While Quad SLI launched 1.5 years ago with a few teething problems, NVIDIA appears to be off to a much smoother start with 3-Way SLI. Scaling was good in the apps we tested, particularly at 2560x1600. At this resolution, 3-Way SLI really shines. We saw nice improvements at 1920x1200 with 8xCSAA, but you may want to go even higher with your own system.
Of course, due to the extraordinary expense of 3-Way SLI, we don’t see this technology taking off anytime soon. You’ll have to invest in a $200+ nForce 680i or better motherboard, a 1,000W power supply, and three GeForce 8800 GTX or Ultra graphics cards; and don’t forget the 24” or 30” monitor. So clearly this technology isn’t designed for the average consumer who doesn’t game heavily. 3-Way SLI is intended for the hardcore gamer who craves the very best performance, and wants the best image quality available. For this type of consumer, NVIDIA's 3-Way SLI solution clearly delivers: this is the fastest graphics platform on the planet right now.
This is a very niche market, but clearly a market that both AMD and NVIDIA must feel is viable. After all, neither company would have spent the considerable R&D time and resources on this if they didn’t feel there was a market for it.
As we’ve told you in the past, the graphics subsystem plays the most significant role in gaming performance. Not the CPU. So if you want the best gaming performance possible, you should spend more money on graphics than the other system components.
With that being said though, we are disappointed that 3-Way SLI is only supported by NVIDIA’s most expensive GPUs, the GeForce 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra. While we realize that it’s the high-end GPUs that will show the most benefit thanks to the larger frame buffer and wider memory interface, there aren’t a lot of gamers who are willing to fork over $1,500 or more on their GPUs alone. It just isn’t practical for the enthusiast on a budget who would like to take advantage of 3-Way SLI.
NVIDIA needs to expand 3-Way SLI to cheaper GPUs like the GeForce 8800 GT and GTS 512MB. In theory, AMD already provides 3 and 4-Way CrossFire to GPUs dating all the way back to the Radeon X1950 Pro from last year, so there’s just no reason why NVIDIA shouldn’t trickle 3-Way technology down to other GPUs. Hopefully this issue will be addressed by NVIDIA shortly.
In the meantime, 3-Way GeForce 8800 Ultra/GTX is here now and its a screamer when it comes to performance. If you can afford it, this is as close to gaming nirvana as it gets...
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E Performance Review
Today marks the launch date for Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E line of processors, a new family of high-end Core i7 products based on the LGA 2011 platform. This new socket is poised to replace the existing LGA 1366 specification used by the more powerful Nehalem and Westmere parts from the past couple years, specifically Bloomfield and Gulftown, the Core i7-9xx+ line of CPUs.
With 6 cores, 15MB of cache, and support for quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory, the Core i7-3960X sounds like quite a catch. Want to know more about it and how it performs? Read on!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
Stronghold 3 Review
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle and defending it against sieging enemies. Almost exactly one decade after the first game was released, this new title promises a return to the classic and well-received gameplay that has been strayed so far from in more recent iterations. Does it live up to those expectations? Will (AKA Synchronous Failure) tells us all about it in his first official FiringSquad review, so read on!
Battlefield 3 PC Review - Single-player Impressions
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally delivered a sequel to the core Battlefield franchise, a proper follow-up to BF2. Having played through the game's single-player campaign already, ahead of the multiplayer festivities kicking off around midnight, I figured I'd share my impressions ASAP. Is it really a worthy addition to the core Battlefield series, or just another bullet point on the back of the box? Read on and find out!
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited Supersonic Software Interview
Following up on our hands-on preview from earlier this month, here's an interview with Supersonic Software, creators of Wrecked: Revenge Revisited. The game's coming out on XBLA and PSN in a matter of weeks, but for now, Luke chats with the developer about its predecessors Mashed and Micro Machines, how difficult it can be to get an indie game published, the closure of Codemasters' Guildford branch, and more!
Orcs Must Die! PC Review Orcs Must Die! is the first release from an independent developer named Robot Entertainment. Fans of classic real-time strategy games may have heard that name before, as the outfit is comprised of many veterans from Ensemble Studios, creators of the Age of Empires series.
Equal parts action and strategy, this is a tower defense game that not only puts you in command, but on the front lines of combat, as well. Slaughter thousands of orcs, ogres and other vile creatures of fantasy that invade your fortresses through 24 levels of the story-based campaign. With high levels of replayability thanks to its scoring and leaderboard functionality, multiple difficulty levels, and various styles of play, it sounds a steal at only $15. Does it deliver on all that’s promised, though? Read on and find out!
1600x1200 benchmarks
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
SU
furl
