[H]ard Conclusion on current SLI support.

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Originally posted by: xtknight
http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzQ3LDg=

hahahah

on chronicles of riddick and everquest, the single card is faster, and on nfsu2, there's no improvement. they still have a way to go 😉.

let's hope this isn't permanent.

You guys are reading the graphs wrong.

Yes, it shows that a single GT and an SLI GT have these exact same scores:

Min-- 30, Max-- 45/46, Avg-- 39

But what you're missing is that the single GT was run at 1280x1024 0xAA 16xAF, and the SLI was run at 1600x1200 0xAA 16xAF.

That's equal performance when raising resolution up.

You still think there's no improvement?

All of their graphs are that way. I'm kinda torn as to how I like it. In a way, it's refreshing to see what settings a single GT would need to have to match the perfomance of a full-blown full-details SLI setup. So, it's not a true apples-to-apples at a set res/detail.

alright I was wrong about nfsu2. but I was right about everquest and riddick. they were run at the same settings.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: ZimZum

Originally posted by: SilverBack

ZimZum Who said anything about 2 year old games?! 30 major PC titles have been released just in the past 3 months. Can you say with certainty that SLI supports all or even most of them?

I can say yes they do.
I've tried all my games here at home that have been released in the last year.
Even Halo supports it and it's considerably older now..


Here is a list of games currently supported by Nvidia

Is that the complete list of all supported games?!

If it is, you can take a look at some of the major PC game releases of the past 3 months Here .
Most of which aren't on the list you posted.

You're probably right ZimZum- people are better off running all their games slow and at lower settings than getting huge boosts at the games that really need it.

I mean c'mon, if the 8 people who buy "American Chopper" don't get an increase from SLI, why should the 10,000,000 who buy Doom3, Far Cry, and Half Life2?

LOL

Beyond that, like I and others have pointed out to you, but you keep ignoring, you can force SLI on any game with by selecting "AFR" or "SFR" on a drop down menu. We don't know if those games are benefitting until someone actually buys them and plays them on an SLI rig.

 

[nRollo]

alright I was wrong about nfsu2. but I was right about everquest and riddick. they were run at the same settings

So what? When I look at all the games on my shelf that I can play faster and better than any single card owner, I don't start crying because I can't play EQ and Riddick any faster than one of my 6800GTs will play it? (that's still about as good as it gets?)

 

[ginfest]

I'll make it very simple😉

Just remember that SLI, SM 3.0 support and any other feature that NV has stinks, is not needed, etc until the competition comes out with thier version-then it'll be the best thing since sliced bread😀


Mike G

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: ZimZum

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: ZimZum

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel
Seriously, Rollo has done an amazing job of putting together very thorough benchmarks for different SLI setups. If you would rather see data that is more conventional (comparison at the same res/detail level), let Rollo know and maybe he can add that particular game to his benches.

Sometimes these things are just hard to compare. Take Star Wars: Battlefront, for example. It's capped at 20fp😉s. I can run it at it's highest settings, max AA and AF out, with tons of bots running around, and it still won't budge off the 20fps. Haven't tried it on a single GT, or an SLI 6600 setup, so that would be one that is interesting to see.

Just be careful reading benchmarks out there. Some are misleading, some don't know how to test, some just plain lie, and, more often than not, they won't agree with each other because of the many varied settings in both the games and drivers (as well as differences amongst independent testing rigs).

I don't think its the performance thats the problem with the current state of nVidias SLI. As obviously the horsepower is there in spades. The problem is its bugginess and the fact that it still doesn't work with Most games. Thats the deal breaker for me. It all comes down to what you spend the majority of your time doing, benchmarking or gaming. 😉

Yeah you definately need SLI for games more than 2 years old. :roll:

Who said anything about 2 year old games?! 30 major PC titles have been released just in the past 3 months. Can you say with certainty that SLI supports all or even most of them?

Thats my only point. If I'm going to pay $700 or more for an SLI setup I don't want it to be a crap-shoot whether or not it supports a game I may purchase.

When they work all of the kinks out. Maybe I'd be interested in putting together an SLI rig, but not in its current incarnation.

Then dont buy it, and STOP BITCHING!

Im so sick of the "I cant afford SLI so it sucks" mantra.

 

[Ackmed]

Still no fix for us LCD WS users. There is no point in considering SLI for me. There are LOTS of WS LCD users, with the popular Dell models. SLI is a highend option, and so are WS LCD's. Its a shame you cant use them both together properly.

Whoever said there isnt any need for SLI for 2 year old games, thats your opinion, not a fact. There are plenty of two year old games that if you crank up the res and settings highenough, you can bring most any system to a crawl.

 

[ZimZum]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: ZimZum

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: ZimZum

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel
Seriously, Rollo has done an amazing job of putting together very thorough benchmarks for different SLI setups. If you would rather see data that is more conventional (comparison at the same res/detail level), let Rollo know and maybe he can add that particular game to his benches.

