Calling all SketchUp aficionados

[Tuff City Bastard]

I recently bought a Cyberpower PC Gamer Ultra w/AMD FX-4100
I did so believing that I’d replace the graphics card with an EVEGA GTX 560 Ti I had purchased last year for my previous computer, which had since died. That computer, the one that died, I had given to someone I’d thought I could trust. I mean, WTF?.
Unfortunately, when I got the old PC back from the clown he claimed that it was the motherboard that had fried. I tossed it in the basement and bought the new Cyberpower. Not right away of course because I am handicapped and living on disability so money is short.
So now, after more than a year of scrimping and saving I was able to buy my new PC and intending to swapping out the cheesy card that’s in there (the 520) with the GTX and figured I would also need to upgrade the PSU to a 650-850w unit. Not a problem since at that point I had about $150.
So I dug the old tower out of the closet and low and behold I find that he’d taken out the GTX 560 Ti and replaced it with a GT 210. Scum-bag.
So now, the $150 I’d saved to spend on a PSU and RAM is not enough to get another card like the GTX 560 Ti and a PSU!
I wonder if anyone out there might offer this novice some advice about getting this all figured out.
I’m trying to understand the SLI thing with the understanding that I may be able to get 2 - cheaper 1GB cards that I can run in an SLI configuration that will give me the performance I need.
The only things I do on this computer are listen to Spotify or stream music through Pandora or 365FM etc. as I spend countless hours perfecting my Google Sketch up skills. I don’t game, sample, edit or whatever of movies et al. The problem is that this seems to tax my system and causes SketchUp to crash. I’m hoping that this is due only to the poor quality card/PSU combination. It seems that when my drawings are larger that 15-20mb this happens often.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might remedy this? Is it possible and will I see any gains with two less expensive cards run in SLI configuration? . Am i really just S.O.L?
I don't know if I got it right but I've tried to attach the spec of my current system figuring you'd need this information.

 

[digibucc]

first make sure hardware acceleration is on in sketchup, or it won't use your GPU.

second it does need something good, but i doubt a 560 is necessary. a 460 should be fine, and you could eventually add a second if you feel it necessary.

 

[erixx]

Hi Basta, before even considering SLI check if it works with Sketch Up. And: SLI is not to save money really, the contrary is closer to the truth...
That said, your PC has some bottleneck, but I do not dare to guess.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

If your in the UK ive seen 560's for 150 notes and imho id buy one and keep the Warrantied cyberpower psu a while ,its 500 watts so should be fine with 1 card and mobo ,you can later upgrade the psu when funds permit, oh and as someone said a 460 would probably do and ive seen them and a 560SE(288cores) for under a hundred.

in the uk you could get the 560Se and a 600 watt corsair psu for 150 all new, use your googlefoo bro.

dual cheaper sli'd cards can work but they use more power on average, and would be overkill for your useage profile imho.

welcome to Tpu by the way

tuff city bastard,,, hmmm you celebrateing a win near me perchance, im not celebrateing mind.

 

[Tuff City Bastard]

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in getting back to you all. It's been a hectic day to say the least.

Anyway...

digibucc:
Hardware acceleration is on. Also, I've looked into using two identical cards. I have in fact found numerous cards that have 1-2GB of GPU. I just can't get my head around which would be best and why. I notice numerous differences in the core counts, DDR types, bus speeds et al. and though i have a basic understanding of some of that jargon, i am reluctant to but any particular card without a better appreciation of why it is I am making that particular choice. I did find the below link and will be purusing the list later on this evening.

( http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p...&qid=1337806543&rnid=3450982011&tag=tec06d-20) A lot of these are reasonably priced and would permit me to buy two identical cards at the same time. My question is, is this over kill? What benefits should I see(if any) by running two cards in this configuration and could I bother you to suggest the best choise from the above link?

erixx:

Yea, after looking into the SLI thing a bit more, I will probably put that off until I can afford all that that would entail. But thanks for the input. I figure that when I have a staff I'll probably have to make that move but it's a bit premature at this point. Again thank you none-the-less.

theoneandonlymrk:

I'm in the U. S. and after having looked into SLI thing a bit more I realize that such a configuration would require other considerations. Additionally, I seem to be baffled, (snookered over there?) as to how to decide which would offer the best performance in my situation.

I came across this link (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RJJN9Y/?tag=tec06d-20) and I wanted to ask if the fact that my current system has ddr3 whereas the 560Ti is Gddr5. Does that matter?

Anyway guys, I have a gazillion more questions but need to go pick up the wife ( diner with the in-laws. Joy Joy !!)
Thank you all so very much for taking the time to reply, for your patience and most of all for the lack of self-righteous shite one often comes across posting requests such as mine.
Be well one and all and I will try to recheck later this evening.

 

[Tuff City Bastard]

Hey guys,
I just wanted to say that I ended up ordering the EVGA GForce GTX Ti but was fortunate in that I was able to get the 448 core FTW version (P/N 012-P3-2066) as opposed to the 338 core one had asked about in my initial post.

theoneandonlymrk;
Luck seems to me on my side. Not only was I lucky enough to get such a card for under $250.00 but in exchange for giving the GT520, and the original psu (500w) my brother in-law has ordered for me a Themaltake 750w psu. I presently need I'm under the impression that will permit me to do future upgrades to the system and not have to concern myself with power issues. All I've read up to this point indicated this is the most prudent way to go.
I'd like to thank you all again for the advice.
If anyone was anything to add regarding these two items or any optimal settings/configurations et al I'd love to hear them.
Again thank you all and be well.