Diablo 3 SLI scaling

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,601
2
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Hi guys,

I'm having a problem with Diablo 3 and SLI. The higher the settings, the worse the scaling at 2560x2048 with Ambient Occlusion set to "high quality" it basically doesn't scale at all!

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I'm still using the 296.10 WHQL, however, the SLI bits in the 300 series have not changed. Nonetheless, I will try the 301.40 once it has downloaded.

Could someone with a SLI setup please check the scaling at really demanding settings and report back? Would be greatly appreciated, thank you!
 
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Feb 19, 2009
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Is that 33 fps?? Dang you got something wrong it should NOT be that slow.

Just so you know, the D3 engine renders in-game shadows on your CPU and NOT the GPU at all. I've tested this and saw no additional GPU load with it on max vs off, but CPU load went up.
 

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,601
2
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Interesting, good to know about the shadows.
Ambient occlusion at high quality costs 50% performance, keep that in mind. I'm pretty sure that runs on the GPU(s), though.

My CPU is an i7 with 3800MHz (all core turbo). I see 180fps at 1280x1024, so the CPU is not the bottleneck.

Installing 301.40 now...
 
Feb 19, 2009
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How about you leave everything on max and turn off shadows to test, see if it scales. If it doesnt, its bottlenecked via the CPU-based shadows (which can't be tested at low res, as its not game engine/physics/ai etc, its actual rendering).

This same thing occurred in WoW when they implemented advanced shadows, turning it on choked the game hard down to 20-30 fps even on the fastest CPU. They fixed it with the dx11 path and now its all done on GPU.

Ofc i could be completely wrong but i just tested this 30mins ago in-game with cpu/gpu usage graphs...
 

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,601
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I'll try that. I'm still fighting with the driver, won't let me install. Quite frustrated...
 

BallaTheFeared

Diamond Member
Nov 15, 2010
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I didn't have any scaling issues in the beta. In fact Very High AO was pretty brutal dropping fps into the 80's if I remember correctly with SLI. Though I have not played it with my main rig on live, my 9400m laptop has been playing it.
 

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,601
2
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So guys...301.40 is installed, no change whatsoever.
Shadows off, no change.

Balla, do you have D3 installed on your SLI rig? Could you test, please?
 

Stuka87

Diamond Member
Dec 10, 2010
6,240
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Have you tried any in between resolutions? Or trying with just a single card? BTW: What cards do you have?
 

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,601
2
81
2xGTX580 3GB SLI.

Problem solved, a friend who is very versed in finding better SLI compatibility bits suggested the 0x02500005 bit -> fps doubled, GPU usage now stuck at 99% :D
 

Diari

Junior Member
May 15, 2012
1
0
0
2xGTX580 3GB SLI.

Problem solved, a friend who is very versed in finding better SLI compatibility bits suggested the 0x02500005 bit -> fps doubled, GPU usage now stuck at 99% :D


How do you change this? Because my nvidia inspector doesn't show that 0x02500005 bit.
 

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,601
2
81
How do you change this? Because my nvidia inspector doesn't show that 0x02500005 bit.

Enter it manually :)
Click on the original entry twice, press backspace or del and just type the new one in, then click apply.
 

Grooveriding

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2008
9,107
1,260
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I get 99% usage, perfect scaling, at 2560x1600p, AO on quality, all in game settings maxed.

SEILG.jpg



No need to modify anything. I am using the 301.25 drivers. Maybe that is your issue because 301.24 gave me issues in SC2, including scaling, and switching to these fixed it.
 
Feb 19, 2009
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Im waiting to see if Blizzard think its OK to use the fxaa injector dx3d dll, it really makes D3 look so much crisper and not washed out, with good AA and better AO.

Dont want to get banned using those mods til they okay it for retail heh.
 
Feb 19, 2009
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Diablo 2 with fancy graphics, smoother gameplay (which is the key point here), better UI and team co-op functions. It's so easy to jump into a friend's game, teleport to their location, very nice features. Looking forward to their future implementation of PvP (they said the "pvp patch" will be out in a few months tops).

I like it a lot so far.
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
8,548
2
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Can you get SLI working in fullscreen windowed mode? I get good scaling fullscreen but I go back to fullscreen windowed (which I prefer so I can get email notifications in my system tray and such) sli doesn't work.

Anyone else? What driver are you using? Although its completely meaningless since even a single card obliterates the game. ;)
 
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boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,601
2
81
I would try but I cannot log in right now. This has been going on for 2 hours :(

Edit: Finally.
Yes, SLI works in fullscreen windowed mode.
 
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Elganja

Platinum Member
May 21, 2007
2,143
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Can you get SLI working in fullscreen windowed mode? I get good scaling fullscreen but I go back to fullscreen windowed (which I prefer so I can get email notifications in my system tray and such) sli doesn't work.

Anyone else? What driver are you using? Although its completely meaningless since even a single card obliterates the game. ;)

I know this thread is a couple days old... but I tried this yesterday and the results were terrible (with vsync on). I had to go back to fullscreen mode and just alt-tab out when needed.

I will try http://www.guru3d.com/news/nvidia-geforce-30140-whql-64bit/ today to see if it helps
 

n0x1ous

Platinum Member
Sep 9, 2010
2,572
248
106
Can you get SLI working in fullscreen windowed mode? I get good scaling fullscreen but I go back to fullscreen windowed (which I prefer so I can get email notifications in my system tray and such) sli doesn't work.

Anyone else? What driver are you using? Although its completely meaningless since even a single card obliterates the game. ;)

Works perfect for me on 301.24. I have tried with and without vsync and i am getting perfect scaling either way.

all in game settings maxed and AO set to quality in Nvidia CP
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
11,848
2,051
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Can't D3 run on like a 386 comp with Trident video card?:p Why the need for SLI?

I was trying the starter edition the other day and it LOOKS horrible. Gameplay-wise, no comment as I haven't played the previous Diablo games but for a game that's been in development for 10 years, it looks pretty bad, heck Titan Quest from several years back looks much better.

Seems like they started development 10 years ago (kept the same engine), got distracted by the money pit that is WoW, and decided to finish it finally to stop people nagging lol. :D

Thankfully I haven't spent a dime on any Blizzard game since Warcraft 3.