3-Way SLI + Physx Vs. 4-Way SLI

[Daibido1123]

Which has the better performance; 3 GTX 285 2GB in 3-Way SLI with a 9800GT for dedicated Physx, or 4 GTX 285 Classified in 4-Way SLI?
Second question is which one of these set-up's would be friendlier with an upgrade to the future 300 series Nvidia GPU's? I don't care about AMD or ATI, I'm not asking about that hardware, I'm asking about just NVidia's GPU's and which configuration would give me the best performance and upgrade-ability.

 

[synergy]

It also depends on your other hardware. CPU, memory, hard drive, they all play a part in performance. Either way, I think it's overkill for current games, but I think 4 285s would give the best performance as you will still get PhysX and there's no way each card will be fully utilized with the graphics.

 

[Hefemeister]

4 way but it is a bit overkill. What resolution are you trying to power? I would not drop a ton on dx10 cards right now.

 

[Daibido1123]

I'm not buying DX10 cards, but I am buying the upcoming DX11 300 series GPU's. what I'm asking is which layout using current tech would give the best performance, and upgrade to the DX11 300 series the best. Would the 4-way SLI configuration do best in performance using current tech, as well as would I still be able to do 4-way SLI 300 series GPUs and if so get same or better performance. Understand that 4-way SLI suffers from the same micro-stutter and frame rate bottle-necking issues as quad SLI; as well that EVGA is the only provider of the necessary hardware. Or would the tried and true 3-way SLI + dedicated Physx do better, seeing as the drivers for it are more stable and that upgrading of the parts to the 300 series would be less specialized.

My question is though which one preforms better and would upgrade to the 300 series GPU's better. 4-way SLI is good but the current controller of the custom Nvidia tech to make it happen is EVGA, plus 4-way SLI suffers from the same stutter problem as quad SLI dose, plus there is a problem of bandwidth saturation. 3-way SLI + Physx on the other hand is a tried and true method, the drivers are more stable, and the tech for it is less specialized like that for 4-way SLI. So in the end yes 4-way SLI tuned right would be best, but harder to upgrade, where 3-way SLI + Physx would be easier, but not as much of a performance power house. My problem is 1. which with current tech gives the best performance. 2. which one upgrades to the 300 series the easiest and best. Each has even numbers of prose and cons.

 

[Slaymate]

1. Performance will vary on both setups depending upon the game and how it's coded. So there is no correct answer.
2. They will both upgrade to the 300 series the same.

Personally I think both options are a waste of money at the moment. There's not a game available right now that (2) GTX 285's can't max out with PhysX enabled. If anything you should be looking at the 5870's or 5970's until the 300's come out.

 

[THRiLL KiLL]

i agree with slaymate.

pretty much it would give you bragging rights, but would be a giant waste of $$

 

[Slaymate]

i agree with slaymate.

pretty much it would give you bragging rights, but would be a giant waste of $$

What's Up TK

 

[THRiLL KiLL]

you tend to find the better fourms.

so in a nutshell im stalking you

 

[Slaymate]

I really like this one, it's friendly and most of the members are very helpful

 

[james.wired]

Except for me. I'm waaaay to dumb to even be allowed around here, and friendly? I'll bite your **** head off via hate mail.

All seriousness aside, welcome to Tech-Forums TK