Would this work?

[dctravis]

Ok, so I have decided to setup a triple monitor setup consisting of three yamakasi catleap 27" 2560x1440 monitors. They will be setup in portrait mode with a combined resolution 4320x2560 with a pixel count of 11,059,200. Now, I realize that the video ram requirement for such a large resolution would be a hell of a lot more than my current 2GB gtx 680s could handle in SLI so this is why I have made this thread. I was wondering if the 4GB GTX 680s would be able to handle such a resolution? The real question that I had is whether or not it is possible to run a game across multiple monitors without SLI and with a monitor per video card? If I were to have 3 gtx 680s 4GB versions with 1 2560x1440 monitor connected to each would it be possible to run sorround or is this only possible with SLI enabled? Also I must mention that I would like to run with settings maxed in most cases, except AA is not as needed with the pixel pitch being so low. As I understand it the main thing that is the issue would be the VRAM and not so much processing power, but please correct me if I am wrong.

I recently built a tower with dual GTX 680s (2GB) and was planning to add another or two to achieve the monitor setup that I wanted, but I did not realize that the video ram bottleneck would be an issue. I would be keeping my case, intel 3930K processor, 16GB of 2133 GSkill RAM, Phantek CPU Cooler (although debating about just going with a H100 for overclocking), my intel 520 series 120GB boot drive, and my Seagate storage drives. I would need to get a new Motherboard in order to support at least 3 if not 4 simultaneous 16x pci 3.0 cards as well as upgrade my power supply from my 850watt corsair to something larger (between 1200-1500watts).

I would hope to sell each of my gtx 680s for 430 so that they sell quickly (amazon used cheapest is 450), my power supply for 140 (sells for 190), and 140 for my motherboard (sells for 190). Im hoping that with those prices they will sell reasonably fast to help fund my new equipment (although i will be attempting to open a preferred account, but with to pay it off within a few months). I figure if I can sell those three items than it will contribute almost 1200 to the new items which should cost around 1300 total plus 600 for the two extra screens.

Also if this is not possible with Nvidia, is it possible by chance to accomplish with AMD?

I thank anyone who reads this thread for their time and for their advice if able to contribute any. Thank you.

 

[El Tigre]

The 4GB cards would handle your resolution fine. If you can, I would sell your current cards and get the 4GB cards.

 

[dudewitbow]

to beat this, you might want either 670 4gb in sli, 7970's in xfire, 4gb 680 in sli, a 4gb 690 or a 6gb 7970 ghz(none of the oems have released their 7970ghz in retail yet, them being sapphire's, msi's and xfx's but im not to sure xfx has one yet) to accomplish this task. (though at resolutions past 1920x1080, amd cards tend to function and the fps curves better then their counterparts)

 

[dctravis]

to beat this, you might want either 670 4gb in sli, 7970's in xfire, 4gb 680 in sli, a 4gb 690 or a 6gb 7970 ghz(none of the oems have released their 7970ghz in retail yet, them being sapphire's, msi's and xfx's but im not to sure xfx has one yet) to accomplish this task. (though at resolutions past 1920x1080, amd cards tend to function and the fps curves better then their counterparts)

I was under the understanding that the GTX 690 4GB was simply 2x GTX 680 2GB and thus it was really only 2GB of video ram in parallel. please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you for your responses, is there a projected release date for the 6GB versions of the 7970 or even an estimated price range? If these cards can be bought for under $600 I will be easily tempted to get three and possibly four of these as the video ram would definitely be more than what I would need or at least I would hope so.

Also AMD cards do support 5 monitor support do they not? I can't even imagine a combined resolution of 7200x2560! with a pixel count of over 18 million pixels! Lol at that point I dont think any current video ram amount would be able to handle this. Not planning this as even my table like desk would probably be to small for such a thing.

 

[dudewitbow]

I was under the understanding that the GTX 690 4GB was simply 2x GTX 680 2GB and thus it was really only 2GB of video ram in parallel. please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you for your responses, is there a projected release date for the 6GB versions of the 7970 or even an estimated price range? If these cards can be bought for under $600 I will be easily tempted to get three and possibly four of these as the video ram would definitely be more than what I would need or at least I would hope so.

Also AMD cards do support 5 monitor support do they not? I can't even imagine a combined resolution of 7200x2560! with a pixel count of over 18 million pixels! Lol at that point I dont think any current video ram amount would be able to handle this. Not planning this as even my table like desk would probably be to small for such a thing.

when you sli/xfire cards, vrams do not add up, so 2gb+2gb=/=4gb, you are still limited to 2gb.as for the 7970 ghz, i expect them to be very pricey(i know the toxic is going to be ridiculously pricey(rumor at 680$) and probably not worth the cost albeit it has the best stock performance of any single gpu card) at 680$ though your better of like triple sli 670s rather than double 7970 ghz probably

 

[dctravis]

alright the only question that hasn't is the one i really wasnt sure about. can you have 3 video cards in non sli or crossfire and run a game across three monitors with each monitor connected to a different card? im assuming that the answer is now, but would like to know for sure. because if this were possible i could just grab a third gtx 680 2gb and have at it, but im pretty sure that communication between the three cards would be essential for them to perform the same task. correct?

 

[dudewitbow]

alright the only question that hasn't is the one i really wasnt sure about. can you have 3 video cards in non sli or crossfire and run a game across three monitors with each monitor connected to a different card? im assuming that the answer is now, but would like to know for sure. because if this were possible i could just grab a third gtx 680 2gb and have at it, but im pretty sure that communication between the three cards would be essential for them to perform the same task. correct?

i don't think so. to have a game to run simultaneous on all screens, it requires the sli/crossfire bridge. running without the bridge will only power the game with the main single gpu and leave the other 1-2 monitors(depending if you plugged two of the monitors in the main gpu or not) running without the game.

 

[simon12]

According to this article the 6Gb Sapphire 7970 will be £500 which would include VAT @ 20% making £400 which is just over $600 http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/42489-sapphire-radeon-hd-7970-toxic-6gb/?page=13
Though I can't see it for sale anywhere.

 

[panwala95]

you try searching for quadro/ firepro cards which usually have a lot of vram

 

[dctravis]

cool, thank you all for your help. to panwala95, I dont think that I am prepared to spend that much money per video card... but 600 dollars for the toxic 7970 with 6GB of ram may be a perfect solution. thank you all for all of your help. picking a best answer will be rather difficult.

 

[dctravis]

Best answer selected by dctravis.