How many cards do you need?
It's clear that multiple video cards boost performance. Below we made a list with how many cards you need to achieve 60 fps, for each resolution, quality setting and game we tested. You can see that a single GTX 780 is sufficient in almost all cases for Full HD and maximum settings. The GTX 770 and especially the 760 require a second one a lot of the time.
SLI provides the most benefit for the very high resolutions and maximum settings, which became clear in our 5760x1080 test. One card will rarely be enough here, especially with the quality settings turn up high. Six of the games didn't even achieve 60 fps with three GTX 780s in 5760x1080 with 4x AA.
| Product name | GTX 760 | GTX 770 | GTX 780 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metro 2033 - 1920x1080 - Medium | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Metro 2033 - 1920x1080 - Very High | 3 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Metro 2033 - 5760x1080 - Medium | no | 3 card(s) | 3 card(s) |
| Metro 2033 - 5760x1080 - Very High | no | no | no |
| The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim - 1920x1080 - Normal | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim - 1920x1080 - High 4x AA | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim - 5760x1080 - Normal | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim - 5760x1080 - High 4x AA | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Battlefield 3 - 1920x1080 - Medium - DoF 90 | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Battlefield 3 - 1920x1080 - Ultra 4x AA - DoF 90 | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Battlefield 3 - 5760x1080 - Medium - DoF 90 | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Battlefield 3 - 5760x1080 - Ultra 4x AA - DoF 90 | no | 3 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Crysis 2 DX11 - 1920x1080 - Very high Hi-res Edge AA | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Crysis 2 DX11 - 1920x1080 - Ultra Hi-res Edge AA | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Crysis 2 DX11 - 5760x1080 - Very high Hi-res-Edge AA | no | 3 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Crysis 2 DX11 - 5760x1080 - Extreme Hi-res-Edge AA | no | 3 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Unreal 3 DX11 Benchmark - 1920x1080 - Normal | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Unreal 3 DX11 Benchmark - 1920x1080 - High 4x MSAA | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Unreal 3 DX11 Benchmark - 5760x1080 - Normal | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Unreal 3 DX11 Benchmark - 5760x1080 - High 4x MSAA | 3 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Dirt: Showdown - 1920x1080 - Medium | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Dirt: Showdown - 1920x1080 - Ultra 4x AA | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Dirt: Showdown - 5760x1080 - Medium | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Dirt: Showdown - 5760x1080 - Ultra 4x AA | 3 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Max Payne 3 - 1920x1080 - Normal 16x AF | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Max Payne 3 - 1920x1080 - Highest 16x AF 2x AA | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Max Payne 3 - 5760x1080 - Normal 16x AF | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Max Payne 3 - 5760x1080 - Highest 16x AF 2x AA | 3 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 3 card(s) |
| Far Cry 3 - 1920x1080 - Medium | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Far Cry 3 - 1920x1080 - Ultra 4xAA | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Far Cry 3 - 5760x1080 - Medium | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Far Cry 3 - 5760x1080 - Ultra 4xAA | no | no | no |
| Hitman: Absolution - 1920x1080 - Medium | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Hitman: Absolution - 1920x1080 - High 4x AA | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Hitman: Absolution - 5760x1080 - Medium | no | no | no |
| Hitman: Absolution - 5760x1080 - High 4x AA | no | no | no |
| Crysis 3 - 1920x1080 - Medium | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Crysis 3 - 1920x1080 - Very High 4x AA | no | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Crysis 3 - 5760x1080 - Medium | 3 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Crysis 3 - 5760x1080 - Very High 4x AA | no | no | no |
| Tomb Raider - 1920x1080 - Normal | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Tomb Raider - 1920x1080 - Ultra 4x AA | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) |
| Tomb Raider - 5760x1080 - Normal | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Tomb Raider - 5760x1080 - Ultra 4x AA | no | no | no |
| BioShock Infinite - 1920x1080 - Medium | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| BioShock Infinite - 1920x1080 - Ultra DDOF | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| BioShock Infinite - 5760x1080 - Medium | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| BioShock Infinite - 5760x1080 - Ultra DDOF | no | no | no |
| Metro Last Light - Medium - 1920x1080 | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Metro Last Light - Very High - 1920x1080 | 2 card(s) | 2 card(s) | 1 card(s) |
| Metro Last Light - Medium - 5760x1080 | no | no | no |
| Metro Last Light - Very high - 5760x1080 | no | no | no |

