High Bandwidth Pascal SLI Bridges

Mark_D · 9 Aug 2016 at 13:00

I was a little dismayed to see that the Nvidia HB bridge doesn't work with the water blocks I want to get for my Titans. OCUK don't have any 3rd party HB bridges and they seem to be damn hard to track down.

Obviously I'm not expecting any competitor links or anything, but has anybody managed to get hold of a non-Nvidia bridge yet?

Greebo · 9 Aug 2016 at 13:45

Dont think EVGA are out yet.

Does make a massive difference even in 4k games despite what Nvidia says that you only need it for 5k and 8k games

25% better fps in the Division at 4k!!!!!!!!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3087...ayoff-in-buying-nvidias-40-sli-hb-bridge.html

Yet other games its only 4%

EDIT: If you google the EVGA version you will find etailers with stock

Again though from that review it looks like you might to remove the cover to use with waterblocks

KillBoY_UK · 9 Aug 2016 at 13:53

Greebo said:
Dont think EVGA are out yet.

Does make a massive difference even in 4k games despite what Nvidia says that you only need it for 5k and 8k games

25% better fps in the Division at 4k!!!!!!!!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3087...ayoff-in-buying-nvidias-40-sli-hb-bridge.html

Yet other games its only 4%

Some games buck the trend its always been the case, It wouldn't surprise me if FO4/W3 got some nice gains, as those games LOVES system memory bandwidth. Yes I know its same as bandwith between 2 gpus just saying i wouldn't be surprised..

Artery · 9 Aug 2016 at 13:56

Does the HB bridge work with Maxwell?

Kaapstad · 9 Aug 2016 at 13:57

Just tested at 8k with 2 Pascal Titans overclocked on SOM maxed out.

The Flexi bridge gave very slightly better minimums and averages.

Greebo · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:00

Kaapstad said:
Just tested at 8k with 2 Pascal Titans overclocked on SOM maxed out.

The Flexi bridge gave very slightly better minimums and averages.

In what game though? From that review some games no difference and some up to 25% better fps? Or was that the division?

z10m · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:04

My mate is getting some decent gains in The Division running at 4K.
He's using EVGA HB bridge with EK blocks no problem.

Kaapstad · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:05

Greebo said:
In what game though? From that review some games no difference and some up to 25% better fps? Or was that the division?

Shadow of Mordor Middle Earth bench.

I have found even with the 1080s these HB bridges most of the time make very little difference and sometimes come out worse against the flexi bridges.

I have also found the Flexi bridge works better than the ridged 3 way bridge that comes with your mother board if you are using it for 2 way SLI.

I expect there are cases where the HB bridge will work better but there are also cases where it works worse.

Greebo · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:10

Kaapstad said:
Shadow of Mordor Middle Earth bench.

I have found even with the 1080s these HB bridges most of the time make very little difference and sometimes come out worse against the flexi bridges.

I have also found the Flexi bridge works better than the ridged 3 way bridge that comes with your mother board if you are using it for 2 way SLI.

I expect there are cases where the HB bridge will work better but there are also cases where it works worse.

Strange. That review got the HB bridge about 6% faster on averages and the max framerate was a whole 31% faster on 5k. They didnt test 8k.

Perhaps your flexi bridges are better than most?

You got the division to test at 4k? They got av framerates 31% more with the HB at 4k and 51% faster at 5k.........

I know what you are saying there might be some games where the flexi bridge beats the high pseed one by 1fps but it only needs one game giving you 50% more framerates for that bridge to be worth it.

Kaapstad · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:16

Greebo said:
Strange. That review got the HB bridge about 6% faster on averages and the max framerate was a whole 31% faster on 5k. They didnt test 8k.

Perhaps your flexi bridges are better than most?

My Flexi bridge is just the cheapo one that comes with the motherboard.

I suspect that these new HB bridges do have the capacity to do more but that only applies when there is more to do.

To test them I think you really need a game @2160p or higher with very high fps. At the moment though anything much above 60fps @4K is a little pointless until monitors improve.

Greebo · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:22

Kaapstad said:
My Flexi bridge is just the cheapo one that comes with the motherboard.

I suspect that these new HB bridges do have the capacity to do more but that only applies when there is more to do.

To test them I think you really need a game @2160p or higher with very high fps. At the moment though anything much above 60fps @4K is a little pointless until monitors improve.

Agreed on the 4k bit but the reviews seem to suggest even at low framerates it makes a difference.

Division went from 56 to 73fps and Rainbow 6 from 54 to 64fps at 4k.

Or is that a crap review and all wrong?

HazardO · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:33

Artery said:
Does the HB bridge work with Maxwell?

It works, but it won't give you any advantage over the standard bridge as far as I understand, only pascal can either increase the data rate over one port or bond both together.

I ended up getting an official one in the end. I'm quite surprised how long it's taking the 3rd party ones to come out.

Artery · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:35

If there's no real benefit bar a change in aesthetics I won't bother then.

Smffy · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:36

Greebo said:
Agreed on the 4k bit but the reviews seem to suggest even at low framerates it makes a difference.

Division went from 56 to 73fps and Rainbow 6 from 54 to 64fps at 4k.

Or is that a crap review and all wrong?

Every test i've seen shows gains above 1440p so its odd that Kap gets this result. Kap is odd though

The EVGA bridges are available on some competitors, not sure what OCUK is doing with none of the HB variants in stock or even listed but the only size I can't seem to nail down is the one I need (80mm). EK did report they would be releasing one but everything seems to be a bit delayed coming out from them at the moment...

Kaapstad · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:36

Greebo said:
Agreed on the 4k bit but the reviews seem to suggest even at low framerates it makes a difference.

Division went from 56 to 73fps and Rainbow 6 from 54 to 64fps at 4k.

Or is that a crap review and all wrong?

Not a great fan of some of these tech sites.

I have just tested on Unigine Valley as it has very high fps and bottlenecks a pair Pascal Titans @1440p.

@1440p the HB bridge was faster by about 0.3% which is tiny.

@2160p the HB bridge was faster by 1%.

Greebo · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:39

Smffy said:
Every test i've seen shows gains above 1440p so its odd that Kap gets this result. Kap is odd though

The EVGA bridges are available on some competitors, not sure what OCUK is doing with none of the HB variants in stock or even listed but the only size I can't seem to nail down is the one I need (80mm). EK did report they would be releasing one but everything seems to be a bit delayed coming out from them at the moment...

Kaap has magic bridges. Knowing him he got some prototype high speed flexi bridge by accident with his £500 mobo

Kaapstad · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:42

Greebo said:
Kaap has magic bridges. Knowing him he got some prototype high speed flexi bridge by accident with his £500 mobo

It's the drivers I am using with my NVidia cards - 16.7.3 Crimson.

HazardO · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:42

Kaapstad said:
Just tested at 8k with 2 Pascal Titans overclocked on SOM maxed out.

The Flexi bridge gave very slightly better minimums and averages.

Are you rebooting your system between swapping bridges, or hot swapping them? There's a chance the link speed and bonding doesn't get set except on driver load.

Stelly · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:43

I have a EVGA HB bridge and I can confirm it is pretty

Stelly

Kaapstad · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:44

HazardO said:
Are you rebooting your system between swapping bridges, or hot swapping them? There's a chance the link speed and bonding doesn't get set except on driver load.

Rebooting.