Watchdogs SLI Performance

Metalface Mark · 26 Aug 2014 at 10:08

I recently purchased a new pc from overclockers, performance is good in general, Watchdogs however is a steaming pile of doggy poo.

Is anyone getting good results on SLI with watchdogs? Im running dual 770GTX's on a 4790k.

Ive done a bit of googling and there was certainly some debate in the performance at release but ive not seen much mentioned recently.

Yaayuh! · 26 Aug 2014 at 10:11

What resolution and graphics settings are you using?

Watchdogs can give most PCs a beating and you're effectively using glorified GTX680s to play it.

Metalface Mark · 26 Aug 2014 at 10:15

Tried various resolutions but 1440p normally, its not that though, i can run it about 30fps with a single card, with sli it stutters every few seconds to a juddering halt. Single card I can get 40-60fps at 1080p, i hadnt touched the settings and its worse.

TheRealDeal · 26 Aug 2014 at 10:20

http://m.hardocp.com/article/2014/08/18/watch_dogs_performance_image_quality_review/#.U_xQuCO3PFo

The link has a recent watchdogs review and it would seem stuttering in Sli is a big thing. They reckon its a memory management problem.

Yaayuh! · 26 Aug 2014 at 10:56

Ah right, yep, definitely multi gpu support being crud then.

Kaap should be able to weigh in on this.

Metalface Mark · 26 Aug 2014 at 11:35

Very frustrating! Thanks for the link TRD.

Kaapstad · 26 Aug 2014 at 11:53

Rossi~ said:
Ah right, yep, definitely multi gpu support being crud then.

Kaap should be able to weigh in on this.

Scaling on 4 cards is very good indeed

Now the bad news, a single card will hardly make a dent in the fps. A single Titan will get about 15fps @4K.

I have never tried 2 way sli but on 4 cards @4K there is no stutter.

The bottom line is though that it is an awful written game that puts huge and unnecessary demands on the cards.

It won't even run on 290Xs maxed @4K as it needs 6gb of VRAM, this really is a joke the game devs have a lot to answer for.

At some point I will test at 1080p on the 290Xs and see what they can do with it.

Yaayuh! · 26 Aug 2014 at 12:19

Kaapstad said:
At some point I will test at 1080p on the 290Xs and see what they can do with it.

For helping the OP, i would say the GTX690s would be a good test since he's using 2x770s.

jupiter_man · 26 Aug 2014 at 12:25

have you tried the latest patch? it fixes many shuttering problem at high setting.

andrewohare · 26 Aug 2014 at 12:27

the Games a mess .. uninspiring story and was glad to finish so that i could uninstall it

2 titan blacks and it was a stuttering mess, i then switch to single Titan and i just got artifacts

I would not use this game as a performance test

Metalface Mark · 26 Aug 2014 at 12:31

jupiter_man said:
have you tried the latest patch? it fixes many shuttering problem at high setting.

When was that out? I assume it auto patches when its launched, I know it downloaded something last week sometime.

I got it free with my graphics card anyway so the game doesnt owe me anything, i may just sack it off.

Kaapstad · 26 Aug 2014 at 12:35

Rossi~ said:
For helping the OP, i would say the GTX690s would be a good test since he's using 2x770s.

I am halfway though testing on the Titans but I think I have found the problem and I don't think the game will even run on my GTX 690s.

Be prepared for a shocker

Kaapstad · 26 Aug 2014 at 13:12

I have just tested SLI scaling @1080p on 1 and 4 Titans (can not do 2 or 3 without undoing a lot of bolts).

Titans were @stock
3930k @4.7

These are the settings used.

4 way fps screenshot

Single card screenshot

As you can see there is reasonably good scaling going from 1 to 4 cards.

The game was smooth on 4 cards and reasonable (considering the low fps) on a single.

Now the real shocker, remember this is 1080p.

VRAM usage with 4 cards.

VRAM usage with a single card.

I think the VRAM usage in this game is the real reason why it is a stuttering mess and is hard to get running on GK104 cards.

I will give it a go on my GTX 690s later but I have not got it loaded at the moment.

Kaapstad · 26 Aug 2014 at 13:39

Just tried it on the GTX 690s at the settings above.

It was a stuttering mess.

Silent_Scone · 26 Aug 2014 at 14:43

Not even worth the time of day. Give up on that game, it's broken.

james.miller · 26 Aug 2014 at 14:49

Sli = borked. Its mentioned all over the watchdogs thread. It seems to run poor on nvidia cards in general - wasn't the fastest with my lowly single 7950 but it was smooth and consistent enough for me to complete the game and all the side missions.

Yaayuh! · 26 Aug 2014 at 14:49

Kaapstad said:
Just tried it on the GTX 690s at the settings above.

It was a stuttering mess.

Can you do a test without AA please, should have a drastic effect on this game.

Kaapstad · 26 Aug 2014 at 15:31

Rossi~ said:
Can you do a test without AA please, should have a drastic effect on this game.

With no AA @1080p on a pair of GTX 690s

With no AA it was quite playable and smooth but it still used all the VRAM the cards had.

I don't think anything higher than 1080p is an option unless some of the other settings are reduced.

Kaapstad · 26 Aug 2014 at 15:32

james.miller said:
Sli = borked. Its mentioned all over the watchdogs thread. It seems to run poor on nvidia cards in general - wasn't the fastest with my lowly single 7950 but it was smooth and consistent enough for me to complete the game and all the side missions.

No problems with SLI on my PCs.

james.miller · 26 Aug 2014 at 16:57

That's great. loads of people did have issues with it though.