MSI GeForce GTX 690 4096MB+ new monitor.

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 17:09

Hi all, have been running 2 msi gtx 580 in sli for the guts of a year now and had no real issues to contend with but have definitely noticed how greedy these things are with regards to electricity especially when used with a sony bravia 40" tv. Plus they are fairly noisy under load. So i have been thinking of upgrading my system as i want to go 3x 3d monitors in the near future.

Been looking at a MSI GeForce GTX 690 4096MB and wanted some opinions on it. I know 2x 670's will come close to matching it but i would like to avoid sli for a while..perhaps down the line add another 690 but for now i would like a setup which can handle 3x 27" 3d monitors under a single card. Anyone any experience of this setup?

The MSI GeForce GTX 690 4096MB is £800 currently and I am going to grab a Asus VG278H 27" TRUE 120Hz 3D Widescreen LED Monitor and shortly add another 2 of them to complete the surround. But would this be a viable card for 3 montors with 3d vision enabled?

Rusty0611 · 29 Oct 2012 at 17:18

You won't be able to max settings in most games and will need to compromise on image quality.

However, I will give you another idea - at the resolution of 5760*1080 (triple screen), two overclocked 7950's will outperform a 690 quite considerably and you'll save nearly £400!

I know you said you wanted to avoid SLI (BTW the 690 is still "SLI") but this is just a faster and cheaper option. I'm not sure I'd pay £400 for the aesthetics of a single card and the nVidia premium when the AMD option is faster and cheaper.

It's up to you though....

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 17:27

Hear what you are saying, am wanting to stick with nvidia for a few reasons, but the nvidia 3d vision is the top reason..was blown away by it recently and fancied a 3 monitor 3d setup. Damn expensive no question..be interested to hear if nvidia 3d vision users have stuck with it or went back to gaming in regular 2d.

Rusty0611 · 29 Oct 2012 at 17:30

ancientmariner said:
Hear what you are saying, am wanting to stick with nvidia for a few reasons, but the nvidia 3d vision is the top reason..was blown away by it recently and fancied a 3 monitor 3d setup. Damn expensive no question..be interested to hear if nvidia 3d vision users have stuck with it or went back to gaming in regular 2d.

AMD can do triple screen 3D as well via Tridef.

If you want to pay £400 for less performance (on a triple screen resolution) then OK... it's your money after all.

I use two 2GB 680's in triple screen surround so a little bit faster than a 690. I have tried 3D and really like it but I only play when casual playing as it messes your aim up in 3D!

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 17:39

Hmm food for thought..tried other 3d setups before and felt the nvidia 3d vision was leagues better. Do you use 3 x 3d monitors or only 1 3d and 2 regulars?

Gregster · 29 Oct 2012 at 18:28

Those monitors are awsome

I love them but even with SLI, I have to turn settings down slightly to get the most out of the GPUs at 5760*1080. 3D is great on Nvidia and if you are happy to turn settings down slightly to get decent fps, the 690 will see you well. I have 2 beast MSI Lightning 680s under water and when I add a decent overclock they cope but barely.

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 18:40

The monitor is the only definite so far..am still undecided about the gpu. Vram will become an issue i suspect using 3 monitors and the 690 as 2 x 2gb which i hadnt considered before..now am thinking of a pair of 4gb 670's or 680's.

Grrr gets more complicated

whyscotty · 29 Oct 2012 at 18:45

If your thinking of 4Gb 670/680 you'll
need 3 of them to benefit the extra vram.

just food for thought

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 18:53

Thanks scotty....howcome though?

Gregster · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:06

I did some extensive testing with my system when I first got the 3 screens.

I had an I5 at the time and that coped well with only a slight bottleneck on the 2 680s. As you can see from the charts, VRAM isn't a problem (unless you play Skyrim with tons of mods) and GPU grunt is the biggest factor.

Crezzlin · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:13

Hi just to add some input 
I did run 3 7970’s on 3 1920x1200 monitors no problem just stupid driver problems time to time, once I went to 3 2600x1440p monitors the 7970’s gave me nothing but problems with mouse to screen lag etc, finally I got some GTX 680’S 4gb versions and the difference is amazing, the AMD cards gave me better fps but the Gtx’s just run super smooth on max settings at 7680x1440.. also ive used 30” and Nividia 3d Surround but nothing is like 7680x1440 or 1600 

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:14

Thats really useful greg, glad you are using the same monitors too..lets me know what to expect, so if 2gb of vram is enough the question remains..2x670's? 2 x 680's? or 1 690?

The 670's are tempting me with performance so close to the 680 but the lure of 1 card is still calling me towards the 690

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:15

Also..thanks crezzlin..the monitors i am looking at are 1920x1080 panels so im hoping it should be fairly plain sailing with nvidia.

Gregster · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:23

SLI has been no problem for me and the 670s perform so close to the 680s with less layout. Save some poundages and get the 670s.

weehamish · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:31

The 690 is 2 cards still like explained already, it just uses 1 slot, you will still suffer micro stutter and SLI problems.

Crezzlin had some problems but that doesnt mean you will 2 7950s is still the best option for price performace.

Other side is 2x 670s as they are just under 680 performance and 2x will beat a 690.

If your going to spend such money id rather sell your old PC in your sig buy a £1k system with a 680 inside it with an i5k then buy a second 680. Youll maybe spend a tiny bit more.

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:33

Definitely considering it mate, wont be placing order until tomorrow so still got some time to think it over. On a separate note greg..do asus do another 27" panel that would be a good non 3d match for the vg278h. Am considering only running 3d on the main monitor if i could get a good matching pair for left and right...if that makes sense

ancientmariner · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:35

@weehamish My current system is under 1 year old so am not in any hurry to upgrade anything apart from gpu and display. I will be selling my 2 gtx 580's at some point to offset some of the cost. Dont see any real advantage to upgrading my rig apart from that

Gregster · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:36

weehamish said:
The 690 is 2 cards still like explained already, it just uses 1 slot, you will still suffer micro stutter and SLI problems.

Sigh!!! Have you experienced micro stutter with 670s or 680s because I have not had this problem at all and I bet the other SLI 670/80 users will confirm the same? Please explain the supposed SLI problems?

Crezzlin had some problems but that doesnt mean you will 2 7950s is still the best option for price performace.

Those monitors will not work in 3D with AMD.

Other side is 2x 670s as they are just under 680 performance and 2x will beat a 690.

No they wont.

If your going to spend such money id rather sell your old PC in your sig buy a £1k system with a 680 inside it with an i5k then buy a second 680. Youll maybe spend a tiny bit more.

You have no idea what you are talking about so please stop trying to give advice. Is that you Mal?

psychodil · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:40

Im not sure AMD cards can do 3D across 3 screens in crossfire mode. I dont think it works, but am happy to be proven wrong (in fact I hope im wrong). Just something you need to make sure of before going either way. Hopefully Tommybhoy or someone else can clear this up

whyscotty · 29 Oct 2012 at 19:41

You beat me Greg