Intel Core i7-4960X 3-way SLI Gaming Performance Scaling
Category : 2014
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 11.04.14
In our 3-way SLI gaming performance scaling articles we're going to investigate 3-way SLI scaling factors with different CPUs and different clock speeds. In eight recent games and two theoretical benchmarks we want to find out what difference 3-way SLI makes, when we run benchmarks with the CPU at stock clocks as well as overclocked to 4.5 GHz. Let's kick off with an Intel 4960X CPU and three ASUS GTX 780 DirectCU II graphics cards and find out what the differences are going to be like.



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Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Test Setup

Hardware

Mainboard
  • ASUS X79-DELUXE
CPUs
  • Intel Core i7-4960X @ Stock (Turbo On)
  • Intel Core i7-4960X @ 4.5GHz (Turbo On)
Memory
  • 4x4GB Corsair Dominator Platinum @ CL9-9-9-24 1T DDR3-1600 MHz
Graphic Cards (Driver)
  • 3 x ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DC2 OC @ 889 MHz / 1'500 MHz
Drivers
  • NVIDIA Forceware 332.21
Games and OS
  • Windows 7 x64 (Up to date on the 25/07/2013
  • All games were up to date on the 25/07/2013)
HDD
  • OCZ Technology Octane 512 GB SSD
PSU
  • Seasonic Patinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts



Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

3DMark - Fire Strike



Overall Score SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 14'261 17'605 23.44 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 14'863 18'985 27.73 %
  More is better


GPU Score SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 18'175 25'202 38.66 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 18'237 25'301 38.73 %
  More is better





Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset



Basic Preset SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 6'463 6'720 3.97 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 6'584 6'780 2.98 %
  More is better



Extreme Preset SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 2'749 3'840 39.68 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 2'990 3'850 28.76 %
  More is better




Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

BattleField 4



1280 x 1024, Low details SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 169.41 169.53 0.07 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 172.82 173.05 0.13 %
  More is better


1920 x 1080, max details, max AA, max AF SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 108.29 108.32 0.30 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 117.21 117.29 0.07 %
  More is better




Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

BattleField 3



1280 x 1024, Low details SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 183.27 193.29 5.46 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 185.35 201.43 8.67  %
  More is better



1920 x 1080, max details, max AA, max AF SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 132.54 142.43 7.46 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 133.85 143.90 7.51 %
  More is better




Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Bioshock Infinite - Benchmark



1280 x 1024, Low details SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 268.39 272.65 1.59 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 342.61 343.61 0.30 %
  More is better


1920 x 1080, max details, max AA, max AF SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 244.70 246.23 0.63 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 291.18 295.55 1.50 %
  More is better



Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Crysis 3



1280 x 1024, Low details SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 136.29 139.06 2.03 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 160.82 164.70 2.41 %
  More is better


1920 x 1080, max details, max AA, max AF SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 87.10 94.32 8.29 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 95.70 110.21 15.16 %
  More is better




Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Call of Duty Black Ops 2



1280 x 1024, Low details SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 517.70 528.20 2.02 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 656.12 670.97 2.26 %
  More is better


1920 x 1080, max details, max AA, max AF SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 257.81 391.40 51.81 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 278.02 410.54 47.67 %
  More is better




Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Sleeping Dogs - Benchmark



1280 x 1024, Low details SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 195.2 195.47 0.13 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 233.8 234.98 0.50 %
  More is better


1920 x 1080, max details, max AA, max AF SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 64.5 70.80 9.76 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 108.2 115.30 6.56 %
  More is better



Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim



1280 x 720, Low details SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 310.24 311.25 0.33 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 357.37 358.98 0.45 %
  More is better


1920 x 1080, All set to Max SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 133.20 133.50 0.23 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 153.85 156.50 1.72 %
  More is better




Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Metro: Last Light - Benchmark



1280 x 1024,  Preset low SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 143.24 145.68 0.57 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 168.78 170.20 0.90 %
  More is better


