Is A Reference GTX 760 Worth getting to SLI with a Strix 760 OC DC2?

[Autonutz]

Been having a problem for a while with my video card, I bought witcher 3 knowing the recommended hardware requirements (only having a single 760 OC DC2), no problem i could live with not complete full graphic settings. The problem arose when i started to OC the graphics card to try and bump up the settings, thats why i bought a decent 760, well sure enough it kept crashing due to some windows driver issue so i just used it at stock settings. The biggest problem is when playing fallout 4, i've had to drop the settings to high because i keep getting horizontal lines and stuttering.

Knowing i have a little 760 i was planning on upgrading but will have to save for a bit, ideally a 980ti or used titan x.
A local seller has a reference gtx 760 for sale for $100 CAD, the cheapest i've seen them yet.

So aside from my system throttling one of the cards to keep them even is there any reason that I shouldnt take this deal?

I figured for $100 this should fix my problem until i upgrade to a expensive card (minimum May or June 2016)

What do you guys think?

 

[Johan45]

Personally , I wouldn't do it. In three months you have two cards to sell and won't get you $100 back out of the one you just bought. If you want some help to get a bit of OC out of your current card there's many here who can do that. Then maybe you can tolerate it for a few more months until you're able to upgrade. If your playing on 1080p resolution the 980Ti is conplete overkill. Go for a 970 or r9 290x

 

[caddi daddi]

with the 760,s the later divers kill them, what driver # are you using?

 

[Autonutz]

with the 760,s the later divers kill them, what driver # are you using?

I use Nvidia GeForce Experience so I believe they are updated daily, currently version 359.00 but there is an update waiting for 361.43.
Anytime i OC the GPU the Kernel driver stops working and shuts the game down, i've read up a little on this and it seems to be one of the windows drivers?

OverClocking is new to me so i'd love to hear if any tips or tricks, I keep my max temps under 71 C and keep the voltage as low as possible.

 

[Autonutz]

Personally , I wouldn't do it. In three months you have two cards to sell and won't get you $100 back out of the one you just bought. If you want some help to get a bit of OC out of your current card there's many here who can do that. Then maybe you can tolerate it for a few more months until you're able to upgrade. If your playing on 1080p resolution the 980Ti is conplete overkill. Go for a 970 or r9 290x

I will not be selling the 760's, i have a spare tower, PSU, MOBO that i'll build into another rig when i upgrade to an expensive card.

The reason I mention the 980ti is yes because its overkill, That card will run anything i throw at it within the next 4 years as my multi monitors are 1080p, even when upgrading to 4k monitors it will be good.
When the Pascal comes out the price will drop significantly so i would make my move then.


From what i know it seems like a good deal to spend the $100 on a second 760 in terms of Price vs Performance, even though its just a reference card and my current 760 is not. I figure that 6 month waiting period will turn into a year or so as expenses have a way of sneaking up!

 

[caddi daddi]

start out by removing the 359 driver and go get 327.23 and don't let it update.

 

[Johan45]

OverClocking is new to me so i'd love to hear if any tips or tricks, I keep my max temps under 71 C and keep the voltage as low as possible.

Use the GPUTweak that Asus provides. Set the power threshold to max. Then with the voltage at stock up the core speed a bit at a time until it becomes unstable. Then add a bit of voltage and see if it'll stabilize. I use Unigine heaven to test. The DCII is a decent cooler so you shouldn't have to max the fans out to get an OC on that card. The fans actually take away from the power threshold of the card. Once you get close to max voltage/temps when testing use the sensors page from GPUTweak and watch for drops in core speed that means it's throttling. If so back it off a bit until that stops. After you have the core speed test the ram in the same fashion only it won't throttle you'll get artifacts on the screen. Once you find the max for both try to bring them together. This usually means you'll have to drop them a bit but the end result is basically free performance.

 

[wingman99]

I would just purchase the GTX 970.

 

[Autonutz]

Wicked, thank you Johan45, I've been wanting to play with this stuff for a while and havent found a tutorial i like, next will be the water cooled 4770k! (havent touched that one either lol)
I've got my choice narrowed between 2 GPU's

-$100 2gb GTX 760 Nvidia 2gb reference model

-$120 2gb GTX 760 MSI OC 2gb model

I'll be pairing this in SLI with the Asus GTX 760 OC 2gb that i already have and I'm concerned there might be some throttling if i go with the reference Nvidia, the cooling system is superior on the MSI as well so I am leaning that way.


Is it worth the extra $20 and waiting 3 extra days for the MSI??

 

[caddi daddi]

yes, get the msi, these will add heat to the case, try them with each card in slot #1, playing with the fan speeds to keep temps in check, and find the one that runs coolest as slot#1 then start clocking.

 

[Autonutz]

start out by removing the 359 driver and go get 327.23 and don't let it update.

Well i attempted and took a wrong turn somewhere, took me 20 min to get the drivers working after that debacle lol
It updated to the current 361 driver automatically and there hasnt been a problem....yet haha

Cant wait to mess around with the MSI when it comes in, when i built this puppy i planned for SLI so airflow is exceptional, it will be interesting to see how cool they run and the temp differences between them as I've got 3 additional temp sensors on leads from the MOBO.

 

[caddi daddi]

go get the 327 driver!!!!!!! you will get more out of them!!!!

 

[Autonutz]

I will LOL, when i pick up the second card i'll re-install Windows and then do that, after 2 years its got a glitch here and there haha