Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Nvidia > 3-Way SLI Questions
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
godspeed7   06-05-2008 at 06:06:00 AM

Hi, I am currently building a PC, I was maybe thinking of going for 3-way SLI seeing as how the EVGA 780i Motherboard I am getting supports it.

I was just wondering if anyone has tried it with 3x 9800GTX's?
What is the lowest Power Supply I can go for and are there any other requirements over the normal 2-way SLI?

Is there a big advantage to 3-way SLI?

Thank you in advance for you comments and help!

------------------------------ GODSPEED|seven
Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
iluvgillgill   06-05-2008 at 06:11:37 AM
- 0 +

2 word!LEAVE IT.

2 way SLI is struggle to scale and perform.in some game SLi actually make the game run slower.and 3 way will be waste of money and be power hungry as well.if 3 way sli you will need to get a 1000w PSU as well.MULTI GPU solution doesnt work like CPU.more core doesnt mean more fps.if you want the best scalable setup.you should get the 9600GT SLI or HD3870 CF or maybe you just want one card then go for the 9800GX2 or HD3870X2.

any other SLi or CF solution is not worth considering.

Reply to iluvgillgill
romulus47plus1   06-05-2008 at 06:38:52 AM
- 0 +

3-way SLI is a new technology.
It's raw and, just not worth it.
LEAVE IT!

------------------------------ Needs a job...
 Reply to romulus47plus1
godspeed7   06-05-2008 at 07:01:10 AM
- 0 +

Although I have seen benchmarks using 2 EVGA 9800GTX in SLI and they outperformed a 9800GTXx2 by 5 FPS in Crysis all maxed out. So would you all suggest I just stick with 2-Way SLI?

Reply to godspeed7
romulus47plus1   06-05-2008 at 07:04:13 AM
- 0 +

Yep! Buy 3 cards, and the performance, well, not up to the price you paid.

------------------------------ Needs a job...
 Reply to romulus47plus1
Maziar   06-05-2008 at 08:19:01 AM
- 0 +

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3183

------------------------------ Q6600@3.4+ TT V1 Cooler,SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2,ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA,4GB OCZ DDR2 800,LG W2452V 1920x1200
 Reply to Maziar
pcgamer12   06-05-2008 at 08:57:21 AM
- 0 +

lol, 3 way sli, u have to spend extra on power, MB, case, cooling, 3 500-600 GPU, fast cpu to not bottleneck it, raid drives to increase i/o performance, good memory. plus, u need a high resolution monitor, probably a 2560 * 1600 one since 1920*1200 is a waste for even regular sli with todays 8800, 9600, 9800 series gpus. its simply not worth it unless u truly have money to waste. it will also be a power hog. not to mention how fast technology changes, ur beast of a machine wont be the top dog for long, after a while, a cheap sli setup will beat it, then 1, then integrated graphics. im kidding about the last one. u get the idea.

Reply to pcgamer12
aziraphale   06-05-2008 at 09:14:18 AM
- 0 +

@ iluvgillgi: Sidenote: is your space bar broken?

Reply to aziraphale
iluvgillgill   06-05-2008 at 02:45:20 PM
- 0 +

no my S P A C E B A R is working fine?i dont quite get your "joke" aziraphale.

Reply to iluvgillgill
millardtech   06-05-2008 at 03:18:21 PM
- 0 +

I have a 3-way SLI setup with 9800GTX. I bench basically the same with 2 cards as I do three. The third card gets me another 1000 pts in 3Dmark06. But for 3 9800gtx you are required to run Vista.

It is said you bench better with 2 9800GTX in XP than 3 cards in Vista. I have noticed this as well.

The third is not worth it unless you are a overclocking and benchmarking type dude. Even than you would be better off with two cards and Tek9's and an Dragonforce F1. I am just getting into phase cooling myself though, my current benches are all on air.

You also need at least a 4.0Ghz Intel chip to see the slightest potential from the 3 card setup.

Here is my rig: http://www.evga.com/community/Mods [...] sysid=9686

Reply to millardtech
iluvgillgill   06-05-2008 at 08:05:03 PM
- 0 +

you will see more performance gain per card would be the 9600GT.no card will beat it in scalability.

because current driver and game support.more then 2 graphics card wont see much of a fps gain apart from BIOSHOCK and 2 other i cant remember off my head.

Reply to iluvgillgill
mihirkula   06-06-2008 at 01:05:39 AM
- 0 +

Anyways 4870 in CF mighty most probably castrate 3 way 9800GTsuX.

------------------------------ Intel E6750 * Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L * Galaxy 8800GT 512mb 620MHz* Corsair VX450 * 2GB Transcend 667* 2x120GB Seagate SATA * Altec Lansing ATP3*
 Reply to mihirkula
godspeed7   06-06-2008 at 04:08:44 AM
- 0 +

Those are two very different cards though, and that cannot be said as of yet! Let's not speculate on the prowess of the new GPU's... When has something ever been spectacular in the world of computers??

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to godspeed7
San Pedro   06-06-2008 at 04:58:06 AM
- 0 +

I think if you want to spend that much on Graphics sub system go with two of the new nvidia cards.

Reply to San Pedro
mihirkula   06-06-2008 at 08:35:52 AM
- 0 +

godspeed7 wrote :

Those are two very different cards though, and that cannot be said as of yet! Let's not speculate on the prowess of the new GPU's... When has something ever been spectacular in the world of computers??



Which world do you live in? Or are you just too hard to please?

------------------------------ Intel E6750 * Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L * Galaxy 8800GT 512mb 620MHz* Corsair VX450 * 2GB Transcend 667* 2x120GB Seagate SATA * Altec Lansing ATP3*
 Reply to mihirkula
godspeed7   06-06-2008 at 11:43:06 PM
- 0 +

What I mean is that everyone always expects a VERY big jump in performance, but when has that ever happened? I'm not saying I am very hard to please... or am I? ;)

I just want to have a good gaming system that will last me the year or two at most...

Reply to godspeed7
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Nvidia > 3-Way SLI Questions
Go to:

There are 1335 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.609 seconds
Please mind

You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.

Add a reply Cancel
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
Related Topics
See all relatives topics
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them
How do I win badges?