GTX 670 in dual or tri SLI

[grebgonebad]

Hi everyone, I'm currently planning my new PC build at the minute, and just want some advice on what to do about graphics.

I have decided to go with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2Gb, as this card is almost identical to the 680, and can actually surpass it performance wise with a little overclocking. I am going to be going for the reference card design from EVGA as I want to buy the Watercool Heatkiller waterblock for each card, as I am going to be implementing a full system watercooling loop. My question is this:

Should I go for 2-way or 3-way SLI? I definitely want at least two cards, but I cant decide whether 3 would be better? I understand that micro stuttering and scaling can become an issue with multiple GPU's, but surely the more up to date drivers for the 670 should compensate for this somewhat?

Anyway, if anyone has 2 or more 670's in SLI, please can you let me know what you think, was it worth it etc. And if anyone else can offer thier advice it would aslo be most appreciated.

money is not so much of an issue, as I am only planning the build. I will think about the budget later.

Thanks for your time and help

 

[bystander]

I have no idea what to recommend without knowing what you using your 670's with. Are you going to have 1 1080p monitor, are you going 5760x1080p, or 3D Vision, or 3D Vision surround?

How much power you need is determined by your monitor setup, and partly with your CPU as well.

 

[Rockdpm]

If 1080p monitor the 2 670s
If 25**x**** or 5760x1080 or 1440p then 3 670s

 

[bigcyco1]

I have sli 670's it was worth it i can destroy anything i throw at them so i am pretty happy i can't complain i only game on a single monitor though

 

[Derza10]

if you are playing on 5760x1080 you might want to think about going with the 4gig models. If you are only playing on 1 monitor - more than 1 gtx 670 is overkill anyway so no more than 2 for that. 2 would be plenty for 3 monitors but if money isn't an issue 3 way them .

 

[Ceee9]

3 way sli for 670 DOES NOT make that much different on the perfomance, stick with two card for the best value per perfomance,

or if u want same proof, just google it, they are some that doen this benchmark,

people above me is right
2x670 on single monitor is overkill(for now)

maybe next year, u can add another 670 to compete with the next gen card and game that more demanding, but 2x670 in a single monitor(1080p) is overkill,

but it will be fine for 2560p,

 

[spookyman]

If you are going with the GTX 670 why not go with a crossfire set up with 7970's? The 7970 is a great card for multi-monitor setups.

 

[bigcyco1]

If you are going with the GTX 670 why not go with a crossfire set up with 7970's? The 7970 is a great card for multi-monitor setups.

Off topic stick to the question

 

[Rockdpm]

oh great here we go... Fanboys show up and recommend the client change ther whole system to run a radeon...

 

[bigcyco1]

oh great here we go... Fanboys show up and recommend the client change ther whole system to run a radeon...

Happens all the time this site is overfilled with non sense like that

 

[grebgonebad]

Hi everyone, sorry for my late reply.

Thanks for all your advice, I appreciate it guys!

As far as monitors go I shall probably be running 3 x 1920 x 1080 32" screens

The reason why I am unsure on whether to get 2 or 3 GPU's is because I have read somewhere on the internet that by having more GPU's you can have micro stuttering and scaling problems? I assume that after looking at what you have all said, 2 670's should be more than adequate. Also, the TV's that I shall be getting have a refresh rate of 400Hz, so by having more cards I will have higher FPS.

@spookyman

I'm sorry, but I wont get any ATI cards at all as I prefer Nvidia. Also, I believe that ATI are to Nvidia what AMD are to Intel...bang for buck. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, in fact I'm currently using an AMD 8 core, but Intel and Nvidia are the two big brands in my opinion. =)

Thanks for all your help people!

 

[thently]

Micro stutter is not much of a big deal on the 600 series and just for comparison I run 3x23inch 1920x1080 on a single 670 with a 4th monitor for team speak ect. and can max allot of games and at least high settings on almost all the rest. So IMO 2 is perfect for a 3 screen setup and you should be able to max almost everything.

Thent

 

[bystander]

Hi everyone, sorry for my late reply.

