2 x nvidia 590 gtx SLI. Huge lag/spiking

Ok... So i've beem testing out 2d surround in games. I've tried resolutions including 6080 x 1080 @ 120, 5760 x 1080 @ 120. I would prefer to use 6080 x 1080 @ 120

The issue i have is this.

I see a lot of people with lesser cards and lesser specs running the same monitors if not MORE monitors (up to 5) with lag free.

I can run games like iRacing maxed out with a spike every now and then, usually when first loading. This is fine. i can understand this.

Now i was playing DiRT 3 today. Turns out i have to run the game on all low, no aa and i STILL get lag/spikes in places.

I cannot comprehend as to why i am getting lag when i see others with less specs than mine, running the game maxed or med > high lag/spike free on the same triple screen setup/games.

My specs are as below.

Manufacturer: Custom Build
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
Memory: 6144MB DDR3 1600mhz RAM
Hard Drive: 3 TB Total
Video Card: 2 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 SLI
Monitor: 3 x Benq XL2410T 23.6' 120hz
Sound Card: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Speakers/Headphones: Logitech 5.1 surround
Keyboard:Logitech G19
Mouse: Razer Naga
Mouse Surface: Razor Vespula
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850)
Motherboard: Asus P6T
Computer Case: Thermaltake V
Power Supply: Thermaltake Tough Power 1350W

I'm currently running the 275.27 beta drivers but running the 270.61 drivers make no impact/performance increase.

I have had my cpu either non overclocked using turbo mode/speed step. i have tried overclocking it to my stable overclock speed of 3.6ghz as you can see above.

Makes no difference. still lags.

I cannot comprehend or work out where the lag issue is coming from.

Yes the game works fine on 1 screen in 1920 x 1080 @ 120. But in saying that i have 4 gpu's and 6gb VRAM to power it...

I don't get how a multi GPU card as powerful as these are lagging when i see single gpu cards outperforming my system (it may not be card related. it may be my other hardware. But i would like some ideas as to what is actually causing this as it's starting to give me the shites)

try enabling v-sync. it fixed my lag spikes in games like dirt 2 etc

v-sync is disgusting and i should not need to use it...

I get like 100fps in surround. but then all of a sudden it will spike down to like 20fps for 1-2 seconds then jump back up to around 100.

Also i am running 120hz so capping my framerate at 60hz is pointless as i wont get the full use out of the 120hz displays...

I want to work out WHY i am getting these spikes and what is causing it hardware/software wise.

will do. have setup the log files so will keep an eye on it and see what i can come up with.

But even saying that there are 1gb single gpu cards running games more stable than me on 2d surround. so do not see how this can cause the issue.

Non-the-less i want to cover all basis so i will monitor this as well.

game doesn't hit 120fps constantly.

frame drops/lag would still occur with vsync on anyway i would imagine

well Dirt3 might be a memory hog, haven't played it myself so don't know...

ok.. so ive tested with vsync on. all low again. same issues. huge spiking.

I ran the ingame benchmark on high and got a min 40fps and max 80-90fps.

ran an actual race and was getting like 15fps spikes...

have tried lowering rez even further and same issues. does not change anything.

Here are the logs from MSI afterburner for your consideration.

I am not sure what exactly i am looking for but yer. here they are.

[url=http://www.FreeFileUpload.info/files/HZC7T6NK/HardwareMonitoring.hml][/url]

lol what do you expect from drivers for 4 gpus? vsync + triple buffering

Quad GPU scaling isn't very good. I'm chalking this one up to Quad SLI inefficencies.

How's that epeen doing with a system that isn't working well?

severe fps dips like that indicate something loading from the hard drive and data is not able to be fed fast enough. double your ram up and get an SSD drive. Also make sure nothing is running in the background, try using game booster, it kills all unnecessary processes and fires them all back up after you have finished gaming. Even Automatic updates can cause an issue like this, regardless how powerful your pc is. there are many things still left for you to try.