EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked Video Cards in SLI

We find out what kind of performance a $2,000 video card setup gives us in the form of two EVGA GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked video cards in SLI mode.

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16 minutes & 19 seconds read time

Introduction

EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked Video Cards in SLI 02

Since we finally got ahold of the GTX TITAN we looked at the EVGA GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked in a standalone review, along with a look at the overclocking performance. If the performance of the GTX TITAN SuperClocked from EVGA out of the box wasn't enough, then what it was capable of when we overclocked was really amazing.

Probably with no need to throw a second card into the mix due to the mind blowing performance with just a single card, we thought that we should throw a second card into the mix, anyway. Not because we need to, but because we can, and if you know us at TweakTown, you would know that's reason enough for us to do it.

The reason above is the same reason we'll take the time to overclock the two cards in SLI as well. While the GTX TITAN has sat alone at the high-end for the last few months, it's now got some serious competition from AMD in the form of the new dual GPU Radeon HD 7990.

Due to the fact we've of course already looked at the card closer in the standalone review we mentioned previously, we won't be looking at it again today. Instead we'll move from here into our testbed setup. We'll then take a look at the setups you'll see in our graphs here today before we look at GPU-Z to make sure everything looks good.

From there it's straight into the performance to see just what we're able to get out of the EVGA GTX TITAN SuperClocked SLI setup.

Benchmarks - Test System Setup

EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked Video Cards in SLI 99

We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS and Corsair.

As you'd expect the setups we're using today are pretty much identical to what you've seen with our other recent GTX TITAN pieces. That means we've got the EVGA GTX TITAN SuperClocked running at its out of the box speeds along with it also overclocked to 975MHz on the core and 6224MHz QDR on the 6GB of GDDR5 memory.

Along with those two setups we've also got the reference GTX 650 Ti Boost in SLI along with the Gainward GTX 650 Ti Boost in SLI overclocked to over 1100MHz on the core and 6900MHz QDR on the memory. We've also got a couple of AMD setups in the form of the XFX HD 7790 Black Edition in CrossFire, the PowerColor HD 7950 2GB overclocked to over 1100MHz and the AMD HD 7970 GHz Edition to round things off.

EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked Video Cards in SLI 01

Before we get into the testing side of things we want to quickly make sure that everything looks correct under GPU-Z. Having a look above you can see we're dealing with the default SuperClocked clocks, which means the core comes in at 876MHz or 928MHz via boost. The 6GB of GDDR5 is left alone at 6008MHz QDR. The most important information here is the piece down the bottom, which tells us that SLI is enabled in the form of two GPUS.

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice and smooth gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS making sure that you can continue to aim easily or turn the corner with no dramas.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Why are some graphs incomplete?

Adding new game benchmarks is a long, tedious and time consuming task as every video card has to be re-tested in those new benchmarks. Because of that reason we have always just evaluated our benchmark line up every six months. To stay up to date and current with the latest benchmarks and games available, we've changed our approach to adding new benchmarks.

Our benchmark line up will progress and be updated as newer more intensive games with benchmarks comes to light. While this will mean that initially you may only see a single video card in those particular graphs, as the weeks go on and we test more and more video cards, the results will grow quickly. This will help keep our benchmark line up as up to date as possible as we introduce and remove games on a constant basis.

Benchmarks - 3DMark 11

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

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

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

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Straight out with 3DMark11 we expected strong performance gains and you can see them here - the best comes under the more intensive Extreme preset.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3

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

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

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Heaven sees some massive gains in performance. You can see that the TITAN SLI setup really separates itself in a big way.

Benchmarks - Phantasy Star Online 2

Phantasy Star Online 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.sega.com/?t=EnglishUSA

Product Homepage: http://www.pso2.com/us/html/index.html

Play Phantasy Star Online 2 and experience revolutionary combat in an action-driven, free-to-play multiplayer online RPG from SEGA. Take a journey into an immersive sci-fi fantasy narrative and explore mysterious worlds to unravel their secrets. Join fellow adventurers and fight against the legions of darkness to banish them from the galaxy.

Score explanation: Less than 2000: Please adjust your game settings because the processing load is quite heavy.

2000 through 5000: The game runs fine at the setting, if you have room, you can adjust some settings.

5001+: The game works wonderfully at this setting.

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Compared to the stock performance, you can see that performance is essentially doubled here, with just massive numbers being seen.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

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

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game, "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

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While we thought Lost Planet 2 was hitting a bit of a wall at around 170 FPS, we can see clearly that's not true here with just massive performance being seen with almost 200 FPS being seen at 2560 x 1600.

Benchmarks - Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Dark Tower

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

Product Homepage: http://www.justcause.com/

Just Cause 2 employs the Avalanche Engine 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in Just Cause. The game is set on the other side of the world from the original Just Cause, on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Panau has varied terrain, from desert to alpine to rainforest. Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist, aiming to overthrow the evil dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay and confront his former mentor, Tom Sheldon.

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Just Cause 2 continues the trend of massive performance and you can see that there's just no problem gaming at any single screen resolution with the GTX TITAN in SLI.

Benchmarks - F1 2012

F1 2012

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com

In F1 2012 players will feel the unparalleled thrill of becoming a FORMULA ONE driver with a host of new features, wide-ranging technical and gameplay advancements and extensive competitive and co-operative multiplayer components. F1 2012 will feature all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including the debut of the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX at Austin, Texas and the return of Germany's famous Hockenheim circuit to the calendar.

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F1 2012 performance goes back a little when we check out the performance of the GTX TITAN SLI setup. We'd be a little more worried if the average wasn't 135 FPS, though.

At this average we're talking about beautiful gameplay for even 120Hz monitor users.

Benchmarks - Metro 2033

Metro 2033

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.4a-games.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.thqnordic.com/

Metro 2033 is an action-oriented video game with a combination of survival horror and first-person shooter elements. The game is based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It was developed by 4A Games in Ukraine and released in March 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.[3] In March 2006, 4A Games announced a partnership with Glukhovsky to collaborate on the game.[4] The game was announced at the 2009 Games Convention in Leipzig;[5] a first trailer came along with the announcement.[6] A sequel was announced, currently titled Metro: Last Light.

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Metro 2033 sees a bit of a wall being hit at around the 150 FPS mark so the gains at the lower resolutions aren't as strong. At 2560 x 1600, though, you can see we move from 79 FPS to a very solid 128 FPS.

Benchmarks - Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/dirtshowdown/360/

DiRT Showdown is the new arcade racing game from the team that brought you the award-winning DiRT series, uncaged in 2012. Pick up and play controls combine with electrifying events, frenzied crowds and stunning graphics to deliver high octane, dive in and drive thrills from event one.

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You can see with a single card running at stock we're just in the 60 FPS area at 2560 x 1600. Throw a second card into the mix and we're tipping just over 100 FPS, hence ensuring very solid gameplay.

Benchmarks - Nexuiz

Nexuiz

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.alientrap.org/

Product Homepage: http://www.nexuiz.com/

Nexuiz is an Arena First Person shooter coming soon to consoles. Nexuiz is fast paced with extremely competitive game play. IllFonic brings Alientrap Software's Nexuiz to next-gen gaming consoles around the world while staying true to the game play refined over the years through development. IllFonic introduces a new Victorian influenced art style that is simultaneously futuristic and sophisticated. Nexuiz for consoles is powered by CryENGINE 3.

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I really thought it would be a while before we saw Nexuiz throw out numbers in the 100's, but you can see at 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 we're able to break the 100 FPS number. With all that power, though, you can see at 2560 x 1600, we do fall short of 60 by just a few FPS.

Benchmarks - Sniper Elite V2

Sniper Elite V2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://sniperelitev2.com/us/age.html

Sniper Elite V2 features detailed sniping simulation with advanced ballistics, taking into account gravity, wind, velocity, bullet penetration, aim stability and more. Guaranteed to provide players with the most realistic simulation of military sharpshooting yet available.

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Here we see huge numbers across the board as we see the GTX TITAN SLI setup just makes gaming at any resolution perfect with this title.

Benchmarks - Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://eu.square-enix.com/en

Product Homepage: http://www.sleepingdogs.net/

The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which to move around freely. Sleeping Dogs is played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. On foot, the player character has the ability to walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles and swim, as well as use weapons and martial arts in combat. Players also drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats, and motorcycles.

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Sleeping Dogs numbers are strong across the board, but you can see we're clearly hitting a wall at around the 140 FPS mark. This is a good number to be hitting a wall at, though, as we are getting some perfect numbers for people who are using 120Hz displays.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01

Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long

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

Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com/

Buy It Here

The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

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Far Cry 2 numbers as you'd expect are massive across the board. We don't see much in terms of gains, though, due to the already huge numbers being seen with a single GTX TITAN.

Benchmarks - Hitman Absolution

Hitman Absolution

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.ioi.dk/

Product Homepage: http://hitman.com/

Hitman: Absolution is an action-adventure stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Square Enix. It is the fifth entry in the Hitman game series, and runs on IO Interactive's proprietary Glacier 2 game engine. Before release, the developers stated that Absolution would be easier to play and more accessible, while still retaining hardcore aspects of the franchise. The game was released on 20 November 2012, which is in the 47th week of the year (in reference to the protagonist, Agent 47).

EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked Video Cards in SLI 32

It's becoming consistent that Hitman Absolution hits this mid 50 FPS minimum wall and high 60 FPS average wall. We really wish that these numbers would be a bit higher, especially for people with 120Hz displays.

We clearly have enough power on hand to push those FPS higher, but we're hitting a limit.

Benchmarks - Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

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

Product Homepage: http://www.tombraider.com/us/base/agegate?refer=184&

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure platform video game. Published by Square Enix, Tomb Raider is the fifth title developed by Crystal Dynamics in the Tomb Raider franchise. As the first entry in a new Tomb Raider continuity, the game is a reboot that emphasizes the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character Lara Croft. Tomb Raider was released on 5 March 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows to universal critical acclaim.

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Tomb Raider performance is extremely strong across the board. We've got some massive gains and just overall some really playable numbers with an 81 FPS minimum being seen at even the highest resolution.

Benchmarks - BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://irrationalgames.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.bioshockinfinite.com

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game and the third installment in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games and was released worldwide on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms on March 26, 2013. BioShock Infinite is not part of the storyline of previous BioShock games but features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

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BioShock Infinite performance is fantastic. We've got both strong gains and extremely playable numbers at all resolutions with a solid 104 FPS present at 2560 x 1600.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF

High Quality AA and AF

While we test all our games with maximum in-game settings, turning on Anti-Aliasing (AA) and Antistrophic Filtering (AF) helps take the intensity of our testing to another level.

Here we see video cards go from playable FPS to an unplayable FPS and the real power houses continue to help break that 60 FPS mark we always aim for to provide a smooth gaming experience.

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It's no surprise that performance under Far Cry 2, when even AA and AF is turned on, remains strong. We'll see how everything looks when we get into some of our other AA and AF tests, though.

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Metro 2033 is looking strong and a 140 FPS average at 1920 x 1200 is great for 120Hz monitor users.

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Just Cause 2 performance is huge. We've got strong gains at both resolutions and just strong numbers overall.

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Sleeping Dogs is super intensive when AA and AF is turned on and you can see some strong gains are present. With all this power we just get over the 60 FPS hurdle at the highest resolution.

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

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Throwing a second card into the mix really does nothing to heat. We're running a little warmer at idle, but you can see compared to the single card, the load temperature is the same.

Sound Test

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

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Noise levels are slightly elevated, but definitely not at a level that bothers us, especially considering the amount of performance on offer.

Power Consumption Test

Using our PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

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Power draw is high at almost 850 watts at load. If you're investing in a $2,000 video card setup, though, we would like to think you've also invested in a quality and high-wattage PSU, like the Corsair AX1200 that we use.

Final Thoughts

There's a clear argument that most people don't need a $2,000 video card setup, and the same could be said about a single $1,000 video card. People will also argue that what's the point of all this FPS performance, because as soon as you're over 30 FPS, the eye can't tell the difference. Any gamer will tell you that's an invalid argument, though.

The push for 120Hz displays as well means that we're able to make greater use of the FPS that are put on offer by setups like the GTX TITAN in SLI. Sure, it's not going to be for everyone because of the price tag, and if you're on a smaller screen that is only 1680 x 1050, we'd say you're wasting your money. We'd probably almost argue the same thing if you're on a 60Hz 1920 x 1080 screen, too.

Outside of the 120Hz point, though, the aggressive pricing that we're already seeing on 4k resolution screens means that it's a clear option for people, especially those who have the ability to drop $2,000 on a video card setup. You have to figure on top of that we've got another couple of thousand going into the rest of the system with RAID SSD drives, Extreme Edition processor and a ton of RAM to name just a few of the costly things that surround a video card setup like this.

If you've got the money and you've got the equipment to really make use of this kind of setup, we really wouldn't hesitate recommending it one bit. With the latest rumors also putting the upcoming GTX 700 series from NVIDIA to compete and replace the current GTX 600 series cards and replace them instead of coming out and replacing the $1,000 GTX TITAN, the purchase of this video card(s) becomes a lot more attractive, knowing that in two months it's not going to be replaced with something that is faster and costs less.

The only other thing we really want to check out is the performance of this TITAN SLI setup when we overclock it, as we saw some awesome gains when overclocking just a single card. While the gains won't be all that necessary in some areas, knowing just what you can get out of a $2,000 video card setup is going to be really interesting indeed. Stick around for that article soon at TweakTown.

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Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

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