Upgrade GPU or double up?

Sticky7ft

New member
After lots of research the answer to this question still eludes me. Generally speaking, if you’re running an older gaming system and looking to upgrade to better run newer, more demanding titles, when it comes to the GPU would it be better to buy another of whatever you’re already running and run them with SLI/Crossfire, or to switch the current GPU for a newer one? Or is that something that can only realistically be answered on a case by case basis?

Note that by “better” I’m largely referring to getting higher performance for less money - the idea being that an additional cheaper GPU should, in my mind at least, give much of the performance increases that a single brand new top of the line one would. Obviously that would depend on the age of the original card, but for argument’s sake let’s assume it’s something that’s just about able to cope with current AAA titles on normal settings at around 30-40fps (I’ve been out of the loop with PC gaming for about 5-10 years, so I don’t really know what that would equate to).

In case anyone’s wondering, the reason for the question is that I’m looking at getting back into PC gaming, and I’m trying to work out how much I might need to spend in the future after buying a complete rig to meet my needs, before I’d need to build a totally new one again.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Generally, because of the limitations that SLI introduces such that not all games support it, and less so nowadays as nvidia / AMD support it less than they used to, plus stuttering and performance issues on some cards etc etc, it’s usually suggested just to upgrade the card, but it depends on the platform (cpu, motherboard and RAM) as to weather the new cards performance will be limited by the older hardware anyway.

As PCS sell custom desktops and laptops, we cannot advise on self builds or competitor builds, if you’re looking to upgrade your existing setup that is not a PCS build, you may want to check out toms hardware.

If you list your current specs we can advise weather it’s worth upgrading graphics alone or a new build.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
As above, it depends on your specs a bit.

But the answer is almost always going to be buy a new single GPU rather than doubling up.

Many titles will see limited benefit or even lose performance from 2 GPUs. Old GPUs are often not cheap enough to make them worth the performance.

Let's say you have a GTX 970. You get one for £80 off ebay. or you could get a GTX 1660ti for ~£225, that will outperform 970 SLI even with the SLI's best case scenario, give much more consistent performance, avoid issues like microstutter, offer more VRAM, consume less power (which over time closes the price difference)...

Edit: forgot to mention the new card vs putting a random thing that may have once been used for mining in your system, and that selling your old 970 would fund a good chunk of the upgrade anyway.
 
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