Tri-Sli or not

[jaghpanther]

So I picked up an EVGA 790i FTW mobo in a trade : http://www.evga.com/articles/425.asp

I was thinking about doing tri-sli using 3x275's. Currently I've got 2x275's and a 250 as a physx card.
Should I keep the current set-up (2x275 and 250 physx) or go tri-sli (3x275's). There are a couple of deals on e-bay for BFG 275 for $100-125 with free shipping.

 

[nforce4max]

To be honest three way is about as good as sli and crossfire is going to get for the next few years. Personally I would go for it 😉

 

[ko888]

Do you have a 950 Watt or greater power supply unit with at least 77 Amps or greater on the combined +12 Volt rails and with at least six 6-pin PCI Express Supplementary Power Connectors needed to run three GeForce GTX 275 cards in 3-way SLI mode?

 

[swifty_morgan]

i don't know what res you game at or what games you play but the only thing that will help is a more modern card. adding another 275 won't give you the architecture or v-ram you need. one 2gig 6950 will better those cards, 2 or 3......... and i ain't talking frame rates.

 

[jaghpanther]

Do you have a 950 Watt or greater power supply unit with at least 77 Amps or greater on the combined +12 Volt rails and with at least six 6-pin PCI Express Supplementary Power Connectors needed to run three GeForce GTX 275 cards in 3-way SLI mode?

I've got a Corsair AX1200.

 

[jaghpanther]

i don't know what res you game at or what games you play but the only thing that will help is a more modern card. adding another 275 won't give you the architecture or v-ram you need. one 2gig 6950 will better those cards, 2 or 3......... and i ain't talking frame rates.

I know, but I already have the 275's in another system, so figuring spending $100-125 for a third would be cheaper than spending $259 for a 6950 (not to mention not being able to Xfire on this mobo).

 

[ko888]

I've got a Corsair AX1200.

That will work fine.

 

[nforce4max]

Does any one notice the power consumption of a single gtx 295 being less than a stock gtx 470? :lol:

 

[jaghpanther]

Let's try this again, using smaller and/or less words for the reading comprehension challenged - 3 GTX 275's or keep current set-up of 2 GTX 275's plus GTS 250 as physX.

 

[jaghpanther]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/video/gtx285sli-hd4890cf/mgpu_power.png

Does any one notice the power consumption of a single gtx 295 being less than a stock gtx 470? :lol:

Probably the reason I skipped that generation, though I was thinking about getting the 460 or a 470 back in the day. Just had a peek at Anand's gpu benchmarks, and ouch these 275's guzzle power compared to the 460.

 

[jsc]

I'd say skip it unless one of the factors in your decision is bragging rights:
"I have a tri-SLIed setup."

And the audience goes, " 😱 ".

 

[nforce4max]

Probably the reason I skipped that generation, though I was thinking about getting the 460 or a 470 back in the day. Just had a peek at Anand's gpu benchmarks, and ouch these 275's guzzle power compared to the 460.

A typical stock gtx 460 under full loads draws that much. 150w just for the 768mb version.

 

[jaghpanther]

I'd say skip it unless one of the factors in your decision is bragging rights:
"I have a tri-SLIed setup."

And the audience goes, " 😱 ".

Naw, not into the e-pen thing :lol: Just wanted to try out tri-sli and wondered what everyone thought about the 275's. On a side note, I'm willing to consider alternatives, bearing in mind that if I sell my 275's I'm probably only be able to maybe afford a 560 plus another using the wallet. To that end I guess it's specs time:

Q8300 @ 3.6
EVGA 790i FTW
Corsair AX1200
Patriot Sig Line 8gigs
2x LG IPS236v
Win 7 ultimate

Some full tower case I picked up at a Goodwill Computer store (it' a monster of a case, though I can't find the make and model - can't complain as it was only $10)

No preference in vendor or store (though I do have a Micro Center and 2 Fry's in my area). E-bay is acceptable (as a matter of fact there are 2 470's "buy it now" that are $175 and $180 after shipping). Thoughts?

 

[nforce4max]

Naw, not into the e-pen thing :lol: Just wanted to try out tri-sli and wondered what everyone thought about the 275's. On a side note, I'm willing to consider alternatives, bearing in mind that if I sell my 275's I'm probably only be able to maybe afford a 560 plus another using the wallet. To that end I guess it's specs time:

Q8300 @ 3.6
EVGA 790i FTW
Corsair AX1200
Patriot Sig Line 8gigs
2x LG IPS236v
Win 7 ultimate

Some full tower case I picked up at a Goodwill Computer store (it' a monster of a case, though I can't find the make and model - can't complain as it was only $10)

No preference in vendor or store (though I do have a Micro Center and 2 Fry's in my area). E-bay is acceptable (as a matter of fact there are 2 470's "buy it now" that are $175 and $180 after shipping). Thoughts?

