Second graphics card?

[DaRkBlaDe617]

Hello! I'd like to upgrade my graphics card, but it looks like it would be very expensive to get much better performance without spending a fortune. So I thought maybe I could just buy a second graphics card - maybe exactly the same card again? Can the motherboard even do that?

Sorry for noob question I've never thought about having 2 graphics cards before so this is all very new.

Do you think that would deliver a significant performance boost for graphics intensive games? Something like ARC where I'm having to run quite low graphics settings.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 2050MB/s R | 700MB/s W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

 

[DaRkBlaDe617]

Or maybe I can't actually buy the same card anymore and would need to have two different cards... Is that possible or does it cause problems?

 

[SpyderTracks]

What monitor are you pairing it with, what resolution and refresh rate or make and model?

 

[Scott]

To have a large, noticeable, difference you would want to budget for the 2070 Super right now. As above, I would probably hold out and see what the price/performance of the 3060 is like. My instinct tells me it's going to be more powerful than the 2070 Super for significantly less money.

As also requested, it depends on which monitor you are gaming on too.

 

[DaRkBlaDe617]

Thanks for the help so far... monitor is 144hz, 1920 x 1080
BenQ Zowie XL2411p

I was asking about getting a second graphics card to ADD alongside my existing card... is the consensus I should wait and simply upgrade to a new single card in the future?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for the help so far... monitor is 144hz, 1920 x 1080
BenQ Zowie XL2411p

I was asking about getting a second graphics card to ADD alongside my existing card... is the consensus I should wait and simply upgrade to a new single card in the future?

Absolutely. Dual GPU’s aren’t really supported any more and youll find in an awful lot of games it will barely make any difference with some games actually having worse performance in FPS plus stuttering is a common issue.

It’s only really supported for video editing or things like that that use hardware acceleration. It’s also much more expensive than upgrading to newer tech where you’ll get more performance for less money.

The upcoming 3000 series are set to be a 40% uplift in performance as well as finally making ray tracing an actual viable technology without nerfing performance.

The 3060 (if naming remains the same) would be far better than another 1080.

 

[Notapcspecialist]

Just to add, you should easily be able to run ARK (if that’s what you meant) at high settings on your GTX1080 at 1080p. It seems a bit off and suggests that something else is up with your system. Are your GPU drivers up to date?

 

[DaRkBlaDe617]

Thanks amazing and rapid advice - truly much appreciated.

OK so I've concluded that I should NOT buy a second graphics card, but should wait and upgrade my existing card when the performance uplift justifies the cost. I'll keep an eye on the 3060 you mention. Ray tracing would be cool...

I thought the GeForce experience was updating my drivers but I think I disabled it when I was troubleshooting something, so that's a great call - It turns out I was on 445.75 which is outdated.