1920 x 1080, Preset high SLI 3-Way SLI Scaling
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 65.48 65.50 0.30 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 68.85 68.90 0.72 %
  More is better




Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Power Consumption

idle SLI 3-Way SLI Index
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 101 Watt 130 Watts 28.71 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 162 Watt 190 Watts 17.28 %
  less is better


Furmark SLI 3-Way SLI Index
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 535 Watt 792 Watts 48.04 %
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 640 Watt 890 Watts 39.06 %
 

less is better




Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Scaling Factors

Games

3DMark Overall
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.23
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.28
 
3DMark GPU Score
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.39
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.39
 
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Basic
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.04
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.03
 
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.40
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.29
 
BattleField 4 Low
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 0.00
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 0.00
 
BattleField 4 High
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 0.00
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 0.00
 
Battlefield 3 Low
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.05
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.09
 
Battlefield 3 High
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.07
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.07
 
Bioshock Infinite Low
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.01
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.00
 
Bioshock Infinite High
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 0.00
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.01
 
Crysis 3 Low
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.01
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.01
 
Crysis 3 High
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.09
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.01
 
Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Low
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.01
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.01
 
Call of Duty Black Ops 2 High
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.52
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.48
 
Sleeping Dogs Low
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 0.00
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 0.00
 
Sleeping Dogs High
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.09
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.07
 
Skyrim Low
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.00
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.00
 
Skyrim High
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.00
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.02
 
Metro: Last Light Low
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.00
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.00
 
Metro: Last Light High
Intel Core i7-4960X Stock 1.00
Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G 1.00
  More is better



Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3  
[pagebreak]

Conclusion

As we already mentioned, this article marks the start of a new series, and we're going to show you test results und 3-Way-SLI scaling. Comparing to our 2-Way-SLI articles the conclusion is going to be quite a bit shorter. The reason is, that only with theoretical benchmarks we find consistent scaling and in case of games, well, they're just not optimized for 3-Way-SLI. Apparently there are no rules without exceptions.

Referring to 3DMark we see that the overall socre is between factor 1.23 and 1.28 (depending on our CPU preset) higher than with one card. Translated into the raw GPU score we see an scaling factor of 1.39, which is usually about the maximum scaling you get with 3-Way SLI. A closer look at Unigine Heaven reveals that in case of the basic preset scaling factor is 1.04 at stock frequencies and 1.03 with the CPU at 4.5 GHz. When it comes to the Extreme Preset then we see that the GPU has much more influence again, which is acutally rather obvious, since there is much higher load on the VGA(s). In this case scaling factor with standard clocks is 1.40 and with at 4.5 GHz we get 1.29.

Games on the other hand are a completely different story. Scaling factors at low resolutions vary from 1 to 1.09. 1 basically means, the fps didn't change at all and 1.09 marks a 9 percent increase in FPS. A 9 percent gain we measured using Battlefield 3 and running the CPU at 4.5 GHz.

Now lets focus on high resolution and high details, where the games cause quite some load on the two graphics cards. In this case the lowest scaling factor we find is simply 1.00. In fact, most of the games fps rates don't scale with adding a third graphics card. There is only Call of Duty Black Ops 2 where we've measured a significant increase, which means, the performance went up by 52 percent (a factor of 1.52).

Putting more than two graphics cards into a gaming PC is basically not going to affect frames per second in most games. There are only very few titles where triple SLI is supported. The only reasonable thing to use triple SLI for is for breaking world records. Only when running theoretical benchmarks we come accross consistent scaling and with most of the games, there is no difference at all.


Page 1 - Introduction Page 9 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Page 2 - Test Setup Page 10 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 3 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 11 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 12 - Metro: Last Light
Page 5 - BattleField 4 Page 13 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - BattleField 3 Page 14 - Scaling Factor
Page 7 - Bioshock Infinite Page 15 - Conclusion
Page 8 - Crysis 3