So which scales better AMD or NVidia

Kaapstad · 2 Sep 2014 at 10:52

Just ran a few benches @4K with 1 and 4 cards @stock.

Max settings were used as it shows GPU scaling best even if playable fps are rubbish.

No overclocking was used as we are looking for scaling not playable fps.

CPUs and GPUs used

3930k @4.0ghz + 1 and 4 Titans.

4930k @4.0ghz + 1 and 4 290Xs

No 2 and 3 card runs tested as 4 card results will give a good idea what less cards are capable of. Also it is difficult for me to get to the SLI bridge on the NVidia cards.

Tomb Raider

NVidia

Single card

4 cards

Scaling = 3.94x

AMD

Single card

4 cards

Scaling = 3.83x

Sleeping Dogs

NVidia

Single card

4 cards

Scaling = 3.83x

AMD

Single card

4 cards

Scaling = 3.86x

Sniper Elite V2

NVidia

Single card

4 cards

Scaling = 3.81x

AMD

Single card

4 cards

Scaling = 3.93x

Thief

NVidia

Single card

4 cards

Scaling = 2.91x

AMD

Single card

4 cards

Scaling = 3.05x

As you can see from the games used it is very very close as to which is better and well within the margin of error to choose a winner.

Some things that could have a tiny effect on the result were -

Frame pacing was not used as I was after the scaling not the visual appearance.

The AMD cards were on a slightly more efficient CPU.

VincentHanna · 2 Sep 2014 at 11:05

Minimum framerate on multi-GPU always looks higher on the Nvidia side, even on the 'AMD' titles.

Wonder why that is?

Silent_Scone · 2 Sep 2014 at 11:33

Nice Kaap but should have done three way. I'm willing to bet TriFire is ahead

Perfect_Chaos · 2 Sep 2014 at 11:49

Christ those frame rates with 1 card are awful, likely be years before i consider a 4k screen.. and i guess years before a single high end gpu can handle it well enough.

_Alatar_ · 2 Sep 2014 at 11:51

*adds to bookmarks*

hominid · 2 Sep 2014 at 11:56

Considering it's Titans against 290x's I'd say the 290x's hold their own against cards almost double the cost!

Quartz · 2 Sep 2014 at 11:58

How come Tomb Raider doesn't see more than 3 GB of VRAM?

Quartz · 2 Sep 2014 at 11:59

Perfect_Chaos said:
Christ those frame rates with 1 card are awful, likely be years before i consider a 4k screen.. and i guess years before a single high end gpu can handle it well enough.

I get very acceptable frame rates in Tomb Raider on medium-high settings on a single 780 Ti. I have Tress FX and AA off.

TheRealDeal · 2 Sep 2014 at 12:04

It's a pretty good showing all around. It was not so long ago 4 way was showing negative scaling in a lot of games. These days in the big titles it's almost expected to work well where as years ago it was a bonus.

_Alatar_ · 2 Sep 2014 at 12:05

hominid said:
Considering it's Titans against 290x's I'd say the 290x's hold their own against cards almost double the cost!

Almost double the cost.

However also much older, with much more OCing headroom, more memory, better coolers and full double precision performance.

Gregster · 2 Sep 2014 at 12:10

Nice results Kaap and good scaling. 4K sure is for multi card users and will be for a long while. 4K does look decent with lowered settings still but who wants to do that?

arc@css · 2 Sep 2014 at 16:42

Kind of what I was expecting overall : faster radeons / better minimum fps for Nvidia.

Geeman1979 · 2 Sep 2014 at 16:44

_Alatar_ said:
Almost double the cost.

However also much older, with much more OCing headroom, more memory, better coolers and full double precision performance.

Agreed!

Once fed with voltage the Titans start to show their true potential.

borley · 2 Sep 2014 at 16:46

Now do Thief with Mantle

Geeman1979 · 2 Sep 2014 at 17:09

arc@css said:
Kind of what I was expecting overall : faster radeons / better minimum fps for Nvidia.

I'd take better minimums over maximums any day.

arc@css · 2 Sep 2014 at 17:15

Geeman1979 said:
I'd take better minimums over maximums any day.

Yep, same here.

Kaap : did you find either set up smoother than the other, or are they the same these days. Crossfire has come on leaps and bounds, and has better scaling overall, right?

~>Dg<~ · 2 Sep 2014 at 17:15

Perfect_Chaos said:
Christ those frame rates with 1 card are awful, likely be years before i consider a 4k screen.. and i guess years before a single high end gpu can handle it well enough.

yep and the reason why the prices will have to crash down to 200-300 before people start buying in .

1 top card and them fps are a joke

whyscotty · 2 Sep 2014 at 17:29

Geeman1979 said:
Once fed with voltage the Titans start to show their true potential.

Geeman1979 said:
I'd take better minimums over maximums any day.

Disco_P · 2 Sep 2014 at 17:33

Have you ever done scaling tests at lower resolutions with 2 way sli/crossfire? Whilst I appreciate you doing all these tests, they lack a certain amount of applicability to most people.

TheRealDeal · 2 Sep 2014 at 17:34

Minimums are overrated without a graph. That could have been a one off and the Nvidia cards could have been lower 90% of the time. From what i have seen on HardOcp the 290x maintains a decent frame rate with fewer dips. The game play experience is what matters and i doubt it's much different on either system. Kaap seems pretty happy with both.