Tri or Quad SLI?

[ambam]

I heard that the performance increase with having four individual GPU's in SLI/CrossFire is very small. Only 15-20%.

The power requirements of four graphics cards is astronomical and very problematic.

If I am building a new PC, should I go with four GTX 680's or just three?

Is the silverstone 1,500W PSU enough to fully power three Keplers + everything else in the rig?

 

[e56imfg]

What's your mobo?

I wouldn't even go for 3 / 4 cards. There almost no games supporting Tri SLI/CFX. Not to mention drivers...

 

[bowzef]

if you want to boast how big your E peen is then sure but personaly 2 680s is fine for anything

Just wasting money down the drown when Nivida brings out 780

 

[techwizard08]

Ambam - what is the primary use of your system? Heavy auto-cad/design use, gaming, attempting to cause the catastrophic results of the antagonist from "Live Free or Die Hard?"

I think most people would suggest a build with at-most twin top-end graphics cards, unless you have an extremely specialized need (monitor array, matrix configuration, etc.) which might be handled better in a different way.

Also, information about your budget and other components you are considering, as well as number of monitors and your native resolution is all useful. Otherwise, it's just largely a shot in the dark.

 

[bowzef]

Ambam - what is the primary use of your system? Heavy auto-cad/design use, gaming, attempting to cause the catastrophic results of the antagonist from "Live Free or Die Hard?"

I think most people would suggest a build with at-most twin top-end graphics cards, unless you have an extremely specialized need (monitor array, matrix configuration, etc.) which might be handled better in a different way.

Also, information about your budget and other components you are considering, as well as number of monitors and your native resolution is all useful. Otherwise, it's just largely a shot in the dark.

im guessing 1 monitor running at 1920x1080 @ 60hrtz and gaming Lulz!!!

 

[ambam]

Ambam - what is the primary use of your system? Heavy auto-cad/design use, gaming, attempting to cause the catastrophic results of the antagonist from "Live Free or Die Hard?"

I think most people would suggest a build with at-most twin top-end graphics cards, unless you have an extremely specialized need (monitor array, matrix configuration, etc.) which might be handled better in a different way.

Also, information about your budget and other components you are considering, as well as number of monitors and your native resolution is all useful. Otherwise, it's just largely a shot in the dark.

ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 E-ATX motherboard.

My system is specifically for gaming.

Running games like Crysis and Battlefield 3 at their absolute highest settings with graphics mods installed is going to require A LOT of GPU horsepower.

Grand Theft Auto V is going to require TONS of texture memory. So I'm waiting for the 4GB GTX 680's to come out.

And yes, I have a single 1920x1080 monitor.

 

[e56imfg]

A single 680 can handle all games @ 1080p fine, all maxed out.

Crysis 2
Battlefield 3

2 680s can max out BF3 / Crysis over 100FPS.

 

[nbelote]

With only one monitor, more than 2 is ridiculous. You won't see any real world benefit until you add another couple of monitors. With 3 monitors I'd say jump for 4, but there's only a minor difference (~10fps) between 3 and 4 680s. I can see that, in a year, you'd benefit from having 4 680s for sure over 3, but at that point you'll want to drop money on 4 780s.

 

[ambam]

A single 680 can handle all games @ 1080p fine, all maxed out.

Crysis 2
Battlefield 3

2 680s can max out BF3 / Crysis over 100FPS.

The PC version of Grand Theft Auto V is going to bring the fastest hardware setups to their knees. Especially in terms of GPU memory.

4GB texture memory should be enough for GTA V on it's max settings. I'm building a MONSTER rig for GTAV and a few other future titles.

GTA IV required 2GB of GPU memory to run smoothly.

 

[Rockdpm]

Yea like Metro last light. I got word from developers that.... their will be another benchmark and its gonna be updated to stress test the latest hardware

 

[lemlo]

Yeah stick with one 680 for that resolution size. To be able to max out settings at higher resolutions gpu power would be needed. Especially at 5760x1080, triple monitors.

I can speak with experience when saying tri sli these days is very very supported. I have not yet seen a title that doesn't get a very nice gain from it, aside from a couple mmos. Though it's the same with 2x sli as well. 3 way is just as supported these days as 2 way, though slightly less scaling increase from 1 to 2.

Quad sli is still a little sketchy and isn't always supported.

Again though at your res one 680 is plenty.

 

[nbelote]

^^^ Exactly. Add more GPUs when you add more monitors, otherwise you're wasting potential.

 

[e56imfg]

SLI / CrossFire FAQs

Does SLI or CrossFire double the memory ?
No.Adding another card with more memory doesn't double the overall memory of your cards.

You won't get 4GB of VRAM from 2 680s. If you want VRAM, wait for the 690 / 7990 or the rumored 3GB 685. Or you could just go with the 7970. The stock 680 beats the 7970 only because the stock clock is higher. When you OC the 7970 to 1Ghz, performance is neck to neck.
Since the 7970 comes with 3GB of VRAM and cost is not an issue for you, the 7970 would be the smarter choice.

 

[Wamphryi]

I have GTA 4 on max settings with a single 560 Ti 1 GB at 1080 P and it runs perfectly fine. I have stuck a GTX 460 in the second PCI slot to run a third monitor but I wouldn't go SLI again. To much heat and not enough games that need it to bother imho.

 

[photonboy]

Exactly.
If you intend to SLI the GTX680 you need to get a 3GB or 4GB version. That's useless for a single card but needed for two or three cards.

Not to be rude, but even talking about having four GTX680's means that you don't understand PC gaming hardware very well, so let me be clear:

1) all SLI/Crossfire setups have micro-stutter. There's a Tomshardware article you can find called "microstutter in sli/crossfire.."

2) a single GTX680 is all you need for a single monitor, otherwise you're wasting your money and adding a lot more noise

3) 2xSLI averages about 80% boost in supported games but you basically need THREE monitors to use it (and then you have the issue with the bezel spaces)

4) 3xSLI rarely provides a benefit and can cause problems

5) 4xSLI is insane, not likely to be supported in ANY game and will cause tonnes of problems.

6) VRAM is basically CLONED, not added in SLI/Crossfire.

7) microstutter is caused this way: in 2xSLI the first card generates a frame, then the second card generates the next frame. The frames differ slightly in processing power causing a slight stuttering effect most noticeable when panning.

SUMMARY:
- stick with a single GTX680 with one monitor
- educate yourself on SLI
- 2xGTX680 will work best with MORE than 2GB's of VRAM on each card (which is why the HD7970 has 3GB. It's for Crossfire setups.)