Is there anything wrong with 4-Way SLI/Crossfire on a 3770k?

[Remur]

I've been told that I should stick to LGA 2011 if I'm going to do Quad SLI or Quadfire, but I would much rather have the 3770k + Asus Maximus Extreme than the 3930k + Asus Rampage Extreme.

Can I have your thoughts? Will there be any issues or bottlenecks if I go with the 3770k?

 

[manofchalk]

Problems not with the CPU, but with the motherboard. X79 boards have full 16x bandwidth on all their PCI-e ports, while a Z77 will be lucky to have 16x on two.

In your case this isnt an issue since you are willing to get a premium Z77 motherboard that supports at least an 8x bandwidth when all the slots are full.

 

[Remur]

Problems not with the CPU, but with the motherboard. X79 boards have full 16x bandwidth on all their PCI-e ports, while a Z77 will be lucky to have 16x on two.

In your case this isnt an issue since you are willing to get a premium Z77 motherboard that supports at least an 8x bandwidth when all the slots are full.

Will I be losing any fps performance if I go with the 3770k?

 

[manofchalk]

Due to bandwidth no, Gen 2 8x is enough for even the most powerful cards.

Whether the CPU itself will bottleneck the array is a different matter, but I suspect not.

 

[twelve25]

You could run the i7-3820 on an X79 board.

 

[redeemer]

Definitely stick with Sandy Bridge E for Quad SLI, the X79 platform has more PCIe lanes. The Z77 platform is meant not for Quad GPU setups. Surely you would want all 4 GPU's running at full speed 16X?

 

[bignastyid]

Definitely stick with Sandy Bridge E for Quad SLI, the X79 platform has more PCIe lanes. The Z77 platform is meant not for Quad GPU setups. Surely you would want all 4 GPU's running at full speed 16X?

+1 go with a x79 setup

 

[paddys09]

Wait for IVY-E shouldnt be much longer now, however would the 3770k not be slightly better in games that utilize 4 or less cores due to the improved architecture over the 3930k?

Just a thought

 

[redeemer]

Wait for IVY-E shouldnt be much longer now, however would the 3770k not be slightly better in games that utilize 4 or less cores due to the improved architecture over the 3930k?

Just a thought

Thats not the question here, only an X79 platform can utilize Quad SLI at full speeds regardless. Z77 Chipset is not designed for this application.


3930k> i73770K anyday of the week!

 

[paddys09]

I agree

I just thought that it wouldnt matter running at x8 as people run dual 690's with i7s without any issues supposedly

 

[bignastyid]

2 690s also only use 2 ports not 4.

 

[bigcyco1]

Lol!I wouldn't quad SLI if i was you unless you plan on running three or more monitors @2560 x 1440.

 

[bystander]

The aren't a lot of situations to quad-sli or quadfire.

But there are some that will at least benefit from them:
7680x1440 resolution
5760x1080 in 3D Vision
5760x1080 @ 120hz
In very few cases, 5760x1080 may benefit, but it will be rare, and probably cause more issues than help most the time.

 

[paddys09]

2 690s also only use 2 ports not 4.

That was my point, if you can run 2 690's on 2 x16 slots then 4 680's should run on 4 x8 slots, its the same total amount of bandwidth whatever way you look at it....

Completely agree with bigcyco1 and bystander though, its really only useful as an enthusiast machine, the amount of scaling after 2 cards on typical resolutions is miniscule, if thats the case though you may as well go all out and buy an x79 etc, but I'd still wait for IB-E...

I did hear someone saying that 3 way SLI/CFX helps to reduce micro-stutter anyone know if theres any truth in that? and if so does 4 make it better or worse?

 

[Swolern]

What resolution will you be gaming at?
Did you build your rig yet?