This thread belongs in the multi-monitor discussions forum.
But, I have some input for the OP. :)
6000x1080 resolution @ 120 hz here (5760x1080 with "Bezel Correction"). tri monitor 1080p monitors (size doesn't matter, the 1080p resolution does). The 120 hz monitors get me "3D Vision Surround" possibilities.
Rig #1
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X58 w/930 @ 3.73 Ghz
3-way EVGA GTX 580 HydroCopper 2s w/3GB of ram
Result: BF3 @ 70-80 FPS w/Ultra everything. PCIe 2.0 bottlenecks holding me back, suspected. CUDA was limited to PCIe 2.0. Sever "Stutterness" from 3-way setup down was waay too annoying to enjoy any game, along with sever mouse input delays - all of which was fixed with a single monitor.
Rig #2
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Asrock X79 w/3930k @ 4.4 Ghz
3-way EVGA GTX 670 SC+ w/4GB of ram
Result: BF3 @ 80 to 90 FPS w/Ultra everything. PCIe 3.0 was not supported on the Asrock X79 with the 3920k, enabling it crashed the system and made the 3rd card "disappear." I've got a thread on here somewhere with those results.
The "stutterness" was still there, but less annoying. It was playable since most of the mouse input lag was gone. I highly suspect the mouse input lag was the X58 having its PCH as part of the Northbridge, whereas the X79 platform moved it directly onto the CPU "to reduce lag" so says Nvidia. That's the only reason I upgraded to X79, well that and PCIe 3.0 which I couldn't use.
Still wasn't happy...
Rig #3
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Asrock X79 w/4930k @ 4.4 Ghz
3-way EVGA GTX 670 SC+ w/4GB of ram
Result: same setup as the above, just the 4930k to try to get PCIe 3.0 - nope, the hack just made it unstable. Less unstable, but still unstable.
Same results as above in Rig #2.
Rig #4 (a customer's setup)
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ASUS RIVF X79 w/4930k @ 4.5 Ghz
3-way EVGA GTX 670 SC+ w/4GB of ram
PCIe 3.0 "automagically" enabled itself with a fresh Windows 8.1 and Nvidia driver install!
Result: Very good performance with BF3 @ 80 to 100 FPS, and pegging 180 FPS in some cut scenes. Wow. But, that "stutterness" was still present.
So, in theory of the warnings we've all read about 3-way SLI sucks,
I yanked one of the 670 cards and went with 2-way. NO MORE STUTTER @ 6000x1080 resolution! But, FPS dropped down to the 50s and 60s in BF3. Doh.
Finally, i was able to really enjoy my BF3 and MWO gaming. but, this was not my system and FPS was too low...
Rig #5
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Asrock X79 w/4930k @ 4.4 Ghz
2-way EVGA GTX 670 SC+ w/4GB of ram
Result: really smooth gameplay with 2-way SLI, but BF3's performance was hurting at 6000x1080 due to only 2 cards and the fact that the Asrock X79 platform only overclocks the first two cores, not all 6 (it ran mostly at 3.4 Ghz that I later found out).
BF3 @ 40 to 55-ish FPS.
Rig #6
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Asrock X79 w/4930k @ 4.4 ghz
2-way EVGA GTX 780 CLASSIFIED 3GB monsters!
Result: Really smooth gameplay again with 2-way SLI. BF3 was actually pretty decent around 80 to 90 FPS, with just two cards! i did the math and a single 780 is about 50% faster than the 670. So, 3-way 670 = 2-way 780! PLus the classified memory overclock, gpu overclock, etc to get into the 100 FPS at times (with a lot of work).
I still felt some bottlenecking with the PCIe 2.0 bus (see Rig #7 below)
BF3 memory usage at 6000x1080 with Ultra was starting to hit 2.9 GB btw. maxed out!
Rig #7 (another customer's machine)
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Asus RIVE w/4930k @ 4.5 Ghz
2-way EVGA GTX 780 CLASSIFIED 3GB monsters!
Result: Really smooth gameplay with 2-way, as expected now. PCIe 3.0 auto-magically enables itself on the Asus board with IB-E CPUs in the Nvidia drivers. BF3 was at 80 to 100 FPS all the time, smoothly.
Absolute blast to play. Zero complaints, finally.
Rig #8
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Asus RIVE w/4930k @ 4.5 Ghz
(1, and only 1) EVGA GTX 780 CLASSIFIED 3GB
Result: I just finished playing this last night, to see how well a single 780 Classified does at 6000x1080 w/BF3 before I sell my cards. I was very impressed with it's 50 to 60 FPS (once I overclocked it to 1280 Mhz @ 1.25V and memory at 7,400 Mhz @ 1.7V), on a single card no doubt!
Single cards also have the benefit of not needing PCIe 3.0. you can run it fine on platforms that are limited to PCIe 2.0 due to some CPU or latency issue.
Summary...In short, 2-way 770 and 780s really do very very well with 5760x1080 (1080p surround) setups with FPS sky rocketing. But, the 3GB on the cards is being hit with BF3 (and people report BF4 exceeding that - I don't have BF4 yet, protesting). keep this in mind when purchasing any setup for surround today - we are currently at the limits of 3GB with today's games, and exceeding it a bit on the super high-end systems. I wouldn't invest too much into any 3GB cards any longer, with plans to upgrade to 4, 5, 6, 12 GB in the future or whatever they come up with.
(repeat) A single CPU also have the benefit of not needing PCIe 3.0. you can run it fine on platforms that are limited to PCIe 2.0 due to some CPU or latency issue. A single 780 Classified was able to keep me around 50 to 60 FPS for a very enjoyable BF3 session over about 2 hours, though it required a hell of an overclock and fan speeds to keep it cool. I am going to miss my two Classifieds when I sell them (post coming soon in the Marketplace).
You also need a solid platform and PCIe 3.0 to really experience smoothness. Moving ~6.1 megapixels around PCIe 2.0 is too much, and you really need PCIe 3.0. here's a little known fact: Installing Nvidia drivers now tests your platform's latency for PCIe 3.0 if you 1) have a motherboard with PCIe 3.0 and it is enabled in the BIOS and 2) your GPU has PCIe 3.0 available. If the board passes the latency test during installation, you get PCIe 3.0 out of the box! If it does not pass, Nvidia defaults you to PCIe 2.0. That's a pure indication of the motherboards true PCIe latency measurements for moving a lot of data over the bus, in that Nvidia tested it and enabled it. You can still override it and force it to PCIe 3.0 with the "Nvidia PCIe 3.0 hack", sure. So far, the Asus RIVF and RIVE are the only two boards I've experienced that enabled PCIe 3.0 out of the box.
I have pre-ordered the RIVBE for my rig, since I sold my Asrock mobo. That will be rig #8, along with replacing the Classifieds with two Titans for 6GB and more CUDA/Autocad development.
Though, I'd be hesitant to run 3D Vision Surround because 3D cuts your framerates in half and BF3 at 90 FPS was awesome, but back down at 50 FPS it was just O-K. Was kind of cool with Batman Origins with 3D Vision Surround though and things flying around. MS Flight Simulator is pretty freakin awesome with 3D Vision Surround.
post edited by eduncan911 - 2013/11/13 10:08:45