GTX480 -> 2-Way SLI Scaling -> Almost 100%!!!!!

[luv2increase]

I don't know if many of you have seen this review by Guru3D or not. I'm sure it was probably posted on here before. Many people seem to "want" to focus on pitting a single 5870 up against a single 480. But, why would we do this when more likely than not, those who buy the 480 and 5870 are probably going to opt for 2 of them and possibly even 3 or 4!

So, here is a fairly recent review with still immature drivers showing just how well the 480 does in 2-way and 3-way scaling. Make not that I believe the problems with 3-way scaling in the review are due to the drivers and the CPU bottleneck.


ENJOY!!! If anyone raves about the 5870 over the 480, make sure you point out how much better the 480 does over the 5870 in a 2-way configuration.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-480-3way-sli-review/5

 

[Paratus]

Do you feel better now?

 

[railven]

Wait, so I finally bought a 5870 now I have to buy another one?

I play on a 1920x1080 52" about 6FT away, the extra AA/AF would be lost on me. Why would I want another 5870?

 

[Outrage]

But, why would we do this when more likely than not, those who buy the 480 and 5870 are probably going to opt for 2 of them and possibly even 3 or 4!

 

[luv2increase]

Wait, so I finally bought a 5870 now I have to buy another one?

I play on a 1920x1080 52" about 6FT away, the extra AA/AF would be lost on me. Why would I want another 5870?

On my 46" Samsung @ 1920x1080, I still benefit greatly from AA/AF. The old adage about not needing AA/AF @ higher resolutions is bogus. Sure, you don't need as much, but you still need it for the absolute best "gaming experience".

2 x 5870s would be very much so worth it. 3 x 5870s is even worth it. I can equate my tri-fire 5870 experience to "almost" what I'm getting with 2 x 480s. I really like how Nvidia has improved the picture quality over GT200 though. Gaming with 8x supersampled transparency is MINDBOGGLING

 

[railven]

On my 46" Samsung @ 1920x1080, I still benefit greatly from AA/AF. The old adage about not needing AA/AF @ higher resolutions is bogus. Sure, you don't need as much, but you still need it for the absolute best "gaming experience".

2 x 5870s would be very much so worth it. 3 x 5870s is even worth it. I can equate my tri-fire 5870 experience to "almost" what I'm getting with 2 x 480s. I really like how Nvidia has improved the picture quality over GT200 though. Gaming with 8x supersampled transparency is MINDBOGGLING

Sorry friend, I don't have hawk vision anymore. Age (and years of sitting 6" away from a screen) are getting to me.

The extra AA/AF will literally be lost to me. My eye's wouldn't perceive the IQ bump. Testing 4xAA to 8xAA wasn't visible for me, so I left it on 4xAA.

If I ever decide to get another 52" for Eyefinity maybe I'll look into a second 5870, till then one is sufficing my needs.

 

[luv2increase]

Sorry friend, I don't have hawk vision anymore. Age (and years of sitting 6" away from a screen) are getting to me.

The extra AA/AF will literally be lost to me. My eye's wouldn't perceive the IQ bump. Testing 4xAA to 8xAA wasn't visible for me, so I left it on 4xAA.

If I ever decide to get another 52" for Eyefinity maybe I'll look into a second 5870, till then one is sufficing my needs.

4xAA/8xAA won't give the same results for every game. Some games are worse than others. You've obviously never experienced supersampling before. Put in a DX9 game and go into CCC and set the AA mode to supersampling and crank up the AA to 8x Edge-Detect which will ultimately output 24xAA.

If you don't notice a difference, then maybe you need a stronger prescription

 

[railven]

4xAA/8xAA won't give the same results for every game. Some games are worse than others. You've obviously never experienced supersampling before. Put in a DX9 game and go into CCC and set the AA mode to supersampling and crank up the AA to 8x Edge-Detect which will ultimately output 24xAA.

If you don't notice a difference, then maybe you need a stronger prescription

I was just using generic terms that the benches throw around.

