Simple upgrade, possibly to run 3 cards?

[cctaylor88]

Hey guys, I am really in the market to upgrade my motherboard just a little bit as I would like to run two possibly three gpu's instead of my single nvidia gtx 460 that I currently run. To be honest, this is more of an aesthetic want than anything having to do with performance as I hardly game. I have played about 2.5hrs of battlefield 3 in the last couple of weeks...I more or less browse the internet and do homework and my current gpu is fine for what I do (I am stating this so that I don't get the "you don't need more gpu's/what are you wanting to do with three gpus? etc).

So my plan/hopes are to buy another gtx460 or a set of 460s (will be buying used) and install them in addition to my current card, however my current motherboard doesn't support more than one gpu. I have the asus m4a87td/usb 3 and AMD 950BE Phenom II that I purchased in the middle of 2010 so I would like a decent upgrade.

What would be a basic (not over the top) motherboard suitable for my wants? Possibly 3 gpus? Also, and this is going to sound incredibly noob-ish but I have never ran more than a single gpu (as this is my first ever custom computer that I built back in 2010) how hard is it to plug in another gpu? Not in terms of the installation but compatibility etc? I mean if your motherboard supports it you can just "plug and play" another compatible gpu and the computer recognizes it or what?

Currently have a nvidia gtx 460 and would more than likely only buy an evga 460.. would these two cards work together? Would there be a noticeable increase in performance?

More than likely would like a mobo capable of 3 way SLI (hope I used that term correctly, I want to use 3 gpu not 6 ha) I know this sounds very dumb and these questions probably make most of you leet computer geeks rolls your eyes but hey we have all been in this boat before right?!

Thanks for the patience in advance and I hope I didn't ramble on too long

 

[Boulard83]

So, you want 3 (kinda old) GPU ? But not to use them, to "show" them ? Epic Epeen fail IMO ...

Well, to answer your question, if you stick with AMD and your 950be, just get a 990FX board and call it a day. As for the GPU, you wont be able to 3 SLI 460 since they only support 2way. You can SLI 2 460 and have a 3rd one for PhysX if you have games that support PhysX.

make sur that you buy similar GPU, buy that i mean, same number of SP and memory amount. ( memory amount wont prevent SLI to work but will only shar the lowest amount. ) The PhysX one dont need to be similar. ONly the SLI GPU need to be identical.

There are 3 main models of 460
288 SP GTX 460 SE 1024mb/256bit bus
336 SP GTX 460 768mb/192bit bus
336 SP GTX 460 1024mb/256bit bus ( there are 2048mb models too ).

 

[cctaylor88]

Well alright, thought I could just do something cheap and figured that three 460s would be better than my current single 460 obviously. What about just running dual cards in SLI then, what would be a step up from my current gtx 460 that I could buy 2 of?

I know this probably seems dumb to you but I really want to upgrade my mobo and gpu in order to run two gpus

 

[Boulard83]

You could simply buy a new GPU and call it a day, no need for a new MB. A simple GTX 660ti will perfrom much better than your 460. In fact, a single 660ti will perform nearly equal to a SLI 460.

Sell you 460, buy a 660ti.


Edit : AMD ? a 7870 is a damn hard to beat price/perf

 

[cctaylor88]

I just want to run SLI, would 2 7870s be better than one 660ti?

 

[Boulard83]

 

[cctaylor88]

Yes, I know. Okay so let me rephrase my initial question... I would like to upgrade to a motherboard that has capabilities of running in SLI, also what graphics cards would you understanding folks recommend that are similar when compared to the performance of a gtx 460?

 

[cctaylor88]

I am currently running with two monitors and would like support for at least 3 at once or possibly 4. So, in essence I need another gpu but if I am going to go through that I would rather purchase and run two gpus in SLI. What cards would be similar performance wise when compared to a gtx 460? And what motherboard would afford me to simply run SLI without getting too fancy?

 

[Boulard83]

As i told in my first post, get a 990FX board, cant go wrong with a 990FX for SLI/CF.

As for the GPU, running multiple GPU just for the fun of running multiple GPU is not a good idea. With multiple GPU you sometime fall into scaling issue with some games. This mean that you dont have 2x the power. In fact, rare are the title that really scale at 100% with SLI/CF. If you have the choice, you are ALWAIS better with a big single GPU versus SLI/CF.

