[H] 6990+6970 CF vs GTX580 SLI triple monitor

[LiuKangBakinPie]

So, what does any of this have to do with this thread?

it was a reply to the driver blowing a card up. But meanwhile back at the ranch... Ok back on the topic

 

[GaiaHunter]

Did you read the link I provided?

Idontcare
Super Mod

I did and I'll take this conversation to PM.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

I would love to have seen them throw in a 3x 6950 setup in that bunch as well. They're scaling is wonderful only setup to come close 3x Gtx 580s on a single monitor setup. They even beat out the 6970s

 

[3DVagabond]

I would love to have seen them throw in a 3x 6950 setup in that bunch as well. They're scaling is wonderful only setup to come close 3x Gtx 580s on a single monitor setup. They even beat out the 6970s

The review was for two cards.

 

[Pantalaimon]

Except I'm pretty sure that 6990 + 6970 should be compared to 3x GTX570s.
I mean, if you're comparing price to price that is.
Not 2x 580s. 580s are in a league of their own.

According to this article, the 3 GTX570s would fare even worse than the 2 GTX580s.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-sli-3-way-scaling,2865-12.html

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

The review was for two cards.

no it was for a 1000usd setup. Although the 6990 is 1 card is not 1 gpu. Its 2.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

According to this article, the 3 GTX570s would fare even worse than the 2 GTX580s.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-sli-3-way-scaling,2865-12.html

off course the 580s run out of vram at that high resolution. The 570 got even less.

 

[Dean]

The Nvidia cards are severely handicapped by their smaller frame buffers at high res multi- monitor setups. I think it hurts SLI a bit and makes tri-sli useless on them.

I would like to see someone crunch some numbers by SLI'ing that 3gb 580 on the market. Not in relation to HARDocp's review, as I know that would break the $1000 barrier, but just to see how much better it would actually scale. I think it could be a performance Monster.

 

[Silverforce11]

The 3GB 580 Quad SLI is the best for 2560 x 1600 x3 res. Anything under that resolution, typically 1080p x 3, 69xx series will be fine. You don't need more than 2GB vram unless you run 2560 x 1600 x3 res.

 

[Lonyo]

no it was for a 1000usd setup. Although the 6990 is 1 card is not 1 gpu. Its 2.

It's one card that requires 1 PCIe slot.
Doesn't matter how many GPUs it has on it, that doesn't stop it being 1 card.

 

[Zstream]

that's rather silly to say. Why pick the most expensive cards then? If you want the maximum performance for 1k you would not chose 2 580's

Huh? Because a 590 is 700$ and a 580 on top of that is 500$. If you wanted a 590 and a 570, the 570 is limited by sli support for different GPU's and does not have enough memory for the resolutions they are testing.

Can you please correct my statement? I am a bit confused by yours.

 

[Keysplayr]

According to this article, the 3 GTX570s would fare even worse than the 2 GTX580s.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-sli-3-way-scaling,2865-12.html

We both know each of us can find articles that tell a different tale. So why post any particular one now?

 

[Keysplayr]

What's unrealistic is using the term "only way to go". I didn't imply that. There are plenty of mobo's though that are not tri-SLI certified.

And plenty that are. So what?

 

[Lonyo]

We both know each of us can find articles that tell a different tale. So why post any particular one now?

Go on then, find one.
Find an review/article which shows the GTX570 Tri-SLI being faster than three Crossfired 6900 cards at high resolutions.

 

[notty22]

Go on then, find one.
Find an review/article which shows the GTX570 Tri-SLI being faster than three Crossfired 6900 cards at high resolutions.

They tested 5 games and 3dmark11 at that TH article.
2 of the games the 570 tri-sli is faster. Many times it comes down to drivers/settings per particular game.

 

[Keysplayr]

Go on then, find one.
Find an review/article which shows the GTX570 Tri-SLI being faster than three Crossfired 6900 cards at high resolutions.

Notty found one. You could as well if you really wanted to. Why did you even present that challenge? Didn't you know we can find ANYTHING we need for all our arguments with search engines?

 

[Will Robinson]

2 way Crossfire beats 3 way Crossfire in those results:sneaky:

 

[krumme]

Notty found one. You could as well if you really wanted to. Why did you even present that challenge? Didn't you know we can find ANYTHING we need for all our arguments with search engines?

The conclusion in the article is:
"CrossFire came out with a huge overall scaling lead over SLI"

Ofcourse the selection of gamers decides what is fastest, and notice this was a bm done at 25xx, but the conclusion stands.

"Any Radeon HD 6950 CrossFire solution beats any GeForce GTX 570 SLI configuration at 2560x1600"

 

[SirPauly]

Yeah, that article was a testament of the nice scaling for AMD. It's obvious to me, that AMD really tried to improve upon higher resolution gaming and scaling with multi-GPU --- great job!

 

[Lonyo]

Notty found one. You could as well if you really wanted to. Why did you even present that challenge? Didn't you know we can find ANYTHING we need for all our arguments with search engines?