I run at 4xAA with Edge Detect. In older games, yes it does look great and is noticeable due to the limited geometry (more straight lines then you can wag a stick at) but in the newer games I personally don't see the improvement in IQ to justify upgrading my hardware to use it. But, who knows, things always change.

 

[CitanUzuki]

Ok thanks, now back under your bridge!

 

[taltamir]

those are some impressive scaling... if only nvidia sold a 150$ fermi-like GPU that had significantly less power and noise and heat with slightly less performance you could actually get some very nice SLI setups...

of course, nvidia's DRM laden drivers require that the mobo maker pay nvidia 5$ for the DRM keys to support SLI, and as such most mobos do not support it... epic fail on nvidia's part.

 

[luv2increase]

those are some impressive scaling... if only nvidia sold a 150$ fermi-like GPU that had significantly less power and noise and heat with slightly less performance you could actually get some very nice SLI setups...

of course, nvidia's DRM laden drivers require that the mobo maker pay nvidia 5$ for the DRM keys to support SLI, and as such most mobos do not support it... epic fail on nvidia's part.

Every new Intel based motherboard out there supports SLI. Many AMD boards now support SLI. Where do you get off saying QUOTE "most mobos do not support it"????? It simply isn't true.

btw, Nvidia does not even have their entire Fermi line released yet. ATI did something incredible when they got their whole DX11 line from top to bottom out so quickly. Nvidia, on the other hand, can't hang with that. The 460 is due out soon, and we'll see possibly some sub $200 dollar variants in the near future as well.

 

[Will Robinson]

ENJOY!!! If anyone raves about the 5870 over the 480, make sure you point out how much better the 480 does over the 5870 in a 2-way configuration.

You might want to point this out too...

For what it's worth, in case the graphs don't really convey this, two GTX 480s in SLI are really frickin' loud.

The Tech Report

 

[thilanliyan]

I don't know if many of you have seen this review by Guru3D or not. I'm sure it was probably posted on here before. Many people seem to "want" to focus on pitting a single 5870 up against a single 480. But, why would we do this when more likely than not, those who buy the 480 and 5870 are probably going to opt for 2 of them and possibly even 3 or 4!

Would you be able to please provide some facts for this? It's hard to believe most of those people would by 2/3/4 of those cards, but I could be wrong.

Oh and:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_480_SLI/30.html

Scaling is at an average of ~70% for 2560x1600...getting lower at lower resolutions...for THIS review using the same drivers.

 

[busydude]

Many AMD boards now support SLI.

I am sorry, its not many its none. SLI on AMD platforms died when Nvidia quit from chipset business.

 

[taltamir]

Every new Intel based motherboard out there supports SLI. Many AMD boards now support SLI. Where do you get off saying QUOTE "most mobos do not support it"????? It simply isn't true.

btw, Nvidia does not even have their entire Fermi line released yet. ATI did something incredible when they got their whole DX11 line from top to bottom out so quickly. Nvidia, on the other hand, can't hang with that. The 460 is due out soon, and we'll see possibly some sub $200 dollar variants in the near future as well.

It is a known fact that nvidia charges mobo makers 5$ per mobo that wants to use SLI, the 5$ buys them a DRM key which they insert in the BIOS, nvidia drivers then check for that key and refuse to do SLI unless it is found.

Here is a list of the most current gigabyte 1156 mobos:
http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherboard/Products_List.aspx?VenderType=Intel&CPUType=socket+1156

Observe that model GA-H55N-USB3 does not support either SLI or Xfire, it has only one 16x slot.
However the following models have 2 appropriate slots and support only crossfire:
GA-H55M-D2H
GA-P55A-UD3P
GA-P55A-UD3

While the following model paid the 5$ nvidia ransom and supports BOTH crossfire AND SLI:
GA-P55A-UD4P

Only if your mobo maker paid 5$ from the price of your mobo to nvidia does nvidia DRM allows you to use SLI. Epic fail on nvidia because it only ensures that most mobos will support crossfire alone and not SLI, and that less people buy nvidia cards.

