GTX 285 Tri-Sli w/PhysX

[Snewn]

I know there are tons of topics like it already but I just wanted to be sure.

So, barring a stupendous opening with the GT300, it appears as though going with a 285 3-way was the only option in terms of getting the most power from an i7 920 and 12GB of ram without feeling let down for my first build (some time by December into Q1 2010 I suppose).

That said if I get an EVGA SLI Classified Motherboard I believe there's a fourth slot where I could put a 9800GT dedicated for PhysX. Am I correct in saying this or is it not possible and a supreme overkill?

Just curious.

 

[kllrnohj]

Not to thread crap, but the 5870 is faster than the GTX 285 by a good margin. Is there any reason you want 285 3-way instead of, say, 5870 crossfire (which will be a lot faster)?

I'd at least wait for the GT300 before dumping a crapload of money into GTX 285s...

 

[Dan_D]

Not to thread crap, but the 5870 is faster than the GTX 285 by a good margin. Is there any reason you want 285 3-way instead of, say, 5870 crossfire (which will be a lot faster)?

I'd at least wait for the GT300 before dumping a crapload of money into GTX 285s...

I don't think it would be "alot" faster but it should perform better. I'd go with the newer tech or at the very least, wait for GT300.

 

[Snewn]

Not to thread crap, but the 5870 is faster than the GTX 285 by a good margin. Is there any reason you want 285 3-way instead of, say, 5870 crossfire (which will be a lot faster)?

I'd at least wait for the GT300 before dumping a crapload of money into GTX 285s...

Cause of the 2GB that it would give in GTA IV at 1900x1200 with all the settings at max on a Samsung LCD 26". And an Avg FPS of around 60 in both that game and Crysis. So subsequently I guess it would work with all the other games rather well. But yeah I agree with you I'll be waiting until Christmas at the very least to see what happens.

By no means am I a fanboy, just looking for a good value, hopefully within a span of 4-5k. Doesn't seem like it's worthwhile spending any less with the rapid change. But then again, any change I make is an improvement. I have an integrated GeForce 6150 LE.

 

[notsane]

Ya, don't do a tri-sli setup now that these new ati cards are out.

I would never have gone tri-sli from the start (started with 1 gtx285 last december and added a second when I got a 30" display), I just added a third card because I needed to do another build anyway (for my wife and her gtx295) but had two gtx 285s for the new system and I found a deal on a third card.

I figured it was worth it for the experience

 

[kumquatsrus]

I know there are tons of topics like it already but I just wanted to be sure.

So, barring a stupendous opening with the GT300, it appears as though going with a 285 3-way was the only option in terms of getting the most power from an i7 920 and 12GB of ram without feeling let down for my first build (some time by December into Q1 2010 I suppose).

That said if I get an EVGA SLI Classified Motherboard I believe there's a fourth slot where I could put a 9800GT dedicated for PhysX. Am I correct in saying this or is it not possible and a supreme overkill?

Just curious.

well since you're talking about several months from now, why not wait to see what's available? prices will probably be lower at that time as well. if you tri-sli along with a core i7, and have a dedicated physx card, don't forget to get a monster power supply capable of driving them, especially if you plan on doing any decent overclocking. if you decide physx isn't that important to you, you can go the ati route. depending on when you decide to buy, nvidia's latest cards may be out, at which point you can compare pricing and performance between both companys' offerings. of course, all of what i said is worthless since it depends on the resolution you play at. if it is too low, it would be overkill. do you plan on just using one monitor? if you want to use 3 or more, ati has new cards with eyefinity technology, which let's you play on a higher resolution spread across multiple monitors.

 

[Snewn]

well since you're talking about several months from now, why not wait to see what's available? prices will probably be lower at that time as well. if you tri-sli along with a core i7, and have a dedicated physx card, don't forget to get a monster power supply capable of driving them, especially if you plan on doing any decent overclocking. if you decide physx isn't that important to you, you can go the ati route. depending on when you decide to buy, nvidia's latest cards may be out, at which point you can compare pricing and performance between both company's offerings. of course, all of what i said is worthless if depending on the resolution you play at. if it is too low, it would be overkill. do you plan on just using one monitor? if you want to use 3 or more, ati has new cards with eyefinity technology, which let's you play on a higher resolution spread across multiple monitors.

Cause of the 2GB that it would give in GTA IV at 1900x1200 with all the settings at max on a Samsung LCD 26". And an Avg FPS of around 60 in both that game and Crysis. So subsequently I guess it would work with all the other games rather well. But yeah I agree with you I'll be waiting until Christmas at the very least to see what happens.

By no means am I a fanboy, just looking for a good value, hopefully within a span of 4-5k. Doesn't seem like it's worthwhile spending any less with the rapid change. But then again, any change I make is an improvement. I have an integrated GeForce 6150 LE.

This in a nutshell states what my intentions are.

 

[stateofjermaine]

By no means am I a fanboy, just looking for a good value, hopefully within a span of 4-5k. Doesn't seem like it's worthwhile spending any less with the rapid change. But then again, any change I make is an improvement. I have an integrated GeForce 6150 LE.

I love crazy technology as much as the next guy, but $5000? Really!? Wow, man. This is the [H]ardest thing I've seen since I got here.

 

[Dan_D]

I love crazy technology as much as the next guy, but $5000? Really!? Wow, man. This is the [H]ardest thing I've seen since I got here.

I spend more than $10,000 a year on computer hardware. I have for almost a decade now. Some years I spend closer to $7,000 a year, it just depends. At the time I built it my Skulltrail machine cost more than $5,000 easy. (It was worth about $7,000 as I recall.)

