Frame Rating: AMD Improves CrossFire with Prototype Driver

[LtMatt]

Pcper were the only site to actually get a sneak preview of the June scheduled latency fix driver, though it is far from ready for public release.
If you read the full review they say the 7990 has lower frame times than the 690 using this driver. Although both look good frame time wise to me so i can't see it making much difference.


A Great Start For AMD Crossfire

With today's release of both this article that analyzes a new prototype driver for CrossFire improvements AND the launch of the reviews for the AMD Radeon HD 7990 dual-Tahiti graphics card, it's a mixed bag for the company. On one hand, this new prototype driver has really impressed me and the amount of effort the company has put into completely reworking the Catalyst pipeline to address this issue is impressive! On the other hand, we are still weeks or months from the public availability of this software, and until then, the Radeon HD 7990 continues to look overpriced and overmatched.


When I was first briefed by AMD on the Radeon HD 7990 I strongly recommended that they delay the launch until they had a driver ready that would address the significant issues CrossFire was facing. They didn't though, so we are left to analyze the product as it stands today. I did so in my review - not mincing words.

With its performance completely dependent on CrossFire technology, the HD 7990 as a $1000 graphics card has a very hard time justifying its price. With our early testing of the Catalyst prototype driver showing positive results though, there is yet hope for CrossFire to be fixed in this generation, at least for single monitor users! But until that driver is perfected, is bug free and is presented to buyers as a made-for-primetime solution, I just cannot recommend an investment this large on the Radeon HD 7990.

If AMD is able to get a passable, beta version of this driver out to consumers in the mid-summer time frame as I am expecting, it will make the HD 7990 a much more appealing option for those people that want to spend $1000 on graphics cards. Not only that, but it will improve the performance of CrossFire users across the board and THAT is the reason we are writing our Frame Rating series and why we wanted to be sure to have this article ready for you as well. Pushing AMD to make these changes will help the community at large, and that was our goal.

Full Article
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-AMD-Improves-CrossFire-Prototype-Driver

 

[LtMatt]

If this is true, then AMD just nailed it, big-time.

The frame times are already good from the reviews ive seen. Better than what i get on my single card a lot of the time. I still think way too much is made of this. But, if they can fix this supposed runt frame issue then great. For me though, as long as the game looks good, feels smooth thats all that matters to me.

 

[LtMatt]

Smoothness is far more important than frame rates. I would rather have a game at 40fps that is smooth, than 80fps that is stuttering. Good work AMD but shame it wasn't ready for the 7990 release.

Smoothness is how it feels to me, not what numbers are telling me. If it feels smooth, its smooth. Doesn't matter what the time frame is or if there are runt frames.

 

[LtMatt]

I picked two at random, and the GTX690 still had the better frame times, the story is the same with Toms hardware.

So your opening statement has me confused.

bf3 - average frame time 22 - only beaten by a 690+titan
crysis 3 average frame time 31 - only beaten by a 690
dirt 3 - 11.4 - only beaten by a 690
farcry 3 - 35 - poor, but known game issue with needs fixing
max payne 3 - 16.6 only beaten by 690+titan
sleeping dogs 37 - the best by a long way
MOH - 22.4 - only beaten by 690+titan
hitman - 35 - tied for best with a titan

Those frame times are generally very good and this is on drivers with no fix for frame times or latency or even runt frames.

You have one GPU or have you bought another?

I've had many crossfire setups.

 

[LtMatt]

I look at what actual users with xfire say about it here like Rusty or Tommy for example. Both will speak up if there are problems affecting certain titles but you rarely hear anything from either regarding this as both are clearly happy with the performance and smoothness. I believe only farcry 3 has been mentioned by either one of them with issues relating to smoothness.

EDIT

And Civ 5 thank you rusty

 

[LtMatt]

And Civ 5. But that's due to odd GPU utilisation as both GPUs are only 30-40% utilised. When they spoke to 60-70 it stops temporarily.

Duly noted.

 

[LtMatt]

Far Cry 3 is poo on either AMD or Nvidia. I forget what drivers Nvidia released but out of all of them, only that one driver had the game smooth for me with SLI 680's. It does run fine on Titans but I am sure if you look deeper, it is still stuttering but because of the high frames, it makes it feel smoother.

Thanks for clearing that up Greg. It has to be a game issue. Honestly for me its the best its ever been on 13.4 WHQL but there is still something there, a slight hitching. If i remove vsync it goes, or i think it goes. The game feels smooth then, but fraps tells me its hitching. Ubisoft really let the ball down on this one. This issue has been going on for as long as i can remember with this game.

 

[LtMatt]

I just glanced at that and for one brief, awesome moment i thought it was signed RadeonOwners.

Now i look at the bigger picture i see years of masturbation have clearly affected my eye sight.

 

[LtMatt]

Nvidias solution also add inputlag.
so while its smooth, you will have a drawback.
its due to again technical issues to multi gpu set ups.

Very true pcper have said they're looking into ways to measure the added latency. What i will say is in twitch shooters input lag is a bad thing.

 

[LtMatt]

Input lag is a bad thing. Break.

"silence"

Eh?

 

[LtMatt]

I have to admit i noticed far less lag from vsync with one gpu than two but i guess thats only natural.

 

[LtMatt]

I don't notice input lag but I am not a good BF3 player. Slightly higher than 1 on the K/D ratio but in my old age, my reactions are far too slow. Even Cleecooo could knife me

Lol i eat Cleecooo's for breakfast.

I notice it if i don't take the steps required to remove it. I think the monitor you use also has a big say on how noticeable it is.

 

[LtMatt]

I am 49, soon 50, no issue killing/stabbing/burning those kids
still single card is the way to go.

 

[LtMatt]

I dont have any input lag issues on multi gpu. feels identical to using a sinhle card infact on my monitor

The latency will always at least double though with a second gpu rendering an alternate frame even if the frame times are lower.

 

[LtMatt]

Whether you can see it or feel it is down to the person, same with this supposed smoothness factor it seems. You're going to get more input lag from two gpu's than you are one though and this will be noticeable more if using vsync id imagine as there will be a delay on each gpu while you wait for the monitor to draw the frame and each frame from each gpu is held in the buffer.

 

[LtMatt]

That's another thing that many people don't agree on. I know people with 120hz screens, AMD and Nvidia users and they say you still get screen tear with 120hz yet others say you don't.

I always thought that means you can display up to 120fps before you get screen tearing.

 

[LtMatt]

Try using the new 13.5 beta 2 drivers, they have some of the fixes in I think.

Welcome back Ace! How's that Tattoo?

 

[LtMatt]

Lazer removal my friend. I'll be getting an AMD one it its place if they keep up making these awesome drivers.

Bravo, excellent retort.

 

[LtMatt]

Frame Rating: High End GPUs Benchmarked at 4K Resolutions

7970 producing smoother and better frame times than the 2gb and 4gb 680's in every title. Not too far behind the titan either considering the price difference.

Apparently 7970 xfire is still only producing the same fps as a single GPU despite and i quote from the review 'the smooth animation'.

Source
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-High-End-GPUs-Benchmarked-4K-Resolutions

 

[LtMatt]

I think if i had an xfire setup and had the choice between what it is now raw fps or to have added latency to improve frame times but lower overall fps id stick with raw fps in most cases, certainly in twitch shooters. If it looks fine and is perfectly smooth i can't see a reason why you'd want extra latency. We've seen already from multiple xfire users here that battlefield 3 is perfectly smooth on xfire.