3 and 4 way sli, vs trifire and quadfire benchs

[Chaney579]

I am trying to find some reviews on how well 3 gtx 580s stack up against 3 6970's. Along with 4 580s vs 4 6970's. I am still in the process of making up my mind on my upcoming build but would like to see if the 6970's scaling is as bad as people say. But i would like to see some hard numbers not just take my word for it talk.

I am asking because my local frys electronics has pny gtx 580s for 385 dollars brand new. And 6970s for 300 flat. And with that cheap of prices i would pick me up a couple. But i am still leaning towards 2 590s just for the clean look of two cards.

Still have about two months before i go ahead and do my build im just doing my research and looking at what possibility i could get at.

Thank you

 

[yggdrasil]

Google, its the same way every one else would find it.

But a 580 is a fair amount faster than the 6970 so 4 of them would beat it. Go look at the main site and see the latest reviews on 2x6990 in xfire and the review of the 2x590 in sli

4x580's will probably be faster than 2x 590 in sli but you would need to find a motherboard to feed the PICe bandwidth and a case to fit them all in and keep them cool

I would go for 2x590's like you suggested last you will be able to keep them getting enough airflow and run them cooler.

With that much money throwing it at that much video power maybe wait for some PCIe 3.0 cards? then you will be able to run them with a bit better.

 

[Chaney579]

Well im already waiting for BD and lga2011, If i keep waiting my build will never happen. Plus we havnt even met our 2.0 specs yet so no need. And the reason why i ask is for the fact of i know 3 580's matches and beats 2 590's. But i will be using 3 monitors for gaming, So the extra memory will be nice. But im looking at price for performance. Since i could run four 6970s for only 1270 USD compared to 2 590's for 1430USD. BUT i hear Scaling for ATI Quadfire is garbage. And the only way i will ever get a 6990 is if i wc is. And i really am looking for the power of 3 way and up SLI performance so i would need two. And after WC setup for that i would be pushing 2 grand in just GPU. I have the money but thats pushing it.

The only thing making me want ATI is the fact that Nvidia surround as pointed out by TTL when not gaming is not 3 seperate screens... And this will be a huge let down/pain if there is not a way around that. Like a working legit mod or something. I posted asking if he ever did find out a way around that on the actual review but nobody has gotten back to it yet. And that might force me to go ati. Which if i go ati im going a 6970 trifire route most likely or i might spit out the cash for qaud since its cheaper then what i have planned anyways. Just so i can have 3 seperate screens. OR hell i might get me two 590s and then a cheap little ati card that supports Eyefinity that can play 1080p youtube and blueray and wire that into my monitor mix. Idk just so many things to contemplate im like a kid in a dang candy story >.>

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

I am pretty sure AMD cards still scale better than Nvidia cards do.

The 580 by itself is a fair amount faster that the 6970 as ygg stated, but whats weird is the 6990 is a fair amount faster than the 590? the 6990 is 2 6970 while the 590 is 2 580s.

Just keep that in mind.

 

[Chaney579]

I am pretty sure AMD cards still scale better than Nvidia cards do.

The 580 by itself is a fair amount faster that the 6970 as ygg stated, but whats weird is the 6990 is a fair amount faster than the 590? the 6990 is 2 6970 while the 590 is 2 580s.

Just keep that in mind.

You need to go look at TTL's recent 590 sli review Bro, up in the review section. His conclusion was with the recent drivers, Nvidia and their 590's, have pulled ahead in the Dual GPU card game by a pretty good amount; as in his words. Nvidia is ontop right now as the numbers have shown. ALSO including the 6990 puts out more heat then my 79 shovel head.

And thats weird i have seen many posts about the ATI 6970s not scaling AT ALL when it comes to 3 way and 4 way but in just regular crossfire with two cards you see 90-110% scaling.

And yes i have considered using one 6990 is lucid with a 6970 for trifire, and then i could even WC them both with my budget.

, because i do like that ATI did not slack off when it came to what GPU cores they used. Making them full fledged 6970 cores, while Nvidia just used their gf100 chips which are pretty much IMO 570s with how down clocked from 580s they are. But like i said in the review with the new drivers Nvidia has pulled ahead good and seems to have claimed their tittle pretty easy. Meaning whatever changed they made did the charm very well

 

[S_I_N]

my sig says it all bro

 

[Chaney579]

^^^ HAHA agreed, it brought a damn good smile to my face to see TTL's conclusion.

But still dealing with the post im googling all this and cant find any good info xD, could somebody maybe help me out?

