680 SLI, which brand? + more questions.

[Keith90]

Hello,

I've decided that after not building a complete new computer since 2008, it was about time that I did it again. I looked up video cards and after going through reviews and forums, I decided on the Nvidia 680. Since I'm trying to future proof my desktop as much as possible, I want to purchase 2 to run SLI.

What I'm not sure of though is which brand to get. I know some cards are a lot bigger than others so I want to be able to find a card that will fit a motherboard that can hold both cards and not be jammed.

So which brand is the best 680 to get to run SLI?

Which brings me onto my next question.

Which motherboard is the best to run SLI? Also, which intel CPU would be best for that motherboard?

I'm so far behind in what's out today considering my last graphics card was the Nvidia 8800 GT. So any advice/information would really help. Thank you.

 

[hizodge]

For MB & CPU you should either go for LGA1155 socket Z77 chipset which are very popular and ranges in price anywhere between 100 and 500 USD. With this you could pick up Intel i5 2500-2700k CPU which is more than enough for gaming when overclocked. This set comes at a pretty modest price.

The other alternative, if you can spend more is the LGA2011 socket X79 chipset. These motherboards are quite expensive, but they do have quite a bit of useful quirks, such as not having to deal with CPU backplates, more DIMM slots etc. The only moderately priced CPUs for the X79 are i7 3820 which comes with 4 cores and 8 threads and i7 3930k with 6 cores and 12 threads respectively. Both overclock quite nicely with above adequate cooling and are somewhat overkill if you're just building for gaming.

For GPU if you're planning on SLI, you'll want to stay away from 3slot cards, (basically just the Asus one I think). MSI Lightning GTX 680 is the best of the lot (and the most expensive) closely followed by MSI Twin FrozrIII GTX 680 I believe.

 

[yamahahornist]

Msi Lightning

 

[damian_518_zombie]

i would go with a i5 3570k and a asus rog z77 mobo with 2 evga 680 classified 4gb

 

[damian_518_zombie]

or a MSI Z77 MPOWER Intel Z77 mobo with a i5 3570k with 2 MSI GeForce N680GTX Twin Frozr 4gb

 

[DarkSable]

First of all, why the 680? It's only 5% faster than a 670, but it costs $100 more. Not worth it, in my opinion.

Secondly, don't go SLI just to "future proof" it. You're far, FAR better off saving the $3-400 now, and using it to upgrade your card later on. It's been studied a lot, and that's a WAY better option that gets better value and better performance. (A single 670 will max out any game out there - why buy two of them when, four years down the road, $400 will buy you a card that makes the 670 look like integrated graphics?)

 

[cvaughn001]

First of all, why the 680? It's only 5% faster than a 670, but it costs $100 more. Not worth it, in my opinion.

Secondly, don't go SLI just to "future proof" it. You're far, FAR better off saving the $3-400 now, and using it to upgrade your card later on. It's been studied a lot, and that's a WAY better option that gets better value and better performance. (A single 670 will max out any game out there - why buy two of them when, four years down the road, $400 will buy you a card that makes the 670 look like integrated graphics?)

Would it be beneficial for 680SLI for higher performance displays, such as an overlord tempest panel?

 

[Keith90]

First of all, why the 680? It's only 5% faster than a 670, but it costs $100 more. Not worth it, in my opinion.

Secondly, don't go SLI just to "future proof" it. You're far, FAR better off saving the $3-400 now, and using it to upgrade your card later on. It's been studied a lot, and that's a WAY better option that gets better value and better performance. (A single 670 will max out any game out there - why buy two of them when, four years down the road, $400 will buy you a card that makes the 670 look like integrated graphics?)

Thanks for the reply. My goal with my desktop is to build it so I can run games on max settings for the next 4 years. If you feel that a single 670 or 680 can do that then I'll look into that. Another reason for my wanting of sli 680 is to start playing games at higher resolutions.

However, with that, a few questions follow.

What is the best monitor size to play higher resolutions and not have it looked stretched? Also is it even worth playing higher resolutions on a single monitor setup?

I want to try the triple monitor setup but I'm not sure if I'd be able to get past the bezel around monitors so for now I want to go with a single monitor setup.

Any advice/information is greatly appreciated.

 

[hizodge]

Well going above 1920x1200 is a viable reason to get SLI in my opinion and leaves you with two options. Either get 27" inch 2560x1440 or a 30" inch 2560x1600. Both resolutions will give you a sharper image than Full HD resolutions, but the monitors can be priced a bit steep. The 27" ones are obviously a lot cheaper and should you aim for that you could get the Dell UltraSharp U2711 27" which is a very popular model amongst gamers. Can't really say anything about the 30" inch ones, so you'll have to search online.

