3 way sli?

[billygoat333]

i dont know if this has been posted before or not, but i just got an email from Nvidia stating that their new 780i chipset will have not 2 but 3 way sli? anyone else heard about this? sounds pretty kickass to me. :)

http://www.nvidia.com/content/newsletters/email/images/3way.jpg
http://www.nvidia.com/content/newsletters/email/images/nforce780.jpg

[Indybird]

Its the only way you can run Crysis on Full Settings at High Res:

Bit-Tech Tri-SLI Review. (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/12/13/nvidia_3-way_sli_on_nforce_680i_preview/5)

Personally, I think that Tri-SLI is retarded-but for only one reason: the only cards supported are $500+ GTXs and Ultras. (At a minimum) who's gonna spend $1500 on graphics cards!? If they made 8800GTs Tri-SLI compatible then that would make sense: $250 x 3 = $750. $750 isn't too bad for the amount of performance you'll get.

Surprisingly though, the drivers work real nice and it wasn't like that whole "Quad-SLI" fiasco.

I got one question though: will the upcoming 8850GX2 (7950GX2s successor and competition to ATI's HD3870X2) be Tri-SLI?

-Indybird

[Spawn-Inc]

i was going to make a thread on this but once i read about it (780i) i decided it wasn't good enough for a thread.

i would/will wait for the 790i when the fully redesign the board and have all 3 slots pcie 2.0 and not just two.



Its the only way you can run Crysis on Full Settings at High Res:

Bit-Tech Tri-SLI Review. (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/12/13/nvidia_3-way_sli_on_nforce_680i_preview/5)

Personally, I think that Tri-SLI is retarded-but for only one reason: the only cards supported are $500+ GTXs and Ultras. (At a minimum) who's gonna spend $1500 on graphics cards!? If they made 8800GTs Tri-SLI compatible then that would make sense: $250 x 3 = $750. $750 isn't too bad for the amount of performance you'll get.

Surprisingly though, the drivers work real nice and it wasn't like that whole "Quad-SLI" fiasco.

I got one question though: will the upcoming 8850GX2 (7950GX2s successor and competition to ATI's HD3870X2) be Tri-SLI?

-Indybird won't that be 6 cards then?!!?:eek::eek::eek:

[J-Roc]

I notice no one mentioned quad Crossfire... The presentation leads me to believe any crossfire cappable card will work in quad mode with all lanes at 16x.

Asus m3a32-mvp with the 790fx chipset
http://event.asus.com/mb/m3a/index.htm

[simon275]

Tri Sli isn't that great at the moment as the three PCI-E lanes are knocked down to 8x and bottle necks also occur in the Northbridge. The main problem is having a powerful enough processor to feed the beast.

All the heat coming of 3 cards jammed together would be huge. Also you would need a beefy PSU to.

Either this is something they will play around with and then leave it alone or it will mature into something great.

[Drum Thumper]

All the heat coming of 3 cards jammed together would be huge. Also you would need a beefy PSU to.


Beyond beefy. Each card is drawing what, about 400 watts? That's 1200 watts right there, which if I'm not mistaken is what PSUs top out at.

I'm betting Dual PSUs at a minimum.

But it's still enough to get me to drool!

[simon275]

Beyond beefy. Each card is drawing what, about 400 watts? That's 1200 watts right there, which if I'm not mistaken is what PSUs top out at.

I'm betting Dual PSUs at a minimum.

But it's still enough to get me to drool!

Nah there are some 2kw PSU's around.

[Indybird]

Either this is something they will play around with and then leave it alone or it will mature into something great.

I agree; but if it is going to mature at all, they are going to have to make Tri-SLI compatible lower-end cards.

-Indybird

[NightrainSrt4]

I don't see a point in SLi'ing lower end cards, as I've done sli with cards, and less you get a killer deal on the cards its not worth it.

I find sli useful for those who have the money to drop on high end parts. To many people try building a pc for 600$ and then trying to go sli with low end cards. Just not worth it.

Less you game on 1024x768, its not worth sli'ing low end cards, as a higher end card would do much better anywho.

But for rich people, Tri-sli will make some killer rigs.

[Indybird]

I don't see a point in SLi'ing lower end cards, as I've done sli with cards, and less you get a killer deal on the cards its not worth it.

I find sli useful for those who have the money to drop on high end parts. To many people try building a pc for 600$ and then trying to go sli with low end cards. Just not worth it.

Less you game on 1024x768, its not worth sli'ing low end cards, as a higher end card would do much better anywho.

But for rich people, Tri-sli will make some killer rigs.

When I said "lower-end" I more meant to say mid-range and higher cards. If that supported cards like the 8800GT or 8800GTS (new and old) then tri-sli would be an instant hit. In addition, with cards like the 8800GT, you'll actually have some open slots on your motherboard and case when you go Tri-SLI!

-Indybird

[Scotty]

Tri SLi consumes 750W+ at load they run on 1K well built PSUs.

This is really only for people with loads of money, people who will bitchingly murder the current 3DMark world record by a mile.

Anandtech did a review Tri Sli offers 5-10% roughly over normal SLi, which offers about 20% over a single card.

[noopypoop]

Tri SLi consumes 750W+ at load they run on 1K well built PSUs.

This is really only for people with loads of money, people who will bitchingly murder the current 3DMark world record by a mile.

Anandtech did a review Tri Sli offers 5-10% roughly over normal SLi, which offers about 20% over a single card.

% Per card or overall?

[Scotty]

overall, so that 1 extra card gives pretty much a pointless amount of increase, if anything the card is under performing by 90% think of it that way and you see how bad it really is.

[TheGreatSatan]

3 cards is just stupid. No room for extra USB ports or sound cards or anything.

[Indybird]

3 cards is just stupid. No room for extra USB ports or sound cards or anything.

Unless you watercool! Yeah but thats real conventional. $1500 Graphics cards + $400 worth of blocks= Retardedly expensive system. But hey, at least you'd be able to have a real sound card!

-Indybird