Ummmm so how many 780s..

[Wave]

I'm not an expert on graphics cards, so this is mostly "what I gather", but here's my understanding of it.

SLI allows for parallel processing between Identical GPU's. What it does is allow multiple graphics cards to communicate between themselves, instead of GPU 1>CPU>GPU 2. Without SLI, you can span video across multiple monitors, hooked up to both cards. When using two different cards, like I do, there's a lapse in moving a video from one monitor on GPU 2 to my main monitor on GPU 1. This is because the buffered video is in the GPU's cache, and needs to be transferred to the new GPU. The GPU owner's manual should give you the proper configuration as far as hooking up monitors goes.

I heard that SLI is also supposed to help performance, but being too poor to afford multiple good graphics cards, I can't confirm this yet.

[MarkusHaven]

I rebuilt my PC specs today on pcpartpicker and confirmed that I had a mobo and GPU's that could go to 3 way SLI. I don't have the PSU to handle 3, but for now it will handle 2 if I add one later this year. I eventually will want to go to 3 monitors, but I'm not even sure SC will support this out of the box. (If I understood CR correctly, but probably did not). However I will begin with one 27" monitor and will add identicals later on.

I suppose that's the smartest way to handle this now when the game isn't even built and I don't play much else atm.

So my plan is one 780 now, 2 by end of the year, and maybe 3 soon after. This way I don't have to buy a $1000 GPU all at once.

[Wave]

Here's a SLI question that I'm unsure of: I know the GPU needs to be the same on all cards involved, but does it need to be the same brand?

For example, if I take the Asus GTX660 I have now and buy a EVGA GTX660, will it work on SLI?

[MarkusHaven]

I will research that, bc I was under the impression I could put any fittable GPU in there, but now that I think of it on pcpartpicker.com when you "add another GPU" it automatically places the exact same one. Now this might just be because of how they have their program written, but you would think on a site so well done they would have the option to place a different brand if it were possible.

[MarkusHaven]

It can be from a different manufacturer, but must be an identical GPU with same memory.

[Durron]

From what I understand, you can have different GPUs as long as they're the same architecture ( nivida or AMD in the same release) but the faster gpu will run at the lower gpus speed

[Wave]

[Durron]

Hmm it may have been AMD specs I was looking at then

[Siycle]

If you want to sli them. You have to have the same GPU from the same manufacturer (if it's a780 then you have to have another 780). Now if one is Asus and another is msi it should still work, however there may be some conflicting processes as the software provided by each company is different for the cards. The only instance I've heard of where you can use completely different cards like nvidia and amd is I'd the secondary card is dedicated to perform a relativity nuance process like cell shading (or something; exact purpose escapes my mind at the moment); this however, is primarily a waste of a card.

[Wave]