Nvidia GTX 480 3-Way SLI Tested Against Radeons

[Dkz]

This is very interesting but I insist on seeing the benchmarks.
I still don't get why they took so long and delivered a graphics card that is not that impressive.
Although I like ATI, the tessellation it's quite impressive, the only problem is the price point and consumption.
For example, I now have an ATI 4870 and i know is not a big deal but if you could see how much do graphic card cost in here you would do the same. And having this card I'd like to have one from the new family just be cause they consume less power while in idle which is most of the time.

 

[Regulas]

Give me a thumbs down but both sides are overkill. A good single card with a good CPU is all you really need.

 

[acadia11]

Geez my puny PSU only is 620W rated! Yiks 8(

 

[icepick314]

Is it still viable to use ONE Nvidia card (for PhysX calculation) along with maybe dual ATI in crossfire setup?

I would love to build new gaming rig using ATI card this time after many years on Nvidia....

 

[hebe]

I think this article is a bit sensational with it's summary... Dual SLI seems to beat Dual CrossFireX fairly easily. Triple SLI vs. Triple CrossFireX is obviously a different story (although, that may change slightly in the future depending on driver updates). While the cost of either solution is quite high, I think Nvidia may be banking on the fact that very few people actually use a triple SLI setup. Actual value based on power draw is tough to determine over time, but I'd say it's probably not much of a concern if you can afford to assemble one of these massive gaming rigs to begin with.

 

[zak_mckraken]

1 kilowatt... Holy energy waste Batman!

 

[blashyrkh]

where are the damn benchmarks??

 

[alchemy69]

My interest in 3-ways does not extent to video cards.

 

[masterjaw]

Having 3 of them running side by side while consuming that much power? I'd love to see the temps of those cards at full load.

 

[ksampanna]

YES!!

I knew the ATIs would triumph!! Way to go guys!!!

 

[nukemaster]

[citation][nom]Alchemy69[/nom]My interest in 3-ways does not extent to video cards.[/citation]
Post of the day!

 

[nukemaster]

[citation][nom]mavroxur[/nom]I was actually expecting to see some charts and numbers.... silly me[/citation]
[citation][nom]blashyrkh[/nom]where are the damn benchmarks??[/citation]

There is a link to it. http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=nl&tl=en&u=http://www.hardware.info/nl-NL/articles/amdnampoZGCa/Clash_of_the_Titans_3way_SLI_GTX_480_test/&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhhUkL35kKTo7Z-vaIwwO9xWdzrB9g

 

[feeddagoat]

According to the tests, adding a fourth GTX 480 will only give gamers roughly a 12.7% performance increase,

I wonder how much of that is to do with 16 x PCI-E lanes dropping down to x8 and even x4

 

[Guest]

Ummm...tri sli GTX 480s are way faster than any other setup looking at the benchmarks, so whats with the "nvidia is fail"

 

[Camikazi]

[citation][nom]asdf634[/nom]On the bright side, you can save money from buying and using a heater during the winter, 3 Fermis will be more than adequate, so it's not so bad. I bet that's nVidia's bonus feature to their customers!![/citation]
That is true, but in the summer you will need a few air conditioners or you will dehydrate and burn up

 

[digiex]

NVIDIA reinvented the incandescent bulb, but it doesn't light, it just produces lot of heat.

 

[Pyroflea]

I like how all people ever discuss is "They cost more and don't perform as well". Who cares? The same goes for vehicles. No matter what, there's something that will perform better for less money. It's all about preference, so let's leave it at that. I personally would never buy an ATI card, but that's just me. I have nothing against them, I just prefer Nvidia, and always have.

 

[quicksilver98]

[citation][nom]Pyroflea[/nom]I like how all people ever discuss is "They cost more and don't perform as well". Who cares? The same goes for vehicles. No matter what, there's something that will perform better for less money. It's all about preference, so let's leave it at that. I personally would never buy an ATI card, but that's just me. I have nothing against them, I just prefer Nvidia, and always have.[/citation]

I agree, but I think what most are getting at is that they don't care if its a Ford or Chevy etc. Just that there are a lot of major design flaws associated with the Fermi line. I think they should spend a bit more on R&D before releasing the Grillforce cards.

Plain and simple-
Runs Hot
Consumes massive power
Sub Par Performance
Expensive


**Steps off soap box**

 

[shinmalothar]

The problem I have is that my current build is completely geared towards nvidia, 780i mobo, SLi compliant RAM etc...If I want my DX11 fix (and considering I might want dual GPU's) im stuck with the 470's/480's...atleast until the cheaper variants come out.

Do I buy an overpriced card or do I buy a whole new setup and go I7 with ATi...

 

[gwolfman]

[citation][nom]JerseyFirefighter[/nom]1.21 kilowatts! Great Scott! lol[/citation]
Nice one
+1

 

[megamanx00]

Interesting. 3-way crossfire sure scales alot better than it use too . I'm still waiting for Tom's to do such a comparison. I wonder how a pair of 4GB overclocked 5970s (ie 5870x2)compare.

 

[feeddagoat]

[citation][nom]Pyroflea[/nom]I like how all people ever discuss is "They cost more and don't perform as well". Who cares? The same goes for vehicles. No matter what, there's something that will perform better for less money. [/citation]

Haha I Have to respond to this since its used so often in graphics card arguments. While I do get the point its a pointless analogy Its far easier to justify a vehicle than a graphic card to your significant other and even then splashing out in an over priced vehicle that drinks fuel rather than sips it is still near impossible to justify. After all fuel is about twice as much here per gallon as is electricity. Like it or not efficiency is very important to some people it leads to good price/performance. After all, why throw an extra 300+ at something for little or no return when you could spend it a new monitor, or even games? Im sorry but that argument needs addressed since people would not comment about cost/performance if it didn't matter.

 

[sandmanwn]

[citation][nom]shinmalothar[/nom]The problem I have is that my current build is completely geared towards nvidia, 780i mobo, SLi compliant RAM etc...[/citation]
No such thing as SLI compliant ram. Its just a catchy little marketing phrase for noobs to fall for and spend more money than is necessary for a similar piece of hardware.

The only thing in your system that would need to be swapped out is the motherboard. Given the amount of money you would save by buying ATI cards, you could buy a new motherboard combo at many places and probably come out at the same price.

 

[descendency]

[citation][nom]xbeater[/nom]I bet that can fry eggs![/citation]
Or if not, they can electrocute one... with all of that power.

 

[cronik93]

COOL!!! I can use my left side panel to cook my steak!!!!

I'm getting 2x 5870's still.