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The PC Perspective Podcast is your weekly stop for the latest PC tech news and reviews! Give it a listen!
SummaryThe following is a summary of the more detailed analysis of NVIDIA's new 3-Way SLI technology. For all the in-depth analysis and testing you'd expect from us, be sure to click this link to get all the details! 
When NVIDIA first reintroduced multi-GPU technologyto the gamer with the 6800 series of graphics card, most of the tech media and enthusiasts were skeptical to its longevity. I think anyone would have to agree now that NVIDIA has at least stuck with the plan of offering SLI technology at every generation even if there have been some issues along the way. 
The point of 3-Way SLI is easily described: to play today latest PC games at the highest image qualities and resolutions anywhere. NVIDIA likes to talk about how 3-Way SLI will finally enable gaming at “XHD” resolutions at 60 FPS and that it is the best way for “pro gamers” to play games, but in reality all that adds up to is the first point. High resolutions and high image quality settings are what we are after. The 3-Way SLI Platform NVIDIA is very much treating the release of its new 3-Way SLI technology as its own platform, and as well it should. System requirements and recommendations are going to be much different for a system built around three 8800 GTX or Ultra cards than just any old SLI system. Let’s start with the power supply as it is usually an area of early contention. According to NVIDIA’s own documentation, a 3-Way SLI system should have a power supply that can support 1100 watts of peak power. While that is high, this should include a high end Intel processor, a couple of hard drives in RAID 0, a 680i or 780i motherboard and other odds and ends. Our testing results will show three different configurations of our 3-Way SLI system: one with three 8800 Ultras, another with two 8800 Ultras in the standard dual-card SLI configuration and finally another with just a single Ultra card. This will allow us to see how the SLI performance scales from one to two to three cards and three times as much money. Also, in most cases you’ll see the new 8800 GTS 512MB card thrown in there for a fourth data point and to add real-world, real-money comparison into the mix. 
It would seem that I have been saying this pretty frequently about
NVIDIA, but I am once again pleasantly surprised by the performance of
this new product. Coming into my testing I was prepared to see some
applications scale when adding a third card but I did not expecting as
many different applications or as high a scaling percentages.
Pricing and Availability Let’s do the math real quick, according to our PC Perspective pricing engine: 1 x Intel E6850 – $277 1 x NV 680i SLI motherboard – $209 1 x 2GB DDR2 8500 Corsair memory – $150 3 x GeForce 8800 Ultra cards – $1887 1 x 3-Way SLI bridge card – $10 1 x 1000 watt Thermaltake PSU - $295 --------------------------------------------------------- Total (without case, hard drive, DVD, etc): $2828 That is the basic component cost for a great 3-Way SLI system. If you go with GTX cards rather than Ultra cards, you can knock another $462 off the price as you can pick those up for about $475 each now. Either way you are talking $1500-2000 in just GPU costs and that eats up a lot of allowance. If you went with the QX9650 processor that our Digital Storm computer came with, you’d be asking for a $1000 CPU instead of a $277 one and bumping up to 4GB of DDR2 memory make sense in this build too so add in some more money there. Accessorize with cases and hard drives as needed, and voila, a nice down payment on a house, err, I mean gaming system! In all seriousness though, NVIDIA knows this kind of setup is going to appeal to a mass audience and they don’t expect a big crowd to line up for 3-Way systems just yet. Gamers with a little bit more cash than most though can pony up though and get the ultimate gaming rig available on the market. Final Thoughts NVIDIA has just taken its performance lead in the world of high-end consumer graphics and trumped it by introducing 3-Way SLI to the world. Though we have some minor issues with what cards NVIDIA has setup for 3-Way SLI compatibility the fact is that the performance results from our testing are freaking incredible. There are definitely some major games that need to be addressed in future, Crysis being the most prominent, but our initial impressions proved quite pleasing. If you want the absolute fastest PC gaming platform, NVIDIA’s 3-Way SLI is your ticket to speed. Just be prepared to open that change purse a little further. Please join us in the forums to discuss this new technology! 
Be sure to use our pricing engine to find the best prices on NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards and anything else you might need: |
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