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Your thoughts please... 680 SLI and Surround or wait for GK110

Rusty0611

Rusty0611

Rusty0611

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I'm planning on getting a Surround set-up soon. I will be getting two more XL2420T's and I will also be going SLI to drive the 3 screens.

My motherboard does not support SLI. When I upgraded from some DDR2 and an E8500 @ 4 Ghz I didn't know what my end game was and chose a cheapish motherboard and stuck a 2500k in it. It's perfect for now but will need to change. I don't want to change processer from SB to IB as the difference is next to nothing. I've accepted this as part of the upgrade process :).

I'm caught in three minds:

a) buy a new motherboard and a new 680 and have this as my "end game" set-up
b) buy a new motherboard and monitors when the next generation of cards arrive and SLI the 780
c) same as option A but sell the 680's when next generation arrives and buy two 780's

As the performance of the 780's are unknown it makes it a little trickier. Option C is the least attractive to me as I would take a largeish hit on selling a 680 and this is multiplied by 2.

Your thoughts please. Just looking to get the feelers out and get some more opinions really....
 
Yeah option A is appealing as it's 'now'. The only thing bothering me is that if I do not sell the 680's while they're newish the hit I'll take on them is large. Especially with the 670 being so close in performance to it.
 
chipachap said:
Hmm. I'm in the same dilemma. If you're going three monitors, Tom's did a review/test thing on latency and stuff regarding 2 or more cards, I forget the specifics. Long story short 3 cards give less microstutter since the frames are usually ready in a more consistent balanced way as opposed to 2 cards. So if I were you I'd get 2 680's or a 690 and go tri-SLI.
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I saw the same article. It was the level of microstutter.

Not an option -would need to change platform :(. Also the cost is astronomical.
 
The VRAM fills with whatever is in the first card. The VRAM isn't used cumulatively.

670 SLI isn't an option either. Had I been in the market when they were released then definitely. I don't want to get rid of the 680 and get a 670.

Personally, I think 2GB of VRAM will become limiting in surround set-up's. It already is in some games.
 
tommybhoy said:
If your looking at an 'endgame' to your upgrades, 2Gb won't be enough.
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Agreed.

tommybhoy said:
d) Use your existing mb with your 680, buy the monitors, try it out with reduced candy if need be and wait for daddy Kepler or team reds next best thing.:)
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I'm a maximum settings snob. I would personally rather game maximum settings on one monitor than have a mish mash of settings across 3. OK for testing but not as a solution in the short to medium term.

tommybhoy said:
The amount of cash you could lose on 2 680's will be considerable- £300+:(
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I know :(
 
To everyone saying 670 SLI: I already have one 680 so this isn't really an option! If I was starting from scratch it would be the obvious option but I've had my 680 since release day and don't really want to side grade to a 7970 either.

I will probably avoid AMD next generation as I'm always nervous about alleged driver issues for crossfire. Obviously nVidia aren't perfect here either by any stretch but I'd rather take my chances with them.

It's good to see such a variety of opinions though. It confirms that it's not such a clear cut choice and I wasn't being an indecisive wet blanket :p
 
Thanks for the info Oweneads (and the offer!)

Yeah I don't think I'm going to go 680 SLI after sleeping on it. The VRAM worries me at only 2GB because as you say, even now, you can hit the cap and stutter to a complete halt.

What was the performance for yourself with 680 SLI and 2x MSAA? (BF3 -can't find your graph)

psychodil said:
Good price on a 690 on today only, might be worth considering although I would be looking to get more vram. Decent price though if you can say that about a £750 GPU :)
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If you could SLI it with a 680 then that'd be good! :)
 
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About to pull the trigger on 2 XL2420T's a Gigabyte Z77X-D3H and a Gigabyte GTX 680 3x Windforce. Someone stop me!

Can I mix a blower type cooler and an exhaust type cooler OK? I mean I know they'll work obviously but want to avoid any problems about stagnant hot air roasting the other card. If it's going to be a problem I can get an EVGA reference card for slightly cheaper but I want to maximise my chances of getting a decent clocker (at least 1200) as my current 680 pushes nearer to 1300. Have a HAF-X so case cooling is decent.

I know it's a lottery though!
 
chipachap said:
Whoa! What about the VRAM issue? I'm almost sure Nvidia cards have to be the EXACT same model for it to work.

EDIT: AFAIK An EVGA card and the Gigabyte won't be compatible.
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They will work:

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/sli/faq

As long as I don't run out of VRAM it's OK. I think I can live with MSAA x2 or if all else fails FXAA. I can't really tell THAT much difference between FXAA and MSAAx4. The differences are easy to spot on a still picture but moving around far less so.

Anyone have any experience of using the HAF-X air duct for multi-GPU cooling? Worth it? Fan for it would only be around a fiver.

oweneades said:
Here you go:
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Sorry forgot to say thanks! Thanks!
 
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Thanks Tommy.

A little confused though - I'd have my reference card at the top nearest the CPU and the WF at the bottom nearest my PSU?

I don't see single card working at all otherwise I would try it. I'd have to lower settings too much to get what I would deem acceptable frame rates.

Edit: Saved my basket here and at a competitor and the competitor is over £100 cheaper! I'm all for paying for good CS if you need it but that's too much :(.
 
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Yeah. That combined with £5 cheaper for delivery (need Saturday) and a few bob here and there adds up to £105 cheaper with competitor. Not good. OcUK are only competitive at best (factoring in the best CS/after sale support) on most things and often the cheapest by miles on sale items.

Don't know why the monitor is still going for £300 on here though.
 
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Pulled the trigger.

I will try with one graphics card and DSR the other one if it's OK with one (doubt it but willing to be wrong!)

Fun in store tomorrow as will need to do a rebuild due to motherboard upgrade. :(

Shouldn't take too long though!
 
whyscotty said:
You don't need a DP, just use the 3 DVI-D cables that come with your monitors,

2 in the top card 1 in the bottom.
middle monitor connected in the first DVI-D connector on the top card so your middle monitor is used if you have 3D on one monitor only.
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The cables will need to all go into card one though don't they? For what is around a fiver I'm not too fussed. Card one has 2x DL DVI, DP and HDMI.

So I would need an adapter for DL DVI to DP.
 
 
I bought something else as well and it came to £1100 in total.

Edit:

Need to find CPU thermal grease now - I was 99% sure I had enough to re-apply at least 3 times but I can't find the tube anywhere which is suggesting I tossed it :(
 
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psychodil said:
Very nice, hope your rebuild goes smoothly :)
What's that spray for?
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Thanks mate.

For cleaning my absolutely grubby as hell (in only 3 months would you believe) current XL2420XT. I can get quite angry at some of the stupidity that goes on in BF3 multiplayer.

I measured it before and it should apparently be fine but but I'm not 100% they'll all fit in horizontal surround with my current one smack bang in the middle. Oops! Ha ha.

Here's to hoping!
 
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whyscotty said:
a DVI-D adapter is only good for 60hz as that was the first of my many mistakes going surround

If your going to try one card and get 3D, the adapter is not £5 you need a usb powered one and they are £70-80 depending were you get one from.

Using sli, DVI-D only required.
If you need any more pointers ask away
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Ah OK cool. Thanks.

OK so starting again to confirm - the set-up as I should have it with 2 680's in SLI:

Middle monitor: 1st 680, 1st DVI-D
Surround monitor 1: 1st 680, 2nd DVI-D
Surround monitor 2: 2nd 680, 1st DVI-D

Will this give me everything I need from a logistical point of view?
 
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