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Can someone explain the state of SLI to me?

Rasseru

Rasseru

Rasseru

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Joined
17 Jan 2017
Posts
586
I've just had a refresh of system after a long hiatus, and wow, a few things have shocked me.

One of them is SLI being borked. What happened? I bought a 1080 with the presumption was that I could just whack another 1080 in, and SLI my new 4K screen.

Apparently not. Can someone give me a laymans rundown on wtf happened to lovely SLI?
 
SLI still works as far as it goes - however advanced features of DX11 and DX12 in general don't tend to be particularly compatible with multi GPU (or need tons of work) which has meant that multi GPU (both SLI and Crossfire) hasn't had the love lately it used to.
 
I found sli fine performance wise. Games like BF1 and Overwatch showed good increases. My only gripe was noise and temperatures.
 
not sure Vulkan even supports SLI yet

I think what has happened is in order to optimize games for SLI developers see it as a low priority and pain-in-the-neck due to the low adoption rate of SLI systems. I think it will always be a problem until the hardware can configure itself to run any game in an SLI mode without driver updates or developer support. Certain games are fine I guess those that have Nvidia and AMD engineers come in and help with things.
 
Rasseru said:
I've just had a refresh of system after a long hiatus, and wow, a few things have shocked me.

One of them is SLI being borked. What happened? I bought a 1080 with the presumption was that I could just whack another 1080 in, and SLI my new 4K screen.

Apparently not. Can someone give me a laymans rundown on wtf happened to lovely SLI?
Click to expand...

Game development for SLI is very low priority because they know that a single GPU can power 2560*1440 with ease. Given that most people game at that Res and below, then there is very little incentive to invest the time and money in it. Most new games that do support mGPU are doing so on a legacy basis with the game engine they are using.

SLI is a waste of time and money now.
 
BigBANGtheory said:
not sure Vulkan even supports SLI yet

I think what has happened is in order to optimize games for SLI developers see it as a low priority and pain-in-the-neck due to the low adoption rate of SLI systems. I think it will always be a problem until the hardware can configure itself to run any game in an SLI mode without driver updates or developer support. Certain games are fine I guess those that have Nvidia and AMD engineers come in and help with things.
Click to expand...
Just as well there's only one Vulcan game then ;)

I have been considering adding in another 1080 given the recent price drops and I suspect in the games I play I would get some benefits but need a 4K screen first.
 
Im thinking of getting a second 1070 to sli at 4k soon with prices going down.

Main reason is ive always wanted too but never tried it before. I know it makes more sence to sell and get a ti but **** it :p
 
Well i've got the 4K screen, and some games just need a little extra... I think i'll wait until the amd & nv throw the next punches.


edit* hmm a cheaper 1080 is so tempting! trying to work out if its worth it
 
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I use older 980tis, they still work fine for me, been running 4k fine for a while. If a AAA game doesnt support SLI ya just have to go medium settings unfortunately.
 
mGPU as a whole just isn't worth it anymore, unless your favourite game(s) supports it and scales well, and even then a single driver or game update can break it.
 
Not used SLI since the Titan X Maxwell and I detested it for a couple of reasons. One being that pretty much all of my games had microstutter. I only noticed it after going G-Sync mind but once seen, it can't be unseen, so if you are susceptible to it like me, it is a no no. The other thing was SLI just wasn't working in newer games or when it was working, was barely giving me more frames over a single card. I have also noticed that this is only getting worse with more and more developers ignoring mGPU users and focusing on single card users.
 
Gregster said:
The other thing was SLI just wasn't working in newer games or when it was working, was barely giving me more frames over a single card. I have also noticed that this is only getting worse with more and more developers ignoring mGPU users and focusing on single card users.
Click to expand...
And another thing you missed...

The crazy cost to go high end SLI these days....:(
2x 1080ti = £1400
2x Titan X = £2360
 
If SLI scaled 100% then you could have saved the £750 cost of a 1080 and bought 2*1060 instead. Which is another indication why SLI is not being supported and is dying.
 
Gregster said:
Not used SLI since the Titan X Maxwell and I detested it for a couple of reasons. One being that pretty much all of my games had microstutter. I only noticed it after going G-Sync mind but once seen, it can't be unseen, so if you are susceptible to it like me, it is a no no. The other thing was SLI just wasn't working in newer games or when it was working, was barely giving me more frames over a single card. I have also noticed that this is only getting worse with more and more developers ignoring mGPU users and focusing on single card users.
Click to expand...

That would drive me insane..
 
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