2-Way SLI: 3 Displays possible?

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Thank you for your reply. What should I look at for 2-Way SLI? How would 480s fare?

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GTX460 SLI is probably an entry-level graphics subsystem to do 3-monitor setup. It is definitely a good solid first step to enter the world of Surround. And, I suggest getting 2GB versions of the GTX460.

Below is the conclusion of a good indepth review of GTX460 SLI for Surround:

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http://www.widescreengamingforum.com...view_-_Page_14

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570s v 480s, I would suggest the 480s.

Yes they are hotter and take a bit more power, but they have higher vram, and much less risk to blow a VRM because of heat.
And they are cheaper atm.

I wrote that review. I also posted it here, but I'm not on much at the minute because I'm too busy.

...

Three displays will run on a GTX460SLI setup, yes - in fact, SLI is required for nVidia Surround, while you can get away with one card with AMD's EyeFinity.

I really wouldn't recommend trying 1080p Surround on 1GB cards. It is possible, but you run into some serious VRAM bottlenecks that just kill performance completely. Remember that with 1080p Surround, you're asking 1GB of VRAM to cope with rendering 7 million pixels. No single monitor can give a GPU the workout that Surround can. If you were thinking of 1680x1050 or lower, it would cope better.

That said, if you've already got the cards, try it - it's not a bad experience, you just need to spend a lot of time tweaking settings so that you don't end up with slideshow framerates. MSI Afterburner and a G15 help too, so you can monitor in realtime the VRAM utilisation.

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What the hell are you on about?



Oh yeah 1% is a huge difference. And the GTX480 is like £90 cheaper.

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6990 would be quite a good bet. but not a 590 unless you want a flaming case mod.

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Yeah, I bought all the GPUs I tested out of my own pocket, when I was unhappy with 1GB GTX460s in Surround. I also tested GTX470 SLI which was barely better than 1GB GTX460s - that extra 256MB of VRAM and those extra shaders do next to nothing because of the improved shader arrangement of the 460s.

However, I wouldn't recommend overclocking the GPUs in a Surround environment; Surround gaming pushes the GPUs harder than single screen Furmark, harder than [email protected] I could Furmark @ 1920x1200 with the cards on 875MHz @1.025v, and Fold at 925MHz @1.025v... but gaming in Surround I couldn't get stable past 780MHz at the same voltage... and if I bumped the voltage up, heat quickly became a serious issue. I thought I had them stable at 815MHz at one point, but that proved erroneous; Just Cause 2 is one of the best stability tests in Surround, interestingly.

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While this might sound strange, I wouldn't recommend spending a lot on a Surround rig. At least, not on the GPUs.

Buy the best monitors you can - they will last longer than the GPUs will. Also make sure they have DisplayPort, so you can switch between EyeFinity and nVidia Surround as/when the mood takes you. I strongly favour the Dell U2410 for 16:10, or the U2311H if you want 16:9 (which I don't).

I remain somewhat dubious that nVidia are serious about Surround. That may sound odd, but I've talked to them a couple of times about issues I have that were there in their very first Surround capable driver, like Aero Preview breaking with the Taskbar horizontal and lack of an easy method to switch to Extended Desktop - and they are still there, large as life and twice as ugly, today in the most recent drivers. They are also failing to add any 'value added' features to Surround. It's like they sat down and said, "We need a competitor to EyeFinity" and when they got one, they stopped bothering.

While AMD is an attractive proposition for only needing one card, CrossFireX and EyeFinity do not always play ball with one another. Of course, with nVidia, if a game doesn't like SLI, it won't work with Surround. At all. Amnesia: Dark Descent is a perfect example.

That said, I'd look for a pair of 2GB GTX560s. I find 1.25GB or 1.5GB of VRAM too restrictive at 5760x1080+, so until the 3GB 580s drop in price, or someone comes out with 2.5GB GTX570s, I don't consider them worth buying. 560s mean you haven't outlaid a ridiculous sum, while allowing you to game comfortably on 99% of the games that will work in Surround. Crysis and Metro 2033 need graphics turned down quite a way to be comfortably playable.

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Agreed. I don't play in surround but my monitor is 2560x1440 and I hover between 1.2-1.5GB VRAM usage depending on the game.

3GB 580s will be coming down in price soon though. Asus and EVGA are bringing their own models to the market at a lower price point than the Palit cards, so that may be a practical option as well.

You can see the benefits of the extra framebuffer quite clearly at 1600p, let alone in surround:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...GTX_590/1.html

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What do you think of the Asus 120Hz monitor? I was thinking of buying two more and add one more 470 (for tri-SLI). How would this setup fair using my sig rig? (Note: I can definitely OC without heat issues because my rig is completely watercooled).
Thanks!