4x GTX 480 SLI (+OC)

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acodoes

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My 4 GTX 480s arrived today and I am ready to experiment with them. I also have 2 HD 5970s and I will attempt to CrossFire them and use one or two of the 480s for PhysX. More updates later. If you wish to see certain benchmarks/tests, please let me know. I also plan to OC everything.

System
EVGA X58 Classified 4x SLI (BIOS 56, 04/16/2010)
Intel i7 980X @ stock (OCed to 4.5GHz later)
Corsair Dominator GT 6x2GB @ stock (OCed to 2000MHz later)
4x EVGA GTX 480 / 2x XFX HD 5970 (more on this later)
Silverstone 1.5kW PSU
Dell 3008WFP Monitor

Pictures
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Uh....tri scaling is barely there yet man, so why quad? :(:confused:

Hopefully it improves in time, but as of now, SLI scaling is what is the thing to get imo with GTX 480.
 
yeah too large for a 1080p monitor. you gotta throw us lesser people a bone here.
 
I thought the gtx 480's only supported tri sli ?!?!

Edit: even nvidia only list them supporting tri sli so whats the 4th one for physx?
 
1. Resize those pictures.

2. What Power Supply are you using to power this rig?
 
Awsesome! Hope you have a 1500W+ circuit for that thing but you will be king around here a while. We poor little 3x SLI guys are now humbled! Will be at three on my new build.

Congrats! Obvisouly 3 monitors are in your future. Hell, you try 3x 2560x1600, you'll have some games where that could be sweet as hell!
 
I wouldn't just plug these in and fire it up worry-free.

With that much power running, you're bound to run into trouble burning up PSU wires on the ATX-mobo connector. Some overclockers were running beefed up ATX-connectors for that reason, in addition to extra parallel wires to other 12v areas of the motherboard.

This is serious power... It's also a good reason to use an i7 980 at no less than 4.2Ghz (I assume you can afford it or already have it).

G'luck... I'm sure we'd all love to see how this turns out :)

Edit: I think some motherboards have an additional molex for the PCI-E to share some of the load.
 
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man I'd get 2 psu's to be safe... The 1.5kw ss for three of the 480's and another 750w for the rest .
 
Yes, specs and pics of your rig please, don't worry with the unboxing stuff, there's tons of that around, no need to waste your time on such trivial matters. You really don't want or need to oc these things unless you're on water.
 
UPDATE: I am also mixing it up a bit with 2 5970s in CrossFire and (possibly) 2 480s for PhysX
 
You can try it, I don't think you'll gain anything since I don't think PhysX won't run on more than one card in an SLI config IIRC. And hacked drivers for this complex a setup is just asking for trouble.
 
heatlesssun said:
You can try it, I don't think you'll gain anything since I don't think PhysX won't run on more than one card in an SLI config IIRC. And hacked drivers for this complex a setup is just asking for trouble.
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:) I'll keep you posted. This isn't as complex as you think.
 
That is definitely an impressive display of wealth. Either that or you're crazy ;). For your sake, I hoping that the former is true
 
480's for phsyx? Really?

I could never bring myself to getting two 5970's and four 480's...that's just way too taxing on the wallet for the returns you get. Well, good luck with 4-way-sli and the physx configurations, assuming drivers support such configurations. Will be interesting, nonetheless
 
quixotic said:
:(:(
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+1. Only one monitor, even a 30" for this build isn't going to get you much. You really need at LEAST 3x 1920x1080 monitors and two 480s in SLI won't work for PhysX. You need to think about what you're trying to do here. And like I said, are you SURE your wiring is up to the task? That rig will need its OWN circuit on normal wiring, 1440W is typically considered the maximum sustainable load for a 15 amp circuit unless you have a 20 amp circuit, which for a regular wall outlet is typically a custom job, assuming you're in North America. Looked into a few years ago when I had another 15 amp circuit added to my office. If you've not planned for this you better.

I've got three 24" ready to go but will be ording a new set, not sure yet if I want to go 120Hz for 3D gaming yet or not.
 
Lawlz, I sense much flaming/hating ahead.

I suggest after you get done benching them and stuff you bash a 480 and 5970 together until one of them breaks apart to test their structural integrity too. This fight will decide my next purchase.
 
T4rd said:
Lawlz, I sense much flaming/hating ahead.

I suggest after you get done benching them and stuff you bash a 480 and 5970 together until one of them breaks apart to test their structural integrity too. This fight will decide my next purchase.
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Not flaming him at all, awesome hardware but you just don't plug that thing into your average house outlet and away we go. I've been through overloading circuits and am trying help him out. If doesn't have a dedicated circuit for this build it won't work without tripping his breaker, this rig is EASILY capable of pulling 1200W+. Once you start pulling that kind of power through a normal 12 amp house circuit and turn on the lights or god forbid a hair dryer, BAMM! Been there, done that. And I was simply informing him that SLI PhysX DOESN'T EXIST.

Sounds like he's not done his homework, that's all.
 
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Asacolips said:
480's for phsyx? Really?

I could never bring myself to getting two 5970's and four 480's...that's just way too taxing on the wallet for the returns you get. Well, good luck with 4-way-sli and the physx configurations, assuming drivers support such configurations. Will be interesting, nonetheless
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I agree. PC building is an expensive hobby. This guy just made it even more expensive! LOL. If it were me, I'd take each one of those GPUs and build a separate system with those.
 
money....money....money....expensive....
this is all that comes to mind.... and power consumption...
i think im gonna start [G]reen forum..
 
zoom99 said:
This is either insane or awesome.
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Nothing insane about it, but he's not thought it through. He should know that SLI PhysX dosen't exist and I hope he knows how much power he's drawing through his circuits and what they're rated at. I've not to date built anything nearly as power hungry (though I have a lot of stuff in my office) and power became a CRITICAL issue for me on my last build. I couldn't turn on things without CONSTANTLY tripping the breaker and why I spent $600 on a new circuit. Just to run my freaking computer.

When you build systems like this you simply don't plug them into a convential circuit without understanding the power implications cause they WILL show up.
 
heatlesssun said:
Nothing insane about it, but he's not thought it through. He should know that SLI PhysX dosen't exist and I hope he knows how much power he's drawing through his circuits and what they're rated at. I've not to date built anything nearly as power hungry (though I have a lot of stuff in my office) and power became a CRITICAL issue for me on my last build. I couldn't turn on things without CONSTANTLY tripping the breaker and why I spent $600 on a new circuit. Just to run my freaking computer.

When you build systems like this you simply don't plug them into a convential circuit without understanding the power implications cause they WILL show up.
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Trust me here, I have this panned out. Nor will i use any 'hacked' software.
 
Jeez, four!? That's a little overkill. I'd love to see your electric bill. But really...four..? Tell me what you DO for a living!!

All joking aside, how the hell would your PSU support that? Even if you had five 12v rails and your MoBo had enough wattage, I can still see something frying. Other than that, I have to say that's pretty sweet.
 
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