GTX 590 Quad Sli Performance Issues

[Vdubchaos]

Really? 4 590s?

WOW

Why do you have this disabled my friend.

Really? He has SLI disabled and haven't used $1500 worth of hardware....


REALLY?

WOW

 

[NTMBK]

Really? 4 590s?

WOW



Really? He has SLI disabled and haven't used $1500 worth of hardware....


REALLY?

WOW

Quad SLI = 4 GPUs being used = 2 590s.

 

[UNhooked]

check the temps of the GPU via OSD tool like evga. At times if the GPU gets too hot, the thermal protection kicks in and starts throttling the card.

That's what happened with my GTX 460 2win essentially 2 X 460 1GB in SLI. Games would run fine in the beginning but after a while I'd see serious slow downs. This was with my side panel off so don't get no better than that in terms of air circulation

 

[Cupell08]

Thanks everyone for their input, I have been using an app called HWMonitor for a while, on average the video cards idle at around 28 C and CPU idles at 39 C.

The highest ive ever seen them under heavy load was 59 C for the video cards and high 50's C on the CPU.

The video cards and CPU are the only things being liquid cooled in the system, and there are a few high powered fans in a HAF-X Case. So I dont think I have any problems with temps, please correct me if im wrong.


Ive been playing with nvidia control panel, and im still not sure which settings mean what, like when sli disables, vs multi gpu disabled, im still confused as to how I could just disable one card completely.

 

[boxleitnerb]

When I pull the power connectors from one of my cards it will not be recognized. Try that. Pull the connectors from one 590, and when only one 590 is recognized, enable SLI (2 GPUs) and run some of those games you mentioned.

But I have to stress again:
You have 4 GPUs, why not investigate that first? We've been discussing for 2 pages now, just post some screenshots with all 4 GPUs enabled (Quad-SLI). You can still disable one card later. I'm glad to help, but without some data I cannot do that.

 

[Cupell08]

When I pull the power connectors from one of my cards it will not be recognized. Try that. Pull the connectors from one 590, and when only one 590 is recognized, enable SLI (2 GPUs) and run some of those games you mentioned.

But I have to stress again:
You have 4 GPUs, why not investigate that first? We've been discussing for 2 pages now, just post some screenshots with all 4 GPUs enabled (Quad-SLI). You can still disable one card later. I'm glad to help, but without some data I cannot do that.

Ok, I will try and get some screen shots posted by tmro.

By disabling the power connector the one of the cards, how will the liquid cooling on it be affected?

 

[boxleitnerb]

I have liquid cooling myself. No problem there, the card just isn't active when you pull the PCIe power cables.

 

[pandemonium]

With such a system, I'm kind of surprised you didn't get some premium support, 24-7-365, personal technician to go along with it.

Definitely need some more information, but you may be experiencing - what a lot are susceptible to - microstutter. Just throwing that out there until you can provide some needed numbers.

 

[SpeedTester]

Thanks everyone for their input, I have been using an app called HWMonitor for a while, on average the video cards idle at around 28 C and CPU idles at 39 C.

The highest ive ever seen them under heavy load was 59 C for the video cards and high 50's C on the CPU.

The video cards and CPU are the only things being liquid cooled in the system, and there are a few high powered fans in a HAF-X Case. So I dont think I have any problems with temps, please correct me if im wrong.


Ive been playing with nvidia control panel, and im still not sure which settings mean what, like when sli disables, vs multi gpu disabled, im still confused as to how I could just disable one card completely.

Your temps look fine so we can take that off the problem list. Im still leaning towards
some setting you got enabled.

 

[Zoz]

With that many games impacted across various engines, either your performance is perfectly normal for your system, or there is a more systemic issue manifesting itself in certain instances.

Are you suffering from *sustained* low FPS (you said ~40?), or micro-stuttering? There is a big difference, and a lot of people here are assuming you mean the latter, but that assumption is at odds with your OP, so please clarify.

Run 3DMark11 and compare your scores (both the total score and the individual ones) to the other 100 people on Earth who own ~4 580's.

If you want some help spot checking, take a screenshot from early on in level 1 of Future Soldier (preferably without much going on to de-stabilize the frame rate) and paste it. I can then check to see what I get in the same spot. I have fewer 580's than you, but it should be a good sanity check, at the least.

 

[Cupell08]

Thanks for the input everyone. Ok im going to run some tests with 3D mark and i Will post the results. I tried to run tests with evga precision but I didn't know how it worked and it was giving me trouble so il use 3D mark and post the results.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Regarding EVGA Precision:

1. Select options
2. Tick the GPU usage, memory usage and temperature settings for all 4 GPUs and additionally the fps setting. Also make sure "Show in On-Screen Display" (OSD) is ticked for each of these settings.
3. Make sure the OSD is shown on screenshots and you know the keyboard shortcut to toggle it on/off, for example Strg+O

Pictures to illustrate:

 

[pandemonium]

Wow, I never saw how much EVGA's software is identical to MSi's. That's incredible.