Thanks for all your advice, I appreciate it guys!

As far as monitors go I shall probably be running 3 x 1920 x 1080 32" screens

The reason why I am unsure on whether to get 2 or 3 GPU's is because I have read somewhere on the internet that by having more GPU's you can have micro stuttering and scaling problems? I assume that after looking at what you have all said, 2 670's should be more than adequate. Also, the TV's that I shall be getting have a refresh rate of 400Hz, so by having more cards I will have higher FPS.

@spookyman

I'm sorry, but I wont get any ATI cards at all as I prefer Nvidia. Also, I believe that ATI are to Nvidia what AMD are to Intel...bang for buck. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, in fact I'm currently using an AMD 8 core, but Intel and Nvidia are the two big brands in my opinion. =)

Thanks for all your help people!

Scaling problems of 3 way SLI is mainly an issue when you exceed the power of your CPU with lower resolutions. With a 5760x1080 setup, 670 SLI and even 3-way is not out of the question, but I'd recommend you start with 2, and if you find you need more power, only then should you get the 3rd.

If you had a single 1080p monitor, I'd only recommend SLI if you had a 120hz monitor (this includes 3D Vision).

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention, those 400hz TV's will not give you but 60hz in gaming. If you want a high refresh rate, you'll want 120hz or 144hz monitors. The one listed in the post below mine is the one I wish I had.

 

[redeemer]

Do a 3-way SLI 670 and buy yourself a Asus 144Hz monitor the 3rd card will totally eliminate the stuttering. Just make sure to buy a high end cpu, the i7 2700k is cheap and OC's to 5.0Ghz easy

 

[Derza10]

Yea i wouldn't recommend using TV's as monitors if you can help it.

 

[grebgonebad]

@thently - Thanks for telling me that, it does put my mind at ease with regards to micro stuttering and power for 3 screens. =)

@bystander - So what are you saying? 2-way to run the 3 monitors I mentioned above will be fine? sorry if i seem a bit dim, I just didn't quite understand what you were saying there. =P

@redeemer - I plan on buying the i7-3930k, so plenty of processing power there! =) But thanks all the same for your advice.

 

[bystander]

@bystander - So what are you saying? 2-way to run the 3 monitors I mentioned above will be fine? sorry if i seem a bit dim, I just didn't quite understand what you were saying there. =P

I was trying to say that scaling issues are not a problem with such a high resolution. The reasons 3 way SLI doesn't typically scale well, is due getting to such high FPS, the CPU can't keep up, but that isn't an issue with such a high resolution.

 

[bigcyco1]

Do a 3-way SLI 670 and buy yourself a Asus 144Hz monitor the 3rd card will totally eliminate the stuttering. Just make sure to buy a high end cpu, the i7 2700k is cheap and OC's to 5.0Ghz easy

Is that really true?Does a 3-way SLI 670 totally eliminate the stuttering. My friend from out of state told me same thing

 

[bystander]

Is that really true?Does a 3-way SLI 670 totally eliminate the stuttering. My friend from out of state told me same thing

There was a test done on this site that showed with AMD, their 6870's had horrible stuttering in crossfire, but in trifire, the stuttering stopped. However, it was not tested with SLI in 3 way mode. In 2 way mode, SLI had far less microstuttering than AMD's system. A few weeks back, I saw another site with newer cards, and it showed AMD improved, but still had more stuttering than Nvidia's 2 way system, and 3 way was not tested.

 

[redeemer]

There was a test done on this site that showed with AMD, their 6870's had horrible stuttering in crossfire, but in trifire, the stuttering stopped. However, it was not tested with SLI in 3 way mode. In 2 way mode, SLI had far less microstuttering than AMD's system. A few weeks back, I saw another site with newer cards, and it showed AMD improved, but still had more stuttering than Nvidia's 2 way system, and 3 way was not tested.

