Question: 3 x GTX 980s or 2 x R9 295x2 when running games at 5700 x 1200 in surround

[Impdapimp]

Here are the requirements:
- Highest FPS
- Stay within 1600 watt bounds

Here's my power supply:

1600 watt EVGA

Here's the monitor situation:

I'm running 3 x NEC 26" monitors that have native resolutions at 1900 x 1200 each. I want these monitors to have the best FPS when running in a surround like mode. I was either going to go with 3 overclocked GTX 980s or pick up 2 of the R9 295x2s. The consideration is that I'm not running 4k resolution, I'm running at 5700x1200.

Other thoughts: I am getting a board that supports 4 way SLI--so it will be feasible to get another GTX 980 later when 3 don't satisfy me. This is possible because a 1600 watt power supply can support the 4 cards. I could not add another ATI without killing the power (3 x 295x2s would probably crush that power supply.

Anyway, somebody have an answer? Please, don't tell me to buy GTX 970s. I've already decided to either go with 3 x GTX 980s or 2 x R9 295x2s.

 

[BustaRhymes]

4x GTX 990 Ti

 

[raven007]

use 2x980s... srsly 3gpu sli or crossfire scales bad on most games.. or go 3.. not 295

 

[Rowdyrauderson]

Right now, the 295 as I have only seen 4gb variants of the 980. But if you can wait until 8gb 980's are released that would probably be a better choice.

 

[holyrage]

2 R9 295X2 are basically Quad-fire u cant add a third that's 4 cards ( 2 Hawaii XT cores in each card )

imo i would go with the newer card tech and go for 2 way GTX980 SLI

u get a bad scaling when u move up to a 3rd card

also the R9 295x has 2x4gb ram 4gb for each core it dosnt have true 8GB it is basically still a 4gb card

so imo lower power consumption less heat newer tech and a bit better drivers i would go for Nvidia

 

[Impdapimp]

2 R9 295X2 are basically Quad-fire u cant add a third that's 4 cards ( 2 Hawaii XT cores in each card )

imo i would go with the newer card tech and go for 2 way GTX980 SLI

u get a bad scaling when u move up to a 3rd card

What do you mean by "bad scaling"? I don't care about diminishing returns. If there are actually problems caused by having 3, then I would be concerned about that.

Another person mentioned 990s...now if those are coming out in a few months I can possibly wait.

 

[17seconds]

I would take a good look at whether multi-monitor frame pacing has been fixed for AMD Crossfire. They have a very bad reputation for stuttering and dropping frames under those circumstances. Of course, Nvidia cards have never had that problem, and the power and heat situation for the GTX 980s would be like night and day over the 295x2.

 

[holyrage]

well yah u start losing performance gain per card after going above 2 cards

anyways the GTX TI isnt coming coz the GTX 980 has a full unlocked core the only thing i see coming is a GTX990 with 2 980s inside it

anyways in 1-3 months time the new R9 3XX will be released and about that time i bet nvidia will come out with the GTX960 and the GTX990 and maybe a titan

 

[Impdapimp]

well yah u start losing performance gain per card after going above 2 cards

anyways the GTX TI isnt coming coz the GTX 980 has a full unlocked core the only thing i see coming is a GTX990 with 2 980s inside it

anyways in 1-3 months time the new R9 3XX will be released and about that time i bet nvidia will come out with the GTX960 and the GTX990 and maybe a titan

It might be worth my time to just hold of a few months. If I can't contain myself and wait, I'm starting to lean torward 3 x GTX 980s. Right now, I'm reluctant to go back to ATI cards (havn't ran ATI for over 6 years now), as I've loved the compatibility with NVIDIA drivers. Another factor, the 295s seem like it's an attempt to make their weaker product (290s) look better by shoving two of them in one unit--I think we all can agree that an 980 is better than a 290 (I'm not considering value, here). I'm again reluctant to go with a 290 based GPU, as the NVIDIA GPU seems like they perform significantly better at lower wattage.

It would be nice to see some sort of release timeline leak on the next generation NVIDIA cards. That would definitely sway my purchase timeframe.

 

[17seconds]

All you have to do is look at history. Every time AMD has released its "Fastest GPU On The Planet" Nvidia has very quickly released something faster shortly afterwards.

The GM200 chip is rumored to be the full Maxwell enthusiast chip. This is the Maxwell equivalent of the GK110 chip, which was released as the GTX 780 Ti in response to AMDs 290X. Its likely the same will happen with the release of the 390X.

 

[holyrage]

well u never know AMD best Price/performance and also best High res gaming performance

Nvidia low power consumption good drivers but expensive and well AMD are becoming good with their Drivers ( about time lol)


also the R9 200 is targeted at nvidia 700 series not 900 the R9 300 is targeted at nvidia 900 series

 

[Impdapimp]

Okay, I'm going to just get my setup placed in my rack and hold off on the cards until the next major release from NVIDIA. In the meantime, I'm going to research a comparison on the drivers and see how much AMD falls short in this department. It would be nice to know as holyrage mentioned that the drivers are getting much better.


[edit] Oh, and thank you for all the constructive input. I really appreciate it.