Would a second MSI N460GTX Hawk be a bad idea?

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
Would a second MSI N460GTX Hawk be a bad idea?

I have a Intel i7 2600k Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 16 GB RAM
Case: raven rv03
Under os x it would run my 3rd dell dell u2412m

Windows it would run sli for games
 

tweakboy

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2010
9,517
2
81
www.hammiestudios.com
Yes if you buy the same video card you can do your 460 SLI setup.

Your asking if its worth it ? My question to you is why do you want to go SLI ?

Are you not happy with the performance you get now ? Do you use dual monitor gaming at high resolutions ? If the answer was no to both then you have no need for it. If you answered yes to one of those questions then grab another MSI 460 1GB ,, 120 bucks I assume. gl brother
 

BD231

Lifer
Feb 26, 2001
10,568
138
106
You'll double your FPS in just about every title it counts, so yes, get it if you feel like looking at silky smooth frames in games like BF3 or The Witcher 2. Of course we're moving to 2gb cards now so one could argue wait until you can get 2 cards with 2gb frame buffers, but at $100 bucks we're talking about pennie's to get pretty amazing gains.

I say go for it, especially if you already have the PSU and a motherboard capeable of doing so.
 

Vdubchaos

Lifer
Nov 11, 2009
10,408
10
0
If you already have one, its a great idea.

Lets see, spend 100-130 dollars to get 580+GTX performance or spend 200-300 dollars on 1 new card and get worse perfmanece.

I was in your boat about 2 weeks ago and have exact same card and bought a 2nd one from my brother in law for $100.

460s really kicked off the "Make sense" SLI camp. Scaling has improved and 460s is probably the most commonly used when it comes to dual GPU set ups.

Go for it by all means.
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
Oh sorry I'm asking that because the cooler style. Would it be a bad idea to put them side by side?
 

Vdubchaos

Lifer
Nov 11, 2009
10,408
10
0
I have the same board as you, even though they are side by side the PCIE lanes have pretty good room between them.

The key here is Case cooling. Make sure you have plenty of fans and air flow thru the case. I have 2 140mm fans up top, 1 120mm in the back and 140mm in front.

Just make sure you have a nice air flow thru the case.
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
I have the same board as you, even though they are side by side the PCIE lanes have pretty good room between them.

The key here is Case cooling. Make sure you have plenty of fans and air flow thru the case. I have 2 140mm fans up top, 1 120mm in the back and 140mm in front.

Just make sure you have a nice air flow thru the case.

I have 2x 180 and 5x 120

Thanks for the help
 

nenforcer

Golden Member
Aug 26, 2008
1,767
1
76
nVidia's Surround technology requires 2 GPU's in SLI to power your 3 monitors if you ever plan to do this.

No, a second NGTX460 is not a bad idea this late in the upgrade cycle. You could get by with those this fall and them later sell them as a pair if Radeon HD 7000 or GTX 600 series tweak your interest early next year.
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
Haha thanks guys. I was just worried because i've never SLI'd before and it seemed like the intake fan on the upper card would be blocked by the lower card
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
nVidia's Surround technology requires 2 GPU's in SLI to power your 3 monitors if you ever plan to do this.

No, a second NGTX460 is not a bad idea this late in the upgrade cycle. You could get by with those this fall and them later sell them as a pair if Radeon HD 7000 or GTX 600 series tweak your interest early next year.

I'll probably sell the late next year for chump change ;) Will the games run in the center monitor or all 3?
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
In my experience, GTX 460 SLI performance is inconsistent and varies widely depending on the game. In some cases you will crush a GTX 580. In others, you will run at 20FPS in some areas, and then 60FPS in others.

If you're willing to deal with the odd game that doesn't jive well with SLI, then fine, go with it. Be prepared to tweak settings quite a bit to get things running smoothly. Having more GPU power than a GTX 580 paired with 768/1gb of vram is far from optimal.

The GTX 460 is a fantastic single card. I just think that that's what it was meant to be and it should stay that way.

If you want a good dual card setup, make sure that they have at least 2gb of vram.
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
If you want a good dual card setup, make sure that they have at least 2gb of vram.

On each or both combined?

The biggest reason I want a second card is so I can run all 3 of my monitors together in OS X. For windows I will be gaming so that is another reason. I can't go the 580 route because it's not Hackintosh friendly, can't run 3 monitors.

I wish nVidea would do 3 monitors per card
 

Squirtmonster

Member
Jan 25, 2011
43
0
0
I'll probably sell the late next year for chump change ;) Will the games run in the center monitor or all 3?


All 3 monitors at med settings and on one monitor at very high settings.
1gb of v/memory with 3 1080p monitors is not enough to run at high settings.

Mabe you can sell your 1gb gtx460 and grab 2 gtx460 2gb cards.
189$ each at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Geforce-GTX460.../dp/B004HBK5J4
 
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alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
All 3 monitors at med settings and on one monitor at very high settings.
1gb of v/memory with 3 1080p monitors is not enough to run at high settings.

Mabe you can sell your 1gb gtx460 and grab 2 gtx460 2gb cards.
189$ each at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Geforce-GTX460.../dp/B004HBK5J4

It's not that big of deal. I would like to have email + laptop extended to one and temps and stats monitors on the last.

thanks for the help. I don't want to sell because I bought the two for $115 each.
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
On each or both combined?

The biggest reason I want a second card is so I can run all 3 of my monitors together in OS X. For windows I will be gaming so that is another reason. I can't go the 580 route because it's not Hackintosh friendly, can't run 3 monitors.

I wish nVidea would do 3 monitors per card
Each card. They're overpriced ATM though IMO. I've heard talk that in the Spring there will be cheap 2gb cards.
 

Squirtmonster

Member
Jan 25, 2011
43
0
0
I don't want to sell because I bought the two for $115 each.


Ah, you got in on that deal, nice. Now overclock them to 850 core and you have faster than gtx580 speeds. if you can get them to 875 core they will equal 2 6870's.
925 core each will be as fast as 2 gtx560ti's.
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
Ah, you got in on that deal, nice. Now overclock them to 850 core and you have faster than gtx580 speeds. if you can get them to 875 core they will equal 2 6870's.
925 core each will be as fast as 2 gtx560ti's.

Woah. Liquid sounds much too appealing now :D
Each card. They're overpriced ATM though IMO. I've heard talk that in the Spring there will be cheap 2gb cards.
Yeah I don't have the patients lol