Dude a q8300 at 3.6ghz

Those are horrible to overclock on most boards.

 

[jaghpanther]

Dude a q8300 at 3.6ghz

Those are horrible to overclock on most boards.

Hey, that oc was from 2.5 on a P5N-D board that has a terrible v-drop. 😀 I'll do more with the FTW board but not yet. I've got to pick up a 2nd 120 fan for the CNPS Performa.

 

[nforce4max]

Hey, that oc was from 2.5 on a P5N-D board that has a terrible v-drop. 😀 I'll do more with the FTW board but not yet. I've got to pick up a 2nd 120 fan for the CNPS Performa.

Yea I didn't pay much attention to that board after I got lucky on a xfx 780i on eBay for a meager $38 with all but two of the goodies.

Right now I haven't done much with that rig as I only got a puny e7200 and two 9800gt 1gb installed. I had to pop the ihs on the cpu to help improve temps as the gray goop that intel used was very poor quality. 3.6ghz but not a great sample. Wanted to get a e8400 and 4ghz+ but budget. 🙁

That rig will get my 1066 ddr2 8gb kit when I retire my current am2+ build when I swap out the board for am3+ with a two module 8gb kit.

 

[jaghpanther]

My secret is open boxes from Microcenter. Q8300 was about $80, the CNPS was $35, the patriots were $40 per kit, 64gb microcenter brand SSD's $80. Right now they have a ton of p67 mobos on clearance and an asus am3 bod.

http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?sortby=pricehigh&N=4294966998&sht=Any&prt=Clearance

Anyways, anyone on the original question? Suggestions for something else?

 

[ubercake]

I'd say save your money for a single recent gen card or go for the 470s you saw on ebay. You could turn around and sell your 275s to get most of that money back.

 

[nforce4max]

I'd say save your money for a single recent gen card or go for the 470s you saw on ebay. You could turn around and sell your 275s to get most of that money back.

I would expect someone such as your self to say that as you got the income to be able to afford two gtx 580 and the setup to back them up. Not all of us are middle class and as far as Fermi goes the gtx 580 is as good as quality gets while the lower end cards are not made as well nor were they meant to last. A third gtx 275 can be had for less than $100 us on eBay vs $200 to get a single gtx 470. Two gtx 275 are already close to or faster than a single Fermi card and throw in a third card it will raise the bar but not as much as a two way configuration. OP can easily extend the life of such a setup by another year to two years more than enough time to swap them out for a 28nm card that will be better than any Fermi out there now. 28nm is worth the wait even if op was using even older cards. Remember not all of us can afford to upgrade often and afford such a setup. This is the second great depression but it has yet to really get started beyond the slow decay of of employment and standards of living.

 

[ubercake]

I would expect someone such as your self to say that as you got the income to be able to afford two gtx 580 and the setup to back them up. Not all of us are middle class and as far as Fermi goes the gtx 580 is as good as quality gets while the lower end cards are not made as well nor were they meant to last. A third gtx 275 can be had for less than $100 us on eBay vs $200 to get a single gtx 470. Two gtx 275 are already close to or faster than a single Fermi card and throw in a third card it will raise the bar but not as much as a two way configuration. OP can easily extend the life of such a setup by another year to two years more than enough time to swap them out for a 28nm card that will be better than any Fermi out there now. 28nm is worth the wait even if op was using even older cards. Remember not all of us can afford to upgrade often and afford such a setup. This is the second great depression but it has yet to really get started beyond the slow decay of of employment and standards of living.

You are right in some respects. But our society and "the man" convince us we have to have things now. The 'save your money' option (what a concept!?) sometimes provides the best option, but goes against everything the corporate machine wants us to do. They want our money now so they can gain the interest on it.

If saving money for something better than immediate gratification has to offer is a bad thing, I guess you're right.

 

[jaghpanther]

Best answer selected by jaghpanther.

 

[jaghpanther]

In truth, looking at the P67 bods made me want to start a new build, so I decided to pick up a third 275 and make this the last "upgrade". Thanks everyone.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey