GTX 680 SLI or GTX 690 for 5760x1200 Gaming

[uneedav8]

Thanks everyone for all the good feedback. I have a pair of EVGA 4GB 680 FTW+'s on the way. I am hoping the gaming experience will make me forget about the price...

[Shurman292]

A great choice if your wallet can handle it

[IVIYTH0S]

You guys are killing me...

 

 

For a pretty long time. Maybe more games will utilize more VRAM, but you can always tone down the settings if it is affecting the performance.

 

 

Use FXAA when you can over MSAA, not the other way around.

My 5970 would still be in my computer but VRAM limitations held back the potential of the two 5870 chips (which still can beat down the majority of newer graphics cards if the VRAM isn't taxed heavily), I just think it'd be such a shame to see so much money pissed away.

 

Yup, my brain inversed the two. crappy sleep ever since my dad passed away. FXAA is definitely less hit on the VRAM.

Aww man, I'm sorry about that. I'm not sure I can even imagine what you're going through, my dad's the man and I couldn't imagine him not around.

 

Just got off a Skype call with a friend who is running 2 x 670 4GB cards in sli at 5760x1200 res. While playing BF3 he reported using 3.2GB of vram...and in Skyrim with high-res texture mods applied he is using nearly all 4GB. So IMHO the extra memory is well worth it.

Oh yeah Skyrim alone with light mods put my 5970 in the grave, at that resolution it would definitely start really raising the appetite.

 

Thanks everyone for all the good feedback. I have a pair of EVGA 4GB 680 FTW+'s on the way. I am hoping the gaming experience will make me forget about the price...

You won't regret it, they will go so much farther for you.

[uneedav8]

 

 

 

So it does look like SLI combines the VRAM of both cards?? I did not think it would like a couple of you had mentioned.

[Shurman292]

The software might show that you have a total of 8gb of vram, but each individual GPU works off of its own 4gb. Essentially this means that whatever goes into the vram is duplicated so that each card can have a copy for the GPU to process.

 

Notice how it's using over 9gb of vram? That just means it's putting 4.6gb into vram and copying it to the other card. Be very glad you purchased the 4gb version instead of the 2gb version

[Fogel]

Aww man, I'm sorry about that. I'm not sure I can even imagine what you're going through, my dad's the man and I couldn't imagine him not around.

Thanks IVI - it sucks and its very hard. Lots of sleepless nights, like tonight. (not 1s)

 

The software might show that you have a total of 8gb of vram, but each individual GPU works off of its own 4gb. Essentially this means that whatever goes into the vram is duplicated so that each card can have a copy for the GPU to process.

 

Notice how it's using over 9gb of vram? That just means it's putting 4.6gb into vram and copying it to the other card. Be very glad you purchased the 4gb version instead of the 2gb version

The software is wrong.

 

Nvidia FAQ - see last question

Edited August 7, 2012 by Fogel

[uneedav8]

Thanks for the reply. I guess it is better to be lied to with 4GB of RAM, as opposed to 2GB.

[IVIYTH0S]

Thanks for the reply. I guess it is better to be lied to with 4GB of RAM, as opposed to 2GB.

It will be in the long run, TRUST me. You'd be kicking yourself down the road if the majority of your GPU performance would be left unusable since the cards could not satisfy a particular title's Vram demands. It happened to my 5970 with Skyrim, so much performance potential squandered due to inadequate Vram

[Shurman292]

It will be in the long run, TRUST me. You'd be kicking yourself down the road if the majority of your GPU performance would be left unusable since the cards could not satisfy a particular title's Vram demands. It happened to my 5970 with Skyrim, so much performance potential squandered due to inadequate Vram

+1 You will not regret your purchase.