Tri-SLI benchmarked

Azza · 12 Dec 2007 at 15:53

The German print and online magazine PC Games Hardware had the opportunity to bench Nvidia's tripple-SLI. The benchmarks have been done using Crysis and some other games. Unfortunately a unreleased Crysis build with number 5837 was used which seems to be optimized for triple-SLI. This new patch will be publicy available in a couple days.

So far only te 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra are capable of running triple-SLI. What else is needed to run triple-SLI?

- 3 Geforce 8800 GTX or Ultra cards
- a 3-way-SLI_Connectorboard (or as a alternative: 2 very short and 1 very long SLI-bridge)
- a mainboard with 3 PCI-E-x16-slots (680i or the upcoming 7x0i)
- the right Forceware driver (in this case 169.18 was used)
- a PSU that is strong enough to provide enough juice =)

Nvidia recommends using at least a 1,100W PSU. The Thermaltake Topower that was used in the test was really stressed. The kill-a-watt-device showed a total power consumption of 819W.

The benchmarks were done with a system that Nvidia provided. It's specs are:

CPU: Core 2 Quad Q6850 @ 3000 MHz (333x9)
Board: Asus P5N32-E SLI with Nforce 680i-Chipsatz
RAM: 2x1,024 MiByte Corsair Dominator
OS: Vista 32 Bit (Enterprise Edition)

As tests were used:
Tests:
• Crysis Build 3857, PCGH-Ice-Benchmark
• Unreal Tournament 3, PCGH-vCTF-Suspense-Benchmark
• Fear v1.08, int. performance-test
• Company of Heroes, int. performance-test

VGA: 3x XFX Geforce 8800 Ultra (612/1,512/1,080 MHz)
Driver: Forceware 169.18

Article

Pics

gareth170 · 12 Dec 2007 at 16:01

it isn't that great.. between sli and 3-way sli it only adds 10.8fps on crysis which isn't much ...

bfar · 12 Dec 2007 at 16:01

I've got to say, I'm not exactly sold on the SLi thing just yet.

duvet77 · 12 Dec 2007 at 16:04

where do i plug in my pci 56k modem card?!

ergonomics · 12 Dec 2007 at 16:04

all of that super end gear, and they have that crappy stock cooler for the cpu lol

HeX · 12 Dec 2007 at 16:07

gareth170 said:
it isn't that great.. between sli and 3-way sli it only adds 10.8fps which isn't much...

It is almost a 40% boost... over a 2 card SLi setup in Crysis.

10fps doesn't sound much, but when the other setup is only getting 27fps, percentage wise its a good chunk.

Still wouldn't have a triple-sli setup myself.

Muzy · 12 Dec 2007 at 16:54

2 cards is the best option for money vs performance. Unless Nvidia tweaked the 3 WAY SLI to add at least 30 FPS to crysis.

perox · 12 Dec 2007 at 16:55

ergonomics said:
all of that super end gear, and they have that crappy stock cooler for the cpu lol

Idd, and no soundcard which is ridiculous.

BillytheImpaler · 12 Dec 2007 at 17:48

Jeebus, even with three Ultras they can only manage 37 FPS in Crysis on high with 1x AA. :eek:

randal · 12 Dec 2007 at 17:55

3 8800 Ultras = £900
1 Tri Sli Mobo = £200
1 1200W PSU = £150

The look on your face when you realise you still can't get and more than 40fps stable in Crysis... priceless.

Gonzo0 · 12 Dec 2007 at 17:55

BillytheImpaler said:
Jeebus, even with three Ultras they can only manage 37 FPS in Crysis on very high with 1x AA.

i tihnk thats quite impressive

paradigm · 12 Dec 2007 at 17:55

perox said:
Idd, and no soundcard which is ridiculous.

Enough room for a PCIe X-Fi though.

Robert · 12 Dec 2007 at 18:41

Great, so we'll still get **** performance with the new patch.

Chris19 · 12 Dec 2007 at 18:44

Wouldn't the cards overheat a lot? Condiserin the intake is right on the back of the other card...

Gerard · 12 Dec 2007 at 18:46

Quad sli was also pretty crap. Tri sli seems to have improved somewhat though but not as much as id expect.

On another subject wtf is 1xfsaa 1xaf?

Nvidia recommends using at least a 1,100W PSU

helmutcheese · 12 Dec 2007 at 18:51

The top 2 cards must be hot as lack of airflow.

jaykay · 12 Dec 2007 at 18:52

But don't the ultras have open ends? Unlike the GTXs which have closed ends.

Azza · 12 Dec 2007 at 18:57

jaykay said:
But don't the ultras have open ends? Unlike the GTXs which have closed ends.

Sure do

mrthingyx · 12 Dec 2007 at 19:05

Gerard said:
Quad sli was also pretty crap. Tri sli seems to have improved somewhat though but not as much as id expect.

On another subject wtf is 1xfsaa 1xaf?

Quad SLI was very good in OpenGL.

Just not DX.

Either way, dropping that much cash for borderline playability is somewhat amusing.

Gonzo0 · 12 Dec 2007 at 19:55

*awaits post your Tri Sli setup thread*

You know some people will.

Competitor rules

Tri-SLI benchmarked

Man of Honour