Thanks guys for all your reply, just get back from work, and I will reply one by one
1) Eyefinity works with Crossfire. Nvida surround
requires you to have multiple cards anyway.
2) I believe HD7970 6GB Triple Crossfire would give you the most FPS, but as of now Crossfire has some serious issues (micro-stuttering). So, I'd say go with the GTX770's, especially since they are 4GB models. GTX780 might run into trouble way sooner than the GTX770 at that behemoth of a resolution, because of lack of memory (i.e. 3GB). However, if you are waiting for the 4930K, I say evaluation the situation then. AMD might have a proper fix by that time for their Crossfire issues. However, if you are thinking about a 4th card, then Nvidia doesn't seem to officially support quad SLI saying that the driver doesn't perform very well after tri-SLI and the gains are not worth it. The best thing would be to wait for the 4930K, hopefully the HD8970 would be out by then and you will have the crossfire fix as well. HD8970 would (it better!) perform better than HD7970 and GTX770.
3) I think waiting for the 4930K would solve a lot of your questions.
4) The rumours are that they will come out in Q3. But rumours are rumours. If you can wait, I'm sure you will get served well.
Bottom line is,
If you cannot wait: get the 4770K, MVIE, GTX770 x3 and be done with it.
If you can wait a month: AMD's supposed Crossfire fix driver would come out in June or July. I'd say wait and see how it goes. You will still have to go with the 4770K setup.
If you can wait about 3-4 months: Compare 4930K's performance to 4770K. Hopefully HD8970 would be out by then. Hopefully AMD will have fixed their driver problems. You will probably go with 4930K and 8970 Tri-CFX. Who knows
Thanks for your detailed explanation, but I got more to ask after reading.
About the micro-stuttering, I believe it does existing in any multicard configuration (please correct me if I am wrong).
The reason I am having trouble is based on some information I have here.
Comparing with GTX770 with 7970 and GTX 780, that GTX 770 is a type of video card that just a rebrand from GTX 680 even with 4GB vram, but the architecture is last generation which leaves this card a bad position, as it is good but it is dated and it has its own trouble which is the memory bandwidth, we all can see both N and A is moving toward at least 384 bit, A maybe even goes with higher than than(who knows spec comes with the 8xxx).
And as for GTX 780, is has good bandwidth, but lack of Vram (why not 4 GB/6 GB), plus it is over priced(15% performance gain but almost 67% price increment comparing with GTX 770 even 4 GB version), if it is comes with 6GB ram I might willing to sell one of my kidney along with leg and arm for two of them
For Titain, it is a top notch card nothing complaint about, but it cost my entire body which I needed for other pieces in the rig
Lastly not the least, 7970 3GB is lack of Vram and 6 GB might have problem to utilize the memory pool?
Waiting for 4930k will lead me towards AMD 8 card for sure, if A releases them in Q3(fringer crossed).
in summary, if I don't want to wait my best bet maybe 7970 6gb CF for now, as the third card will pump the price for video card towards $1800+. On the otherhand, if I could wait long enough, I may get 4930k with x79 platform and 8970 cards?
Thanks again
As of GTX680, it is possible to run nVidia surround on a single card.
Nice to know that N cards could support surround with only one card, but it won't handle these three monitors in a decent fps
This is good advice, though I would say, the less cards in SLI/Crossfire the better.
A 2 GPU setup will scale better than a 3 GPU setup, and will have far less multi GPU issues games will inevitably bring.
My vote is for the 780 x2
Yea, tri cf/sli will gain less performance against price, but GTX 780 with 3 Vram will not sufficient for these 1440p monsters
You do have a valid point. Those displays are real trouble eh? 3x 1440p is crazy.
But do you think 3GB VRAM would suffice? That's like running a single 1440p display with just 1GB card. I guess the best thing to do would be to wait for the 8970 and hope that the divers will be fixed and the card comes with 6GB VRAM at least. If he goes along with your recommendation, I guess he needs to upgrade the cards to Titans. Not for the raw performance (because once overclocked, both perform almost the same), but for that 6GB frame buffer.
the problem is the 1440ps, but for eye infinity, 24inchs will also run into vram issue just the matter of time, and titans are just too expensive, $1200+ each here
3 x 1440p is essentially begging for bad framerates.
