First build, NVIDIA Surround or Eyefinity?!

pickupm

Honorable
Jan 9, 2013
7
0
10,510
Hello tom's! I'm venturing on my first build, I've done some research and am stumped on what route to take when it comes to GPUs... I filled out this forum:

Approximate Purchase Date: second or third week in February 2013

Budget Range: $3000-3500 for everything, including software and a few games

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, day-to-day computing tasks, school, some LIGHT video rendering

Parts Not Required:

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: ASUS MoBo, Intel p77 chipset (or AMD equivalent, would like to stay Intel), GPUs are a toss up, SSD boot drive with HDD for storage, Full ATX Tower for plenty of space for future upgrades and cooling.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: 5760x1080

Additional Comments: I want to be able to run MOST games on highest settings, I can handle a drop in frame rates or lower detail settings on the most demanding games (e.g. Metro 2033 :pt1cable:)

I was wanting to go with the ASUS DirectCU II GTX 670 2GB in SLI, but then discovered that the vRAM doesn't combine, so I'm worried about maxing out the vRAM. I've done some research on Radeon 7970 CFX, but not much. I plan on researching this further tonight.

My primary concern is vRAM and driver support. Also, I don't know whether to spring for EVGA GTX 670 FTW in SLI or Radeon 7970 in CrossfireX, or to go with the multi-gpu cards such as the GTX 690 or the Radeon 7990. If I get two top of the line 670s or 7970s, then the cost will be about the same as the lastest generation :whistle:

Here is my Newegg wishlist without peripherals, accessories, and software, which must be included in the price and I have about $500 worth of that :eek:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=22028966

I will list parts individually when I get out of class..

Thanks alot!!!
 

pickupm

Honorable
Jan 9, 2013
7
0
10,510
Well, here's my deal.. Two EVGA 670 4GB FTW are $879.99 USD, while a HD 7990 6GB is $899.99 USD, and the GTX 690 4GB is $999.99 USD. If I run the HD 7990 or GTX 690 then in the future I can upgrade to 690 SLI or 7990 CFX... So, for instance with the 7990, for +$20 USD I have the option of upgrading in the future with only one card, while going with the 670 SLI configuration my upgrading options: the newest generation of card for that time or upgrading motherboard and an extra 670 to a triple SLI configuration.
 
I rather get two 670 gtx like you have, quad sli is not worth, either two or three way sli.
I wouldn't get either the 7990 for the same reasons.
Or get now a mobo with three ways sli, like the sniper and a psu for three way sli.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128552

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028

This should do for three way sli...
You can cut down the price, by switching the bluray drive for a dvd drive, in my opinion the bluray drive is useless.
Also add low profile ram for cheaper price like the crucial : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544

Same performance...
 

pickupm

Honorable
Jan 9, 2013
7
0
10,510
Okay, concerning the 3 monitor display: How would I hook it up? 2x DVI to the primary (top) GPU, and one to the secondary? Or 2x DVI and a HDMI to DVI adapter? Or display port to DVI adapter? This is quite confusing to me and I've read that HDMI doesn't support 3D?
 

pickupm

Honorable
Jan 9, 2013
7
0
10,510
Yeah, I've decided to go with the EVGA GTX 670 FTW 4GB cards (for good, hopefully ^_^). I didn't know if all the displays had to be hooked up to the primary card or if you could mix them. You said "so two DVI from the primary card and one(first DVI)" what do you mean by "first DVI"?
 
First DVI of the second card.
Yes, for 3D, the 670 gtx 4GB is a good choice, the 690 gtx has in fact 2GB, so either a 4GB 670 gtx or 4GB 680 gtx, but the 670 gtx FTW is as good as a 680 gtx stock.
Also if you want to add a third(you probably will need for 3D performance), it costs less.
 

redeemer

Distinguished
May 30, 2004
2,470
0
19,960
Eyefinity is easily better than surround, however if you desire 3D than Nvidia surround is the way to go.

For Nvidia setup 670 FTW 4GB SLI would be perfect

Stay away from the 7990 and 690, if your setup can handle proper SLI or Crossfire ie two cards than that the best option.

For AMD Eyefinity the 7950's are amazing value