970 in SLI with downclocked FX 8120!

[Komshija]

GTX 1070 will be an overkill for 1680x1050 monitor. Not to even mention GTX 1080.
I recommend RX 470 4GB, new or used, which will rock at that resolution. From my personal experience, RX 470 4GB can easily push very demanding games like Far Cry Primal on Ultra settings at 1920x1080 monitor.

 

[Mussels]

GTX 1070 will be an overkill for 1680x1050 monitor. Not to even mention GTX 1080.
I recommend RX 470 4GB, new or used, which will rock at that resolution. From my personal experience, RX 470 4GB can easily push very demanding games like Far Cry Primal on Ultra settings at 1920x1080 monitor.

There is something wonderful about overkill video cards running at 50% load or less - and that wonderful thing is low temps, low noise, and they're good for a few years longer

 

[Vya Domus]

Going for a 970 SLI was not a great idea. A 980ti would have been a better choice (probably for the same money) and you could have OC'd the CPU with less power restrictions and you would have gotten a better experience. Although for that resolution it would have been overkill anyway. As of now , get a better PSU.

 

[Vayra86]

Corestripping

just popped into my head.

 

[Komshija]

There is something wonderful about overkill video cards running at 50% load or less - and that wonderful thing is low temps, low noise, and they're good for a few years longer

I respect your conclusion, but you forgot one important thing - financial capabilities. Proper GPU maintenance (undusting, replacing TIM after ~2 years), a good PC case airflow and keeping it at stock frequencies will certainly extend their lifetime.

 

[Keullo-e]

I just bought another GTX 970 (EVGA blower model) myself for 160 euros, I know that my Pentium G4560 bottlenecks it, but of course I will upgrade it later.

Gotta put it to the upper slot so it helps pushing my 970 G1's temps away from chassis. Need to check does it need to replace TIM, but of course I will overclock it to the max, like I've done to all my graphics cards. This G1 hits ~85 overclocked under heavy gaming load, everything under throttle temps are perfectly fine for me.

 

[Melvis]

Ouch! get a good PSU, silverstone 750 or something, small and cheap and good! also ditch that slow 8120, you will get an instant 20FPS more just be replacing it with a 8350 this would be your cheapest option.

 

[Final_Fighter]

To be honest, i would sell the gtx970s along with your fx8120 and get the fx8350 with 8gb more of ram and a gtx1060 6gb. buy a really good cooler and overclock it. i game at 1920x1080p on high/ultra with my 1060. i play fallout 4, doom, space engineers, and the such. you said that you game at lower resolutions than 1920x1080p so a 1060 will be more than enough.

edit: get a 600w psu to go with it also.

 

[Keullo-e]

To be honest, i would sell the gtx970s along with your fx8120 and get the fx8350 with 8gb more of ram and a gtx1060 6gb. buy a really good cooler and overclock it. i game at 1920x1080p on high/ultra with my 1060. i play fallout 4, doom, space engineers, and the such. you said that you game at lower resolutions than 1920x1080p so a 1060 will be more than enough.

edit: get a 600w psu to go with it also.

Yeah but your i5 kicks the crap out from any FX series CPU.

Upgrading a piece of shit to something little less piece of shit is not a smart solution. Also "a 600W PSU" doesn't say anything. A good quality 500W PSU would run 970SLI with no problems with an Intel CPU.

 

[mstenholm]

Yeah but your i5 kicks the crap out from any FX series CPU.

Upgrading a piece of shit to something little less piece of shit is not a smart solution. Also "a 600W PSU" doesn't say anything. A good quality 500W PSU would run 970SLI with no problems with an Intel CPU.

No it will not. I use 535 W from the wall on 2x970 @ 1500 Mhz with a 4970 (not OC'ed) folding. Some games use more than folding.

 

[Keullo-e]

No it will not. I use 535 W from the wall on 2x970 @ 1500 Mhz with a 4970 (not OC'ed) folding. Some games use more than folding.

4970? U mean 4790?

Remember the efficiency, PC's usage isn't that what a power meter says.

edit: And of course OC'd cards are different things, I meant stock cards as they have 145W TDP.

 

[mstenholm]

4970? U mean 4790?

Remember the efficiency, PC's usage isn't that what a power meter says.

edit: And of course OC'd cards are different things, I meant stock cards as they have 145W TDP.

Sure, 4790. I'm fully aware that the efficiency plays in here. My PSU has +90 % in this operating point (535*0,9 = 480 W). I would not run a 500 W PSU. My system has one fan and a SSD and no key board/mouse, so it is as bare as it gets.

As for power consumption have a look here - https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_970_Gaming/25.html
Max 213 W for this MSI. I don't think it would be a wise decision to use a 500 W PSU.

 

[Toothless]

I'd say 4690 or something like it and a 470 or 1060 if you can find one at a decent price..

 

[Keullo-e]

Sure, 4790. I'm fully aware that the efficiency plays in here. My PSU has +90 % in this operating point (535*0,9 = 480 W). I would not run a 500 W PSU. My system has one fan and a SSD and no key board/mouse, so it is as bare as it gets.

As for power consumption have a look here - https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_970_Gaming/25.html
Max 213 W for this MSI. I don't think it would be a wise decision to use a 500 W PSU.

Well, not wise, but it's not gonna explode if it's a fine PSU.

I ran C2D E6400 @ 3.4GHz, 8GB DDR2-800 & HD3870X2 OC with 300W PSU without problems 8 years ago. Wise? Not. Problems? No.

