3DVision setup: SLI or single card?

[priority1]

Next week I plan on buying the new 3-D vision ASUS VG278H monitor. I have a question regarding whether I should push to buy a second graphics card to support the dual images that will be shown on screen at the same time? Right now I'm running a GTX 460 and I'm wondering if I should buy a second GTX 460 to run an SLI setup or if I should go to a single card Nvidia 600 series card.

In theory I think the an SLI setup will handle the load better but I'm not sure. Any feedback or knowledge of how you run an SLI setup with 3-D enabled would be greatly appreciated.

-James

 

[djscribbles]

My 2cents. Get the single card and try to get a second one in the future if needed. You can't upgrade from the 2x460.

 

[basch99]

Well, SLi migh incur microstuttering and an effective limit on V-Ram in surround if 3D capabilities turned on. I would suggest you pick a GTX 670 if money isn't of no object - because that single card supports 3 monitors and it's very very powerful - more powerful than two GTX 460's and offers better power draw in the long run, saving you money. 3D effectively chops fps in half, and I need you need more V-RAM to handle your needs. GTX 670 is good but has only 2GB compared to the 3GB Radeon HD 7950/7970 - though it should be much better than your 460 768MB of VRAM. If V-Ram is an issue, get a pricier 4GB variant of the GTX 670 by evga. If money is a concern, stick with 460 SLi and you will have to lower settings thought to achieve optimum performance. Hope this helps!

 

[priority1]

Thanks to you both for your input. Money wise I can't afford more than $1000 worth with the monitor included. And the monitor is $599 on Amazon.com so that kind of puts it in perspective of how much I can spend.

 

[priority1]

Here's one thing I didn't think of until now. Right now when I look at the GPU-Z program that I have installed on my computer it says that my GTX 460 is running in the bus interface of a PCI Express 16 1.1 slot. This is strange because my Gigabyte x58 UD3R has 2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots. I wonder if I have it in the wrong slot.

 

[baddad]

Top Slot should be a 16x slot and a gtx 560 ti will do the job for you.

 

[priority1]

Top Slot should be a 16x slot and a gtx 560 ti will do the job for you.

Thanks I'll take look.

 

[Murissokah]

GPU-Z reads the PCI-E rating on the fly. If you aren't using 3D, it will state its running at 1.1 speeds. Try opening furmark on the background and see if it changes.

Also, you never told us what you intend to do with that setup. If all you want is 3D blu-ray, than none of that is necessary, just get the monitor. If you intend to game on that, then it depends on what games you want to play 3D. For gaming, a GTX 670 + Monitor would be the best for your budget.

 

[priority1]

Also, you never told us what you intend to do with that setup. If all you want is 3D blu-ray, than none of that is necessary, just get the monitor. If you intend to game on that, then it depends on what games you want to play 3D. For gaming, a GTX 670 + Monitor would be the best for your budget.

I plan on doing both watching movies in 3-D but playing games as well. Especially graphic intensive games such as Crysis 2, Max Payne 3, DCS A-10, & Farcry 3 in the future. So I plan on going with this single card GTX 670 with the 3-D monitor as all of you have recommended.

I just hope that the video card will be in stock when I go to order it and not be so hard to find like the GTX 680 and 690.

 

[sp0nger]

I have the VG278H and my set up is in my sig.

Before i had SLIed GTX 580's my single GTX 580 could play everything on ultra <50 fps. Games like metro 2033 in 3D, mxaa had to be turned off and FXAA used to get playable frame rates, but it was also over clocked to 950Mhz.

Now i have Slied gtx 580's and i get >50 fps with everything on ultra.

In a nut shell, 1 card will play 3D great on high settings but u will SLI to play smoothly on ultra (or a good overclock) because i found that overall 3D taxes my set up around 35% of its overall performance.

Personally i think your best options are

1x gtx680 3gb
1x gtx670 (>2gb vram)
x2 gtx660ti ( I havent checked if these are available yet)
or
1x gtx 580 3gb ( vram futured proofed for SLI)
x2 gtx 560ti biggest vram possible

oviously grab a 6 series if availability is a problem, but you could probably save a buck going with a 5 series

 

[basch99]

I plan on doing both watching movies in 3-D but playing games as well. Especially graphic intensive games such as Crysis 2, Max Payne 3, DCS A-10, & Farcry 3 in the future. So I plan on going with this single card GTX 670 with the 3-D monitor as all of you have recommended.

I just hope that the video card will be in stock when I go to order it and not be so hard to find like the GTX 680 and 690.

GTX 670 is currently in stock at newegg in mass - GTX 670s aren't nearly as hard to find as GTX 680s or 690s. Don't worry, your money for this will be rewarded with kick-ass performance and power savings.

 

[priority1]

I want to thank all of you for your input. Once I get this setup going with the 670 & monitor, I'll give you an update on performance.