GTX 980 SLI Build

[Cupell08]

Hello, I am looking to order parts for a pc that will run SLI 980s in preperation for the Oculus Rift. Can I get recommendations for the motherboard, cpu, ram and psu that would go best with this build. Price is not a concern, I am looking for maximum performance. Thank you to everyone in advance who can provide their input.

 

[JackMDS]

Please see here and post accordingly if you want a meaningful answer.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

 

[Cupell08]

Please see here and post accordingly if you want a meaningful answer.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

Thank you for this, I have revised my post:


1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Maximum Performance with the Oculus Rift.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$3000 - $5000.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA. newegg and / or amazon preferably.

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.

Not applicable.

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Intel, Nvidia. All else does not matter to me.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

I do not plan on using any of my current parts.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I would appreciate input on this, would it be beneficial to overclock?

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

1080p but I have heard that running games on the oculus rift is similar to 4k resolution however seeing as every frame is rendered for each eye. Please provide input on this.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

As soon as possible.

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

Windows is the only software I would need to purchase with it.

 

[DSF]

Unless you're content to spend a lot of money on a gaming computer whether the Oculus Rift comes out soon or not, I would pump your brakes.

Everything I'm seeing suggests that the earliest it could possibly come out is April 2015, and some sources seem to say that the date could be pushed back to 2016 or 2017 for the consumer version. If the OR is the main draw I wouldn't plan a computer build right now.

 

[jibberegg]

Yeah, what DSF says. The consumer version won't be out for a long while yet so if that's the main reason you can hold off for a bit.

I hear that the Oculus team use Falcon Talon pre-builds in house that look like this...
i7-4930K
ASUS X79 DELUXE
Titan Black
CRUCIAL 32GB 1866MHZ
Crucial M550
ASTK-G4550LC 120MM LIQUID COOLER

 

[Cupell08]

Thank you for your responses;

I thought it was due out sometime in 2015, I also ordered the Development Kit 2 and was hoping it would benefit from this pc build.

Can anyone tell me if nvidia will release a more power graphics card than the 980 such as 980ti by the end of 2015? I don't know their release schedule but could they even have another series of cards by that time? That would be the only reason I would wait, if I knew for certain there would be a superior graphics card by that time.

 

[jibberegg]

There will be a new series when they move to 20nm process from 28nm, which will be almost certainly be some time in 2015. They also have the option of adding new cards above the current line up in response to whatever AMD comes out with next (R9 390 etc). Given the low TDPs of the 970/980, this would seem very plausible.

 

[Chapbass]

There will be a new series when they move to 20nm process from 28nm, which will be almost certainly be some time in 2015. They also have the option of adding new cards above the current line up in response to whatever AMD comes out with next (R9 390 etc). Given the low TDPs of the 970/980, this would seem very plausible.

Agreed with this. I think 2014 has seen just about the last of the new cards, but I would be surprised if the 980 was still king at the end of 2015.

 

[Cupell08]

Okay, I will take all this into consideration, thank you all again for your input.

One final question; would it work for me in the meantime to order a single gtx 980 to work alongside my gtx 590 sli to increase performance if not maximize it until I decide to go for a completely new build in the future? I will provide my current pc specs, please let me know if any of my hardware could bottleneck the 980 or if it should work without problems.

I have copy and pasted all the relevant hardware specs of my current pc that I ordered from cyberpower in 2011 below:


CASE: * Coolermaster HAF-X Gaming Full Tower Case w/ 1x230mm Fan, 1x200mm Fans, 2xFront USB 3.0 Port

CPU: Intel(R) Core™ i7-2600K 3.40 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)

HDD : 120 GB Intel 510 2.5 inch SATA III 6.0G/S Gaming MLC Solid State Disk (Single Hard Drive)

HDD2 : 3TB (3TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Hard Drive)

MEMORY: 16GB (4GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module (Corsair Vengeance)

MOTHERBOARD : [CrossFireX/SLI] Asus Sabertooth P67 w/ TUF Thermal Armor Intel P67 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ UEFI, DIGI+VRM, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 4x SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 3 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI

OVERCLOCK: Ultimate OC (Ultimate Overclock 30% or more)

POWERSUPPLY: 1,500 Watts - Thermaltake TP-1500M ToughPower Modular Power Supply Model:W0171

VIDEO: EVGA Liquid Cooling NVIDIA GTX Series PCIe Video (EVGA Liquid Cooling NVIDIA GTX 590 Classified Hydro Copper 3GB 16X GDDR5 VRAM )

VIDEO2: EVGA Liquid Cooling NVIDIA GTX Series PCIe Video (EVGA Liquid Cooling NVIDIA GTX 590 Classified Hydro Copper 3GB 16X GDDR5 VRAM )

 

[jibberegg]

I'm no expert of SLI, but I don't think you can mix cards like that. You could switch them both out for a 980 but at 1080p, they probably still work fine. Is it struggling with the DK2? If so then go for it, but if not your rig is pretty insane; If I were you I'd wait until 20nm hits.

 

[Cupell08]

I still haven't received the DK2 but based on all the input i will defiantly wait before building the new pc and depending on the DK2 performance with my current pc i'l decide if I need to grab a 980.

 

[jibberegg]

The rest of your build will be absolutely fine, just see what frame rates your getting and switch to the 980 if required. Then spend $2k in 2015

 

[mfenn]

I still haven't received the DK2 but based on all the input i will defiantly wait before building the new pc and depending on the DK2 performance with my current pc i'l decide if I need to grab a 980.

This is the best option.

Also, to answer your question, no you cannot add the GTX 980 to your current GTX 590 SLI setup. In terms of raw pixel pushing power, your GTX 590 SLI (4 GPUs) is about the same as a single GTX 980. However, your current setup is crippled by lack of VRAM (1.5 GB per GPU) and the poor scaling of Quad-SLI, so the actual GTX 980 will be faster while using something like 25% of the power.

 

[Cupell08]

Ok, everyone's input was highly appreciated and valuable, thank you.