 

[busydude]

Would you be able to please provide some facts for this? It's hard to believe most of those people would by 2/3/4 of those cards, but I could be wrong.

ohh, beware. I am warning you. :-|

In case you were wondering check this.

 

[luv2increase]

You might want to point this out too...

The Tech Report

Umm... You don't hear them when idle. When you are gaming, the sound from my speakers drowns out the news of the computer/GPU fans. I mostly game with a professional set of AKG headphones anyway

Sound is not an issue; supreme performance is


For the full list of SLI supported motherboards, check out this link:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_mobo.html

It shows all the AMD/Intel boards available that are SLI certified.

I was wrong in saying that all Intel boards support SLI. I don't believe in Nvidia's SLI motherboard certification practices. I've been EXTREMELY vocal against it in the past. I am actually against a lot that Nvidia does as a company! However, as I've stated before, I only want the best that benefits me and those I give support to.

 

[Paratus]

I don't know if many of you have seen this review by Guru3D or not. I'm sure it was probably posted on here before. Many people seem to "want" to focus on pitting a single 5870 up against a single 480. But, why would we do this when more likely than not, those who buy the 480 and 5870 are probably going to opt for 2 of them and possibly even 3 or 4!

So, here is a fairly recent review with still immature drivers showing just how well the 480 does in 2-way and 3-way scaling. Make not that I believe the problems with 3-way scaling in the review are due to the drivers and the CPU bottleneck.


ENJOY!!! If anyone raves about the 5870 over the 480, make sure you point out how much better the 480 does over the 5870 in a 2-way configuration.

Well looking at BSNs review of ...orably to a single HD 5870 in this benchmark!

 

[Keysplayr]

I don't know if many of you have seen this review by Guru3D or not. I'm sure it was probably posted on here before. Many people seem to "want" to focus on pitting a single 5870 up against a single 480. But, why would we do this when more likely than not, those who buy the 480 and 5870 are probably going to opt for 2 of them and possibly even 3 or 4!

So, here is a fairly recent review with still immature drivers showing just how well the 480 does in 2-way and 3-way scaling. Make not that I believe the problems with 3-way scaling in the review are due to the drivers and the CPU bottleneck.


ENJOY!!! If anyone raves about the 5870 over the 480, make sure you point out how much better the 480 does over the 5870 in a 2-way configuration.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-480-3way-sli-review/5

I don't understand why anyone should "make sure" they point out SLI performance when comparing a 5870 to a 480. And what you posted above about those considering a 5870 or 480 will more than likely opt for 1 to 3 more of each. I actually don't even know why you bothered with this thread when all you have is pure speculation and poor speculation at that. Look on these boards. Most of us, those that have a 5870 or 480, only have one. Sure, there are a few who have opted for Xfire or SLI, but that is relatively rare in comparison.
Yes, SLI scaling is utterly fantastic in GF100. Doesn't nearly mean everyone who buys one, can afford two or more. Or even want two or more. Most on these boards seem to prefer 1 card and one card only.

 

[luv2increase]

That's impressive scaling. *GTX480 SLI compares very favorably to a single HD 5870 in this benchmark!

There is no need to be sarcastic. There is however a need to be civil and professional.

This GPGPU results given for the WIFI wardriving password cracking app were troubling to me when I first saw it. Why? Well, the fact that I use a lot of linux penetration applications was a reason why I wanted CUDA. Some of you may not know, but there are more penetration testing applications in Linux with CUDA support than there are with OpenCL or Stream.

In the end though, many of you need to know that some applications are "coded" for certain GPUs. This is just one WIFI cracking application benchmark. In this thread, we are solely discussing GAMING SLI performance. However, it is nice to note that the 480 did have a full 100% scaling there. If only the application was "optimized" for the 480, the performance would have been better.


