SLI: worth it?

[Fidelacchius]

With the holidays coming up, I'm going to be getting some money from relatives and I'd like to funnel that back into the new computer that I built in October with the advice of this board. I'd like to pick up some extras that I didn't get when I did the initial build.

Here's what I have now:

CPU: Intel Core i7-6850K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus X99-A II ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

I was thinking about picking up another video card so I can do 2-way SLI, but from what I've read, the most I can expect to generally see is about 30-40% FPS gains in select games over the single card. For reference, I've been playing Dishonored 2 for the past couple of days with all the settings at ultra and haven't experienced any of the performance issues that people have been mentioning.

I have a single 1440p 144Hz monitor at the moment. If the video card is a no-go, I was alternatively thinking of picking up another memory kit to bump up to 64 GB along with a 1 TB Samsung 850 EVO SSD. The 950 PRO is amazing, but it is currently both my boot drive as well as the main drive for games and have already used about a third of it. Another monitor is also a possibility, though I'm limited to HDMI as I believe the 1080 that I have only has one DisplayPort.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. There were some slight hiccups during the initial assembly, but since then everything has been working great and I couldn't be happier.

[PhantasmagoriaX]

I would do another monitor, I recently got another one and i look back on when I only had one and I think to myself, "damn how did I ever game with out it"

[Caelia]

SLI can be worth it in some cases, some games will get you close to double the FPS while others might actually lose performance from SLI.
The big question here though is, do you really feel your FPS is lacking with your current setup? If so I'd rather sell the 1080 and get a 1080TI, but your current card should be good enough for a couple of years tbh.

Edit: I know 1080ti isn't out yet, but shouldn't be too long now since it's started shipping out for testing and reviews.

[cuafpr]

2 (or more) monitors >>>> SLI video cards. at least to me.

[Kagthul]

SLI is not worth it.

It isn't supported in a lot of games - at all - and some games causes peformances losses...

and going forward, Multi-GPU support has to be handled by the developer (for DX12) expect even fewer games to support it - they arent going to spend hundreds of developer hours working on multi-GPU support when less than 3% of people have multi-GPU setups. Just isn't going to happen.

A single more powerful card is ALWAYS better.

Edit:

Your GPU (All ASUS STRIX cards) have 3x Display Port.

[Fidelacchius]

Thanks for the replies. You guys basically confirmed what I was thinking. The monitor I got has a 1080p 144Hz version so I'll probably pick up one of those along with the memory kit and SSD. As for reselling the video card when the 1080Ti comes out, would you suggest eBay or is there something less auction-flavored out there?

[Denpepe]

Not sure why you would want more memory, for day to day use and gaming 8GB is already plenty, 16 GB allows for tons of multitasking aand you have 32 GB which is for normal usage overkill (ofc if you need it for specific software it's fine but other then that you wont see many if any benefits at all)

[Fidelacchius]

Well, I was fine with the 32GB, but the recommended specs for Dishonored 2 was 16GB+. Considering that's not the most intensive game I've ever seen, recommended specs can only trend upwards.

[Saphyron]

If I was you I would get another monitor and a 1tb SSD for storage.

[ovm33]

Seems to me like you have a pretty good set up already. With current trends I would expect SLI / Crossfire to be going the way of the Dodo before too long so I wouldn't invest in that.

If I had money to just be throwing around I would start looking at my peripherals. How's your mouse and keyboard? What's your headphones like? Hell... how comfortable is your chair? Maybe a new desk? There's a lot that goes into a good gaming experience. You have the hard part worked out, but have you looked into the creature comforts?

If you're happy with all of the above, I would just get a big ass SSD.

[Fidelacchius]

Steelcase/Turnstone Jack desk chair that I got 6 years ago in grad school that's still good. Corsair K95 keyboard and Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum. Headset is honestly not good, but it is functional for Ventrillo for WoW. Planning on getting a set of speakers, specifically the Kplisch Promedia 2.1 based on the reviews. My current desk isn't great (inherited it from my brother who got it from my parents who bought it back in the late 90s), but it is also perfectly functional as a piece of furniture that holds things.

So will just plan on the second monitor, the SSD, and potentially the memory kit. Thanks for the sounding board, appreciate it. Back to the question of reselling GPUs, are eBay and Craigslist basically it? Has anyone had good luck selling there?

[Strawberry]

I have SLI 980Ti and they work good for 4k resolution. Most games run at or above 60 fps. But there are some issues and I have to use Nvidia inspector to get more boost or even SLI support. Titan XP costs the same as two 1080. It's a way better choice for 1440p.