Stuttering seems specific to two GPU's Xfire or SLI, I experience stuttering on my 680's occasionally. 3 way has the same smoothness as a single gpu setup

 

[bystander]

Stuttering seems specific to two GPU's Xfire or SLI, I experience stuttering on my 680's occasionally. 3 way has the same smoothness as a single gpu setup

Well, without deeper testing, I can't say for sure what you experienced. What I have seen in a couple different articles tests, was that CF experiences it more, but SLI does experience as well. I also never saw tri-sli, do you have tri-sli?

Some microstuttering may be a result of code.

 

[redeemer]

Well, without deeper testing, I can't say for sure what you experienced. What I have seen in a couple different articles tests, was that CF experiences it more, but SLI does experience as well. I also never saw tri-sli, do you have tri-sli?

Some microstuttering may be a result of code.

Lol no need for deeper testing it was stutter! What do you think the Nvidia SLI setups have no stuttering. If you want more information about stuttering in relation to multi-gpu setups Google is you friend!

 

[bystander]

Lol no need for deeper testing it was stutter! What do you think the Nvidia SLI setups have no stuttering. If you want more information about stuttering in relation to multi-gpu setups Google is you friend!

I also have an 680 sli setup. I've only experienced microstutter (assuming that was what it was) in one game. Batman AC, which is known to be quite buggy. What I was trying to say is the cause of the stutter is uncertain. I fully blame Batman AC for the issue I have seen (oddly, it seems to only happen on their cut scenes).

I also was trying to say that just because tri-cf fixed it mostly (it didn't eliminate it), doesn't automatically mean SLI has the same effect. I also saw in one such test, that a single card can have some signs of stuttering at times.

If you have a good article that shows what you are talking about, I'd love to see it. I've only seen 2 that touched on the subject.

 

[grebgonebad]

Hi again everyone, thanks again for all your help! Most appreciated!

I've been doing some thinking and I think I may have come to a conclusion based on what you have all said here. Tell me what you think. =)

I will be purchasing 1 x LG dual play 32" with the 40Mhz refresh rate, But I wont be using this one to play games on (Aside from Xbox, but thats where the dual play comes in handy!), but I shall sill use it as a monitoring screen or something. I shall also be purchasing 2 x Asus 144Mhz monitors, preferably 32" again, and these 2 screens will be my gaming screens.

I shall try a 2-way 670 SLI to begin with, and see how it goes. If after trying this out for awhile, I'm not happy or there are issues, I shall invest in a 3rd card and have 3-way SLI.

What do you think? Is this the way to go?

Cheers everyone, you've been great

 

[Derza10]

Hi again everyone, thanks again for all your help! Most appreciated!

I've been doing some thinking and I think I may have come to a conclusion based on what you have all said here. Tell me what you think. =)

I will be purchasing 1 x LG dual play 32" with the 40Mhz refresh rate, But I wont be using this one to play games on (Aside from Xbox, but thats where the dual play comes in handy!), but I shall sill use it as a monitoring screen or something. I shall also be purchasing 2 x Asus 144Mhz monitors, preferably 32" again, and these 2 screens will be my gaming screens.

I shall try a 2-way 670 SLI to begin with, and see how it goes. If after trying this out for awhile, I'm not happy or there are issues, I shall invest in a 3rd card and have 3-way SLI.

What do you think? Is this the way to go?

Cheers everyone, you've been great

Gaming on 2 monitors doesn't really work, really needs to be an odd number(1,3, and 5) so you don't have a line(bezel) right in the middle of your view. You should buy 3 of the monitors and that LG Dual Play can also be connected to your computer for a 4th that can be used to monitor computer temps and such (or messaging / vent type things). I also don't think you should spend the extra money on 144 Mhz monitors if you are going to have 3 of them.. you might need 4 cards to get 120+ fps or use surround 3D on 3 of those.

Edit: Oh and if you are now planning on running with 3 monitors you might want to consider buying the 4 gig models, although I'm running at 6040x1200 with 1 GTX 680 2 gig and rarely see above 1500MB used on the games I play (mainly MMOs, my lowest FPS is normally around 30 as well) other games can use up the 2 gigs of ram at higher settings, just something to think about. Oh and yes using 3 cards will fix micro stuttering completely, although nvidia SLI as is has very minimal micro stuttering.