Got Classified?

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jacktesterson

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
5,493
3
81
too bad the 3rd and 4th GPU will see 25% scaling or so average in a lot of games, from what I've seen anyways.
 

Arkadrel

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2010
3,681
2
0
So thats like 670$ for one of those Graphics cards... and you bought 4 of them so.... 2680$ for GPU's.

o_O' Most people dont have 2700$ to spend on graphics cards.

<-- am jelly.

*edit:

8 x SSD's in Raid0 o_O
 
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guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
5,338
476
126
Please do this "drooling fool" (me) a favor and post your 3DMark11 scores when that "UBER" rig is done.

EVGA & Corsair ought to buy you a dinner after those purchases!
 

mple

Senior member
Oct 10, 2011
278
1
71
I wanted to get the H100 but the top panel of my case (Mountain Mods Ascension CYO) is too close to the top of the Classified GPUs.. if I put the radiator AND fans there, it will definitely hit (or be too close). So I played it safe with teh H80.

Also, never done "custom" water cooling and never will.. don't want to deal with all the hassle (leak test etc. etc.). My rigs are ALL air-cooled only.. first time trying "water" with the H80. XD

Probably no better time to jump into fully custom water cooling than now. I imagine it will be hard to keep the four 680s under 70C when overvolted and OC'd. Awesome setup nonetheless.
 

Gordon Freemen

Golden Member
May 24, 2012
1,068
0
0
Probably no better time to jump into fully custom water cooling than now. I imagine it will be hard to keep the four 680s under 70C when overvolted and OC'd. Awesome setup nonetheless.
OCing is kinda a dumb thing to even consider when you have that much over the top graphics power in reserve to begin with.
 

jacktesterson

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
5,493
3
81
I'm just wondering if its really worth going from a 990x with FOUR 3GB 580's ?


I think you were probably fine? Just seems like an awful expensive upgrade for little noticeable improvement.

Going from a 580 to a 680 is a noticeable improvement. 4 x 580's to 4 x 680's, not so sure.
 

Gordon Freemen

Golden Member
May 24, 2012
1,068
0
0
I'm just wondering if its really worth going from a 990x with FOUR 3GB 580's ?


I think you were probably fine? Just seems like an awful expensive upgrade for little noticeable improvement.

Going from a 580 to a 680 is a noticeable improvement. 4 x 580's to 4 x 680's, not so sure.
There would be absolutely no improvement but I guess when that upgrade itch becomes a reality you gotta do something about it LOL.
 

Elganja

Platinum Member
May 21, 2007
2,143
24
81
"on-board LSI controller"

umm... WTF... how did I not know about this. Since when did motherboards incorporate these controllers?
 

Annisman*

Golden Member
Aug 20, 2010
1,918
89
91
4 x 580 might end up being just as fast as 4 x 680 considering how poor the 6xx series scales past two cards.

Awesome awesome rig anyways. Get it set up for us now.
 

Grooveriding

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2008
9,107
1,260
126
"on-board LSI controller"

umm... WTF... how did I not know about this. Since when did motherboards incorporate these controllers?

It's a pretty cool mobo. Probably would of gotten that one if it had been available when I bought the one I have now.
 

SKORPI0

Lifer
Jan 18, 2000
18,396
2,306
136
4 x 580 might end up being just as fast as 4 x 680 considering how poor the 6xx series scales past two cards.

Awesome awesome rig anyways. Get it set up for us now.

And pics of the 4 cards installed in the mobo.
 

Baasha

Golden Member
Jan 4, 2010
1,997
20
81
And pics of the 4 cards installed in the mobo.

ask and ye shall receive... :D
2iu6pi.jpg


2zibg9l.jpg


Sorry for crappy quality... iPhone derp...
 
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Baasha

Golden Member
Jan 4, 2010
1,997
20
81
Guys, some speculations don't seem warranted.

