SLI 680's with 3*27" 3D monitors.

[Gregster]

Soooooo I finaly took the plunge and decided to go SLI. I have been wanting to go triple screens for a long time but never felt it was worth it. After lots of research and generally just reading of other posters, I decided to go for it.

So far I have set-up the SLI with ease and my biggest problem was the MSI Lightning has an angled piece of plastic (Part of the fans cover) that cuts across the SLI connector. Idealy I wanted to put my reference card at the bottom with the Lightning at the top but while I only have the solid SLI Bridge, this is a no no. So far on idle, the temps are very good (Top EVGA @ 36C and bottom MSI Lightning 30C). Obviously gaming will be the real test and I will keep a close eye on temps but if it is a problem, I can easily buy a flexi bridge and swap the GPU's over.

I can honestly say now that this set-up is HUGE. If you are thinking of going for a triple monitor set-up, my set-up spans 75" across. Take that as fair warning.

The MSI Lightning "Out the box" is very impressive. My EVGA reference 680 scored under 9K (3Dmark11) with no OC on it but the lightning scored over 10K with no OC. Also the Lightning has given me a massive score of well over 12K in 3Dmark11 whilst the EVGA (good clocker also) only scraped just over 11K. I will be benching 3Dmark11 as soon as I finish this post and will post the results in the 3Dmark11 thread.

After not playing any games as yet, I can honestly say how pleased with the looks but I can't wait for one of my Daughters to get Married so I can turn that bedroom into my computer room

I will post back on gaming for anybody who is interested in a while.

Here is a few pics. (sorry I am no David Bailey).

(The Lightning is HUGE compared to the EVGA reference card)

(Cables to be sorted in a couple of weeks)....Maybe

I will repost again giving some performance results in a couple of games

Ohhh and just to add. I would buy B Grade items anytime. One of the monitors was brand new (Thanks 5UB), it was completely covered in all that clear film protector and the other has no marks at all anywhere (I gave it a good once over). It was the first time I have ever considered B grade but with buying 2 monitors working out at £200 pounds cheaper, I was happy to take a chance.

 

[Gregster]

Cheers guys and man it does look good (to me anyway). I am not overly pleased with the SLI performance but I have realised, I am running at X8 on both (I should be X16 for both) but these are minor things that will easily be sorted. Also you will see I have had to put my computer on top of my subwoofer...This is to make the far left cable reach. I have ordered a 5M cable so that will soon be rectified (I would take a drive to get one at that well know place but I would be sure they will not have any).

I can see further investments coming (Ivy/Mobo) but these will have to wait till after Christmas as I would be strung up by the Mrs if I bought anything else

All in all I am very happy though and will have a play of some games now

 

[Gregster]

Think you can only get PCI-E 2.0 x16/x16 on SB-E. PCI-E 2.0 8x/8x will only limit a teeny bit. Definitely not that noticeable.

I roll at PCI-E 3.0 8x/8x (effectively PCI-E 2.0 x16/x16)

What overclocks/drivers you running and what performance have you tested?

Yep, was my bad for not reading up prior. I was expecting 2X 3.0 PCI-E X16 slots to = X16 and not X8. All good though and very slight on the performance.

Your closer to David Bailey than you are to Hilda Ogden, you lazy bitch!

Get that dust out of the case and tidy up those cables, you want that as dust free/best airflow as you can get with 2 gpus giving it full pelt in there mate.

I couldn't agree more and will deffo be on the case. TBH, it is only untidy by the PSU with cables but I gave it a once over with the brush/hoover and it wasn't a proper job (before anybody picks me up, the hoover is well out of the way from touching anything and just collects the loose dust). I will be switching the GPU's over (Now I found the SLI bridge that comes with the Lightning) and will have a tidy up proper but for now I want to play

 

[Gregster]

Just had a play on Black Ops. (my fav game at the mo) and it looks awful...everybody looks fat and everything looks pulled apart. I set the resoloution to 5760*1080 (in game) but am I doing something wrong?

