3 Way SLi

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: MegaWorks
"Paid Nvidia Advocate" :laugh:

Yea I had to laugh when I saw that. I guess that's a Scarlet Letter.

All I can say is cheers Rollo. :beer: Since you've been gone people have asked "what's a Rollo?" or "who was this Rollo character?" Regardless of why you're remembered, at least you were remembered.

I'll back you up if you send me an 8800 GTX...

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: CP5670

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: CP5670

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
I wouldn't mind tripple SLI if nVidia bought me my setup.

My thoughts exactly. Who cares about driver problems when the cards are free? I would take that situation any day.

Getting the cards free is only part of the deal in rigs like mine CP5670- I spent over $2000. out of my own pocket on the 3 way upgrade as well. (bought a monitor, QX6700, 2 more GB RAM, a case, and a psu)

I very much appreciate the parts NVIDIA gives me, but there seems to be a misconception going on in this thread that I don't put anything into my gaming myself. (and that's not the case)

In other words, the cards and the motherboard are free. That is still about $1500 worth of stuff and an excellent deal if you ask me. I too would be more than willing to overlook any issues if I was getting that kind of hardware.

No one is "overlooking" anything.

My problems with 3 way SLi so far:

1. My XaserIII case didn't provide adequate airflow. I replaced it with a case that did.

2. The non certified 1200W PSU I bought wasn't adequate power because two of the 6 pin connectors were on a split line. I replaced it with a certified PSU.

3. I've had some issues with Crysis.

4. I've had the Unreal engine stop issue. (where game occasionally stops for a second then starts)

I haven't tried to hide any of this or gloss it over, it's all been posted at various places.

OTOH- I'm able to game at 25X16 with AA/AF in new games with 3 way SLi and when that is going on it looks better than anything you've ever seen computer gaming. To me, it's worth a few tradeoffs and some cash for that.

Most people here would say it's worth buying the $250 card instead of the $150 card to play at 16X10 with AA instead of without.

There's no difference in what I'm saying, it's just a matter of degree. I think it's worth the extra money to have the higher res and image quality, if you don't, that's fine.

Don't forgot how all six of your expansion slots are consumed by the double slot GTX and thus you have no room for expansion for things such as an X-Fi for EAX 5.0 support. Although this drawback isn't so bad if you're deaf.

 

[taltamir]

Well every guy should be dreaming about 3 way.... SLI.
But very few get this lucky.

 

[Syntax Error]

This thread makes me giggle. :laugh:

 

[LOUISSSSS]

what were the terms allowing this nvidia worker back in here? does ati even have/need one of these?

 

[DerekWilson]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
what were the terms allowing this nvidia worker back in here? does ati even have/need one of these?

i'm sure we'll have to address this in a bunch of threads, but the short version is this:

it's not a problem that Rollo works with NVIDIA.

the problem is that he lied about it in the past and got members banned for calling him a shill (which he was).

he apologized for all that, some time has passed, and the forum guidelines have been updated. we've given other long banned members a shot at redeeming themselves, and this is Rollo's shot.

he's really not a bad guy, maybe a little zealous, but whatever. with his position well known and fully disclosed, the type of issues that occurred in the past can no longer happen.

THIS ENDS THE DISCUSSION OF WHY ROLLO IS BACK IN THIS THREAD. Nothing to see here, lets move along now....

Back on topic ...

I assert that people are wrong when they say high levels of AA provide "real" IQ improvements. 4x is all you need, and the higher the dpi the less you need AA.

3 way SLI as a high end solution creates a problem of diminishing returns. for people with deep pockets, it doesn't matter. For people to whom hundreds of dollars makes a difference, there is not enough added value to justify the improvement in performance or IQ over 2 card SLI.

just because something is the "best" doesn't mean it is actual worth what is charged for it. except to those people who are obsessive about having the best of everything ...

I used to be that guy. I spent $7k of my very hard earned money on a computer when I started college. That was the worst mistake I ever made. The return on the investment compared to other students who spent less than $2k was seriously not worth the added cash. The only thing I really appreciated was my monitor -- Sony GDM-F550 ... Best CRT around and could do 2048x1536. It was actually still my favorite monitor until I got my hands on the Dell 30".

Having the best because it's the best is not valuable. One of the core philosophies of AnandTech is to provide readers with an indication of real value. Sure, 3 way SLI is the best. But it is not a sound investment.

