Three way SLI viable??

[ConnorDahne]

Hello LTT,

I'm preparing my upcoming build log, sponsored by The IRS and good 'Ol Uncle Sam and wanted opinions from the community.

I've purchased my new case, and will be purchasing new cpu mobo in two weeks. Moving to x99 platform and 5930k.

Currently I have two 970's in sli,  and have a friend selling an EVGA reference 970 for $180USD.

At the moment the only gpu upgrade I can think of is 980ti's in sli, which isn't practical for me as it would cost roughly $1,200 versus the $180 a third 970 would cost.

Do you think I should do it, or just hold out until new gpu's hit the market?

I'm not really hurting for gpu  horsepower at 1440p yet, but I do know the third 970 would be a band-aid at best with new releases vram consumption.

[LancerBG]

the scaling isnt great however the cost of adding another gpu vs starting over makes it a wiser choice to just get one more imo. 

[Guest]

$180 for a 970? Worth the 3 way SLI at that price.

[Lethal Seraph]

For that cheap, go ahead and do the 3-SLI 970. However, if you're going for the 2-SLI 980ti route, ought to wait for another 2-4 months for more price drops.

[GlassBomb]

If you only have a 4690k, then it's sadly impossible for you to do 3-way SLI. That CPU does not have enough PCIe lanes for it.

[ConnorDahne]

Just now, Lethal Seraph said:

For that cheap, go ahead and do the 3-SLI 970. However, if you're going for the 2-SLI 980ti route, ought to wait for another 2-4 months for more price drops.

 

Just now, jaffer said:

$180 for a 970? Worth the 3 way SLI at that price.

 

Just now, LancerBG said:

the scaling isnt great however the cost of adding another gpu vs starting over makes it a wiser choice to just get one more imo. 

Well, it appears the consensus is this one time  three way SLI is the economical choice...
Never did I think I'd see that here lol

I can't find many benchmarks unfortunately, just linus, and hard forum.

[givingtnt]

6 minutes ago, ConnorDahne said:

Hello LTT,

I'm preparing my upcoming build log, sponsored by The IRS and good 'Ol Uncle Sam and wanted opinions from the community.

I've purchased my new case, and will be purchasing new cpu mobo in two weeks. Moving to x99 platform and 5930k.

Currently I have two 970's in sli,  and have a friend selling an EVGA reference 970 for $180USD.

At the moment the only gpu upgrade I can think of is 980ti's in sli, which isn't practical for me as it would cost roughly $1,200 versus the $180 a third 970 would cost.

Do you think I should do it, or just hold out until new gpu's hit the market?

I'm not really hurting for gpu  horsepower at 1440p yet, but I do know the third 970 would be a band-aid at best with new releases vram consumption.

get the 970, then id sell all 3 for 2 980's or a 980ti + some extra money

[ConnorDahne]

Just now, GlassBomb said:

If you only have a 4690k, then it's sadly impossible for you to do 3-way SLI. That CPU does not have enough PCIe lanes for it.

This would be for my upgrade to a 5930k lol

[ConnorDahne]

Just now, givingtnt said:

get the 970, then id sell all 3 for 2 980's or a 980ti + some extra money

I like your thinking.

 

[KE2012]

Like Glassbomb has said above, you need 8x PCIE lanes per card for NVIDIA cards, so with a 3rd GPU you would run out.....

 

EDIT: For a 5930K Then I still think I would rather one or two cards max, Microstutter just aint worth it IMO

[GlassBomb]

Just now, ConnorDahne said:

This would be for my upgrade to a 5930k lol

Ahh, missed that part. Well, I still can't recommend 3-ways SLI. Simply because of all the issues that comes with having three cards in a system.

[ConnorDahne]

Just now, KE2012 said:

Like Glassbomb has said above, you need 8x PCIE lanes per card for NVIDIA cards, so with a 3rd GPU you would run out.....

 

EDIT: For a 5930K Then I still think I would rather one or two cards max, Microstutter just aint worth it IMO

Would a gsync monitor help remedy some of the micro-stutter?
I've never noticed it in a two way system on my rog swift.

[ConnorDahne]

Just now, GlassBomb said:

Ahh, missed that part. Well, I still can't recommend 3-ways SLI. Simply because of all the issues that comes with having three cards in a system.

Hmm, I've heard it can be pretty finicky.

My major concern would be keeping theem cool until I could afford waterblocks, as I have  two open air coolers, and this would be blower. 
The blower could go in middle but the top one would be hot as hell, even in my corsair 600c case.