 

[Gregster]

Only look directly at the middle monitor. If you look directly at the side monitors it will look awful. .

Imagine it like the centre monitor is your direct focus and the mouse is your neck so to look to the left if you see something on the left screen you would turn your neck to the left to bring it into the centre of your vision. (i.e. move the mouse to the left).

Don't know specifically about that game though - it might not work in surround properly.

You should do bezel correction though to give you a custom resolution to make sure that the picture is aligned correctly.

You do it in the Surround set-up.

Cheers Rusty, I have had a fiddle with bezel correction and am happy with how that looks. I know what you mean with 3 screen gaming but I am struggling to not look lol. I can see this will take some getting used to but I will get used to it

Have a look on here for help for games that aren't native surround

https://www.flawlesswidescreen.org/index.php/Flawless_Widescreen

It works well for some, not so good for others.

You, Sir Scotty are a Legend. I bow before you because now my most favourite game (of the moment) looks awsomes

 

[Gregster]

Very nice,looking to buy the bits for my first gaming desktop in years,fed up with laptops and iPads,Xbox on nice tv but still miss pc racing sims and total war
Have £2,500 in my Ocuk basket and growing lol...
That does look nice tho m8,when I first looked I thought your wife might grumble having 75"'s of monitors in the kitchenBut then realised its your office/playroom lol

I need one of my Daughters to get married so I can turn her bedroom into my gaming room Any takers?

I was just about to post what whyscotty posted. COD games don't work "out of the box" on 3 monitors, so the contents of 1x 1920x1080 display will be stretched over all 3 displays, making everything look awful.

Welcome to the world of tweaking for triple monitors!

I'm happy to see you've got a keyboard shelf too, when I first saw how deep the desk was, I thought "that's not gonna go very well".

I used to have 2 cheap desks under the worktop but hated it, so I made a couple of shelves with runners Very pleased

 

[Gregster]

I'm ok,divorced and daughter got married earlier this year,tho smallish flat I'm now in will dictate pc setup,have a spare rosewood desk 6ft wide and pretty deep that will have to suffice once put back together.
Imagine cod bops must look nice on those asus screens,I found myself picturing iracing tho

I think if I spend any more money on my comp this year, I will also be divorced

 

[Gregster]

So there is a plus side then

lmao.

Just played Trine 2 (My fav game in 3D) and no ******* way...Absoloutely stunning. I am so impressed and can't believe it can look this good. All 3D monitors working in tandem seriously works well. I was turning my head to look because as you go along, bits are coming out from the side screens and making me jump/duck lol.

 

[Gregster]

So your keeping them then,do you think its worth it?

3D when its set up right is awesome,

so which fix did you use for Black Ops?

Flawless widescreen. Microsoft didn't like the program (treated it as a virus) but it works a treat for BO at least. I am sold and deffo keeping. I checked loads of youtube vids and made my mind up when Rusty said he now loved it.

Im so jealous, sounds ****in wicked.

I am loving it bud. I will need to do some serious gaming to justify it but I am sure I can manage

Looks amazing!!

How are you finding it performance wise? 2 cards driving the three screens.

If I am truthfull, I have not pushed it yet. I am running both cards on 1200 as a continuos profile with 450 mem boost. I will have a play of BF3 soon and will set AB to display all the relevant details. Black Ops and Trine 2 are all I have played so far

 

[Gregster]

They are Asus VG278H monitors with 3D vision 2 built in and Lightboost technology (3D is generally dark but this adds more light so looks more real IMO)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus VG278H 27" TRUE 120Hz 3D Widescreen LED Monitor with NVIDIA 3D Vision 2.0 Glasses - Black w/ FREE Borderlands 2 PC Game £499.99
Total : £511.99 (includes shipping : £10.00).



I got 1 at £500 (new) and 2 at £400 each (B Grades). I am loving them and glad I made the investment I am sure 5UB put a brand new one with my order though.

 

[Gregster]

 

[Gregster]

Also, neither of my GPU's are using 99% unlike a single GPU did. I assume I am being bottle necked but to confirm, how are you getting on GPU usage wise Rusty?

