Triple SLI - any experiences yet?

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 01 Jan 2008, 22:47

Since a lot of user in this section of the forum have SLI rigs, I wondered if anybody tried to add another GTX/Ultra and see how it performs?

from all the tests and benchmarks (about 5 of them) I've read, it becomes obvious that Triple SLI is extremely effective with High Resolutions (i.e. 2560x1920) so it might be also interesting for us TH users.

How-ever the first Austrian/German enthusiast to test Triple SLI had some issues with frame-rate consitency, altough the average framerate was really high.

as always, any information is appreciated, as long as it isn't '3way SLI suxs, way to expensive, blah, blah !!!111onetyeleven!!1' :D :D :D

Cynagen · Post by **Cynagen** » 01 Jan 2008, 23:01

Since a lot of user in this section of the forum have SLI rigs, I wondered if anybody tried to add another GTX/Ultra and see how it performs?

from all the tests and benchmarks (about 5 of them) I've read, it becomes obvious that Triple SLI is extremely effective with High Resolutions (i.e. 2560x1920) so it might be also interesting for us TH users.

How-ever the first Austrian/German enthusiast to test Triple SLI had some issues with frame-rate consitency, altough the average framerate was really high.

as always, any information is appreciated, as long as it isn't '3way SLI suxs, way to expensive, blah, blah !!!111onetyeleven!!1' :D :D :D

I don't think anyone here would have played with triple sli just yet, it's a bit too expensive, and right now, most of the users running an SLI rig are doing it for just 1 screen, or a TH with 3x4:3 monitors and having little to no issue. However, I am interested in those test results, if you could provide a link it might fire this discussion up a little faster.

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 02 Jan 2008, 01:11

sure:
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/?article_id=624620 (PCGH, GERMAN, Benchmark on pages 4 & 5)

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_3-way_sli_performance/ (Firing Squad, ENGLISH)

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/481/ (Guru 3d, ENGLISH)

http://pcper.com/article.php?type=expert&aid=495 (PC Perspektive, ENGLISH)

http://www.hothardware.com/articles/NVIDIA_3Way_SLI_Performance_Preview/?page=1 (Hot HardWare, ENGLISH)

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/12/13/nvidia_3-way_sli_on_nforce_680i_preview/1
(bit-tech, ENGLISH)

http://www.computerbase.de/news/hardware/grafikkarten/nvidia/2007/dezember/vorschau_3-way-sli-pc_atelco/
(computerBase, GERMAN, Benchmark)

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3183&p=6 (anandTech, ENGLISH)

http://www.forum-3dcenter.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=395914 (GERMAN, Video: http://rapidshare.com/files/77450178...S-SLI.avi.html)

wphan · Post by **wphan** » 02 Jan 2008, 07:26

hmmm interesting... and then i saw the words "vista only"

Post by **Downtown1** » 02 Jan 2008, 07:28

It would be much better if every card could render a monitor. Otherwise it's just combining everything and then splitting everything redundantly.

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 02 Jan 2008, 10:34

this wouldn't be very economic. how many people do you think would buy three monitors and three GPUs. (6*500 EUR)...

the way it is done now, it is applicable for all 'single screen' configurations and that's certainly a good thing.

Post by **Mach1.9pants** » 07 Jan 2008, 01:31

Hi all
I have got TRI-SLI up and running on my rig. No problems with TRI-SLI as of yet but it also meant I have to move to Vista, and I went 64 bit. So a few vista niggles but so far OK. The main problems I am having is with the X-Fi and Alchemy etc. Anyway as the reviews said on games with a good SLI profile it makes a big difference at TH2Go resolutions, wasted on anything less. The drivers are pretty good for new ones.
Looking forward to the Crysis patch so I can crank the settings up on that!
However, unless you have a fair bit of money to throw around, I wouldn't bother until the 9800GX2 is reviewed. I got the extra card for free.... well I innundated it in coolant after the DD water block I had leaked (grrrr) and claimed it on insurance - however I managed to resurrect it. I removed resistor C855- which you will find in the middle of the top on the back ;)
The other problem is the lack of expansion slots, I have an (old style) CoolitSystems SLI cooler which make 2 of the GTXs single slot, and the danger den torture rack has no airflow poblems! torture rack
Cheers

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 07 Jan 2008, 11:38

Hi all
I have got TRI-SLI up and running on my rig. No problems with TRI-SLI as of yet but it also meant I have to move to Vista, and I went 64 bit. So a few vista niggles but so far OK. The main problems I am having is with the X-Fi and Alchemy etc. Anyway as the reviews said on games with a good SLI profile it makes a big difference at TH2Go resolutions, wasted on anything less. The drivers are pretty good for new ones.
Looking forward to the Crysis patch so I can crank the settings up on that!
However, unless you have a fair bit of money to throw around, I wouldn't bother until the 9800GX2 is reviewed. I got the extra card for free.... well I innundated it in coolant after the DD water block I had leaked (grrrr) and claimed it on insurance - however I managed to resurrect it. I removed resistor C855- which you will find in the middle of the top on the back ;)
The other problem is the lack of expansion slots, I have an (old style) CoolitSystems SLI cooler which make 2 of the GTXs single slot, and the danger den torture rack has no airflow poblems! torture rack
Cheers

Wow! That's nice.
which FW are you using .18 ?

did you experience any irregularities with the framerate (i.e. being generally high but dropping to unplayable for half a second and then going high again?

