Hi everyone. I’m looking for your input on this. I currently have a ga-z170-hd3-ddr3 with an I5 6500non-k OC at 4.99 with 24 GB ram at 1600. I recently got my hands on a couple of GTX 1070 TI cards and I’d like to run them SLI. The motherboard doesn’t support it. I’m very happy with my CPU and Ram performance overall so I don’t need an upgrade except for SLI. For a similar SLI board that will still allow me to OC my nonk CPU I’ll be spending $130-175 depending on options but I have to get DDR4 so now I’m adding another note to it all. I’m sure SLI is worth it.. am I missing another option here? A different avenue? CPU/Mobo/Ram combo or something? Does anyone have a good recommendation for a z170 board with SLI? Thanks all.
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- Thread starter jjoosshh
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2002
What's your planned use? Gaming I assume, but what resolution and what titles? Depending on the use case, I'm not sure that running them in SLI will make a huge difference with that CPU.
Here is a list of z170 boards that support SLI. Unfortunately none of them are DDR3. Also checked newegg for DDR3 z170 boards, and I only found yours. DDR4 prices are better right now, you could probably find a decent kit of 16GB 3200 for around $100. Do you actually use more than 16GB?
My advice, run one card during your typical use games etc and monitor GPU and CPU usage. If GPU usage is pretty consistently under 90% and CPU usage is pretty consistently maxed on at least one core, then SLI won't do much without a new CPU. I would expect this to be the case unless you're trying to push 4k 60 Hz or at least 1440p 140 Hz.
Here is a list of z170 boards that support SLI. Unfortunately none of them are DDR3. Also checked newegg for DDR3 z170 boards, and I only found yours. DDR4 prices are better right now, you could probably find a decent kit of 16GB 3200 for around $100. Do you actually use more than 16GB?
My advice, run one card during your typical use games etc and monitor GPU and CPU usage. If GPU usage is pretty consistently under 90% and CPU usage is pretty consistently maxed on at least one core, then SLI won't do much without a new CPU. I would expect this to be the case unless you're trying to push 4k 60 Hz or at least 1440p 140 Hz.
- Thread Starter
- #4
Good morning... late night typo 4.49 on the cpu.. not 4.99.
Thank you for the info. I’m typically running HD resolution. I occasionally run in as an HTPC but switch over to play a game on my 4K TV but its nothing super intense or high Hz. I really only push the machine during some heavy benchmarking. I originally set this up to do video encoding but then I switched to a dual CPU setup from a sever with some high ram and an OKAY graphics card to handle that along with running our local network drives. That kind of left me with this little machine to play around with. There isn’t anything that I use it for that it doesn’t already do really well. I just hate having the extra card sitting there and it only being used for some side processes. First world problems right?
The monitors that I normally use are 60 Hz or slightly higher 29” Ultrawides.
I figured the single core was holding me back on the 6500. I think that’s what drove my question to begin with. I think I have my answer now as far as the SLI is concerned. I’ve had similar search results for DDR3 boards and I gave up. I don’t think there is a DDR3 board left so I’ve accepted that I won’t be doing that route.
I was originally just going to upgrade to a I7-7700k and keep the same setup. However, with the SLI problem it has left some options open. If I switch everything out then I’ll use the left overs to build a machine for my son. I have lots of good reasons to change the setup but I just don’t want to waste $$ as Zerileous says I will probably do.
This is all kind of a hobby for me.. building machines.. testing them but never really using them to their full potential except during some benchmarking. It’s kind of a bad habit during my retirement boredom.
Thanks again.
Thank you for the info
Thank you for the info. I’m typically running HD resolution. I occasionally run in as an HTPC but switch over to play a game on my 4K TV but its nothing super intense or high Hz. I really only push the machine during some heavy benchmarking. I originally set this up to do video encoding but then I switched to a dual CPU setup from a sever with some high ram and an OKAY graphics card to handle that along with running our local network drives. That kind of left me with this little machine to play around with. There isn’t anything that I use it for that it doesn’t already do really well. I just hate having the extra card sitting there and it only being used for some side processes. First world problems right?
The monitors that I normally use are 60 Hz or slightly higher 29” Ultrawides.