 

[Cupell08]

Regarding EVGA Precision:

1. Select options
2. Tick the GPU usage, memory usage and temperature settings for all 4 GPUs and additionally the fps setting. Also make sure "Show in On-Screen Display" (OSD) is ticked for each of these settings.
3. Make sure the OSD is shown on screenshots and you know the keyboard shortcut to toggle it on/off, for example Strg+O

Pictures to illustrate:

Thanks, Please look at these screen shots , Im not sure if its even picking up my video cards. Also will the basic edition of 3Dmark11 work or do I need full?

http://postimage.org/image/cizpmm25z/
http://postimage.org/image/dmjtykmt3/
http://postimage.org/image/k1iuv8tiv/
http://postimage.org/image/bxaqqi73r/
http://postimage.org/image/b91w7k8dz/

 

[Cupell08]

I got 3DMark 11 pro and here are the results With Sli Disabled:

http://postimage.org/image/7e4dtuwp7/

http://postimage.org/image/e3ax9vi17/

http://postimage.org/image/a9hh0q0p7/

 

[Cupell08]

New results with multi Gpu Enabled:

http://postimage.org/image/5b2x3wdhf/

http://postimage.org/image/7tt7ibolf/

 

[Cupell08]

New results with Quad Sli Enabled:

http://postimage.org/image/6icrp9s6z/

http://postimage.org/image/m5412n5yz/



New Results with Multi Gpu Disabled:

http://postimage.org/image/fb54caqx5/

http://postimage.org/image/qornni1ft/

 

[boxleitnerb]

Thanks, Please look at these screen shots , Im not sure if its even picking up my video cards. Also will the basic edition of 3Dmark11 work or do I need full?

http://postimage.org/image/cizpmm25z/
http://postimage.org/image/dmjtykmt3/
http://postimage.org/image/k1iuv8tiv/
http://postimage.org/image/bxaqqi73r/
http://postimage.org/image/b91w7k8dz/

Quad-SLI is working, good. Now let's do the following:

1. Activate Quad-SLI.
2. Uncheck the "dedicate to PhysX" box.
3. Use games, not 3DMark. Go to a section of the game where your performance suffers and feels sluggish.
4. Make screenshots from within the game and don't forget to enable the on-screen-display to show all the relevant values like this:
   
   
   

On the top left you see GPU frequency, temperature and GPU load (97 and 98%) and memory usage (1099MB) and the framerate (86.7fps).

Also do the following (you can use both tools, FRAPS and EVGA Precision simultaneously):

1. Download and run FRAPS:
   http://www.fraps.com/
2. Tick all three boxes unter "benchmark settings" on the left as shown here:
   
   
   
3. While in the game, go to a section where performance feels sluggish and press the benchmark hotkey of FRAPS (in my screenshot I selected F7). Play for a bit, 20-30 seconds or so. Stop the benchmark by pressing the hotkey again.
4. Go to the folder where the logs are saved
5. Upload them and post the links here

This might seem complicated but it isn't. I need this information to be able to tell you what's the problem.

http://www.fraps.com/

 

[Cupell08]

This might seem complicated but it isn't. I need this information to be able to tell you what's the problem.

Ok i will try this and post results. Thanks

 

[Cupell08]

Test Results:
(Max Payne 3 Max Settings)

This is the case for most games, always stays at 60 fps but still feels like its lagging / stuttering at times.

I noticed Mem2 is low compared to others, is this the problem??

http://postimage.org/image/5s254z8ld/
http://postimage.org/image/pb6qec7cx/
http://postimage.org/image/lg3cbro75/
http://postimage.org/image/p0z7uzsqp/
http://postimage.org/image/p0z7uzsqp/
http://postimage.org/image/qjulzyzb5/
http://postimage.org/image/uhmh34bi9/

 

[boxleitnerb]

The weird memory usage numbers are an error. They will revert to the correct value for all GPUs once you completely close and restart EVGA Precision and/or reboot the system.

Seems like you have VSync on, thus your GPU usage is low. Perfectly normal. I would try a framerate limiter which should not only reduce input lag considerably but also smooth any uneven frame distribution.

Open NV Inspector and select 59fps in the global profile (the house button):

This should considerably smooth gameplay with Quad-SLI. I have a friend who has 4-way SLI and Max Payne 3 is stuttery on his setup too. Apparently as far as 4-way SLI goes, Max Payne 3 is pretty much a worst case scenario.

 

[Cupell08]

Thanks so much for the help I really appreciate it. I will give the fps limiter a try.

Would it be ok If I used an app such as Dxtory instead of the Nvidia Inspector, only because i was told to leave nvidia set to "let 3D app decide".

 

[boxleitnerb]

You don't have to select that particular setting. Who told you that? Aside from that, the limiter is something else altogether, there is only on and off.

But now that you mention it, I would prefer Dxtory for two reasons. First, the Nvidia fps limiter has been known to cause the occasional bluescreen. Second, if you want to change the limit, you have to exit the game, change it and restart the game.

With Dxtory you can do it on the fly and I never had a crash - I've been using Dxtory for 18 months now without a problem. So yes, just go ahead and use that.

 

[Cupell08]

You don't have to select that particular setting. Who told you that? Aside from that, the limiter is something else altogether, there is only on and off.

But now that you mention it, I would prefer Dxtory for two reasons. First, the Nvidia fps limiter has been known to cause the occasional bluescreen. Second, if you want to change the limit, you have to exit the game, change it and restart the game.

With Dxtory you can do it on the fly and I never had a crash - I've been using Dxtory for 18 months now without a problem. So yes, just go ahead and use that.

Ok great, will try it out and let you know how it works!

 

[Cupell08]

Should I limit at 59 or 60 fps? And Why?