@Keysplayr
What you are saying directly contradicts the SLI/CF poll that is going on right now. It is about 50% who have or have had SLI/CF setups. I am on boards all the time, and I see more people with a 5870 or 480 having more than just one listed in their signature. I pay close attention to these things. Also, going SLI/CF is a better option for some rather than just selling their current GPU and getting a better one. Sometimes it can be more cost efficient.

The bottom line is that we are talking about the best single-GPU cards in the world. Many people who want that kind of performance won't just be happy with one. Notice I said "MANY". I didn't say "ALL".

 

[Paratus]

There is no need to be sarcastic. There is however a need to be civil and professional.

This GPGPU results given for the WIFI wardriving password cracking app were troubling to me when I first saw it. Why? Well, the fact that I use a lot of linux penetration applications was a reason why I wanted CUDA. Some of you may not know, but there are more penetration testing applications in Linux with CUDA support than there are with OpenCL or Stream.

In the end though, many of you need to know that some applications are "coded" for certain GPUs. This is just one WIFI cracking application benchmark. In this thread, we are solely discussing GAMING SLI performance. However, it is nice to note that the 480 did have a full 100% scaling there. If only the application was "optimized" for the 480, the performance would have been better.


@Keysplayr
What you are saying directly contradicts the SLI/CF poll that is going on right now. It is about 50% who have or have had SLI/CF setups. I am on boards all the time, and I see more people with a 5870 or 480 having more than just one listed in their signature. I pay close attention to these things. Also, going SLI/CF is a better option for some rather than just selling their current GPU and getting a better one. Sometimes it can be more cost efficient.

The bottom line is that we are talking about the best single-GPU cards in the world. Many people who want that kind of performance won't just be happy with one. Notice I said "MANY". I didn't say "ALL".[/ ;QUOTE]

I'm actually not being sarcastic. They got basically %100 scaling in that benchmark. That is impressive and backs up your OP.

I did pick it to tweak you a little though.

 

[Qbah]

(...)
@Keysplayr
What you are saying directly contradicts the SLI/CF poll that is going on right now. It is about 50% who have or have had SLI/CF setups. I am on boards all the time, and I see more people with a 5870 or 480 having more than just one listed in their signature. I pay close attention to these things. Also, going SLI/CF is a better option for some rather than just selling their current GPU and getting a better one. Sometimes it can be more cost efficient.
[/B]

Well then, take a look again. It's 33% / 66% - and people who never had a multi-GPU configuration are the overwhelming majority.

Also, since you're focusing on the gaming aspect - I'm sure benchmarks (3DMark etc) are useless then, as you don't actually play them. And they're hardly representative gaming environments (apart from using D3D).

Fermi scaling was shown in Keys' thread, when he did his own testing. And it was discussed then. Also in the HD5970vsGTX470SLi thread. What's the point in starting another? Most people know SLi scaling is very good. However the majority doesn't really care (and there's a poll proving that!) - cause the majority either never had a multi-GPU setup or is not using one now (for many reasons, but it still stands).

 

[MagickMan]

My thoughts too. My single 5850 is just fine. I might grab another at some point, but that will be when people start dumping them to get SI.

 

[MJinZ]

Wait, so I finally bought a 5870 now I have to buy another one?

I play on a 1920x1080 52" about 6FT away, the extra AA/AF would be lost on me. Why would I want another 5870?

Why don't you just play on a 3" Iphone screen instead?

You're accomplishing the same thing (destroying the whole point of superior PC game graphics).

Except wait, the shitty PC games these days can't really be that to have to sit that far away from them right?

Maybe they can.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Keep on trying to desperately spin it, I guarantee your "many" is still an extreme minority.

The unscientific poll you mention currently stands @ 67% not ever having used SLI/CF

With a combined 20% currently using CF/SLI...of course that could be anything, including running running midrange cards, not 5870s or 480s.

And this is an "enthusiast" site so the numbers are bound to be skewed in your favor but the numbers are still bad for your argument