6950 xfire or GTX 680 for triple monitor gaming?

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guitarguy6

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 29, 2007
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Hey guys, I have xfire 6950's and run eyefinity 5760X1080 for gaming. Would the GTX 680 be a better option? I couldn't find a benchmark comparison anywhere.

Thanks
 
I'm interested in this, as well. My specs are in my sig, but as far as an Eyefinity or Surround setup goes, I'm kind of stuck in the middle of the road. Do I keep everything I currently have and wait for a 3 or 4 GB version of the GTX 680, or do I completely re-vamp, get a new CPU/Mobo that can accomodate Crossfire/SLI?

What are you currently getting for FPS with your x-fire'd 6950s (and on which games)?
 
Right now I'm mainly playing BF3 and SWTOR. BF3 without AA or AF I get a pretty consistent 35-60 FPS but there are some glitches when I die and when I respawn. SWTOR I get 40-50FPS but the game feels really choppy for some reason.
 
That's sort of what I'd expect (not the chopping/glitchy issues, specifically). I'm right in the middle of the road...I posted this on another site, but what the hell, might as well throw my dilemma up here and see if anyone has any insight...

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M4A77TD ATX AM3 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($127.27 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.26 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($164.99 @ Mwave)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Wired Optical Mouse ($52.94 @ Wolf Camera)
Total: $587.42
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-02 15:19 EDT-0400)

Previously, I used this setup, along with 3x HP2009m 20" 5ms monitors in Eyefinity mode, running a resolution of 4800x900 for gaming - namely, BFBC2 (which, at the time, was the foremost FPS that I was playing).

Fast forward two years. Games like BF3, Skyrim, and soon, Diablo 3 will/have hit the market. I still feel my build is very solid, but, I have since stepped away from the Eyefinity setup, selling the monitors that I had. Granted, they weren't great monitors, but I miss the overall Eyefinity experience in a big way. Since then, I've purchased one ASUS VE247H 23.5" 2ms 1080p monitor, which will serve as one of two flanking monitors for the setup I plan on putting together. While I don't have *all* the financial capital I need to make the full jump, I am, currently, at a junction where I would be able to swap in a new CPU and motherboard whilest maintaining all other current components, and I'll grab the rest later. Thinking about it a bit more, to invest in a video card in this two-or-so month time period would be pretty short-sighted, considering the fact that the GTX 6xx, as well as the Radeon 79xx series, are both slated to have enhanced memory models of their cards roll out over the summer. I would rather just grab the CPU/Motherboard now, as a new foundation for the setup I will eventually be running, and I'll wait on the video card and monitors. I want to put myself in a position where the base of my system is fairly future proof (I'll put the definition of this @ two years, as this is how long I've left my current build untouched before getting this itchy trigger finger again).

Here are the changes I plan to make:

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($183.48 @ Mwave)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($164.99 @ Mwave)
Monitor: Asus VE278Q 27.0" Monitor ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $818.45
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-02 15:19 EDT-0400)

Monitors aside for the time being, I'm most interested in feedback on the motherboard, as well as prospective insight on which video card(s) would best fulfill the performance I'm looking for.

Again, the primary factor in making this jump is the capacity for Eyefinity; though I think my Phenom II x4 965 could work fine with something like a GTX 680 on a single monitor setup, I have not seen any benchmarks thus far that show the card, on its own, supporting a full 3x1080p NVIDIA surround setup at an average FPS much above 35-40 fps. I want to go back to either an Eyefinity or Surround setup, and I want it to run smoothly, at a minimum of 60 fps. Since I don't have the capacity to do this with only one PCI-E 2.0x16 slot on my current M4A77TD board, I know I'm going to have to upgrade the motherboard to something with SLI/Crossfire capacity, and if I'm going to do that, it only makes sense to get an Intel board and go the Sandy Bridge route (correct me if I'm wrong).
 
Get the GTX680, consider waiting for a 4GB version. I just went away from a 3x24 inch eyefinity setup on 2x6970s, and the problem was that crossfire support on games is a nightmare.

Getting crossfire support working seems to be the last thing on developer's lists of things to do, so you're waiting for weeks after new releases for them to fix broken support or broken drivers from AMD's side. I found myself spending more time screwing around with crossfire than I did playing games.
 
This is what I'm settling on, after wracking my brains on this shit all day. Waiting for one absolute beast of a card (like a 4GB GTX680) and just dealing with what I got in the meantime.
 
Quick update. I sold my 6950's and grabbed an EVGA GTX 670. I get pretty much the same performance out of the single 670 not overclocked. The drivers seem much better so far and I like nvsurround better than eyefinity. I sold my 6950's and didn't invest any other money to get the GTX 670 and am really happy that I switched.
 
guitarguy6 said:
Quick update. I sold my 6950's and grabbed an EVGA GTX 670. I get pretty much the same performance out of the single 670 not overclocked. The drivers seem much better so far and I like nvsurround better than eyefinity. I sold my 6950's and didn't invest any other money to get the GTX 670 and am really happy that I switched.
Click to expand...

That is what i have done except the Asus 670 DirectCU II Top i bought was defective (problem lots of people are having) so im stuck with my backup GPU for now. However when it did play okay, the 670 was amazing. Great performance. Just need Asus to fix their cards or MSI to release the Power Edition 670.
 
