Yet Another Question about my Gaming Rig

[RikuoAmero]

I still haven't completed my gaming rig, just have to wait for my current credit card bill to be paid and then I can order the graphics cards and power supply. However, I'm looking into editing my build a little.

I had a look at my motherboard

www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68_DELUXE/

and realised that with what's written in my signature below, I'm not going to be using all the available slots.

So I'm thinking of adding a THIRD graphics card, for PhysX and having the two Zotac's act as render cards. However, here we run into a problem. I'm planning also on adding a sound card. If you go to that link above and check out the first photo of the mobo, here's how the cards would have to be arranged.

The first Render Card will go in the blue PCI-E x16 slot on the far right. Depending on its orientation, it will block off one of the PCI-E x1 slots to either side of it. I'm hoping it'll block off the x1 slot next to the light blue PCI slot, because the other one is too close for comfort to the radiator of my Corsair H80.

The second render card will go in the white PCI-E x16 slot in the middle. Depending on orientation, it will block off one of the light blue PCI slots to either side of it.

The PhysX card will go in the black PCI-E x16 slot (that is set at x4 speeds, I won't need more than that for PhysX).

Best case scenario for my build is something like this.

http://postimage.org/image/yao7x972z/

Now, here's what I need suggestions on. I want to know of a good Geforce card that must

1) Preferably be SINGLE SLOT.

2) Must not slow down or bottleneck the two main render cards (two Zotac Geforce GTX 560 Ti AMP!). I've seen a Linus Tech Tips video, where he showed how a Geforce GTX 580 was being slowed down by a GTS 8600 acting as a PhysX card.

3) Not be water-cooled. As this is my first setup, I'm doing air-cooling (apart from the CPU, which as I mentioned is liquid-cooled by the Corsair H80).

In my best scenario, the card can then be dual slot, as I'll have the room to put it in. I'll know for sure once I buy my two render cards.

Now, the sound card will have to either be PCI-E x1 or regular old PCI. If it turns out that there are no single-slot Geforce GPU's that won't slow down two 560 Ti's, then I can use the black x16 slot for the sound card.

[† ballard]

A GT 440 would be a good physx card, and there are several out there that only take up 1 slot. If you could find a single slot GTS 450 I would go with that instead.

[RikuoAmero]

I might go with this instead

http://www.amazon.com/Sparkle-Computer-MiniHDMI-Graphics-SXS4501024D5SNS/dp/B004OJK6SY/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

A single slot GTS 450. Unless I'm wrong, its the amount of CUDA cores that determine how well a card works at PhysX, and a GTS 450 has 192, compared to your suggestion Ballard, of a GT 440, which has only 96. Plus, at a graphics clock of 783MHz, its not too far off my Zotac's (950 MHz). The Linus Tech Tips video I mention above, he had a GTX 580 (772 MHz) being bogged down by a 500 MHz card.

Anyway, what I plan to do is get my power supply and graphics cards first, see how they can be arranged in my case, then get a sound card (I'll need one for my headset, especially when listening to videos that have a DTS track, to convert DTS to Dolby, which is what my headset needs). I'll then play a few PhysX heavy games, like Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, and see if my computer can get a good framerate with highest settings, 1080p and highest PhysX with just the two Zotac's. If Arkham City runs slow in that case, I'll get the GTS 450.

However, in the event of getting the GTS 450, I'll be left facing a NEW problem...god, I just can't stop can I Basically, at that point, once the GTS 450 is installed, all I'll have left ports wise is one PCI-E x1 and one PCI. I haven't heard of any PCI-E x1 sound cards, and having done a quick browse of PCI sound cards, none of them had digital optical out ports, they were all analog. So, I'll be looking for a good PCI-E x1 or PCI sound card, with optical.

So yeah...I just can't stop running into problems can I? I actually don't foresee myself being slowed down by PhysX, even in Arkham City (which is one of the few very PhysX-heavy games out there), but I have to plan ahead.

Thanks Ballard for your suggestion anyway. And all the other guys here on Kametsu for all your help. I made a few mistakes when I picked out my motherboard and case (for example, the case has a couple of features I won't be using at all, and I should have gone with a PCI-E 3.0 compatible mobo). Anyway, I now know for my next computer what to be looking for, and what to avoid.

[ZeroPenguins]

Sorry I can't help you out this time, I don't normally use dual GPUs and I only use ATi/AMD cards since they are cheaper to buy. But since this is all sorted out, tell us how the build comes out. I would like to see some photos =)

[† ballard]

I suggested a single slot GTS 450 as well .

Good stuff, I'm glad that you were able to find one for a fair price. If you do decide to get it I'd like to know how much of a difference it makes. I've been thinking about getting a physx card, but haven't decided if it's worth the money or not.

[dark4yoyo]

I just have to ask why actually add another card ? This is Z68, in SLI you'll already be running the pci express slots at 8x 8x and if you add another card it goes 8x 4x 4x. While 8x dosen't change much compared to 16x, 4x diminishes the performance somewhat. Plus you might want to keep a slot free next to the graphic cards as they do tend to heat up alot.

Seeing the rest of your rig (especially the PSU) I'm wondering why you didn't get 2x 580 or something like that (1000W PSU is enough for 2x gtx580).

And dual screen for what games ? For FPS' it's total crap (dual screen user myself I've tried).

To be able to run more than two graphic cards you need lga 1333 or 2011 because lga 1155 can only work with 16 pci express lanes. Even with only 2 graphic cards you'll have to run your sound card at pci express 2.0 x1 to keep your graphic cards at x8 x8 I think.