Recommended VRAM for Surround

[guskline]

tommyknocker212 if money was no object one would choose a Titan. I also agree that a single card gets preference. However, when you run higher resolution (2560 x 1440 and up) or a 3 monitor setup, which in your case is 5760 x 1080, you need more horsepower for decent game play. Based upon my experience with 3 Acer 24" 1920 x 1080 monitors in surround, the Radeon 6970 with Eyefinity was playable but slow. The GTX680 with Surround was nicer and faster and the 2 GTX670 FTWs in SLI were top notch. My reason to sell all 3 monitors was my desire to get one of the 27" 2560 x 1440 monitors. In your case, if you are committed to the 3 Asus monitors running 5760x1080 and with your PSU and other specs the GTX760 4 Gig in SLI will be a noticeable improvement. I also agree with notty22 about the advantage of blower style coolers for sli.

 

[GprophetB]

Tommy your choice is a great move. the FTW series / family is excellent. Enjoy and please post results / impressions.

 

[tommyknocker212]

Guys - I've got a Corsair Graphite 600t with a 200mm intake fan in front, a 200mm exhaust fan mounted up top, and a 120mm exhaust fan at the rear. Would non-reference coolers still be a problem insofar as exhaust and system-wide temps?

guskline - Gaming isn't the only reason that I've got the three monitors. I tend to use the rig for work, so having multiple monitors helps with my productivity a lot. Though, I can attest that having a single gigantic monitor is a great thing -- for a long time I used a single 32" monitor. It made FPS's very fun.

Seriously, thanks all for your thoughts. I really appreciate your taking the time to give your opinions and reasoning behind them. It's been a real education

 

[GprophetB]

That case sounds like more than enough airflow. I would also be worried about all that hot air dumping into the case but with 2 HUGE 200m fans you should be fine. Make sure to use EVGA precision X to set custom fan curves on the GPUs. (I like mine aggressive when i wear my headphones / gaming.)

No problem , good luck. Please post pics when you're done and I will too! My second 680 FTW+ 4gb is supposed to show up tomorrow!

 

[tommyknocker212]

I will definitely do so, GprophetB. Unfortunately, the 4gb FTW w/ ACX is only announced and there hasn't been a release date announced. Anyone have a friend at EVGA and can weasel an approximate date out of them?

As far as aggressive fan profiles, I agree. I've been doing the same with my 560ti using Afterburner. With an ambient temperature of 22*C, I can usually get her to idle at about 28-32*C. While gaming she's never above ~68*C

 

[tommyknocker212]

So I just found out that Gigabyte will be releasing a 4gb OC'd version with WindForce cooling. It's expected to be priced in the $270-300 range. What are people's experiences with WindForce and Gigabyte in general?

 

[blackened23]

It's a great cooler. Very quiet and cool.

 

[UaVaj]

for 760 SLI. all you need is 2gb vram. both 760 gpu will struggle to push playable/enjoyable fps before 2gb is ever used up. even with crazy mods. especially at 5760x1080.

with a $550 budget. get a slightly used 780 and live with the limitation of having to turn down settings at 5760x1080 to get enjoyable/playable fps.

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to enjoy 5760x1080 ultra maxed out bf3 gaming. one need 680sli or 770sli. that configuration is bearly nose above water. bf3 average 55fps dipping to 25fps.

to truly enjoy 5760x1080 ultra maxed out bf3 gaming. one need 680trisli or 780trisli or titan sli. that configuration. bf3 average 80fps dipping to 40fps.

with "enough" gpu power to max out settings and texture. bf3 will max out 2.6gb vram.

 

[GprophetB]

UaVaj, Do you have a 5760x1080 surround setup? What GPU(s) are you using?

 

[UaVaj]

UaVaj, Do you have a 5760x1080 surround setup? What GPU(s) are you using?

yes. 5960x1080 (bezel adjusted resolution) with 680trisli 4gb (evga ftw).

 

[tommyknocker212]

So Amazon posted a price for the 4gb FTW Edition and at $320 it's way over my budget when taxes are included. I think I'm going to be reduced to either waiting for the Gigabyte GTX 760 OC w/ Windforce or going with the reference EVGA 4gb GTX 760.

How big of a performance hit am I taking with the stock clocked version vs. the FTW version? Is it worth shelling out an extra $30 per card?