GTX 580 3-way SLI vs GTX 590 SLI

[al360ex]

Hello,

Money being of no concern (as well as power consumption), what would be better at a resolution of 2560x1600 ?
I've got an i7 950 at 4.2GHz (200x21 @ 1.33v) with an Asus Rampage III Formula and 12Gb (3x4Gb @ 2000MHz) of memory. My PSU is a Corsair AX1200.

I was also wondering, if the 3 GTX 580 should prove to be better, would the performance be hampered by the fact the with 3 graphics cards, it would run at 8x8x8x, compared to 16x16x for 2 GTX 590 ?

Thank you,
al360ex

 

[al360ex]

For high res and everything max. 6990's in Crossfire is a better option then 590's in SLI because of the 2GB frame buffer.

Yes, I know, but it's also louder, hotter and takes more space (though that's not really important, because I have a HAF X). IMO, the 6990 is on par with the 590 overall...sometimes it is better, and sometimes worse.
Also, I quite like Nvidia, with PhysX, Cuda and the possibility of 3D Surround (I might eventually buy 3 1080p 3D monitors and use them instead of my single 2560x1600 monitor).
I'm certain that given some time, Nvidia will optimize their drivers. I've even heard a rumor that EVGA might release a 6gb version of the 590. In the EVGA forums, a technician confirmed that a 3gb model of the 580 was on the way, and said that a 6gb model of the 590 was possible. Since I don't plan on buying my 2 590s before this summer, I still have time...

 

[eyefinity]

Thermal image of a Gtx 590 at load -

The GeForce GTX 590 expelling half of the hot air inside the case, the temperatures of surrounding components increases, this is particularly true for hard disks that will be severely tested

Good luck with 2 of those in sli!

6990 comparison at load

 

[17seconds]

I think you're probably smart enough to look around the web to see for yourself which is going to be quieter (most important), cooler, and an overall better experience to live with on a day to day basis. The funniest description I read of the 6990's noise compared it to a "squealing piglet". Tom's Hardware said to "think about all of the conversations you can enjoy not hearing". But like you said, the HAF X case is tailormade for dealing with heat and noise producing SLI setups.

So to answer your question, we can look at results from Guru3d, who have compared the GTX 590 in SLI and the GTX 580's in tri-SLI (with the 6990 Crossfire thrown in for kicks):

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-3-way-sli-review/
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-590-sli-review/
http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-hd-6990-crossfire-review/

Noise (vs. single card)
580's: 48 Dba (+7 Dba)
590's: 44 Dba (+3 Dba)
6990's: 50 Dba (+4 Dba)

Temps (vs. single card)
580's: 87c (+13c)
590's: 85c (+6c)
6990's: 90c (+5c)

@2560x1600
CODMW2
580's: 199 fps
590's: 161 fps
6990's: 125 fps

BFBC2
580's: 116 fps
590's: 120 fps
6990's: 144 fps

Dirt2
580's: 138 fps
590's: 155 fps
6990's: 153 fps

FC2
580's: 156 fps
590's: 145 fps
6990's: 171 fps

Metro 2033
580's: 56 fps
590's: 62 fps
6990's: 61 fps

Anno 1404
580's: 116 fps
590's: 87 fps
6990's: 117 fps

Crysis: WH
580's: 81 fps
590's: 80 fps
6990's: 84 fps

Average FPS
580's: 123 fps
590's: 116 fps
6990's: 122 fps

BOTTOM LINE:
The performance is pretty much the same. There are clearly some games where early drivers are impacting performance. Fortunately, Nvidia has already released at least two new drivers to address performance issues (AMD has been stuck on the 11.4 Preview drivers for several weeks now). The choice, therefore should fall on aesthetics and particularly noise, with the GTX 590's being the quietest (and coolest) of the options. Oh, and of course, the two GTX 590's will be considerably cheaper.

