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GTX 690 SLI, crazy?

Durzel

Durzel

Durzel

Soldato
Joined
10 Oct 2003
Posts
5,518
Location
Wiltshire
This is the pertinent current spec of my PC:

- Intel i7-2600k @ 4.6Ghz (might do more, that's just a simple X.M.P overclock)
- Asus Maximum IV Extreme (P67) motherboard
- Corsair AX1200 PSU
- 8GB RAM
- Single Dell 30" monitor, gaming in 2560x1600

Currently have an ATI 6990 and 6950 (flashed to 6970) running in tri-fire, but I'm not satisfied. Having had a few strange quirks with a few games I feel like going Nvidia, and going big.

I know one GTX 690 will probably do the job, but does anyone think I will I notice any benefit from getting 2?
 
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Don't be silly we all know a single gtx690 is completely overkill by it's self. The scaling with 4 GPU's is not enough to justify the cost either.
 
I think the biggest difference you will notice is in your bank account. But if you can afford it and feel like it, I would say go for it. I would if I could afford it. I would always rather have too much power than not enough.
 
I would rather get 3x 4GB GTX 680s. Because with that much GPU power, you're going to run out of VRAm sooner than you will run out of GPU power in the long run.
 
3 cards aren't an option in my PC, I did try running with 6990 + 6970 + 6970 once upon a time but having the cards so close to eachother in the case was giving me temperature issues (one card was at 70+ degrees C idle).

2 GTX 680s are a viable choice however since I was initially thinking of a 690 and from what I can gather its one of the first cards where it genuinely is the speed of 2 cards (i.e. 6990 is not quite as fast as 2 x 6970s) it seems a little redundant to buy 2 GTX 680s and save maybe ~£50 when I could just get 1 690 instead.

I want something that will beat my existing 6990 + 6970 setup comfortably, with the scope for being able to run next-gen stuff for the forseeable future at max settings in 2560x1600.
 
Durzel, if you want future-proof at that res, you need 3 cards.

You can do it on 2 but you will need to overclock them.

Two 690's sound good but in-fact the game and driver support is still broken.

I thought my 7970 tri-fire was broken until I saw the 680/690 benches which appears even more broken.

How about two EVGA 680 Classifieds ? You should see the dark end of 1250/1800 with them.
 
Doomedspeed said:
Fixed it for you. :)
Click to expand...

680s are a bit of a waste of money with the 670s just released. You can quite easily overclock it SLIGHTLY and it will run the same as a 680.

To the OP, I would have thought the 6990 and 6950(70) would suffice, surely? 6990 is supposed to to be a very powerful card by itself. Why do you need more esepcially when it's in tri-fire?

2 690s on the other hand is utterly ridiculous and you should only get one. Get another in like 2-3 years when you really need it and when it's considerably cheaper.
 
They suffice, but I feel like changing.. can't really explain it rationally.

Have always had AMD cards, but of late I've noticed some strange quirks in the games I play most often (for example - alt-tabbing out of Eve Online causes the display driver to reset 9 times out of 10, which sometimes crashes TeamSpeak, etc. Definitely know its an AMD/Crossfire problem because others have reported it).

It also seems like a lot of games that come out seem to be skewed in favour of Nvidia too? Quite fancy the idea of seeing PhysX too - I assume I would get that anyway without having a card dedicated just to it?

Just fancied joining the dark (light?) side really, and going balls out with it for good measure.
 
Durzel said:
They suffice, but I feel like changing.. can't really explain it rationally.

Have always had AMD cards, but of late I've noticed some strange quirks in the games I play most often (for example - alt-tabbing out of Eve Online causes the display driver to reset 9 times out of 10, which sometimes crashes TeamSpeak, etc. Definitely know its an AMD/Crossfire problem because others have reported it).

It also seems like a lot of games that come out seem to be skewed in favour of Nvidia too? Quite fancy the idea of seeing PhysX too - I assume I would get that anyway without having a card dedicated just to it?

Just fancied joining the dark (light?) side really, and going balls out with it for good measure.
Click to expand...

It's rational to want change, then, based on those reasons - but I wouldn't recommend getting 2x 690 right now simply for financial reasons. I mean if you get over 50 grand a year after tax then I guess it wouldn't hurt you that much. But personally (and I think I speak for 90% of users here) I couldn't justify getting 2 right now. If I had £900 to blow (which I don't because of bills and holidays/savings) then I would buy one but thinking about spending £1800 on 2 when it is completely unnecessary right now would make me feel depressed! I would wait until the price drops to ~£500.
 
Without getting gauche the cost isn't so much of a concern moreof whether I will actually see a benefit from having 2. If it would be of negligible benefit, i.e. the rest of the PC would hold it back or games just wouldn't use it, then I'd be more likely to not bother.

The lack of 690 GTX SLI reviews should be a warning I guess, but the ones I've found do tend to suggest that there would be a tangible benefit (if that graph is to be believed)

I am too lazy to strip down my PC to fit a new processor, and definitely not a new motherboard, and even more memory would be a pain (cooler obstructs them, would have to remove that.. I don't have enough mana for that) so I'm looking at a easy boost really.
 
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