NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 in Tri SLI Tested

Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel Core 2 Quad QX9650 @ 4GHz (400MHz x 10)

Cooling: Swiftech Apogee GTX Block (CPU) 3x 120mm Radiator, MCP655-B Pump

Motherboard(s): EVGA 780i SLI

Memory: 2 X 2GB OCZ Reaper X 1066MHz DDR-2

Hard Disk(s): Western Digital Velociraptor 150GB 10,00RPM SATA

Operating System: Windows Vista SP1

Drivers: Forceware 175.16 (9 Series) 177.34 (GTX 280)

We've got three cards, 1620 Watts of PSU grunt and a bunch of benchmarks to run, so let's get straight into it.

3DMark06

Version and / or Patch Used: Build 110

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06/

Buy It Here

3DMark06 is the very latest version of the "Gamers Benchmark" from FutureMark. The newest version of 3DMark expands on the tests in 3DMark05 by adding graphical effects using Shader Model 3.0 and HDR (High Dynamic Range lighting) which will push even the best DX9 graphics cards to the extremes.

3DMark06 also focuses on not just the GPU but the CPU using the AGEIA PhysX software physics library to effectively test single and Dual Core processors.

In our first test we can see the SLI GTX 280 managing to come out slightly ahead of the GX2 Quad SLI setup. Tri SLI really gives us minimal gains here, though.