Triple SLI

[Terry99]

Just installed 3 GTX 580's what is the best configuration 16x16x16 or 16x16 with the third one dedicated for physics

 

[jijoslin]

Just installed 3 GTX 580's what is the best configuration 16x16x16 or 16x16 with the third one dedicated for physics

triple 16 is your best option

 

[Terry99]

Thank you....Right now it automatically set it up the 16x16x urge the third one dedicated to physics am I able to change it through the nvidia control panel or do I have to go to the bios to change

 

[Traildriver]

You didn't say what MB you have. Does it have 3 available 16x slots for your 3 cards? If not then they will all step down to the lesser of the 3 slots

 

[Terry99]

Asus rampage III formula I looked it up and it does support 16x16x16 just not sure to do it

 

[jijoslin]

I would first check the bios,and then perhaps the manufacturer website for info.

 

[ubercake]

I wouldn't be too concerned with the pci slots and x16 or x8. Consider this: Some 1155 motherboards can support quad-sli (i.e. two 590s) over 2 PCIe 2.0 x8 slots (ie Sabertooth P67).

You can use control panel and '3d settings' to make sure all cards are used for SLI. Just set physX to auto and it will determine where it will place the physX load. This is negligible for 3 580s. With 3 GTX 580s you don't need a dedicated physX card.

 

[chesteracorgi]

How many monitors are you running? If you are running a single monitor, even in 3D, there is no advantage to the GPU's in SLI over PhysX. Your bottlemneck is not going to be with the GPUs but with the monitors and maybe the CPU.

 

[ubercake]

How many monitors are you running? If you are running a single monitor, even in 3D, there is no advantage to the GPU's in SLI over PhysX. Your bottlemneck is not going to be with the GPUs but with the monitors and maybe the CPU.

Maybe a bottleneck on low res or with older single-threaded games? I run two 580s and each GPU hits 100% utilization at different points during BF3 at 1080p. BF3 utilzes all eight threads on my CPU. Two GTX 580s in SLI are not bottlenecked by a 1366 CPU.

The conclusion of this review kind of wraps up what you can expect from 3-way SLI with the 580s:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-3-way-sli-review/17

Again, the bottlenecks occur with older games or with low resolutions.