Can games by SLI/Crossfire Optimized?

[imported_X]

Given that we expect to see significant performance scaling with programs that are optimized for dual cores, can we expect the same when it comes to dual gpus? I realize graphics are generally scalable so you don't need the same coding customization, but would there still be some performance advantage for games that are optimized for SLI/Crossfire?

 

[Gamingphreek]

The games do not have to be rewritten to take advantage of this. All of the computing is done through drivers, so no they cannot be optimized for dual GPUs.

The driver code however can be optimized.

-Kevin

 

[ryanv12]

Also...the only real reason why you would need SLI/CF is if you wanted to run a really high resolution monitor with high detail and minimal frame dropoff. GPU's have not hit a wall like CPU's have, which is the reason for going dual core, so at least for the time being single GPU's will just keep getting more powerful.

 

[Emultra]

Why don't they start making video cards with dual "cores" like Gigabyte does, before they resort to two physically separate cards? It's not like you can use anything on the second video card, except the rendering rendering power, and yet you pay for it like it meant an increase of 100%.

Dual "core" (whatever it is in place of core) GPU's sound more practical and economical, and when the going get's really tough, go to double card configuration.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Emultra
Why don't they start making video cards with dual "cores" like Gigabyte does, before they resort to two physically separate cards? It's not like you can use anything on the second video card, except the rendering power, and yet you pay for it like it meant an increase of 100%.

Well, you can use the second card to drive more monitors, but few people have more than two. And the increase in rendering performance can be close to 100% in GPU-limited situations, so it's not necessarily a terrible deal.

Dual "core" (whatever it is in place of core) GPU's sound more practical and economical, and when the going get's really tough, go to double card configuration.

However, doing this requires you to develop a totally different sort of GPU architecture (as opposed to basically taking two independent GPUs and hooking them together at the driver level). I'm confident the industry will move in this direction eventually, but you can't make a change like that overnight.

And even if you do put multiple GPUs/cores on a single card, you could always argue that you could then tie two or more of those together in some sort of SLI-like setup to improve performance even further.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Emultra
Why don't they start making video cards with dual "cores" like Gigabyte does, before they resort to two physically separate cards? It's not like you can use anything on the second video card, except the rendering rendering power, and yet you pay for it like it meant an increase of 100%.

Dual "core" (whatever it is in place of core) GPU's sound more practical and economical, and when the going get's really tough, go to double card configuration.

Well in a way they are doing that already but even more efficiently. Because rendering is so parallel in nature, they can just add more processing elements to increase performance(pixel pipelines and shaders). You can't do this with general-purpose CPUs because the performance doesn't scale well at all. This is better than multicores as they don't waste space duplicating everything on the GPU, just the important parts that do the processing.

 

[Emultra]

Matthias, about that last idea, I had that in mind.

aka1nas: Gigabyte have already made a card like this, haven't they?

It just feels like, even though SLI is good to have as an option, it's kind of like buy a second car in its entirety, when all you need is another motor.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
The games do not have to be rewritten to take advantage of this. All of the computing is done through drivers, so no they cannot be optimized for dual GPUs.

The driver code however can be optimized.

-Kevin

Kind of why it doesn't matter if you play any game on a 4 pipe card or a 44 pipe card.
Just wanted to add.