Multi GPU - The Hardcore Way

Conclusion

Where to start with this little number? Well lets look at performance, when would you need this setup in your machine? Firstly if you have a standard monitor 15", 17" or 19" then don't bother already, basically your monitor can't display the kind of resolutions that the setup's we've talked about would need in order to improve on a standard 2 card SLI machine. If however your running a 30" monitor which wants to run in a resolution of 2560X1600 then maybe you will some performance gain by plugging 3 or 4 top end cards together from either ATI or Nvidia. Also with the latest games taking advantage of these new systems and some already out such as Crysis releasing patches for performance improvements, you may start to get even more out of this setup, if you can bear to spend the money that is.

Performance obviously isn't the only thing in question though as we well know. Price has to be a factor here more than usual. 3 way SLI and Crossfire X are not upgrade paths from a machine you currently own, Firstly its unlikely that you motherboard can handle the setup, its also unlike it even has 3 or 4 16x PCI Express 2.0 slots to plug them in. So there lies the first extra expense, then of course is the power supply, 1100W in your PC at the moment? I guess not. Well you'd better go and look for one really as the awesome power requirements of running a multi graphics system probably require more that what you have. 3 Geforce 8800 Ultra's alone will use over 500W, remember that's 500 Watts just for the graphics cards, nothing else. Then you have the motherboard hard drives, DVD drives, memory, sound card, networking and what ever else you have on your PC draining its power. Extra cooling will also be required keep a steady airflow inside your PC, its essential that you have this or lockups due to overheating are inevitable. This may involve a change of case to house the extra cards and still have room for the extra cooling equipment. Anyway without babbling too much, this is an expensive task and does not involve simply buying the extra graphics cards.

I've mentioned the power requirements there so no need to delve further except in this day and age I should mention how completely unfriendly to the environment this type system really is. 1100W more powerful that your microwave, about on par with the kettle or the Hoover, not a lot you might think but these items are only used for short spells. If your looking at setting up a system like this, then your a PC addict and are going to have it on most of the time. Any thoughts on how much that's going to cost when it comes to the electricity bill. But if you ca afford 3 Geforce 8800 Ultra's then you probably wont worry about it.

Bottom line, not for many people this, but if your going for that large monitor and you want the best out of it, then adding extra graphics power to your rig will give you that bit extra, oh and probably will future proof it for quite a while to come. Value however really isn't there for the majority of us, the extra performance just isn't enough to warrant all that money. It will be a lot better when CrossfireX and 3 way SLI are introduced on mainstream graphics cards for a true upgrade path for the average gamer and PC user.