 

[Gregster]

**** dude thats an expensive rig damn!
This makes me want to buy a 670 and 2 more BenQ screens!

Do it

 

[Gregster]

Just a quick test and I will do a full test at some stage. I will say that at full ultra with no overclock, this game struggles at 5760*1080. I did see it dip as low as 32fps and it never felt smooth. VRAM was at 2009 (most used) at one stage and it generally sat around 1900 with +/- going on. VRAM is not the issue here, it is GPU grunt.

I changed settings to Ultra with no AA and HBAO @ 4* and this was the ideal settings. It still dipped to high 40's when tanks were blowing up and lots of explosions but generally sat around 60 fps with mid 70's quite often. The VRAM here sat around 1400 being used, so no chance of running out.

The testing I used was 64 man Caspian Border with 61 players playing (when I joined). I love this map and feel it is probably the most intensive with all the trees/rocks. Temps are my concern at the moment (hence no overclocking) and as soon as I finish this post, I will be swapping the GPU's over. I noticed my temps reaching 80C+ on the EVGA, which is not good. My GPU's are the wrong way round but the lead from the far left monitor is stretched as far as it will go and this was why I hadn't changed it as yet. My comp is precariously balanced on my sub woofer

This was full ultra, and to anybody who says "there isn't much going on in the screen shot", this pic is a tiny fraction of the 5760*1080. I was just grabbing the Precision X. There is lots going on.

Same goes with this screenie. Loads happening but just a tiny portion cropped for Precision X to be readable. I am very happy with how well it looks on Ultra -AA and 4*HBAO.

 

[Gregster]

Just a tiny correction, HBAO is an on/off setting rather than 4x/2x etc. It's MSAA which is Off/2x/4x.

I would set a custom fan profile in EVGA Precision X Gregster. It'll be relatively loud while gaming but if you have headphones on you won't hear it.

Both my reference and Gigabyte WF sit under 65c and while it is most definitely not quiet I can't hear a thing over my phones.

Yep sorry, it was MSAA I changed. 4am start at work this morning has mashed my brain (and gaming till real late last night).

 

[Gregster]

Also the EVGA will be sucking in the hot air from the Lightning so that won't help

It is and that card is hotter than the MSI individually, so it isn't being done any favours at all.

 

[Gregster]

I have switched GPU positions and can see the difference. GPU 1 is at 30C and GPU 2 is at 37C. Previously GPU 1 was 40C and GPU 2 was 28C. It was my own fault for not looking in the box and finding the flexi SLI bridge and thinking I had to use the solid bridge, which would not fit with the MSI at the top. Some testing needed now.

 

[Gregster]

Would you say you're happy with BF3 at the above settings? More than "playable"?

For me, I am very happy. A slight tweak on Ultra and 60fps (what most monitors are) is very very playable with no stuttering and very smooth. My setting wasn't with any overclocking either. I personally wouldn't go for a third 680.

 

[Gregster]

Called at the shop I got my cards from today and I now have the option to swap out for a nominal fee.

Really fancy the cards underwater but its that nagging doubt of
how good the new cards would be,
plus a possible new psu for OC headroom?

PS sorry Gregster for sidetracking

No probs. I understand your concerns and I would be terrible tbh. My EVGA is a fairly decent clocker but would I gamble on a swap for a different one? maybe another Lightning I would.

 

[Gregster]

3D for me was what got me back to enjoying gaming tbh. I thought it might just be a fad but I love it. I don't play MP games in 3D though as I am bad enough in 2D. I personally love the 3 screens and it is impossible to explain how good/creepy it looks in 3D...I recently played through Fallout 3 on one screen in 3D and now I am looking forward to playing it in 3 screens in 3D.

Like Rusty says though, others will differ and it is a personal choice. Also I go to the Cinema quite a lot and watch 3D films and can honestly say Nvidia 3D vision 2 knocks spots off the 3D you see in the cinema.