NathanP2007 said:
That is what i have done except the Asus 670 DirectCU II Top i bought was defective (problem lots of people are having) so im stuck with my backup GPU for now. However when it did play okay, the 670 was amazing. Great performance. Just need Asus to fix their cards or MSI to release the Power Edition 670.
Click to expand...

That's to bad. My friend bought an Asus 7970 and had to return it due to heat issues. I wonder what's going on with them these days?
 
Are there any good waterblocks for reference 670's yet? Can anyone recommend a good overclocking guide for these cards? Thanks!
 
guitarguy6 said:
Are there any good waterblocks for reference 670's yet? Can anyone recommend a good overclocking guide for these cards? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I haven't seen any full cover blocks yet. Since the PCB is so small, I wonder if they'll be less expensive than the 680/7970 blocks. You could probably slap a universal block + RAM sinks for now.
 
If you can drop crossfire, DO IT.

Getting both Eyefinity and Crossfire to work at the same time isn't a given with new games.

Surround and SLI is even worse (especially if you are trying to run in borderless windowed mode.
 
Why don't you wait for a couple of weeks . You will have better options like the Radeon HD 7970 Ghz edition. At 5760 x 1080 the extra VRAM and bandwidth is useful. even more when you overclock because it allows good perf scaling :)
 
raghu78 said:
Why don't you wait for a couple of weeks . You will have better options like the Radeon HD 7970 Ghz edition. At 5760 x 1080 the extra VRAM and bandwidth is useful. even more when you overclock because it allows good perf scaling :)
Click to expand...

So far 5760X1080 on this 2GB GTX 670 is working well. I don't think I'll go back to ATI unless they bring out something amazing and have solid drivers to go with it.
 
guitarguy6 said:
So far 5760X1080 on this 2GB GTX 670 is working well. I don't think I'll go back to ATI unless they bring out something amazing and have solid drivers to go with it.
Click to expand...

For single card AMD drivers are decent. I have a HD 6950 2GB and I am maxing out Max Payne 3 at 1080p with FXAA and stay at 60 fps. Runs it very smooth. I have played a lot of games like BF3, Batman AC (DX9 version), Deus Ex, Alan Wake, Call of Duty MW3, Rage. Other than Rage which took quite a while for drivers which worked, 11.11c to be exact , I ran every game pretty well. I don't have any personal experience with CF.
 
guitarguy6 said:
So far 5760X1080 on this 2GB GTX 670 is working well. I don't think I'll go back to ATI unless they bring out something amazing and have solid drivers to go with it.
Click to expand...

From 12.5 beta till 12.6 beta-a, beta-b and beta-c, all release are almost great for 7xxx series, and quite decent for 6xxx :cool:

They resolved many bugs, stutter and scaling issues which i must say i did not expect, but yet i'm getting an GTX680 because of the always on time new games support, and proper performance boost as well.
 
psyside said:
From 12.5 beta till 12.6 beta-a, beta-b and beta-c, all release are almost great for 7xxx series, and quite decent for 6xxx :cool:

They resolved many bugs, stutter and scaling issues which i must say i did not expect, but yet i'm getting an GTX680 because of the always on time new games support, and proper performance boost as well.
Click to expand...

psyside
If you haven't made your purchase there is a fantastic deal on XFX HD 7950 DD .

XFX HD 7950 DD - USD 360 with 10% off w/ promo code HARDOCPX613C, ends 6/19 and USD 20 mail in rebate

Nett price = USD 360 - 36 - 20 = 304. can't get any better than this . Maybe they are clearing stock for Tahiti 2 launch at the end of this month.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150588

this card can do 950 Mhz - 1 Ghz at stock volts. with voltage tweaking you can get 1100 - 1150 Mhz. here is a review of the XFX HD 7950 DD Black edition card. that is the OC version.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/01/xfx_radeon_hd_7950_black_edition_video_card_review/8

This card is essentially giving USD 500 performance for USD 300. I think its worth the try. AMD driver support is improving . Max Payne 3 is a step in the right direction. AMD's new driver schedule is also focused on quality , rather than quantity. your choice man. :)

Here is performance review of Dirt Showdown which is a GAMING EVOLVED title. The HD 7900 cards are very fast in the Ultra rendering mode with Advanced Lighting and Global Illumination . GTX 680 loses to a stock HD 7950 (800 Mhz) .

http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?cat=&id=636&pagenumber=3

http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?cat=&id=636&pagenumber=2

Advanced lighting and Global Illumination are explained here. They use Direct Compute extensively. HD 7900 cards performance when these features are enabled could be a indication of the superior compute performance. As soon as these features are enabled GTX 600 cards struggle badly.
 
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Can the Gigabyte GTX 670 OC 2GB power 3 x 1080p monitors? more over is 2GB enough VRAM to power the 3 monitors?

My current monitor config is below:

- Monitors not configured to run in any surround display mode, just extended desktop of 3 monitors
- I run all games on the middle screen leaving the peripheral screens showing the desktop

do nvidia cards automatically set to nv surround when the all monitors are plugged in or do i have to configure it to be in nv surround?

I don't plan to change the above monitor configuration/setup when going between amd and nvidia as I don't plan to play in nv surround/eyefinity but having the extra monitors is good when viewing multiple documents or using photoshop.
 
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