 

[S_I_N]

try searching youtube for vids of 4way sli and xfire might not be any comparisons but you might find scores for each on diff vids

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

You need to go look at TTL's recent 590 sli review Bro, up in the review section. His conclusion was with the recent drivers, Nvidia and their 590's, have pulled ahead in the Dual GPU card game by a pretty good amount; as in his words. Nvidia is ontop right now as the numbers have shown. ALSO including the 6990 puts out more heat then my 79 shovel head.

And thats weird i have seen many posts about the ATI 6970s not scaling AT ALL when it comes to 3 way and 4 way but in just regular crossfire with two cards you see 90-110% scaling.

And yes i have considered using one 6990 is lucid with a 6970 for trifire, and then i could even WC them both with my budget.

, because i do like that ATI did not slack off when it came to what GPU cores they used. Making them full fledged 6970 cores, while Nvidia just used their gf100 chips which are pretty much IMO 570s with how down clocked from 580s they are. But like i said in the review with the new drivers Nvidia has pulled ahead good and seems to have claimed their tittle pretty easy. Meaning whatever changed they made did the charm very well

Not that i dont believe you, but can i have a link?

 

[PunisheR_`]

found i review that might help you it is a 6990 + 6970 vs 3 way sli 580s

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/04/28/nvidia_geforce_3way_sli_radeon_trifire_review/1

 

[Chaney579]

Not that i dont believe you, but can i have a link?

Its up in the review section... Zotac gtx 590 review that was done last week...

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

Its up in the review section... Zotac gtx 590 review that was done last week...

Yea i found it, thank you.

BUT i will not give an OFFICIAL statement on which one is stronger for about another 6 to 7 months when both GPUs have had time to mature.

 

[Chaney579]

found i review that might help you it is a 6990 + 6970 vs 3 way sli 580s

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/04/28/nvidia_geforce_3way_sli_radeon_trifire_review/1

That did help me out quit a bit,

But if i do go with a trifire setup like that... I will have to WC them.. and i already have plans for 500 dollars to just WC my cpu... Could i loop those two cards into my 360 rad? Or what could i do... I dont know if the rez/pump combo from xspc would be efficient enough. Even though it does have a pretty good little pump in it. AND ontop of that ill have to spend a good penny on a mountinmods case... :/ and fans to get the air in and out... When i could just go two 590s for a little more but not have to WC them and get a huge case to fit it in my loop...

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

That did help me out quit a bit,

But if i do go with a trifire setup like that... I will have to WC them.. and i already have plans for 500 dollars to just WC my cpu... Could i loop those two cards into my 360 rad? Or what could i do... I dont know if the rez/pump combo from xspc would be efficient enough. Even though it does have a pretty good little pump in it. AND ontop of that ill have to spend a good penny on a mountinmods case... :/ and fans to get the air in and out... When i could just go two 590s for a little more but not have to WC them and get a huge case to fit it in my loop...

You could loop it, although i would not. just because you would need a HUGE rad.

 

[Chaney579]

You could loop it, although i would not. just because you would need a HUGE rad.

Hmmm would i?

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...cts_id=25389:a99bc25e3dd5cd9d1a301112ab59f1ee

Not enough for cpu and the gpus? Bleh... :/ Hmm... let me ask you this... Could i loop two of these rads together and use just a single pump?

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...cts_id=25389:a99bc25e3dd5cd9d1a301112ab59f1ee

There are so many things i could do... Just let me say this.. i have about 400 dollars of extra budget to get something to work if i take out my gtx 590 sli... BUT that doesnt count Waterblocks for the card... So i really would only have the money to step up to a 480 rad... Or double up on 2 360 rads...

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

Hmmm would i?

http://www.performan...a301112ab59f1ee

Not enough for cpu and the gpus? Bleh... :/ Hmm... let me ask you this... Could i loop two of these rads together and use just a single pump?

http://www.performan...a301112ab59f1ee

There are so many things i could do... Just let me say this.. i have about 400 dollars of extra budget to get something to work if i take out my gtx 590 sli... BUT that doesnt count Waterblocks for the card... So i really would only have the money to step up to a 480 rad... Or double up on 2 360 rads...

That RAD may be right at the brink for both GPUs as well as CPU. If you are planning on OCing and of the parts though my guess is one would not be enough. about the pump, idk, i just use a small pump to cool my one 6990.

 

[Chaney579]

That RAD may be right at the brink for both GPUs as well as CPU. If you are planning on OCing and of the parts though my guess is one would not be enough. about the pump, idk, i just use a small pump to cool my one 6990.

Well i have no problem getting like a 240 rad or another 360 rad and looping them in there, But if i have to get a whole nother setup just for the gpus then im going to just go with my air cooled 590s. As i will not be doing high OC's on my cards but i will need the power of a couple high end cards in sli... Just i have an 800d picked out just because i like the squar look and setup of them along with not being 500 dollars... But its looking to me that im going to have to dish out the extra cash for a cube case...