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SLI Not performing as expected.
- Thread starter Mackey18
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Associate
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- 2 Feb 2007
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Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:
GeForce GTX 570
On your average system the card requires you to have a 600 Watt power supply unit.
GeForce GTX 570 in 2-way SLI
A second card requires you to add another ~225 Watts. You need a 750+ Watt power supply unit if you use it in a high-end system (800+ to a KiloWatt is recommended if you plan on any overclocking).
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/13
GeForce GTX 570
On your average system the card requires you to have a 600 Watt power supply unit.
GeForce GTX 570 in 2-way SLI
A second card requires you to add another ~225 Watts. You need a 750+ Watt power supply unit if you use it in a high-end system (800+ to a KiloWatt is recommended if you plan on any overclocking).
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/13
Mostly because with most 750w PSUs you can assume you are getting enough amps on the rail/s.
In reality a 650w PSU can peak out at far more than that. I run a 625w, with the 280 in for physx they peaked under max load at 705w. So obviously it was capable of putting out that much power or it would have simply blown up.
Sure, you shouldn't really put that sort of load onto a PSU, but the only way you can truly damage it is with amp draw. That will cause it to overheat and catch on fire. It's usually down to the wiring not being thick enough to handle the amp load.
So yes, whilst his 650w Antec should ideally be replaced it is good enough to provide the power he needs.
Now, if he can actually try out the advice I gave him with the control panel then we can rule that out.
Have you tried doing what I said yet? making sure your cards are actually working at their clock rates?
Try that now. Just trust me on that OK? I had to set up and get quad SLI working on eight games just last week. And, with the advice I gave you I managed to get all of them working using the method I showed you.
Until that nothing worked at all.
OK then I would next try a complete reinstall.
When I switched my 470 to a 6970 last week Nvidia left me a little Christmas present. It seems their drivers, even with the use of Driver Sweeper in safe mode, refused to go away.
Mind you, a new PSU is in order. I wouldn't run the gauntlet that close to the wire if it were my all of the time desktop. You might even have a bad card? forgive me if you tried switching them around already.
When I switched my 470 to a 6970 last week Nvidia left me a little Christmas present. It seems their drivers, even with the use of Driver Sweeper in safe mode, refused to go away.
Mind you, a new PSU is in order. I wouldn't run the gauntlet that close to the wire if it were my all of the time desktop. You might even have a bad card? forgive me if you tried switching them around already.
If you could do what I asked in this post above we can then see what your cards are doing.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=20780578&postcount=64
Absolutely not.
Adding SLI does one thing. Makes your minimum framerates worse than having one card. Sure, the max frames are amazing and look incredible on paper and the internet, but do little to assist in the real world.
Think of it like this, because this is how it works.
A image is made up of frames, still pics if you will. That image needs to be refreshed 30 times a second (IE 30 different images presented to your eyes in a single second).
The more images? the more memory needed to store them. The higher res those images the bigger those images are.
SLI does one thing. It takes the images and one GPU builds the vertical and the workload is split off so they are alternating the frame rendering.
However, as you have been told already, only the first card's VRAM is used. So if you ain't got enough?
My GTX 295 quad SLI "grunt for grunt" is incredible. 896mb Vram? lmao.
They are now retired to playing Dirt 2 and 3 on three screens as they couldn't even manage good FPS on BFBC2 which uses Frostbite 1.
Adding SLI does one thing. Makes your minimum framerates worse than having one card. Sure, the max frames are amazing and look incredible on paper and the internet, but do little to assist in the real world.
Think of it like this, because this is how it works.
A image is made up of frames, still pics if you will. That image needs to be refreshed 30 times a second (IE 30 different images presented to your eyes in a single second).
The more images? the more memory needed to store them. The higher res those images the bigger those images are.
SLI does one thing. It takes the images and one GPU builds the vertical and the workload is split off so they are alternating the frame rendering.
However, as you have been told already, only the first card's VRAM is used. So if you ain't got enough?
My GTX 295 quad SLI "grunt for grunt" is incredible. 896mb Vram? lmao.
They are now retired to playing Dirt 2 and 3 on three screens as they couldn't even manage good FPS on BFBC2 which uses Frostbite 1.
Well if it's Battlefield 3 we are talking?
Up to you mate. You need to ask yourself if you want to go through all of that over one game? It's kinda like when Crysis came out. People just threw thousands of pounds at that one game which never did make much sense to me. Especially given that deep down the game itself was pretty pants.
Time will tell really. But as of right now? the last two or three games that released (if you want them in their unadulterated splendour) need serious lumps of Vram.
Flatout 3 looks like another piggy too.
Up to you mate. You need to ask yourself if you want to go through all of that over one game? It's kinda like when Crysis came out. People just threw thousands of pounds at that one game which never did make much sense to me. Especially given that deep down the game itself was pretty pants.
Time will tell really. But as of right now? the last two or three games that released (if you want them in their unadulterated splendour) need serious lumps of Vram.
Flatout 3 looks like another piggy too.
Well I think I'll hold on to the 2 GPUs for a couple of years and then when the next gen of PC games comes out I'll buy something new.
Frustrating that I haven't been able to see any vast improvement to my gaming experience with the addition of the second card, but I'm sure I'll notice it at some point.
Anyway,
Thanks guys I really appreciate the time you've spent on this thread.
Regards,
Mike
Frustrating that I haven't been able to see any vast improvement to my gaming experience with the addition of the second card, but I'm sure I'll notice it at some point.
Anyway,
Thanks guys I really appreciate the time you've spent on this thread.
Regards,
Mike