[SLI] Do you have it and are you happy with it?

[Buzza]

I have SLI up and running and the only software that seems to benefit significantly from it, is 3DMark and COD2 :/ .

Theres a huge list of "Optimized for SLI" games at NVidia site, but ive seen little or no improvement with the optimized games i own.

Will future games make better use of SLI, and do you know any that will?

EDIT: I typically run games at 1280x1024 with 4XAA and 8XAF.

 

[Naffa]

Hmm.. At that resolution you could be getting CPU bottlenecked. But newer games will definately make use of having two GPUs.

Try running at a higher resolution (if your monitor can support it) and cranking the eye candy up as high as it can go and see what the difference is like then.

EDIT: Your graphics look bloody awsome

 

[Buzza]

I had heard that, so i tried 1600x1200 on a seperate monitor and the games ran decently but were defo similar if not slower than my prefered res.

Pretty impressed by COD2 for its speed increase though, shame other games werent as impressive, like Source engine games(zero difference) and even DOOM3(8 fps improvement).

 

[Buzza]

EDIT: Your graphics look bloody awsome

Thanks i drew those in Photoshop in my spare time

 

[rmuir]

mates rig:

x2 3800
crucial 2gig
asus premium mobo
15" crt
7800GT in SLi


my rig:

3700 sd
geil value 1gig
asus se mobo
17" crt
7900 GT

using FRAPS as a guide im getting same if not better frame rates in fear with pretty much all the candy on. Can't honestly see the point in SLi unless you have a HUUGE display.

 

[Xez]

With source you wont see a lot as it's very CPU dependant so if you overclock you should get more fps!

 

[Buzza]

Just did the CS stress test, SLI = 86.93fps, NoSLI=110.35 :[

So what makes "Source" games more CPU dependent? I would imagine physics is one thing?

 

[Xez]

Yep i dont really know anything else though! at 1024x768 and 1280x1024 max settings on CS:S VST i get 122fps average which is showing a bottleneck by my cpu. At 1680x1050 max settings i get 99fps average.

SLI is known to actually give less FPS if your running a low resolution as its slowing the game down by having to go through box cards when it doesnt need to. i think...

 

[Buzza]

Hmm i could try out the Auto Overclocking i beleive my Motherboard has.

 

[Naffa]

Basically, although lowering the framerate, running at a high resolution with lots of eye candy will eliminate your CPU bottleneck. If you have a larger monitor to play on then do. Otherwise only use one of your cards.

 

[Buzza]

My second display isnt really designed for Gaming, its a monitor/Wacom tablet combined(Cintiq 21UX).

 

[Naffa]

Oh right.. Well do you not have a monitor that supports 1600x1200 lying around anywhere?

I wouldn't wanna play games through a tablet worth that much..

Actually, you seem to be good at graphics. Off topic, but could you recommend me a tablet for around £40? If a decent one exists.. Cheers.

If you don't have a monitor that supports anything higher than 1280x1024 then you're evevitably going to be CPU bottlenecked. If thats what you're at, you could consider a CPU upgrade in hope of removing the handicap, sell off one of your 7900GTs or buy a bigger monitor.

The choice is yours.

 

[Cyber-Mav]

if your resolution limited then just put AF to 16x and keep increasing AA to 8x or even higher if there is enough gpu power.

 

[MeatLoaf]

Ive had SLI 3 times now, first with 6600Gts then 7800GTs then 7900GTs. In each case i didnt think the cost of the extra card justified the performance gain, as you say some games were worse. Plus the 2 cards killed the airflow in my case.

Id much prefer a single card solution, my benchies may not be as high but gamers play just as well.

 

[iGiDK]

I play a lot of BF2, running 2 7800GTXs in SLI made the framerates a lot smoother with AA applied

I could tell that there was a noticable improvement in BF2 using SLI when compared to both a single 7800GTX and also a 1900XTX

 

[Buzza]

could you recommend me a tablet for around £40? If a decent one exists.. Cheers.

I used to use a small Wacom Intuous3 A6 Tablet, which were about 150 quid. There are cheap ones, like the Wacom Volito2 - Digitizer, which is 40 quid, but i couldnt tell you if they are good enough for drawing. You could google for user reviews though.

 

[Buzza]

I play a lot of BF2, running 2 7800GTXs in SLI made the framerates a lot smoother with AA applied

I could tell that there was a noticable improvement in BF2 using SLI when compared to both a single 7800GTX and also a 1900XTX

I used to run BF2 very well on my old 6800 gt with AA and AF on. The image quality seems better though now.

 

[Naffa]

I used to use a small Wacom Intuous3 A6 Tablet, which were about 150 quid. There are cheap ones, like the Wacom Volito2 - Digitizer, which is 40 quid, but i couldnt tell you if they are good enough for drawing. You could google for user reviews though.

Alright, thanks.

 

[PyroboyUK]

I use twin 7800GT 256Mb, and i notice a big difference when running games like GRAW. I used to run it with 1 7800Gt but now with 2 i have all the settings cranked up, tweaked the INI so i can put it on High and it runs so fast.

 

[Buzza]

Ive tried the GRAW demo and it ran very well on one card, but 2 didnt make any difference to me.

What cpu have you got btw?