My previous X58 system with the 990X and 4 GTX-580 Classified 3GB worked wonderfully well and I was able to enjoy them tremendously. Yet, even with 3GB of VRAM, my monitor setup (3 30" monitors @ 8100x1600px) did not allow for full AA settings in games like BF3 or Bulletstorm! I had most settings on "Ultra" or "max" etc. but the moment I turned on AA, it crashed to desktop.

Case in point, with my 4 GTX-680 Classified 4GB in 4-Way SLI, I am able to turn EVERY setting to MAX in BF3 including 4xMSAA and I'm using about 3600MB of VRAM! :eek:

This is at 7680x1600 and with everything maxed out, the game is just phenomenal.

In F1 2011, I get over 100FPS and use about 3500MB of VRAM @ 8100x1600 so the extra VRAM does help.

In Arkham City, I am using 3550MB of VRAM @ 8100x1600 and 32XCSAA! If I turned AA anything beyond 16XCSAA with the 580 Classified, it would crash. With the new GPUs, I can MAX the settings out even at this monstrous resolution!

And, the GPUs scale REALLY well at such high resolutions. It would be a waste if I gamed on one monitor or a lower resolution setup. This kind of monitor setup requires a HIGH CPU OC and MASSIVE GPU power.

Also, the 3930K is a much beefier processor than the 990X. The 990X was the best X58 chip you could get. And my chip was rock solid at 4.4Ghz @ 1.30V which was just great for me. Allowed me to stay air-cooled and never had to fret about overheating.

OC'ing the 3930K is a learning experience though. I am (mostly) stable at 4.4Ghz using the EZ OC utility in the BIOS but I can't seem to get 4.6 or 4.7 doing it manually. I was able to run 4.5GHz if I set the RAM to "Auto" but if it runs at 2400MHz, IBT or Prime95 errors out. I still have to figure out how to OC this 3930K properly.

I also got the H100 as the H80 was simply not up to the task.

Will post more pics soon! ;)
 
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Baasha

Golden Member
Jan 4, 2010
1,997
20
81
System is pretty much set up now. Just waiting to set up my monitors properly! ;)

Will post pics *very* soon.

So far, I'm stable at 4.6Ghz @ 1.328V (CPU-Z @ 100% Load) and with the H100, the temps are still pretty damn hot (hit 72C playing BF3 :eek:).

On the other hand, Darksiders 2 @ 8100x1600 and 4xMSAA, 16xAF, and no AO hogs more than 3700MB of VRAM! :eek:
 

Baasha

Golden Member
Jan 4, 2010
1,997
20
81
Finally, DONE! :D

There she be, in all her glory:

14o0vip.jpg


334u4ox.jpg


Specs:
CPU: i7 3930K @ 4.5Ghz @ 1.328V
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 w/ 2x Scythe Ultra Kaze @ 3000RPM
MoBo: ASRock X79 Extreme11
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 2400MHz 9-11-11-31 16GB
GPU: 4x EVGA GTX-680 Classified (4GB) 4-Way SLI
OS: 2x Corsair ForceGT 120GB RAID-0
Games/Programs: 8x Vertex 4 128GB RAID-0
Storage: Samsung 1TB SpinPoint F3 + 2x WD Caviar Black 2TB RAID-0
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II
PSU: Antec HCP-1200
Monitors: 3x Dell U3011 @ 5160x2560

Will post some more screenshots of games etc. since I just set up my monitors today. :)
 
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Baasha

Golden Member
Jan 4, 2010
1,997
20
81
Love the portrait mode for the monitors, wish mine swiveled...

Actually, these monitors, the Dell U3011, do not swivel. I got a custom stand from WSGF, made by Ergotech, called the WSGF Edition stand ($399) and the guy at WSGF wasn't sure if it would fit 3 30" monitors. He said I should try it out and see! :D

It fits and fits beautifully! Setting it up was a bit of a pain but the immersion is SO much better than landscape (8100x1600). I played BF3 @ 4800x2560 and it is mind-bogglingly immersive in this orientation. The landscape setup would always stretch the picture out on the outer monitors but this way, it's perfect and the FoV is brilliant. :thumbsup:

Will post updates soon with benchies etc.

Thanks for the compliments guys!