Get another (or two) 680 or a 690?

[G01d3ngypsy]

Hi guys, basically i'm saving up for a new card to power my surround setup, but the question is do i go for another 680 seeing i've already got one in the water loop.. or do i get a 690..

Firstly can the 690 be put in SLI with a 680? I remember reading somewhere that it could be but does anyone know for sure?

So theres a few options that i can see (i have one 680 atm)
- get 1 more 680 and sli with my existing card
- get a 690, sli with existing card
- get two more 680's and sli them into triple sli.

Baring in mind im wanting this to power a 6000x1200 display.

Hopefully someones got some good advice!

 

[crinkleshoes]

I'm gonna be moving over to a 5760x1080 setup in the not-too-distant future & am considering another 690 for quad-sli

I've read that you can have triple sli from 690+680 too - but don't know of anyone who's tried it.

690 would make it easier further down the line if you want more horsepower - only have to see 1 680 instead of 3 for another 690

 

[G01d3ngypsy]

do you have three 690's already?! or two 680s?

Surround is amazing, i don't know if you've tired it but its truly something else!

Ideally I don't want to have to get rid of my current 680, its a hassle selling it and i've got a nice waterblock installed on it now .. So hopefully someone can confirm if a 690 can be SLI'd with a 680.

Agreed that going down the 690 path would give me some free space for future upgrades which is a good thing im thinking.

 

[Purgatory]

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-690/specifications


SLI Options2 Quad

2 - A GeForce GTX 690 GPU must be paired with another GeForce GTX 690 GPU (graphics card manufacturer can be different). SLI requires sufficient system cooling and a compatible power supply. See the list of SLI-Certified components for more information.



Strange I thought you could add on a 680 too... Googling around shows it can't be done..


But I found something interesting here:-


DifferentSLI 301.42 modded driver. (Enabling different cards in SLI)


http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158907

 

[Ollie1132]

Tri SLI would give you like 2.8x increase in SOME games and other things but not all. The scaling on tri SLI is barely worth the effort. and I think when you say 690 w/ a 680 you mean having a dedicated physxs card... which would be pointless.

 

[Kaapstad]

I would go tri sli gtx 680s. You can possibly get slightly higher clock speeds on separate 680s. Also as said above I do not think you can sli gtx 690 + gtx 680.

 

[crinkleshoes]

do you have three 690's already?! or two 680s?

Nah - I currently have 1x 690 = SLI
2x 690 = Quad-SLI

 

[crinkleshoes]

Tri SLI would give you like 2.8x increase in SOME games and other things but not all. The scaling on tri SLI is barely worth the effort. and I think when you say 690 w/ a 680 you mean having a dedicated physxs card... which would be pointless.

Depends on the resultion... with 3 screen gaming, it does make a noticeable difference... so i've heard

 

[G01d3ngypsy]

thanks for the advice guys, i'm thinking get another 680 (if i can find another matching waterblock since EK changed their designs) & then another one a couple of weeks later..

But if i can't get the waterblocks then..

Try and sell my current 680 & buy a 690, wacking on the current ek 690 block. That would then leave me room in the future to add another 690 would it not

 

[Ollie1132]

Depends on the resultion... with 3 screen gaming, it does make a noticeable difference... so i've heard

Yeah but the scaling on Tri SLI compared to SLI by itself isn't really worth the extra cash from what I've read and been told. Maybe at certain res' etc but I wouldn't go shelling out an extra grand on graphics cards just for a little bit extra performance when SLI itself gives quite a big increase anyway.

 

[crinkleshoes]

Yeah - but we're talking about those "high" resolutions that should see a benefit

I'll see what performance I get when I get the other two BenQs and take it from there... I think the single card should handle most things at around 60fps... but i'd like to experience triple screen 3D so could do with pushing for 120fps

 

[Ollie1132]

Yeah I guess let us know how it goes

 

[Ste]

Buy a 680, it might get you surprisingly close to where you want to be. If it doesn't, buy another!

 

[G01d3ngypsy]

Quick update, completely forgot about this thread!

After seeing a 690 in action i bought one, finding it awesome even without an overclock!

Looking to get another one soon, when i can find one sub 750 ish..

thanks