Triple Monitor Gaming on a Budget: SLI vs. Crossfire vs. Single High-end GPU

Can't believe a 680 and 7970 in stock form are only 5-15 FPS behind SLi GTX 660Ti's in several games. My Windforce 3X 670 handles a stock 7970 and 680. Factor in single GPU smoothness and less driver hassles and you could make an argument either way.
Answer for me? SLi 670's

I will explain the CPU choice in a moment because you are not the only one that doesn't understand the reason it was used.

The GPU's are not being directly compared, they are two different options that represent two very different prices and if you read the review we spoke about this.

4GB's of RAM? Not sure you did the maths rights here, the equation is 4 x 2GB =...

What CPU do you propose we use? The point of the high-end Core i7 as others have already pointed out is to eliminate any chance of a CPU bottleneck which could limit GPU performance. When it comes to gaming the Core i7-3960X really isn't any faster than the Core i7-3770K which isn't much faster than a similar clocked Core i5 processor. So really the results reflect what you would get with those processors.

If we tested with a budget Core i3 or AMD Phenom processor for example then some of the results would be CPU bound and all that might tell us is that all GPU configurations tested will delivering the same performance, is that useful?

This has nothing to do with being lazy, that's just silly. All these tests were run from scratch. I have a range of different processors and platforms available but for GPU testing we always use the fastest available option.

Go Green Team!

I have done 8x8 vs 16x16 testing in the past, with these graphics cards the short answer is it makes no difference. Ohh and yeah I write for Legion Hardware as well

One could also argue, that if someone on a budget is following this guide to build a triple monitor setup, the (avg fps) results could be misleading. How are they to know how their (for example) 4 thread i5 will compare to a 12 thread i7?

Budget gamers are MORE likely to already have bottlenecks in their system. Whether they're still running a Core 2 Duo/Quad with 2GB DDR2 RAM @ 1066MHz, or an Athlon II X4 with a Radeon 7950.

A 3960X and 3770K are two CPU's a budget gamer is least likely to have. Budget gamers are MORE likely to buy AMD, and (high end) AMD CPU's aren't great in single monitor setups, let alone three of them.

Not sure how many gamers running a Core 2 Duo still are considering a triple monitor setup with SLI GTX 660 Ti cards. But what you are really saying is they should read our CPU articles first, learn which CPU to buy and then invest in the GPUs, right?

Maybe buy the 4GB version

This proves that a Core 2 Duo is the bottleneck with new cards:

I'm saying people should decide where they want to be in gaming and purchase their CPU and GPU accordingly.

SLI and Crossfire should not even be an option to consider, if all they have is a budget CPU. I feel this review was about budget SLI/Crossfire configurations, not budget CPU's.

I've been using crossfire configuration for 5 years now and would never go back, having 2 cards for the game to use makes both the stress and temperatures lower for uses and therefore the cards will last longer. started off with 5850's and now have 7870's, there is no game which I cannot play max settings which is perfect

I don't know... maybe that most games have a hard enough time using four threads as it stands? Last time I checked, it was mostly RTSs and some simulators that really took advantage of more than 2-4 threads.

Then tell jo5hh too, because it seems you're bad writing sarcasm; no quote, no exageration or an ending that put clears your sarcasm. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one following your post who thought you were talking serious.

Not to mention microstuttering that increases a lot in any dual chip solution. I prefer a single card. It's cheaper in my eletric bill.

I don't feel like this should be a place for hypothetical arguments such as the one you are making. Just because you are trying to build a budget setup shouldn't mean that you lack basic understanding of CPU bottlenecks. If you are going to build a desktop and want to do it right (especially if you are going through reviews of triple monitor setups) you should have come across CPU reviews where it is evident that the FPS difference between an 1155 i5 and a 2011 i7 are seriously marginal.

In case any newbie who doesn't know about this, this is for you: http://www.techspot.com/review/465-intel-sandy-bridge-e-core-i7-3960x/page9.html

Just thought I'd pitch in some useless info. I run a Core2 Quad @ 3.2ghz with a single Gigabyte 7850OC 2GB. I've just finished the sleeping dogs campaign at medium settings running 5760x1080 and while cleeeeeaarly not maxed out my frame rate never dropped low enough for me to notice or for it t break my immersion.

If I could fit a second gpu on this old matx mobo I would probably xfire my 7850 but that isn't going to happen. If anything this review has helped me to decide I'm better off selling my 7850 and buying a 7950 instead. Total cost will be about the same but with less hassle driver wise and no need to upgrade anything else.

No one would buy the $280 HIS 4GB HD7850 when a Gigabyte, XFX, HIS HD7950 is $20 away.

If I see someone try to do it like Gwen from the Ghost Machine, I would make like Jack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDkdD3jwAS4

I'm assuming you will conclude this way as I haven't even started to read the article yet, so thanks ahead for the lesson. On with the reading.

Amd tressfx open standard innovation,must see-
(tomb raider the first game to use revolutionary tressfx real time hair simulation)

http://blogs.amd.com/play/tressfx/

http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/26/amds-tressfx-hair-tech-unveiled-tomb-raider-used-as-demo/

Showdown of 7950 Crossfire vs 680 SLI at 5760*1080 (Eyefinity/Surround)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18455827

amd the god of performance and also price/performance especially at super-high resolution

Amd tressfx open standard innovation,must see-
(tomb raider the first game to use revolutionary tressfx real time hair simulation)

http://blogs.amd.com/play/tressfx/

http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/26/amds-tressfx-hair-tech-unveiled-tomb-raider-used-as-demo/

This is hard to believe

This is huge in computer animated films also

I had major issues with 2 X GTX460's installed. Ended up selling both & buying a GTX 570. I never looked back. I've since upgraded but I'll never ever consider dual setup's again.

Is it too loud or hot?