 

[stateofjermaine]

I spend more than $10,000 a year on computer hardware. I have for almost a decade now. Some years I spend closer to $7,000 a year, it just depends. At the time I built it my Skulltrail machine cost more than $5,000 easy. (It was worth about $7,000 as I recall.)

Ha, that's amazing.

 

[edifyingkarma]

I spend more than $10,000 a year on computer hardware. I have for almost a decade now. Some years I spend closer to $7,000 a year, it just depends. At the time I built it my Skulltrail machine cost more than $5,000 easy. (It was worth about $7,000 as I recall.)

Dan, Can I have some of your money?! I need to have a custom bicycle built so I can start racing

 

[dystopic]

That said if I get an EVGA SLI Classified Motherboard I believe there's a fourth slot where I could put a 9800GT dedicated for PhysX. Am I correct in saying this or is it not possible and a supreme overkill?

you are not correct. while it's possible in theory, the #3 and #4 PCIe slots are too close together, so unless you can find a low-profile waterblock for the 285 i would say it isn't possible. as for overkill, you said it, not me.

if you really "need" a 2GB frame buffer, i'm sure there will be 2GB versions of the 5870 out at some point, not to mention GT300 (hopefully) by the time you're ready to build.

 

[DanNeely]

If you're willing to buy a case with extra space below the 4th slot and either mod it or the GPU you could do triSLI+4th card and not have to go h2o.

 

[astrallite]

Crysis is not exactly the most multi-GPU friendly game, so going Tri-SLI to max that game should not be the (or one of) the main reasons you want the setup. Plenty of forumites (such as in anandtech) have posted the framerate from a 1/10th second intervals and SLI looks is an absolutely jagged hell in Crysis, oftentimes not any faster than a single 285, even though the per-second framerate looks wonderful.

A single 5870 (with an overclock, if you like) is the smoothest card for Crysis right now.

 

[Dan_D]

you are not correct. while it's possible in theory, the #3 and #4 PCIe slots are too close together, so unless you can find a low-profile waterblock for the 285 i would say it isn't possible. as for overkill, you said it, not me.

if you really "need" a 2GB frame buffer, i'm sure there will be 2GB versions of the 5870 out at some point, not to mention GT300 (hopefully) by the time you're ready to build.

It is in fact quite possible. You simply need to use a single slot solution in slot 3. Relocate the third card from the SLI configuration into slot 4. The problem is that some cases don't have enough clearance available for the fourth card to hang off the board's edge.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Cause of the 2GB that it would give in GTA IV at 1900x1200 with all the settings at max on a Samsung LCD 26". And an Avg FPS of around 60 in both that game and Crysis. So subsequently I guess it would work with all the other games rather well. But yeah I agree with you I'll be waiting until Christmas at the very least to see what happens.

By no means am I a fanboy, just looking for a good value, hopefully within a span of 4-5k. Doesn't seem like it's worthwhile spending any less with the rapid change. But then again, any change I make is an improvement. I have an integrated GeForce 6150 LE.

Yikes. Do you know what kind of PC I could build (or anyone with a lot of knowledge) with that much? You could build a REAL nice rig for half that.

 

[Dan_D]

With 4-5k you can build a monster machine.

 

[TehQuick]

I don't even want to think about how much I've sunk into my latest build around 4k for sure

 

[Dan_D]

I don't even want to think about how much I've sunk into my latest build around 4k for sure

Here is my build in total cost. (At least what I can remember of it.)

Intel Core i7 920 =$199.99
Koolance CPU-350AT =$79.99
Koolance Exos 2.5 =$374.99
Koolance LIQ-702 Fluid $14.99
Fittings + Quick Disconnects =$75.94
EVGA X58 3X SLI Classified =$429.99
Corsair Dominator GT 2000MHz DDR3 (3x2GB Kit) =$329.99
Corsair Dominator GT 2000MHz DDR3 (3x2GB Kit) =$329.99
Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 1 =$264.99
Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 1 =$264.99
Sasmsung DVD-R/RW Drive (SATA) =$34.99
Silverstone TJ-09B =$249.99
Thermaltake ToughPower 1200 watt =$349.99
BFG Technologies Geforce GTX 280 OC =$649.99
BFG Technologies Geforce GTX 280 OC =$649.99
BFG Technologies Geforce GTX 280 OC =$379.99
120mm Yate Loon case fans (x3) =$11.97
Silverstone 2.5" - 3.5" SSD Mounting Kit =$12.99
Silverstone 2.5" - 3.5" SSD Mounting Kit =$12.99

Deck ICE Legend =$149.99
Logitech G9x Laser Mouse =$69.99

Total =$4,938.72

Some of these components I've had for some time. My video cards, PSU, and case were reused from my Skulltrail build. (The Skulltrail is now in a new case, with a different PSU, and video card.) Components such as the video cards would be far cheaper purchased today. Or at the very least, the cards I could buy with that type of money would be more powerful. I would probably have gone with two Geforce GTX 295's in Quad-SLI and added a single Geforce GTX 285 for PhysX processing if I had purchased my cards in the last 4 or 5 months rather than a year or more ago. Most of the rest of the parts reflect today's prices as they haven't changed much and other components like the Core i7 CPU itself were purchased very recently. This of course doesn't include taxes or shipping costs either. My monitor was purchased for $1,299.99 (Dell 3007WFP) but newer models have since come out and can be had for less money than I paid for my 3007WFP. This monitor I've had for over 3 years so I've had it for at least 4 or 5 builds now.