a little help if its not to much trouble?

[Bsrz]

hello, after doing some research on the gtx titan I have found that the gtx titan performs worse than a single gtx 690 > 2 gtx 690s can only be out performed by 3 titans, and thats it right?
so if im to build the ultimate gaming pc and want to run games like crysis 3 on 3 120hz monitors at 1080p I will need 2 gtx 690s?? this will still be cheeper than 2 titans.... can anyone help me decide please?
thanks.

 

[Outerarm]

That is my reading of the published stats. A 690 is basically 2x 680s, though with less memory and clocked slightly slower. While a Titan will out perform a single 680 it can't touch a 690. Two Titans will be better than a single 690, but for less cash than the two Titans you can get two 690s which, again, will be perform better. To be honest, if you have the cash to buy a dual Titan setup, I think you'd be better going for a dual 690. The only factors that may change this are the 6GB memory and power consumption.

 

[steaky360]

If you were gaming in 3 screens you might find you hit the vram wall with the 690s as each card only has 2Gb of vram to play with (2 'cards' per 690). Not saying this for definite but I would imagine with the 6Gb the Titan has to offer you'll not run out... or even come close to maxing it.

But they are significantly more costly, quad sli for the same price as Dual sli?

I certainly wouldn't mind a tri-sli Titan set up though!

 

[Bsrz]

Hi guys firstly thanks a lot for the response - steaky with out sounding like an idiot whats the vram wall?? can you explain it in a non technical way lol? and is it very important not to hit it?
I just figured that 2 690s that offer better performance than 2 titans, would be future proof for another two years and then I would be in a position to upgrade to 3 titans. ??

 

[steaky360]

Well basically the vram on the graphics card is used up more and more as you increase the quality of the textures (ie, higher graphics etc.), 3D (if you use 3D it can use twice as much vram) and the resolution (that means 1920x1080 and above, so 3 screens for instance). Typically graphics cards with higher vram (the 4Gb 680 for instance) cope better than cards with less vram.

The wall is merely when the game you are playing has textures etc. that require more ram than your graphics card has and it causes intermittent significant drops in FPS while the card(s) swap out the textures etc. I don't want to create a mountain out of a molehill, it may not happen with the 690 (I've never reached it but I only currently have one monitor and have no interest in 3D effects).

You may end up being better off with 2/3 4Gb 680s depending on what you want to do.

If I've made a mistake and am essentially talking crap someone will correct me, but this is my understanding

 

[keynes]

Higher VRAM should provide higher fps for a surround set up.

 

[Bsrz]

ah i see thanks

 

[beg]

Hey keynes, I'm writing a paper about you, do you have some notes I could include in the paper? (I'm writing about John Keynes)

 

[keynes]

Hey keynes, I'm writing a paper about you, do you have some notes I could include in the paper? (I'm writing about John Keynes)

Lol what's the title?

 

[beg]

Economic theories and economic crisis

 

[Bsrz]

You may end up being better off with 2/3 4Gb 680s depending on what you want to do.

well how do you mean steaky - it is certainly cheeper for my to get 2 4gb 680s in sli - but will it really give me as good as performance as 2 690s or 2 titans?? if so then thats what I will go for as its a significant saving ..
3 680s is pushing it just like buying the 2 690s or 2 titans all in 1 go so if 2 4gb 680s wont give me good performance and max settings across 3 screens maybe I need to look into buying 1 690 or titan and then buying another later on this year ...

 

[Outerarm]

2x 690 will likely be more performant than 2x Titan which in turn will be more performant than 2x 680
2x 680 will be more performant than 1x 690 which will likely be more performant than 1x Titan

The 'likely' bit on this is the 6GB of the Titan dedicated to a single GPU vs. the shared 4BG of the dual GPU 690.

However, as stated elsewhere on these boards today, by the time you save up for the 2 or 3 Titans then there will be a newer, faster GFX board on the block.

 

[keynes]

Economic theories and economic crisis

What are you studying? I became interested in Economics after reading "Keynes and after" during my A-levels, I did a BSc in Economics, started an MSc in Economics but I had to take a break. Quite a lot to write about Keynesian economics and the current economic climate. Sorry to the OP for changing the subject .