He didn't find an article or review which showed that the GTX570 SLI is faster than HD6950 triple vs triple, he found 2 benchmarks contained within a review, a review for which the conclusion, as stated above, is that the AMD cards are faster overall on average.

Your view was that you could find an article which showed that NV was faster overall triple vs triple. I simply said find such an article.
Not find a single game in which it's the case, but an article/review (presumably which tests more than one game, unless your definition of an article is something you can use to show NV in best light, i.e. something with only one or two games) which shows that to be the case.
Hence why I said "article/review" and not "a benchmark".

Not only that, but the HD6950 isn't the HD6970 (unsurprisingly), which would be even faster, and is (almost) what was tested in the original article.

Rather than saying "I can find articles which conclude Tri-SLI GTX570s is faster than triple Crossfire AMD cards", find one and link us.
You seem to often state things without feeling a need to link to actual evidence, I am asking you to show where you got your "information" from that 3xGTX570s can be generally faster than 3xHD6950 or 6970.

 

[notty22]

The conclusion in the article is:
"CrossFire came out with a huge overall scaling lead over SLI"

Ofcourse the selection of gamers decides what is fastest, and notice this was a bm done at 25xx, but the conclusion stands.

"Any Radeon HD 6950 CrossFire solution beats any GeForce GTX 570 SLI configuration at 2560x1600"

Nvidia wins in Crysis and a new dx11 AvP game still stands.
Heres another review where the 6970 is pitted against the 570 (580 is in another league), the 570 wins at least half the time against AMD's fastest.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd6970-crossfirex_3.html

The GeForce GTX 570s win this test but, returning to the subject of this review, we can see that in the FSAA-less mode the scalability of the CrossFireX configuration varies from 62% to 74% whereas the scalability of the SLI tandem is 72% to 86%. When we turn FSAA on, the CrossFireX configuration offers higher scalability (83 to 88%) compared to the SLI one (73% to 81%). That’s good, but Nvidia’s solution is still faster.

Nvidia wins in S.T.A.L.K.E.R., too. Despite the performance benefits of the Radeon HD 6970 tandem over the single such card (40% at 1920x1080 and 60% at 2560x1600), the problem with CrossFireX in this game is that the bottom speed, which is the crucial factor for player’s comfort, is too low. Unfortunately, the two Radeon HD 6970s do not run S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as smoothly as the GeForce GTX 570s which is indicated by the difference in their bottom speeds. Nvidia’s multi-GPU solution enjoys a higher increase in average frame rate, too.

 

[Elfear]

They tested 5 games and 3dmark11 at that TH article.
2 of the games the 570 tri-sli is faster. Many times it comes down to drivers/settings per particular game.

I believe he asked for high-resolution gaming. 1600p is rather middling these days. At 1600p the GTX 570 generally has enough vram. The question raised was why [H] didn't test triple 570's against the 6990 + 6970 combo in their article. Can you find some reviews showing dual/triple 570's at Eyefinity/Surround resolutions (i.e. resolutions tested in the article in question)?

 

[Stoneburner]

Except I'm pretty sure that 6990 + 6970 should be compared to 3x GTX570s.
I mean, if you're comparing price to price that is.
Not 2x 580s. 580s are in a league of their own.

Shouldn't 3 570's be compared to 3 6970's?

It's pretty sad that people are attacking this test just because it had an outcome they didn't like.

2 cards
$1000 dollars

AMD wins

If they wanna do Three cards 6970 vs 570, they are free to do so. So are you.

 

[Grooveriding]

I believe he asked for high-resolution gaming. 1600p is rather middling these days. At 1600p the GTX 570 generally has enough vram. The question raised was why [H] didn't test triple 570's against the 6990 + 6970 combo in their article. Can you find some reviews showing dual/triple 570's at Eyefinity/Surround resolutions (i.e. resolutions tested in the article in question)?

These benches show accurate comparisons of how the setups you are all discussing would compare when VRAM limitations come into play in surround setups.

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/03/07/amd_radeon_hd_6990_antilles_video_card_review/1

'The GeForce GTX 570 SLI setup gave us the worse experience in the game. We had to lower down to 2X AA at 5760x1200 in order to achieve playable performance. Even at this lower AA setting performance was well behind everything else. So in this game, the Radeon HD 6990 does offer a better experience compared to the GeForce GTX 570 SLI.'

'The GeForce GTX 570 SLI setup was the worst performing in this game. We had to lower to "Gamer" shaders at 5760x1200 and we were not able to have AA enabled at all. Therefore, AMD Radeon HD 6990 and HD 6970 CrossFireX deliver a better experience than the GeForce GTX 570 SLI.'

'In Crysis: Warhead we are pushing the video cards by testing with 4X AA enabled at 5040x1050 with all "Enthusiast" game settings and shader quality.

When we did this, we see an interesting result, the AMD Radeon HD 6990 pushes ahead of the GeForce GTX 580 SLI! GeForce GTX 570 SLI falls way behind at these settings. The AMD Radeon HD 6990 video card is 6% faster than GTX 580 SLI at these settings.'


