I say possible go for tri, or wait and go broke on the new kepler cards coming out soon, I don't know about those dual-gpu cards though was always kind of skeptical about any dual-gpu's really , but that's just my opinion

Wow interesting results sk2. Not very good for a third card. Bah! I guess with 4k invested in screens another 500 makes sense.

Fellas... Any time you run three monitors... Please for the love of God go with three cards if they are anything under the 580's. Just trust me on this one.
 
I do not care what the Heaven test shows (Sorry) I can tell you the feel of the game is better and the FPS dips far less. And lets be honest... Who here builds gaming rigs to just run tests and not actually game?
 
The advantage to the 580's is in the SLI with the larger RAM ability. Not to say you would not be happy going to TRI SLI... Because I think you will. The problem is the scaling still is not what it should be and I find it hard to justify another $500+ for 15-25% gain in FPS and such.
 
Just my non-scientific approach to it.
 
I will leave you with this... For my money right now on Nvidia cards... I will run TRI SLI every single chance I get with three monitors.
 
If a person does not use Nvidia surround.. Heck no TRI SLI... Only SLI...

gutcheck

Craptacularone, help me.  I don't know what to do.  I have 2 580's, and 3 30 inch screens.  It's not like things are slow, it's just that they are not as good as when I had three smaller monitors and 3 480's.  So.  One would think 3 580's would scale better at a super high res like 7680x1600 then the usual benchies at guru and stuff yes?  Should I wait it out for dual 590's?  Ugh.  I love my screens btw.  Been playing Portal in surround it's actually like a different game.  I can see the puzzle better if you get what I mean.

You're in a pickle dude. You already have 2 1.5GB GTX580's so the cheaper route would be to go with another GTX580. However you're playing at the same massive resolution I am with your 3 GTX580's and the really performance killer is your cards lack of VRAM at that resolution. No doubt another GTX580 will help in performance. But in regards to VRAM limits it will do nothing to help in instance when you run out or use AA or other IQ settings.
 
I'll tell you this bud: I didn't upgrade from the 3 GTX480's because they lacked in performance. They performed great and had plenty of raw power to play the games at 7920x1600 (bezel corrected 7680x1600) but they would occasionally cause stutters and pauses as the game was forced to swap data from the HDD when they ran out of VRAM in some games. You could actually see it happening in the games if you used MSI Afterbirner and monitored VRAM usage. As soon as it passed 1,536MB in any game it would become a stuttering mess.
 
Having said that I'm very happy with my 3 GB GTX580's because I have plenty of VRAM for my games now and can continue to crank up the settings and not worry about it chugging when the game runs out of VRAM.

At a crazy rez like that I'd say do it!

Afterburner

gutcheck

You nailed it bro. Fux. I gotta think about this.

Nothing to think about... Just box those monitors up for me and save your monies... My address is... 22521...........

 
Lol

Yes agreed. Will my blocks fit on the 3gb cards?

gutcheck

Yes agreed. Will my blocks fit on the 3gb cards?

 
I can't comment for sure, as I don't have a reference GTX580 to check for you. But I honestly wouldn't plan on it. I'm fairly sure these cards are using a non reference PCB.
 
EDIT: Nevermind the above, a standard GTX580 block will definitely not fit on these cards. The mounting holes are in different places as well as a different PCB layout.
 
3 GB GTX580
http://www.newegg.com/Pro...Support%20Video%20Card
 
reference GTX580:
http://www.newegg.com/Pro...Support%20Video%20Card
Just look at the shot of the back of each card. You can clearly see the holes aren't the same nor is the layout.

Fux!!!!!

CraptacularOne

gutcheck

Fux!!!!!

I feel your pain dude. It's a tough decision for sure.

 
+1

Alucard666

CraptacularOne

gutcheck

Fux!!!!!

I feel your pain dude. It's a tough decision for sure.

+1

Sorry for OT but, I just noticed you live in Miramar? Small world man I'm in Hollywood

gutcheck

I think he is in FL and you are in CA, no?

Ok, why don't I pick up another 580 and refer to crap's 3GB thread for comparissons.  If it is a slight difference, then the 580's will hold me until 2012.  If not, then I can return it, bite the bullet and get three palit cards.  I'm not buying thee more blocks!  At least WC'ing a CPU doesn't force you to buy new blocks all the time.  Heck, some blocks work on yet to be released CPU's.

Nope, I'm in Florida too
 
Anyway, that's the cheapest option for you to try out. If you can live without any AA in some games or very low AA at the most, then you'll probably be able to skate by. As I said, you'll see a performance increase no doubt with a 3rd card. It just won't do anything help for the instances of running out of VRAM.
 
I very rarely water cool my cards for the fact that I often change them quite frequently and selling the blocks for a card is usually a pain as well as having to tear down the loop when you do.

AHowes

I'd say go with 4 cards! lol.. Kidding. 3 580s all the way!  Unless you plan on going higher then 6120x1080 then you might wana look at the 3GB 580s.

gutcheck

Craptacularone, help me.  I don't know what to do.  I have 2 580's, and 3 30 inch screens.  It's not like things are slow, it's just that they are not as good as when I had three smaller monitors and 3 480's.  So.  One would think 3 580's would scale better at a super high res like 7680x1600 then the usual benchies at guru and stuff yes?  Should I wait it out for dual 590's?  Ugh.  I love my screens btw.  Been playing Portal in surround it's actually like a different game.  I can see the puzzle better if you get what I mean.

 
reading is key