Also I would imagaine that having two GTXs on one Slot could end in bandwithproblems.

I'dprobably use PCIe-risers, so i would get a little room between the board and the GPUs, plus i would have two additional PCI slots. Another interesting option would be the 9800GX2 + 1 8800 GTX = Triple SLI with one free PCIe Slot. Airflow will also be suffient in my case I guess. I've got lots of fans installed.

Post by **Mach1.9pants** » 08 Jan 2008, 06:02

nope I am using FW 169.25, the only 2 things I have problems with are Gears of War (high frame rate with pauses) but that did that with normal SLI with the old driver & Forgotten Hope 2 single player (a BF2 mod) that just stuck me at about 10-20 FPS :shock: Works fine in multiplayer though so not a prob really.
The problem with the 9800GX2 is that is it 2 512mb GTS's stuck together as far as I can see, with maybe a clock speed jump. Apparently it is equal to 1.3 to 1.5 times an Ultra. However if the game has a poor SLI profile, like Crysis does now, then it will be no better than a single 512GTS. Until NV release a real new GPU there is not too much to be gained from high end users upgrading. Hopefully NV are holding back their true next gen cards for AMDs next gen, and they will be released b4 mid year....
the 9800GX2 will be able to do quad SLI with too. The replacement for the 8800GTX (the 9800GTX- which I don't know much about) will be able to do TRI-SLI with three cards. I dunno if you could do TRI-SLI with a GX2 and a 512GTS....
Another problem with the GX2 is that it is 256bit rather than 384 (?ish) with the GTXs- that makes a difference at high res esp with AA, from what I have read

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 08 Jan 2008, 10:03

which other games did you test?
crysis? I'd especially be interested in Ego-shooters, and in these so-called SLI-pauses.

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 08 Jan 2008, 20:49

wooot:

http://www.gamershell.com/news/44474.html
gogogo!

I just thought you might be interested.

Post by **Mach1.9pants** » 09 Jan 2008, 08:15

yeah I just DLd the patch will make some interesting trials!
My initial impressions (from CoD4- my current game of choice) was great add an almost 50% over normal SLI, but.........
At the moment I am a bit disappointed in 3SLI, because it can only ever use vista. I have found that some games just run shiiiite on vista. eg kane and lynch (only played 1 min at 10FPS on vista, will look into it later) and The Witcher* (which runs about 15FPS less on vista than XP). These are just mucking about, I need to play with all the extra settings you get with 3SLI -alternate frame rate rendering and normal at the same time, anyone? So it is certainly an enthusiasts set up but I think that I will have to spend more time than I would like tweaking Vista and 3SLI than actually playing the games, compared with XP and SLI.
So I am going to dual boot, it is no skin off my nose to remove the extra card and reboot into vista when I fancy.

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 09 Jan 2008, 10:57

you don't have to remove the card if you want to switch to XP & normal SLI.
just disable it in the Windows Hardware Manager and activate SLI.

How do you cool the Cards? are they liguid or air-cooled, what are the temperatures like?

Post by **Mach1.9pants** » 10 Jan 2008, 06:12

aha now that is a good idea- man I am useless at lateral thinking- cheers!
one GTX (the one I remove) is using the vanilla cooler. The other 2 are cooled by a modified Coolit Systems SLI cooler. That means they are (just, it is a squeeze!) single slot. The case is open torture rack (danger den) and I have a couple of fans blowing on them. The temps are not much better than stock cos I have them on ultra quiet. About the same at idle but 10-15 less under load, ie they don't go up really under load. I would imagine, however, that the coolit would be much better than a stock cooler stuck right against the back of the next GTX!

redgun · Post by **redgun** » 10 Jan 2008, 11:31

i don't want to sound cheap, but 450$ is a little bit to much just fro GPU-cooling. :( :(
right now I'm thinking about having airdutcs that will suck out the air between the GPUs.

Post by **Mach1.9pants** » 11 Jan 2008, 03:10

I agree but I didn't pay anywhere near 450 bucks (NZ!) for mine,. I work in IT and the company I got it off had it sitting in their stocks for about a year and wanted rid of it- I took it off their hands for 250NZ

ajg · Post by **ajg** » 19 Jan 2008, 13:40

I love the DD test rig setup. i so want that :) Wheres me credit card :)

Post by **Mach1.9pants** » 19 Jan 2008, 20:54

I love the DD test rig setup. i so want that :) Wheres me credit card :)

Yeah it is great, ans the amount of time i spend mucking about with my rig means it is sooo much better than a normal case.
It is not perfect though, I had to cut away a bit around the socket of the PSU to get it to fit in. Also the height of the PCI slots are wrong. I had to raise the mobo up by 4-5mm to get the cards to fit. Still a great case and worth every penny 8)

Mesh · Post by **Mesh** » 21 Jan 2008, 03:04

I figured I'd post this here since I might hit others with 2+ ultras in sli:

at what point do 2 8800 ultra in SLI become CPU limited? I haven't been able to find a clear/useful answer so far. My own tests have proven futile as at 1.2GHz I get almost identical results to 2.6GHz. I won't believe that even if this is a previous generation CPU, it can't remotely benefit from 2 ultras when at 2.6GHz.

Post by **Mach1.9pants** » 21 Jan 2008, 06:14

At high res I don't think it makes too much of a dif- it won't be CPU limited AFAIK, however NVidia recommend RAID 0 and 3GHz Intel quad core, IIRC

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