I went x79 with the intention on eventually going TRI-SLI. This week i saw an open box 680 signature on amazon for $407. Tax free with free shipping, this was a pretty good deal, especially considering amazon offers returns (craigslist and ebay have been selling these cards for the same amount with less favorable terms, such as added shiping or no returns. So props to amazon.
Card arrived in 2 days and it was actually brand new (just the box was damaged). I dug out my 3 way SLI connector from my R4F box and dropped the card in after wiring up my booster 3x. Booted up with no problems. Enabled SLI, (single screen) and tested Heaven at max settings and was getting 110+ fps. Switched to tri-screens, enabled fraps and precision, and played some crysis2. No problems so far, and with Crysis 2 on extreme settings at 5140x1050 i'm getting around 70 fps. Temps were ok (around 75 tops) and gpu utilization across all 3 cards was above 90%. (good!)
Question:
gtx680 has an 8 and also a 6 pin port. My psu has only 2 *8* pin and 4 6 pin pcie connections.
I have 2 options available to me:
1. the booster 3x has 2 6 pin outputs. I converted one of those 6 pin outputs to an 8 pin output via a connector. I then plugged that converted 8 pin, + the 6 pin from the booster directly into the card such that the entire 3rd card is powered only by the booster. This is my current state.
2. As an alternative, i could take both 6 pin outputs of the booster 3x and convert them into 1 8 pin (using a 2 to 1 adapter) then take one of the free 6 pin connectors from my psu for the other.
The psu is in my sig. keep in mind the psu is powering 2 other gtx 680s (by itself) as well as the cpu which has a minor overclock (4.3ghz).
which would be a better option? Someone mentioned problems with the booster 3s..
i'm thinking 300w from this device should be enough to handle one card by itself but if the units arent reliable maybe i shouldnt tax it so hard.
Motherboard Asus ROG Rampage IV Formula x79
CPU Intel i7 4820k Ivy Bridge-E @ 4.6ghz
GPU(s) 3 WAY SLI -- EVGA GTX 680 SC Signature (2GB)
Displays 5140x1050 @ 120hz using 3 x Samsung 2233RZ
RAM 16 GB 2133mhz G.Skill RipJaws Z
PSU LEPA G Series G1600-MA
Case Cooler Master Cosmos II Ultra
Storage Vertex 3 256 (Games), Intel 320 Series 128 (OS), + 4TB HDD