There's the argument of upgrades, but I counter that with the fact that by the time high end parts come down in price enough to add them to your system new cards with new features will be out.

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
what were the terms allowing this nvidia worker back in here? does ati even have/need one of these?

cough $$$ cough


Most people who remember this dirtbag called "Rollo" will still be here reminding the newer members what a liar/troll/flamer/etc he is. ATI(amd) has to love him though, for obvious reasons.

 

[DerekWilson]

Originally posted by: buck

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
what were the terms allowing this nvidia worker back in here? does ati even have/need one of these?

cough $$$ cough


Most people who remember this dirtbag called "Rollo" will still be here reminding the newer members what a liar/troll/flamer/etc he is. ATI(amd) has to love him though, for obvious reasons.

*clears throat*

what part of discussion on Rollo in this thread ends here do you not understand?

not that I should even dignify it with a response, but money was absolutely not involved. we consider unban requests for anyone who was banned before public guidelines were instated. we decided to give Rollo a chance.

now it's really done -- take it else where if you have a problem --

that's what the personal forum issues forum is for. talk about the issue if you want, but not in this thread.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson
Back on topic ...

I assert that people are wrong when they say high levels of AA provide "real" IQ improvements. 4x is all you need, and the higher the dpi the less you need AA.

3 way SLI as a high end solution creates a problem of diminishing returns. for people with deep pockets, it doesn't matter. For people to whom hundreds of dollars makes a difference, there is not enough added value to justify the improvement in performance or IQ over 2 card SLI.

just because something is the "best" doesn't mean it is actual worth what is charged for it. except to those people who are obsessive about having the best of everything ...

I used to be that guy. I spent $7k of my very hard earned money on a computer when I started college. That was the worst mistake I ever made. The return on the investment compared to other students who spent less than $2k was seriously not worth the added cash. The only thing I really appreciated was my monitor -- Sony GDM-F550 ... Best CRT around and could do 2048x1536. It was actually still my favorite monitor until I got my hands on the Dell 30".

Having the best because it's the best is not valuable. One of the core philosophies of AnandTech is to provide readers with an indication of real value. Sure, 3 way SLI is the best. But it is not a sound investment.

There's the argument of upgrades, but I counter that with the fact that by the time high end parts come down in price enough to add them to your system new cards with new features will be out.

I agree with this in general- 3 Way Sli isn't for everyone, and it's not a "bang for buck" type of solution.

There are games that run better even at 25X16 4X16X with it though, and as time passes it may prove to be more immune to the "new game came out, I need a new graphics setup" problem.

I'd alos note anything high end is diminishing returns- how many $1000 CPUs are just the $500 model with a 10% higher clock that anyone could put on the lower model?

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson

Originally posted by: buck

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
what were the terms allowing this nvidia worker back in here? does ati even have/need one of these?

cough $$$ cough


Most people who remember this dirtbag called "Rollo" will still be here reminding the newer members what a liar/troll/flamer/etc he is. ATI(amd) has to love him though, for obvious reasons.

*clears throat*

what part of discussion on Rollo in this thread ends here do you not understand?

not that I should even dignify it with a response, but money was absolutely not involved. we consider unban requests for anyone who was banned before public guidelines were instated. we decided to give Rollo a chance.

now it's really done -- take it else where if you have a problem --

that's what the personal forum issues forum is for. talk about the issue if you want, but not in this thread.

I understood your post when I read it, that was after I submitted my post. Reading your post then creating mine = more than 2 minutes. I will just end it here.

 

[djnsmith7]

I don't see a problem here in this thread...If you have the coin & you want the best of the best & you're willing to pay for it, who the hell cares?...So what if someone wants Triple SLI & 8 GB of RAM, 30" monitor, etc...If they have $5k to spend & that's how they want to spend it, so be it...

Hell, I know a lot of people here (probably most veterans) can't stand how Rollo was before the ban, but hey, he was let back & the cat's out of the bag...So what if he works for Nvidia...

Hell, I wish I worked for a company that gave me 3 8800 GTX's or Ultra's...That'd be sick...Sure would save me a lot of dough for these 2 systems I'm building...One of which is going to be Triple SLI, btw, once the 9800GTX is released...

BTW, Rollo, now that you're here, what can you tell us about the 9800GTX???...That's the card I want...