 

[beg]

I'm fixing my last topics so I can apply for uni this autumn sadly enough.
I'm going to apply for System Developer..

 

[steaky360]

well how do you mean steaky - it is certainly cheeper for my to get 2 4gb 680s in sli - but will it really give me as good as performance as 2 690s or 2 titans?? if so then thats what I will go for as its a significant saving ..
3 680s is pushing it just like buying the 2 690s or 2 titans all in 1 go so if 2 4gb 680s wont give me good performance and max settings across 3 screens maybe I need to look into buying 1 690 or titan and then buying another later on this year ...

I would say (as said elsewhere) 2 4gb 680s will give better performance than 1 690 or 1 titan on 3 screens. Any change on the above is arguable really. There are no real benchs of the Titans yet though so we'll have to wait a wee bit to see the real world performance of those cards

If you want to game on highest settings though, honestly, any of the combinations of cards will allow you to do that

 

[Bsrz]

thats what a wanted to hear thanks everyone for all your help - I guess theres no harm in running 2 4gb gtx 680s and then saving up for the newer version of the titan the 700 series or what not I just hope they can run crysis 3 ultra on 3 screens lol

 

[tom_gr7]

Just dont get three 680's or titans..... Yeah it may sound cool, but your gonna need a watercooling setup to keep them all cool! Heat and power output will be massive.

Also if you did want three cards, you would need a really high end mobo, excellent case, excellent cooling and brilliant cable management.

If you spending a ton, which i presume you are. I'd wait Ivy extreme and go for a ASUS ROG mobo, then
- two gpus (or 700 series)
- Corsair AX 1200I PSU, with braided cables for looks, airflow and management.
- Massive case
- Decent liquid cooler for the CPU, I'd be thinking the corsair H110I/nzxt kraken x60 with aftermarket fans on.

 

[Bsrz]

I will be honest with you tom im scared of water cooling after my friends pipe burst - the liquid dident damage his system but he had to fork out for a brand new system and idk it just seems risky - heres the setup im thinking of going with for now. - only have about £2300 to spend on the pc. was going to cut back on my monitors and stuff to afford the £3000 pc but really I dont want to be spending this.

- Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3820 (3.6GHz) 10MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH X79: SOCKET 2011, R.O.G
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS QUAD-DDR3 1600MHz X.M.P(4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2nd Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£159)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Sound Card
ASUS Xonar Essence STX - Headphone Amp card for Audiophiles! (£132)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,374.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[tom_gr7]

thats a nice spec mate,

If you was looking to buy soon, i'd consider something like this.

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770K (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache K version if you wanted a slight overclock that may benefit certain games.
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX I dont see the need for a super high end mobo unless, you really are spending money for the sake of it.
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready As you are spending a ton, I'd personally think about what brand 680's you want? the 4gb versions from PCS are likely to be Palit jetstreams, (clicky) - Note, this is a large triple slot card as opposed to normal dual slot cards.
2nd Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR (£159) You could go for a hx850w PSU really, but if you want the extra power then go for it.
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER I get why you dont want liquid/water cooling, therefore I'd have a look online and find a high end air cooler, that is gonna look slick in your rig! But your problem may occur because your gonna have two gpus and a big sound card above the 680's, therefore you cant get a massive cpu cooler due to lack of space. It's a tough one really, the triple copper would be good enough, but if it was my expensive rig i'd want the shiz. Although you dont want liquuid cooling, it may be the best option.
Sound Card
ASUS Xonar D2X - Masterpiece Audio Card for Home Theater (£82) This is gonna do pretty much the same as the more expensive version.
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 60 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 2013
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5) If you go liquid cooling, I'd get at least 2 years warranty.
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,231.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/zm_4zNFY_v/

 

[Bsrz]

thanks for the advice tom and I will look into some of the changes - i guess the palit cards are what I will have to go for as they are supplied by pcs - so overall do you think this right will be solid for a year or 2 running 3 monitors??