 

[EarthDog]

Sure, 4790. I'm fully aware that the efficiency plays in here. My PSU has +90 % in this operating point (535*0,9 = 480 W). I would not run a 500 W PSU. My system has one fan and a SSD and no key board/mouse, so it is as bare as it gets.

As for power consumption have a look here - https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_970_Gaming/25.html
Max 213 W for this MSI. I don't think it would be a wise decision to use a 500 W PSU.

600W is plenty. And remember, you are fully overclocked. Stock i'd run 500w all day long.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Wow wtf. I see ppl recommending 1080's, a 980ti, sell it all and upgrade to a fx 8320 LOL wtf. Get away from the fx series cpu.

The biggest problem with your system is the cpu. You could run just one GTX 970 and get the same performance. Your old cpu will never feed both those cards fast enough. The fx 8120 is incredibly slow.

 

[vega22]

at native i would agree, but do some down scaling and it will push the load onto the gpu no worries.

 

[fullinfusion]

Your system is already crippled by that PSU, upgrade the psu to a Seasonic, Enermax, Antec, or I guess FSP or Evga...

You mean the system is already crippled using the FX chip lol..

I had to lulz at your post, or I guess FSP or EVGA..

 

[DR4G00N]

You mean the system is already crippled using the FX chip lol..

No kidding, I had an 8150 @ 5GHz and even then it was horrible with SLI 780 Ti's. Using an 8300 now and took out the second 780 Ti since I get about the same FPS without it.

 

[fullinfusion]

No kidding, I had an 8150 @ 5GHz and even then it was horrible with SLI 780 Ti's. Using an 8300 now and took out the second 780 Ti since I get about the same FPS without it.

Yup and the reason I sold my FX the same day I bought it and found an Intel 2700k bnib locally for the same cost.. bought a board and never looked back. But at the OP, sell them 970's and if your gaming at 1080 grab a 1060 or RX580.. and I seen you said you can get a Corsair psu where you live? Go for it, they're a great unit that can handle more then rated

 

[Upgrayedd]

You mean the system is already crippled using the FX chip lol..

I had to lulz at your post, or I guess FSP or EVGA..

EVGA been putting some good units out, using Super Flower platforms I think.

Back to OP. If your screen is 60Hz just use Nvidia Inspector and set a frame limit of 60fps and use just one 970. A single 970 will push any game to 60fps at that resolution with no worry of power consumption.

 

[fullinfusion]

EVGA been putting some good units out, using Super Flower platforms I think.

Back to OP. If your screen is 60Hz just use Nvidia Inspector and set a frame limit of 60fps and use just one 970. A single 970 will push any game to 60fps at that resolution with no worry of power consumption.

I know, I have a 1300w EVGA PSU. Best PSU I've ever owned outa the lot

 

[Vayra86]

I just bought another GTX 970 (EVGA blower model) myself for 160 euros, I know that my Pentium G4560 bottlenecks it, but of course I will upgrade it later.

Gotta put it to the upper slot so it helps pushing my 970 G1's temps away from chassis. Need to check does it need to replace TIM, but of course I will overclock it to the max, like I've done to all my graphics cards. This G1 hits ~85 overclocked under heavy gaming load, everything under throttle temps are perfectly fine for me.

You do realise that

1. The Nvidia BIOS limits cards at 83 C anyway, so you seeing 85 C is an indication that your system/case runs too hot and needs to exhaust more hot air, and also that these GPUs are definitely throttling like nobody's business. You may think otherwise, but indulge me and go monitor your core volts and boost clock stability.
2. 970 SLI is crap today because you have a huge CPU bottleneck, and it will be shit after you upgrade the CPU because you will be having a VRAM bottleneck.
3. You basically just threw 160 eur out the window on an old GPU that'll scale for perhaps 50-60% of its actual performance

 

[Vya Domus]

You do realise that

1. The Nvidia BIOS limits cards at 83 C anyway, so you seeing 85 C is an indication that your system/case runs too hot and needs to exhaust more hot air, and also that these GPUs are definitely throttling like nobody's business. You may think otherwise, but indulge me and go monitor your core volts and boost clock stability.
2. 970 SLI is crap today because you have a huge CPU bottleneck, and it will be shit after you upgrade the CPU because you will be having a VRAM bottleneck.
3. You basically just threw 160 eur out the window on an old GPU

Actually the BIOS limits temperatures to 92C , I actually tested this on my 1060 , the temperature control takes place at the driver level.

I agree SLI is a horrible idea in general , so it's crossfire. Especially on cards such as 970 that don't really have much VRAM , not to mention that they aren't even as fast as a 1070/1080 probably.

 

[Vayra86]

Actually the BIOS limits temperatures to 92C , I actually tested this on my 1060 , the temperature control takes place at the driver level.

I agree SLI is a horrible idea in general , so it's crossfire. Especially on cards such as 970 that don't really have much VRAM , not to mention that they aren't even as fast as a 1080 probably.

You're correct, its the driver - end result however is the same ^^
And if you look at more recent benches, they already fall apart if you compare them to a 1060 6GB too. The higher you go up in detail levels and resolution, the 980 and 970 drop off ever faster. Where at 1080p the 1060 is just under a 980, at 1440p ultra it easily goes beyond it.

Honestly though, if you buy OLD gpus, you should be buying the top dogs, not mid range, ESPECIALLY not for SLI. It looks cheap on the onset, and in practice, by the time you actually pick up that supposedly 'dirt cheap 2nd one', its added use has dramatically dropped. Compare this to 980ti in SLI and its quite a different story.