newest tech cards. If you like single gpu, it's a safe bet ATI's new flagship will be as fast or faster than 460 SLI.