[Guest]

Buy the 970 and resell it for $250 or something.

[KE2012]

Just now, ConnorDahne said:

Would a gsync monitor help remedy some of the micro-stutter?
I've never noticed it in a two way system on my rog swift.

 I wouldn't think so. I believe MS happens because frames are skipped / not rendered or something horrible like that so a gsync monitor, which only refreshes when it gets a new frame, isn't going to help unfortunately. 

[OddsCrazyStuff]

I would get it and if 3 way didnt work out, then put the 3rd as a PhysX card.

Old test but shows the point: http://www.volnapc.com/all-posts/how-much-difference-does-a-dedicated-physx-card-make

[Patrick Bateman]

3 way sli gives more troubles than its worth. scaling is fucking shit after 2 way.. no point in doing 3 way ever.. 

i agree with @givingtnt get a 980ti ... way better choice

[GlassBomb]

1 minute ago, ConnorDahne said:

Hmm, I've heard it can be pretty finicky.

My major concern would be keeping theem cool until I could afford waterblocks, as I have  two open air coolers, and this would be blower. 
The blower could go in middle but the top one would be hot as hell, even in my corsair 600c case.

I'd limit myself to two graphics cards. Adding the third will result in greater diminishing returns  

[imkinger]

Youll need to get an x99 chip to work all of them in SLI

But I say go for it if you have the money,you will upgrade your system in the overall performance,

it would even cost less then the dual 980 TIs

180+200(mobo)+65(16gigs of ram from amazon,Crucial)+428(i7 5820k)=873

so..its pretty beneficial to you in every way.

[ConnorDahne]

27 minutes ago, imkinger said:

Youll need to get an x99 chip to work all of them in SLI

But I say go for it if you have the money,you will upgrade your system in the overall performance,

it would even cost less then the dual 980 TIs

180+200(mobo)+65(16gigs of ram from amazon,Crucial)+428(i7 5820k)=873

so..its pretty beneficial to you in every way.

I;m getting a 5930k and a x99 board within two weeks fortunately.

It's really the only way I can see to improve gpu power without spending over a thousand on 980 ti's

[imkinger]

1 minute ago, ConnorDahne said:

I;m getting a 5930k and a x99 board within two weeks fortunately.

It's really the only way I can see to improve gpu power without spending over a thousand on 980 ti's

You gotta remember the scaleing though,I dont think its a bad idea,I just hope most games with support SLI.

[OddsCrazyStuff]

29 minutes ago, imkinger said:

You gotta remember the scaleing though,I dont think its a bad idea,I just hope most games with support SLI.

The scaling is not that bad, if you can make use of the extra power.

http://www.hardwareluxx.com/index.php/reviews/hardware/vgacards/34841-asus-gtx-titan-x-12gb-in-single-sli-3-way-sli-and-4-way-sli.html

http://www.digitalstorm.com/unlocked/nvidia-gtx-titan-x-3-way-sli-performance-review-4k-benchmarks-idnum343/

[imkinger]

1 minute ago, OddsCrazyStuff said:

The scaling is not that bad, if you can make use of the extra power.

http://www.hardwareluxx.com/index.php/reviews/hardware/vgacards/34841-asus-gtx-titan-x-12gb-in-single-sli-3-way-sli-and-4-way-sli.html

http://www.digitalstorm.com/unlocked/nvidia-gtx-titan-x-3-way-sli-performance-review-4k-benchmarks-idnum343/

I think it will be just fine,5830k+16GB Ram+ 3 way 970 SLI

sounds like a killer system.

[ConnorDahne]

4 hours ago, OddsCrazyStuff said:

The scaling is not that bad, if you can make use of the extra power.

http://www.hardwareluxx.com/index.php/reviews/hardware/vgacards/34841-asus-gtx-titan-x-12gb-in-single-sli-3-way-sli-and-4-way-sli.html

http://www.digitalstorm.com/unlocked/nvidia-gtx-titan-x-3-way-sli-performance-review-4k-benchmarks-idnum343/

I hadn't seen those before, that scaling isn't bad.

I had assumed around 30% scaling or so. Those look to be a little better, with at work math lol

Thanks

[imkinger]

11 hours ago, ConnorDahne said:

I hadn't seen those before, that scaling isn't bad.

I had assumed around 30% scaling or so. Those look to be a little better, with at work math lol

Thanks

so have you reached your desicion?