Yeah, you're right, two titans for the memory would be great, shame they're so overpriced. Perhaps a 780 4 or 6GB option will get released.
"
hey all... just thought i'd share my experience so far...
only tested 1 game in surround and only running 1 gpu but damn am i happy i went 4gb!
Dirt 2 - 7950x1440 bezel corrected everything maxed out except AA (turned that off)
RAM Usage: Around 3400-3500mb
Avg FPS: 48
Lowest FPS: 40
VERY happy with that result given the high resolution and i'm only running 1 card on slightly old hardware just for a comparrison it used about 1300-1400mb at 2560x1440... the increased resolution really pushes up the vram requirements "
Thanks for your info, so I maybe need at least 4gb at least, as for future games I need 6GB maybe...which leaves me 7970, titan for current stage or 8970 later this year
1) Eyefinity works with Crossfire. Nvida surround
requires you to have multiple cards anyway.
2) I believe HD7970 6GB Triple Crossfire would give you the most FPS, but as of now Crossfire has some serious issues (micro-stuttering). So, I'd say go with the GTX770's, especially since they are 4GB models. GTX780 might run into trouble way sooner than the GTX770 at that behemoth of a resolution, because of lack of memory (i.e. 3GB). However, if you are waiting for the 4930K, I say evaluation the situation then. AMD might have a proper fix by that time for their Crossfire issues. However, if you are thinking about a 4th card, then Nvidia doesn't seem to officially support quad SLI saying that the driver doesn't perform very well after tri-SLI and the gains are not worth it. The best thing would be to wait for the 4930K, hopefully the HD8970 would be out by then and you will have the crossfire fix as well. HD8970 would (it better!) perform better than HD7970 and GTX770.
3) I think waiting for the 4930K would solve a lot of your questions.
4) The rumours are that they will come out in Q3. But rumours are rumours. If you can wait, I'm sure you will get served well.
Bottom line is,
If you cannot wait: get the 4770K, MVIE, GTX770 x3 and be done with it.
If you can wait a month: AMD's supposed Crossfire fix driver would come out in June or July. I'd say wait and see how it goes. You will still have to go with the 4770K setup.
If you can wait about 3-4 months: Compare 4930K's performance to 4770K. Hopefully HD8970 would be out by then. Hopefully AMD will have fixed their driver problems. You will probably go with 4930K and 8970 Tri-CFX. Who knows
Thanks for your detailed explanation, but I got more to ask after reading.
About the micro-stuttering, I believe it does existing in any multicard configuration (please correct me if I am wrong).
The reason I am having trouble is based on some information I have here.
Comparing with GTX770 with 7970 and GTX 780, that GTX 770 is a type of video card that just a rebrand from GTX 680 even with 4GB vram, but the architecture is last generation which leaves this card a bad position, as it is good but it is dated and it has its own trouble which is the memory bandwidth, we all can see both N and A is moving toward at least 384 bit, A maybe even goes with higher than than(who knows spec comes with the 8xxx).
And as for GTX 780, is has good bandwidth, but lack of Vram (why not 4 GB/6 GB), plus it is over priced(15% performance gain but almost 67% price increment comparing with GTX 770 even 4 GB version), if it is comes with 6GB ram I might willing to sell one of my kidney along with leg and arm for two of them
For Titain, it is a top notch card nothing complaint about, but it cost my entire body which I needed for other pieces in the rig
Lastly not the least, 7970 3GB is lack of Vram and 6 GB might have problem to utilize the memory pool?
Waiting for 4930k will lead me towards AMD 8 card for sure, if A releases them in Q3(fringer crossed).
in summary, if I don't want to wait my best bet maybe 7970 6gb CF for now, as the third card will pump the price for video card towards $1800+. On the otherhand, if I could wait long enough, I may get 4930k with x79 platform and 8970 cards?
Thanks again
As of GTX680, it is possible to run nVidia surround on a single card.
Nice to know that N cards could support surround with only one card, but it won't handle these three monitors in a decent fps
This is good advice, though I would say, the less cards in SLI/Crossfire the better.
A 2 GPU setup will scale better than a 3 GPU setup, and will have far less multi GPU issues games will inevitably bring.
My vote is for the 780 x2
Yea, tri cf/sli will gain less performance against price, but GTX 780 with 3 Vram will not sufficient for these 1440p monsters