SLI bench results

[Gregster]

So I have been doing some serious testing with my new setup. The results were surprising to me and the one that did suprprise the most was Alan Wake. This produced the lowest frames of all the tests but on saying that, it felt smooth the whole time. 3D sure does push our GPU's and especially noticable in 3D surround. Overall I am pleased with the results and BF3 felt juddery in 3D but smooth in 2D.

If anybody has done some testing, please feel free to add. I hope this helps some people who have considered 3 screen gaming.

VRAM usages (please note these were taken from AB and I will show the max used) shown for 3D only.

Alan Wake 1374MB
Max Payne 3 1656MB
BF3 2023MB
Dirt 3 1460MB
Sniper Elite V2 1423MB

Just to add that each game was a 20 min bench with fraps which produced the minimums/maximums/averages.

I did want to play Diablo 3 in 3 screen 3D but sadly that option is not available. Blizzard suck

 

[Gregster]

Alan Wake was very strange...As I said, it was never juddery or jerky and yet both fraps and AB reported frames at the bottom end of 30. BF3 felt horrid if I am honest but felt good in 2D.

I wrote down the general VRAM usages also, as BF3 was very close to toppling the 2GB. I will add these to the original post.

 

[Gregster]

Yeah mine either maxes it or is close.

With Windows Aero disabled Gregster you free up 100-150MB of VRAM .

Good results - nice one

I had aero disabled as well...Very close but didn't go over through the 20 min play time and it isn't playable IMO at full ultra. Settings need to be turned down to get a decent frame rate and thus free up a fair amount of VRAM.

 

[Gregster]

The BF3 engine is probably just buffering a lot of unused textures to the memory hence why it's reporting such a high amount so what the game is actually using to render game is most likely a lot lower. Still pretty impressive given the resolution this being benched at and puts pay to arguments who want to justify their purchases of the 4gb 670/680's.

Good work Gregster - did you notice any micro stuttering in any of the games?

Thanks Freddie and no micro stuttering at all. When I first got this setup, I was looking for it as I have heard a few mention it with older gen SLI/CF setups.

Edit: forgot to add the values and OC on the GPU's. Sorted now

 

[Gregster]

I would like to see other users bench results also. Not biased ones that we see pop up from paid sites.

 

[Gregster]

+1

Its very rare I have bought a video card and found it to be anything like some of the review sites say it is.



Thats interesting to know as it helps explain how the card works when doing 3D.

I will see if I can find a VRAM bench tool and compare 3D/2D. Like Rusty states, I also believe 3D does not use more VRAM, just needs more grunt.

How are finding the 3d on 3 monitors?

I wish I could afford similar setup

Awesome bud. Alan Wake is sweet and so much to take in. BF3 looks better than a single monitor and I know I have said it before and I will say it again "TRINE 2" single or multi monitor...3D is the best game I have ever seen.

 

[Gregster]

Sorry guys

Whats the best stress tested and benchmark tools to use for a 5870 XFX card?

Thanks

Mart

Stress testing I would say use Heaven 3.0 and for benching, I use fraps.

 

[Gregster]

Very nice mate

Would have defo joined in, but no 3D

Cheers. I would be interested to see what returns you get in games at full res on the 670's. You get a nice score in 3Dmark11, so shouldn't be too far off the 680's.

Gregster what program did u use to make the graphs?

Excel bud.

 

[Gregster]

Nice - thanks for that.

No probs, I will add Crysis 2 and Bulletstorm to that list sometime this week

 

[Gregster]

Gregster, have you tried Metro2033 in 3D? Looks awesome.

Not yet but I will be getting it at some stage. I have games I have not played yet but it is on my list of 'to do'.

Nice results there, gregster. Especially impressive when you consider the res / 3d.

It does go to show that even 2*680's struggle on max settings in some games. Crysis 2 in 3D I have just finished benching and that gave me a minimum of 19 with only an average of 30. VRAM is not even close to being an issue with it using a max of 1850MB. I make sure the benches are through the game and not cut scenes also. It does require me to walk about abit knowing that a cut scene will be coming soon.

 

[Gregster]

Just an update to my previous charts. Crysis 2 was very GPU intensive and in no way would I play with max settings like the test shows. Settings need to be turned down. Again VRAM isn't an issue but GPU grunt is. Like Rusty, at no stage did I go over the 2GB available.

What was strange was Bulletstorm maxing out and pretty much staying at 64fps. It didn't matter what I was doing or where I went, it stayed at 64 fps. I checked to make sure v-sync was off in both the game and at driver level. Anyone else can confirm if it is capped as this is the way it felt? Also, Bulletstorm looked good in 3D but what a poo game (sorry Tommy)

I added Trine 2 to the list which isn't overly taxing but I have heard others say it is very demanding. I have to be honest and only added it because it is such a good game and incredible in 3D, especially 3D surround. The side monitors also work incredibly well in this game.

 

[Gregster]

I have a 3930K coming next week, so will bench again when I have everything set up. I doubt it will make a huge difference to most of them games but I do expect it to make a difference to BF3. Also I am a fan of FSX, which I will reinstall and bench on this system and then the 3930K. Before I reinstalled my computer, even in SLI, that sim was running poor on max settings (very cpu dependant).

 

[Gregster]

I found the same Scotty but don't forget it will cache VRAM. You have 4GB available, so it will cache. Both me and Rusty have not broken the 2048 available to us with everything on full (BF3 and Crysys 2). I did try and even turned my page file off (a sure fire way to CTD) but it wouldn't. If I have Aero enabled, it will. Also I didn't find any difference in VRAM usage in 3D surround either, just fps was down.

 

[Gregster]

Thought so, just seems strange that when I use one card it doesn't do the same,

Very strange. I have only played in 5760*1080 (except a scrim in BF3) and all my benches (except Trine 2) were 1200 seconds in length and I made sure of no cut scenes. For me though, with just 2 cards and max details, it just isn't playable in some of those games (I will admit to playing Alan Wake a fair bit at max details and being very happy with returns until I ran the bench to see the FPS). BF3 is shockingly bad at ultra but turn down a couple of settings and it is smooth.