Upgrading... Can I save and utilize my old GPU's?

[Leonides02]

Hello Everyone,

My system is a 2x GTX 970 SLI which I bought about 3 years ago. On Octanebench I get 166.

With the new GPU's coming out from Nvidia, I'm tempted to upgrade to a single GTX 1080. However, since Octane is able to use any graphics cards plugged into the system, it seems like a shame to toss out 8 GB of perfectly usable power!

So my question is... Can I use my older cards without turning my PC into a neurotic mess? (i.e. by mixing and matching) Would an eGPU system be the best way to accomplish this? I think I read that GPU's don't actually need to be plugged in to a PCI for Octane to see and use them?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

[glimpse]

hi there!

single 1080 is going to give You nearly the same performance as You dual 970s. so if You would like to render with three cards You would cut Your render times in half =) what is not a bad deal.

now the question what motherboard You use? I'd say if You can add up to two cards, getting better motherboard would be better idea than building any eGPU solution =) if You would about render node, You would have even worse value + You need additional licence to leverage that.

Share what You have =) & we'll try to find You the best solution =)

Sinc.
tom

[Leonides02]

Hey, thanks, Tom. I appreciate the help!

My motherboard is a Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z97, and I have a 750W Corsair CX750M power supply.

My motherboard: http://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/prod ... 29_big.png

Unfortunately, I don't believe my motherboard supports 3-way SLI, which (I think) is what I would need. I suppose I could only keep one of the cards, but that seems like a waste.

Any notions?

Thanks again!

[Leonides02]

I just saw this...

Alienware Graphics Amplifier
https://www.amazon.com/Alienware-9R7XN- ... B00PCJXN0I

Any reason that wouldn't work?

Thanks!

[glimpse]

Alien expansion unit would not work, as it has proprietary connection as far as I remember & it's designed for their laptops, not for desktop. if You want to expand You current system, that's different story..

as for Your hardware, Your board is quite limited & if You would google up information about Your PSU it's flawed as well ( in some condition, when temperature get's higher it's not entirely the most stable unit =)

if I would have You rig, I would change motherboard & get better PSU =) in this way You should be able to upgrade up to 4 cards =)

[Leonides02]

Thanks for the help! I'm looking into upgrading now.