On the subject of drivers, Hardware Heaven did a review with the old drivers and one with the new drivers. Here is what they had to say:
"So how does our experience with the overclock and new drivers affect our feelings on the value of the GTX 590? Earlier we stated that it was a card which felt a little overpriced, the performance was not quite there and driver issues in games such as Shogun 2 took the shine off the card a little. With the latest driver and running at the maximum performance when compared with the 6990 we are happy to report that the GTX 590 now feels a lot more like it is priced appropriately. We get exceptional performance, improved drivers, cooler operation than the competition, significantly quieter operation too... and of course all the benefits of surround gaming, 3D Vision, PhysX and CUDA.
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1140/pg1/point-of-view-nvidia-geforce-gtx-590-oc-vs-radeon-6990-oc-introduction.html

 

[eyefinity]

I think you're probably smart enough to look around the web to see for yourself which is going to be quieter (most important), cooler, and an overall better experience to live with on a day to day basis. The funniest description I read of the 6990's noise compared it to a "squealing piglet". Tom's Hardware said to "think about all of the conversations you can enjoy not hearing". But like you said, the HAF X case is tailormade for dealing with heat and noise producing SLI setups.

So to answer your question, we can look at results from Guru3d, who have compared the GTX 590 in SLI and the GTX 580's in tri-SLI (with the 6990 Crossfire thrown in for kicks):

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-3-way-sli-review/
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-590-sli-review/
http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-hd-6990-crossfire-review/

Noise (vs. single card)
580's: 48 Dba (+7 Dba)
590's: 44 Dba (+3 Dba)
6990's: 50 Dba (+4 Dba)

Temps (vs. single card)
580's: 87c (+13c)
590's: 85c (+6c)
6990's: 90c (+5c)

@2560x1600
CODMW2
580's: 199 fps
590's: 161 fps
6990's: 125 fps

BFBC2
580's: 116 fps
590's: 120 fps
6990's: 144 fps

Dirt2
580's: 138 fps
590's: 155 fps
6990's: 153 fps

FC2
580's: 156 fps
590's: 145 fps
6990's: 171 fps

Metro 2033
580's: 56 fps
590's: 62 fps
6990's: 61 fps

Anno 1404
580's: 116 fps
590's: 87 fps
6990's: 117 fps

Crysis: WH
580's: 81 fps
590's: 80 fps
6990's: 84 fps

Average FPS
580's: 123 fps
590's: 116 fps
6990's: 122 fps

BOTTOM LINE:
The performance is pretty much the same. There are clearly some games where early drivers are impacting performance. Fortunately, Nvidia has already released at least two new drivers to address performance issues (AMD has been stuck on the 11.4 Preview drivers for several weeks now). The choice, therefore should fall on aesthetics and particularly noise, with the GTX 590's being the quietest (and coolest) of the options. Oh, and of course, the two GTX 590's will be considerably cheaper.

On the subject of drivers, Hardware Heaven did a review with the old drivers and one with the new drivers. Here is what they had to say:
"So how does our experience with the overclock and new drivers affect our feelings on the value of the GTX 590? Earlier we stated that it was a card which felt a little overpriced, the performance was not quite there and driver issues in games such as Shogun 2 took the shine off the card a little. With the latest driver and running at the maximum performance when compared with the 6990 we are happy to report that the GTX 590 now feels a lot more like it is priced appropriately. We get exceptional performance, improved drivers, cooler operation than the competition, significantly quieter operation too... and of course all the benefits of surround gaming, 3D Vision, PhysX and CUDA.
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1140/pg1/point-of-view-nvidia-geforce-gtx-590-oc-vs-radeon-6990-oc-introduction.html

Lol so the 590 is having driver issues but the 6990 isn't? What about the 74 fps drop in CoD? If it wasn't for that one game the 6990s would be a mile ahead on average fps, just like it is on every other review.

 

[eyefinity]

Yeah they aren't quieter when they are going BANG lol.