570 Tri-Sli is a lot of GPU horsepower and all that power is appropriate to very high resolutions but is rendered obsolete by a lack of sufficient VRAM. There is even an example above where you see 580SLI outpaced by a single 6990 due to lack of VRAM.

In games where the 570 does not run out of VRAM it is a draw with a 6990.

'The GeForce GTX 570 SLI configuration also seems to be about on par with the two AMD setups. We were able to play at 5760x1200 with 4X AA plus Transparency Multisampling. All three cards here are even and the GTX 580 SLI is the one that steps out beyond the rest offering a better experience. '


Which lends itself to showing that 6990+6970 would come up with draws against 570 TriSLI at times. But there are clearly times where 570 TriSLI will choke up due to lack of vram, so why would you choose a setup that only keeps up sometimes but is too slow in certain scenarios ?

As far as 2560x1600, I could see 570 Tri being enough almost all the time, but not every time. I have pegged VRAM usage in excess of 1.3GB in Crysis, Stalker and Metro at that resolution.

Subject of this thread is '[H] 6990+6970 CF vs GTX580 SLI triple monitor' If you want to make comparisons of AMD vs NV at triple monitor solutions, isn't it logical to compare cards that are equipped with enough VRAM to handle any game at those resolutions, not just some of them ?

What sort of buyer seeing these benches would get the 570s knowing at times they would be playing a slideshow because of texture swapping from the hard drive. I know what this is like firsthand from having my 5870CF setup run out of VRAM. Your gaming literally freezes on and off momentarily and chugs until you move through the game to an area where you have enough VRAM to render the scene.

Not what I would call the way you'd want to game :thumbsdown:

If you're talking NV vs AMD and triple monitor, you need to be comparing 6950s, 6970s, 6990s and 580s, 590s. Not cards that lack the VRAM to handle these resolutions like 6850s or 570s or 460s etc.

 

[SirPauly]

These benches show accurate comparisons of how the setups you are all discussing would compare when VRAM limitations come into play in surround setups.

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/03/07/amd_radeon_hd_6990_antilles_video_card_review/1

'The GeForce GTX 570 SLI setup gave us the worse experience in the game. We had to lower down to 2X AA at 5760x1200 in order to achieve playable performance. Even at this lower AA setting performance was well behind everything else. So in this game, the Radeon HD 6990 does offer a better experience compared to the GeForce GTX 570 SLI.'

'The GeForce GTX 570 SLI setup was the worst performing in this game. We had to lower to "Gamer" shaders at 5760x1200 and we were not able to have AA enabled at all. Therefore, AMD Radeon HD 6990 and HD 6970 CrossFireX deliver a better experience than the GeForce GTX 570 SLI.'

'In Crysis: Warhead we are pushing the video cards by testing with 4X AA enabled at 5040x1050 with all "Enthusiast" game settings and shader quality.

When we did this, we see an interesting result, the AMD Radeon HD 6990 pushes ahead of the GeForce GTX 580 SLI! GeForce GTX 570 SLI falls way behind at these settings. The AMD Radeon HD 6990 video card is 6% faster than GTX 580 SLI at these settings.'


570 Tri-Sli is a lot of GPU horsepower and all that power is appropriate to very high resolutions but is rendered obsolete by a lack of sufficient VRAM. There is even an example above where you see 580SLI outpaced by a single 6990 due to lack of VRAM.

In games where the 570 does not run out of VRAM it is a draw with a 6990.

'The GeForce GTX 570 SLI configuration also seems to be about on par with the two AMD setups. We were able to play at 5760x1200 with 4X AA plus Transparency Multisampling. All three cards here are even and the GTX 580 SLI is the one that steps out beyond the rest offering a better experience. '


Which lends itself to showing that 6990+6970 would come up with draws against 570 TriSLI at times. But there are clearly times where 570 TriSLI will choke up due to lack of vram, so why would you choose a setup that only keeps up sometimes but is too slow in certain scenarios ?

As far as 2560x1600, I could see 570 Tri being enough almost all the time, but not every time. I have pegged VRAM usage in excess of 1.3GB in Crysis, Stalker and Metro at that resolution.

Subject of this thread is '[H] 6990+6970 CF vs GTX580 SLI triple monitor' If you want to make comparisons of AMD vs NV at triple monitor solutions, isn't it logical to compare cards that are equipped with enough VRAM to handle any game at those resolutions, not just some of them ?

What sort of buyer seeing these benches would get the 570s knowing at times they would be playing a slideshow because of texture swapping from the hard drive. I know what this is like firsthand from having my 5870CF setup run out of VRAM. Your gaming literally freezes on and off momentarily and chugs until you move through the game to an area where you have enough VRAM to render the scene.

Not what I would call the way you'd want to game :thumbsdown:

If you're talking NV vs AMD and triple monitor, you need to be comparing 6950s, 6970s, 6990s and 580s, 590s. Not cards that lack the VRAM to handle these resolutions like 6850s or 570s or 460s etc.

Where I have a problem is using the wording obsolete and one can enjoy AA with a GTX 570 Sli in your examples and would even have more performance with Tri-Sli there.

How would Tri-Sli compare in that article with three GTX 570's?