If you plan to run 3 monitor ( Surround for Nvidia, Eyefinity for AMD ), then you sometime need 2 good GPU to power the setup cause you end up with 3x the pixels to display.

Nowaday GPU are more powerfull and energy efficient than your GTX460. Now that we know that you wan to run 3 display, we know that you need more GPU horse power but also a good memory amount and memory bus. Going Nvidia, 670/680 are good but as for current generation GPU, AMD win the game with the 7950/7970. You wont be able to run eyefinity/surround and ULTRA image quality (IQ) whit 7850/7870 or 660/660ti. Especially for title to come in the next year. You are better to start with a good single GPU, and CF/SLI down the road when needed.

You currently run a single display so get a 7950 NOW, have fun with it. THEN, if you really want to spend $$$$ on 3 monitor/multiGPU.... get a newer 990FX board and a second 7950.


* It's alwais better to run 3 identical monitor for surround/eyefinity *
** you will also need at least a good 750w PSU to power the 2 7950 **
*** There are other upgrade path possible, intel ? newer AMD cpu ? Better RAM, i donno about your current 12gb setup ? ***

 

[cctaylor88]

Alright, well I am currently running dual 24inch monitors but would really like to hook up my 3rd monitor instead of letting it collect dust.

So even if I find a super good deal on like a used gtx 460 you don't advise me purchasing a board to run it SLI? I mean currently I'm maxed out on my 2 monitors and want to use my 3rd so I have to do something..

Also, yes I have AMD.. is Eyefinity a pain in the as$ like when I hook up my third monitor or is it pretty simple to get three monitors set up?

 

[Boulard83]

AMD Eyefinity and Nvidia Surround both have their up and down side. I never ran eyefinity but i run surround for more than 3 years now. Had a 5870 before but not 3 screens. If you find a 50$-75$ working GTX460 maybe, but at higher price its a pure waste. SLI GTX460 wont provide enough horsepower to really have good IQ with surround. I ran SLI 460 and surroudn back in the days, before 580's lunched and i often wanted more juice.

I currenly run my surround on a single 670 and its running really good. I just need to lower the MSAA, BF3 run at ULTRA ~50-60fps. I currently look to swap my GTX670 for a CF 7950 for the better Vram amount and bus.

 

[cctaylor88]

So what are you saying I need to run eyefinity/surround? I completely forgot that you need programs if you go past two monitors ugh. You are saying I need to purchase at least a 670?

 

[Boulard83]

No, you dont need a program to run eyfinity/surround, they are supported by the AMD/Nvidia drivers. just need to set it correctly in the driver control panel.

Start with at least a good single GPU and see if your game run good. if you seem to need more GPU power, add a second one. I currently dont really feel the need of adding a second 670, or swaping to a 7950 CF instead of 670 SLI.... but i will do it to be able to get a little bit more IQ in newer games and futur title. As i told, i currently run BF3 at ULTRA, i only turned MSAA off to get really good FPS.

 

[cctaylor88]

So to run 3 monitors with high settings the min is like a 670?!

 

[Boulard83]

670 or 7950 for decent FPS if you stay single GPU for the moment. Add a second one if needed.

 

[cctaylor88]

Alright awesome, thanks so far btw. So lets say i purchase a 670 its just as simple as plugging the three monitors into the gpu and downloading the right drivers? Also, can they act independent when not gaming..like right now my 2 monitors are independent and its amazing

 

[Knufire]

I would go with a 7950 or 7970 over the 670... 2GB of vRAM is low for surround.

 

[Boulard83]

Yup. By default, nvidia drivers will let you maximize a window on a single monitor.

Download the latest Nvidia drivers and your good to go. BTW, you're better to download and install each and every newest drivers

 

[Boulard83]

I would go with a 7950 or 7970 over the 670... 2GB of vRAM is low for surround.

I pushed him toward a 7950 quite a few time and he alwais came back with Nvidia on the next post. I think he dont like AMD ...

 

[Knufire]

Then don't push him, just tell him that a 7950/7970 is better for multimonitor resolutions and that getting a GTX670 for his purposes would not be the optimal choice. Plain and simple. .