If you want to get 3X 1920x1080, you should pick monitors with the thinnest bezels you can find. You actually do get used to the bezels after some time as you mainly still fix your eyes on the middle one 95% of the time and the side monitors are there for peripheral vision only. This will look very immersive in just about any game that supports it and most new games do support 5760x1080 natively, but are left off with quite a bit of UI/text scaling issues or HUD bugs. Widescreen Gaming Forum has reviews on how well games support 3x1 monitor setups among others as well as user created fixes for games that are flawed. If you do get 3x1 then you WILL have to tinker with games here and there, just don't expect it to work 'out of the box.'

 

[Keith90]

Well going above 1920x1200 is a viable reason to get SLI in my opinion and leaves you with two options. Either get 27" inch 2560x1440 or a 30" inch 2560x1600. Both resolutions will give you a sharper image than Full HD resolutions, but the monitors can be priced a bit steep. The 27" ones are obviously a lot cheaper and should you aim for that you could get the Dell UltraSharp U2711 27" which is a very popular model amongst gamers. Can't really say anything about the 30" inch ones, so you'll have to search online.

If you want to get 3X 1920x1080, you should pick monitors with the thinnest bezels you can find. You actually do get used to the bezels after some time as you mainly still fix your eyes on the middle one 95% of the time and the side monitors are there for peripheral vision only. This will look very immersive in just about any game that supports it and most new games do support 5760x1080 natively, but are left off with quite a bit of UI/text scaling issues or HUD bugs. Widescreen Gaming Forum has reviews on how well games support 3x1 monitor setups among others as well as user created fixes for games that are flawed. If you do get 3x1 then you WILL have to tinker with games here and there, just don't expect it to work 'out of the box.'

Well you do make a good point that I'll be looking at the middle screen most of the time and I'm sure that having 3 monitors will be useful in someway.

So now I have one last question. Would it be better to do the 3x 1920x1080 or get either a 27" inch 2560x1440 or a 30" inch 2560x1600?

I'm leaning towards the 3 monitors as I'm sure the price would not be as steep although it's not really a worry. It's more so what would be more immersive and what I would get the most out of my gaming.

 

[hizodge]

That is really hard to answer man. I really liked 3x1 when it was working properly. But sometime it was just such a pain in the ass that I eventually sold the monitors and got myself a 27" 2560x1440 one. I'm quite pleased with it for both gaming and in general use. Although sometimes I wonder if I should've stuck with basic 1080p as it's just so cheap in comparison to upgrade your graphics for.

 

[Keith90]

That is really hard to answer man. I really liked 3x1 when it was working properly. But sometime it was just such a pain in the ass that I eventually sold the monitors and got myself a 27" 2560x1440 one. I'm quite pleased with it for both gaming and in general use. Although sometimes I wonder if I should've stuck with basic 1080p as it's just so cheap in comparison to upgrade your graphics for.

Which one did you find more immersive? Would the bigger resolution be better since you could see further away or would the peripheral vision be better? What do you prefer? I guess it depends on if I want a wider view or a further view. Correct?

 

[hizodge]

The 3x1, when it was actually working... Like I said I wouldn't really bother going into detail as this is a very subjective matter. Watch some reviews, watch some gameplay. Decide for yourself.

Here's Tom Logan and his 5760x1080 video review with 2xGTX 590 (quad SLI) for Overclock 3D. The guy goes into a lot of depth and has a really funny British accent.

Have a ganders! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRsAO6dVkv0

 

[Keith90]

The 3x1, when it was actually working... Like I said I wouldn't really bother going into detail as this is a very subjective matter. Watch some reviews, watch some gameplay. Decide for yourself.

Here's Tom Logan and his 5760x1080 video review with 2xGTX 590 (quad SLI) for Overclock 3D. The guy goes into a lot of depth and has a really funny British accent.

Have a ganders! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRsAO6dVkv0

Thank you for your advice and insight. You've been quite helpful and I now have a clearer picture of what I would like to put in my desktop.

I'm going to go for the sli 680. After putting in some thought towards the 3 monitor vs the 1 large monitor, I've decided that for now, it would be best to go for the one large monitor due to the amount of usage I would actually get of the 3 monitors. Most games don't really support 3 monitors or some would be stretched so for now I'll get one really nice monitor. One day down the road, I'll look into 3 monitors and I'm sure by then I'll get more usage out of it. Thank you once again.

 

[Keith90]

Best answer selected by Keith90.