 

[BFG10K]

It's true that it's not inexpensive to set up a 3 way Sli rig, but having the "best of the best" is never cheap in computer equipment.

I wouldn't necessarily call it the ?best of the best?. Sure, if it guaranteed 3x the performance in every GPU limited situation without SLI issues it'd be much more attractive, but the problem is that it doesn?t.

It's sometimes slower than two cards and even one 8800 Ultra in some cases, but the burden of three cards is always in your case regardless of how fast it runs.

That and I?d imagine 3 way AFR will have horrific mouse lag in many situations and I have a very low tolerance for that sort of thing (I could spot it in many situations with regular SLI).

This technology is mainly for GPU vendors to produce pretty graphs and to sell more video cards. Face it, if they could convince everyone to go tri-SLI they would sell three times as many video cards.

 

[nRollo]

I don't think NVIDIA expects everyone to want or need 3 Way SLi BFG.

It's just an option for people with big monitors who want to use more AA, or have higher frame rates (both average and minimum) for online gaming.

I haven't noticed the mouse lag personally, and I did with Quad SLi. Actually that would be one advantage of 3 way over competing Quad solutions, theoretically the "mouse lag" you speak of would be reduced by 1/3 over quad.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: djnsmith7
I don't see a problem here in this thread...If you have the coin & you want the best of the best & you're willing to pay for it, who the hell cares?...So what if someone wants Triple SLI & 8 GB of RAM, 30" monitor, etc...If they have $5k to spend & that's how they want to spend it, so be it...

Hell, I know a lot of people here (probably most veterans) can't stand how Rollo was before the ban, but hey, he was let back & the cat's out of the bag...So what if he works for Nvidia...

Hell, I wish I worked for a company that gave me 3 8800 GTX's or Ultra's...That'd be sick...Sure would save me a lot of dough for these 2 systems I'm building...One of which is going to be Triple SLI, btw, once the 9800GTX is released...

BTW, Rollo, now that you're here, what can you tell us about the 9800GTX???...That's the card I want...

I don't have any info on the 9800GTX, it would be NDA even if I did, sorry.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Rollo
as time passes it may prove to be more immune to the "new game came out, I need a new graphics setup" problem.

Those who "want the best" enough to go for SLI or Tri-SLI would be the exact ones that buy new graphics cards for new games. The rest of us just spend less time obsessing about it.

 

[DaveBC]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: DaveBC

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Really? I have a single GTS 640 and the only game that I cannot use highest settings and AA is in Crysis. All other games (CoD4, Bioshock, Stalker, FEAR and some others) I can use
at least 2xAA. Usually 4xAA. This is at 1680x1050 mind you. So what games can't you run with SLI'd GTS's at high settings with AA?

COD 4 is very playable. Bioshock too if i don't use more that 2xAA. Believe it or not. Crysis drops to 10 - 15 FPS on the Paradise Lost level. That's not even on Very High. Just on High. Have to turn off shadows or drop to Medium to keep it playing....

My settings in Crysis:

1440x900
Everything HIGH except: Post Processing set to medium and Shadow Processing set to medium.

No AA

My FPS fluctuates between 20 - 60 fps depending on what's going on.

You, even with a single 8800GTS512 should be able to do at least that. Something is not right there. I would remove one of your GTS's and test it with a single card. if you see no difference in performance, than your SLI isn't working. You should have way better performance than i do. Look at my paltry rig compared to yours. Are you using the latest drivers? Do you have the Crysis patch installed?

Oh DUH!!!! Never mind. I see your using a 32" monitor. LOL. That explains quite a bit. Sorry I missed that little detail.

Sorry for the Threadjack.. I was making an observation regarding my rig and 3 way SLI. *dreaming really*.

Keysplayer, my 32 inch is only 1360 x 768 should have room for alot of AA. 3d Mark 06 is around 15500 I forget exactly. Latest Beta drivers 169.28 and 15.01 680i chipset.

I can eek out a couple more FPS in Crysis if I monkey with the Nvidia recommended SLI settings in the driver. i.e. Force Alt Frame Rendering 2. It defaults to Single GPU even with SLI enabled. I expected dramitic results too, especially upgrading from a pair 7800 GTX 512 mb cards.

That is not itself surprising as I have read elsewhere (nvidia forums) that the 64 bit drivers game profiles are a little whacked.