[Tideman]

I plan to order a second GTX 680 within the next few days. However, I just need to be certain there's not going to be any issues pairing it with my current PNY card, given it's quite an uncommon brand. The new card I will order is most likely going to be MSI. Now I gather that there shouldn't be any problem with matching two different brand cards, but I came across a source online that states that the PNY GTX 680 has different measurements than the standard.. I don't know how accurate this source is, it seemed to be merely speculation but I want to be sure (can't find the box). Does anyone know if this is even possible or do all cards have to stick to the reference design (dimensions wise)? And will this prevent me from being able to SLI them? Thanks.

 

[croSSeduP]

The physical dimensions of the card do not matter, as long as it will fit in your tower, and the two cards will fit stacked without the top card interfering with the bottom one. Part of that has to do with your mobo and how close the two PCI-E slots are to each other. Also, you want to make sure that there is enough space between the cards when both are installed that the top card can actually pull cooling air in. If the fan of the top card is blocked you will burn up that card. What matters is that the card architecture is the same. Is your PNY a 2GB card or a 4GB card? Whichever, whatever card you get to pair it with, it must be the same. Why not just get another PNY? Personally, I would NOT get an MSi ANYthing. I have had BAD experiences with them and their products. I'll never buy another MSi product, ever. If I were you I'd get another PNY, or go with the best: EVGA!
Oh, another thing; have you ever SLI'd/Crossfired any other VGA's? I have. While the performance improved, it did not improve as much as I had hoped, and frankly the performance to price ratio wasn't worth it. I eventually sold one of my SLI'd cards and I have not noticed an irritatingly large drop in performance.

 

[Tideman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by croSSeduP

The physical dimensions of the card do not matter, as long as it will fit in your tower, and the two cards will fit stacked without the top card interfering with the bottom one. Part of that has to do with your mobo and how close the two PCI-E slots are to each other. Also, you want to make sure that there is enough space between the cards when both are installed that the top card can actually pull cooling air in. If the fan of the top card is blocked you will burn up that card. What matters is that the card architecture is the same. Is your PNY a 2GB card or a 4GB card? Whichever, whatever card you get to pair it with, it must be the same. Why not just get another PNY? Personally, I would NOT get an MSi ANYthing. I have had BAD experiences with them and their products. I'll never buy another MSi product, ever. If I were you I'd get another PNY, or go with the best: EVGA!
Oh, another thing; have you ever SLI'd/Crossfired any other VGA's? I have. While the performance improved, it did not improve as much as I had hoped, and frankly the performance to price ratio wasn't worth it. I eventually sold one of my SLI'd cards and I have not noticed an irritatingly large drop in performance.

Okay well I'm not to worried about the spacing, it seems like there should be enough room to spare. My current card is 2GB, so definitely plan to pair it with another 2GB card. And unfortunately, the PNY 680 is no longer available on the sites I use (EVGA, MSI are), so I have no choice but to opt for a different brand, but from what you're saying - this shouldn't present a problem right? I had been under the impression that this was quite common practice (pairing with different brands).
Oh and plus +rep for your advice.

 

[brettjv]

Yeah, like crossed said, as long as they're both GTX680, you can SLi them. The dimensions of the card are irrelevant, all that matters is that they have the same 'core', which all 680's do. Since you have a 2GB card, you'd want to SLI it w/another 4GB card, since in SLi you only ever get the mem capacity of the card with the lowest amount (much like RAID 1 with HD's ... same 'mirroring' principle at work).

This being said I have to part with him AFA MSI goes. My fave cards I ever owned were my MSI 465 "Golden Edition" cards, with the Twin Frozr 2 coolers. I've never dealt with them in terms of customer service, but their cards are pretty sweet and have good build quality in my experience.

Actually if you don't mind mismatched-looking cards, the best setup for SLi in terms of temps is to have a 'blower' style card on the bottom, and an aftermarket-style cooled card on the top, like a DC2 from Asus or TF3 from MSi

 

[Tideman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brettjv

Since you have a 2GB card, you'd want to SLI it w/another 4GB card, since in SLi you only ever get the mem capacity of the card with the lowest amount

You mean SLI it with another 2GB card right? Sorry I'm not sure what you mean here.

And I have to say that I'm leaning toward the MSI card also, mainly due to the fact that it's cheaper than the EVGA equivalent, and the rest of the brands too. So thanks for lending your opinion on them, it's helped reassure me! I'm most likely just going to go with the base model though, to further cut costs. My case has a very large side intake fan, which will hopefully help a lot in keeping the cards from overheating, and I have no intention to OC a great deal either. Can't wait to go SLI

 

[brettjv]

Yeah, ooops ... another 2GB card

 

[croSSeduP]

I'm probably in the minority when it comes to my experience w/ MSi. There's just so much quality to choose from no one has to SETTLE for any company's version of a VGA, or anything else, for that matter.
Thanks for the rep, BTW!