3 way SLI

[fasedww]

I was thinking, when we start getting alot of games with physics, It would be better to put my tri SLI into Dual SLI and use the third gtx 280 for dedicated physics right? I been reading that having two gtx 280's in sli with a dedicated physics card is faster than tri sli:)

[trivium nate]

sounds killer but you probably woudlnt need that much for a phsyx card

[fasedww]

sounds killer but you probably woudlnt need that much for a phsyx card

Right but my as well use the third gtx 280 for Physics just take tril sli bridge off put dual bridge on then set the third gtx for physics card right? that way won't have to remove anything, just switch sli bridges.:)

[trivium nate]

Yeah you go into nvidia control panel and select phsyx then you select which card you want pshyx to be run from :)

[paras]

agreed u can do that but wouldnt be it better to use a 200$ + card as a normal sli card rather a PHYSX card?

i think 3 cards can share the PHYSX calculations themselves( i may be wrong)

[fasedww]

agreed u can do that but wouldnt be it better to use a 200$ + card as a normal sli card rather a PHYSX card?

i think 3 cards can share the PHYSX calculations themselves( i may be wrong)

Yes they can, But it's faster dual SLI gtx's 280's with a dedicated Physics card, than if I have it set up like now tri SLI , with Physics enabled but shared or whatever. My point is I have the tri sli set up right know, so All I will have to do is pull the tri SLI bridge, Put on dual SLI bridge, and select the card which isn't on the SLI bridge which will be my third GTX 280 to dedicated physics card not shared with the dual SLI bridged cards. Its faster that way in Physics games.:)

[john19055]

Where have you read that .I am running TRI SLI and have physics enable and it is plenty fast on any game I run.The GTX 280 has plenty of power to run physics and it other game duties.

[fasedww]

Where have you read that .I am running TRI SLI and have physics enable and it is plenty fast on any game I run.The GTX 280 has plenty of power to run physics and it other game duties.

There's other studys out there too, thats why evga classfied can do tri sli plus a physics card. it matters if you got a motherboard with tri sli slots thats all its better to SLI two and use a dedicated physics card for better performance than just 3 way sli.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/855/1/

I have tri sli setup, and sure it runs it fast enough, but as you can see it's not as fast when you have a dedicated physics card

[john19055]

What about when you are running 4xFSAA and 16x aniso do you still get better results with just two GTX280's in SLI and one of them just for physics.

[fasedww]

What about when you are running 4xFSAA and 16x aniso do you still get better results with just two GTX280's in SLI and one of them just for physics.

Don't know :) I run all my games at 1920/1200, almost all the time if games will let me.

[john19055]

I play my games at 1920x1200 but I run the highest FSAA and aniso I can .Looks like that third GTX 280 would help there.

[fasedww]

I no it makes a difference in games that don't have physics period, alot really, :)

[john19055]

i just hate to waste a GTX 280 just for graphics,I see that it is faster with just SLI and a seperate physics card at 1600x1200 but they don't mention if you crank up the FSAA and aniso.IMO games just look better with FSAA and aniso.I going to down load that demo and see what I get with 1920x1200 with and without FSAA and aniso.

[Blacklash]

A third card will add FPS and not like going from one GPU to two. There are exceptions to that statement, like Crysis Warhead @ 2560x. 1920x1200 with high degrees of AA should show some benefits, and 2560x with AA even more so.

I wouldn't bother with Tri-SLi for anything less than 1920x1200 with 8-16x Q AA. A sole exception might be Crysis all VH and that's one game.

If PhysX takes off something like two 285s with a 9600GT for PhysX duty would also be a great option.

Some of you may find the below Anandtech article useful. My big criticism against it would be they limit it to 4xAA use.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3520&p=6

8-16xAA @ 1920x-2560x is what needs to be shown for 3 GPUs and up.

The below X-Bit article seems to suggest something like 2 GTX 280s may not be enough for 2560x with 16xAA in some titles-

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/evga-geforce-gtx295_10.html#sect1

[john19055]

I found that useing three GTX 280's in TRI SLI at 1920x1200 with high FSAA and aniso helps alot .It not that two would'nt do the job ,most games one is a enough .I just got a good deal on a BFG GTX 280 for $209 and a 9600GT at the time was $129 so I thought it was worth the $80.But no one really needs three GTX 280's .other then I had'nt build me a new complete rig in about Three years and since it is the only hobbie I am able to do I said why not.