I figured the single core was holding me back on the 6500. I think that’s what drove my question to begin with. I think I have my answer now as far as the SLI is concerned. I’ve had similar search results for DDR3 boards and I gave up. I don’t think there is a DDR3 board left so I’ve accepted that I won’t be doing that route.
I was originally just going to upgrade to a I7-7700k and keep the same setup. However, with the SLI problem it has left some options open. If I switch everything out then I’ll use the left overs to build a machine for my son. I have lots of good reasons to change the setup but I just don’t want to waste $$ as Zerileous says I will probably do.
This is all kind of a hobby for me.. building machines.. testing them but never really using them to their full potential except during some benchmarking. It’s kind of a bad habit during my retirement boredom.
Thanks again.
Thank you for the info
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2008
If your GPU is the bottleneck then it would be wiser to go with one better card than SLI in my opinion. Get a better card and sell the one you have. SLI can be problematic and give inconsistent results in actual practice. Personally, I think it is more likely that your CPU is currently the bottleneck and I would put the money toward upgrading the CPU/motherboard/RAM.
Sell both of the GTX 1070 Ti cards.
The stock i7 7700k is about 4% bottleneck with a GTX 1080ti at 1080p and the I5 4 core 4 thread 4.0GHz is about 10% bottleneck with a GTX 1080ti at 1080p.
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- Thread Starter
- #10
- Thread Starter
- #11
Sell both of the GTX 1070 Ti cards.
The i7 7700k is about 4% bottleneck with a GTX 1080ti and the I5 4 core 4 thread is about 10% bottleneck with a GTX 1080ti.
So what I am getting from everyone seems to be this (if I understand correctly)...
-I5 6500 / I5 7700k are both going to bottleneck cards running in SLI
- 1 x 1080ti is better than 2 x bottlenecked 1070ti SLI
So if I want to stick with my processor/board/ram then I should ditch the 1070ti cards and get a single 1080ti.. the two should pay for the one and then my computer is good to go.
If I want to upgrade the CPU then a 7700k is cool but I still need to ditch the SLI and go for a single 1070ti.
If I want to rebuild the whole thing around the SLI (most cost $$) then I need to go with a higher end and newer I7 8th or 9th gen, new board, and new ram. That’s if I am just dead set on spending $$ and wanting these cards in SLI.
Does this kind of sum it up? If so... which is better $$ spent if I have to spend anything- upgrading to a 7700k and OC it and/or sell the 1070ti cards and buy a 1080ti?
Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate your thoughts.
You sum it up correctly.
The reason for not going SLI. Games are not well supported for SLI so you might not get the performance increase in the games you play. You will have decide what way to go. However, SLI is not that great depending on the game.- Thread Starter
- #15
Do you think that OC I5 6500 or OC I7 7700k are still a significant bottleneck? I figured they were. I had considered sticking one of these cards in my server for added processing power for apps that take advantage of the GPU. It has a GTX 950 in it now. It benches pretty well but I see no need of a better card in that machine.
- Thread Starter
- #16
You sum it up correctly.
Thanks. I think I need to do a bit more reading about the future of VR stuff because my son is really getting me to look at that kind of stuff. Maybe it would be good to take that into account when making this choice. Sweet. I kind of have a way ahead now. I really appreciate it.
Depends if you run the screen resolution at 1080p or 1440p? If you run the resolution at 1440p the stock i7 7700k won't be a bottleneck with GTX 1080ti.
- Thread Starter
- #18
Gotcha... still bottleneck the SLI though. It makes sense now. I have some thinking to do then some spending to do.. maybe.
You can overclock the i7 7700k and do well with GTX 1070ti SLI.
The GTX 1070 Ti SLI vs. GTX 1080 Ti Performance Review – 35 Games LINK: https://babeltechreviews.com/the-gt...1080-ti-performance-review-35-games-tested/3/
The GTX 1070 Ti SLI vs. GTX 1080 Ti Performance Review – 35 Games LINK: https://babeltechreviews.com/the-gt...1080-ti-performance-review-35-games-tested/3/
- Thread Starter
- #20
Thanks. Let me look. If I go the SLI route it probably won’t be a 7700k because while that chip will work on my board I’m still left with no SLI. So I’m thinking it’s the 7700k and a 1080ti after selling my 1070ti cards. Or it’s get a new mobo/cpu/ram and try the SLI and still maybe trade up GFX cards if I can do it free.