Sometimes these things are just hard to compare. Take Star Wars: Battlefront, for example. It's capped at 20fp😉s. I can run it at it's highest settings, max AA and AF out, with tons of bots running around, and it still won't budge off the 20fps. Haven't tried it on a single GT, or an SLI 6600 setup, so that would be one that is interesting to see.

Just be careful reading benchmarks out there. Some are misleading, some don't know how to test, some just plain lie, and, more often than not, they won't agree with each other because of the many varied settings in both the games and drivers (as well as differences amongst independent testing rigs).

I don't think its the performance thats the problem with the current state of nVidias SLI. As obviously the horsepower is there in spades. The problem is its bugginess and the fact that it still doesn't work with Most games. Thats the deal breaker for me. It all comes down to what you spend the majority of your time doing, benchmarking or gaming. 😉

Yeah you definately need SLI for games more than 2 years old. :roll:

Who said anything about 2 year old games?! 30 major PC titles have been released just in the past 3 months. Can you say with certainty that SLI supports all or even most of them?

Thats my only point. If I'm going to pay $700 or more for an SLI setup I don't want it to be a crap-shoot whether or not it supports a game I may purchase.

When they work all of the kinks out. Maybe I'd be interested in putting together an SLI rig, but not in its current incarnation.

Then dont buy it, and STOP BITCHING!

Im so sick of the "I cant afford SLI so it sucks" mantra.

Its an open forum. The day you become a mod then maybe you can tell what I can and cant post.

I never said I couldn't afford it, but nice dig anyway. I never said it sucks either, I just said they need to work the kinks out.

I also wouldn't pay $95,000 for a VW Phaeton W12. It doesn't mean I can't afford it. It simply means I wouldn't pay that much for a Volkswagen.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Still no fix for us LCD WS users. There is no point in considering SLI for me. There are LOTS of WS LCD users, with the popular Dell models. SLI is a highend option, and so are WS LCD's. Its a shame you cant use them both together properly.

Whoever said there isnt any need for SLI for 2 year old games, thats your opinion, not a fact. There are plenty of two year old games that if you crank up the res and settings highenough, you can bring most any system to a crawl.

yeah i suppose you can run 2048x1536 at 8x AA, but at 2048 there is no aliasing at even 2x. What games? Unreal classic?

The only game i can think of is Halo, which is supported anyway.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Still no fix for us LCD WS users. There is no point in considering SLI for me. There are LOTS of WS LCD users, with the popular Dell models. SLI is a highend option, and so are WS LCD's. Its a shame you cant use them both together properly.

Whoever said there isnt any need for SLI for 2 year old games, thats your opinion, not a fact. There are plenty of two year old games that if you crank up the res and settings highenough, you can bring most any system to a crawl.

Ackmed, don't you think it's fairly irrelevant there may be some game that doesn't have SLI benefits when they are there for the games that need it most?

What are these two year old games I can't run at 16X14 4X8X on a single 6800GT BTW?

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Still no fix for us LCD WS users. There is no point in considering SLI for me. There are LOTS of WS LCD users, with the popular Dell models. SLI is a highend option, and so are WS LCD's. Its a shame you cant use them both together properly.

Whoever said there isnt any need for SLI for 2 year old games, thats your opinion, not a fact. There are plenty of two year old games that if you crank up the res and settings highenough, you can bring most any system to a crawl.

yeah i suppose you can run 2048x1536 at 8x AA, but at 2048 there is no aliasing at even 2x. What games? Unreal classic?

The only game i can think of is Halo, which is supported anyway.

I cant run at that res, mine is fixed at 1920x1200. I can run lower, but it looks crappy to me.

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Still no fix for us LCD WS users. There is no point in considering SLI for me. There are LOTS of WS LCD users, with the popular Dell models. SLI is a highend option, and so are WS LCD's. Its a shame you cant use them both together properly.

Whoever said there isnt any need for SLI for 2 year old games, thats your opinion, not a fact. There are plenty of two year old games that if you crank up the res and settings highenough, you can bring most any system to a crawl.

Ackmed, don't you think it's fairly irrelevant there may be some game that doesn't have SLI benefits when they are there for the games that need it most?

What are these two year old games I can't run at 16X14 4X8X on a single 6800GT BTW?

It depends on the person if it is irrelevant . I would agree with you that it is better to have the more demanding and newers games supported versus an older game based on an old engine.

There are several games that cant run good enough for me, at the res and settings you said. Mostly online games, as when you get 20+ people on a map or screen at once, it can kill your performance. Since online games are generally harder to keep a high frame rate, and are needed more so than in single play (imo), it can be annoying. I like to play with game settings, and drivers settings set to max quality. Keep in mind some people play at a higher res than 1600x1200. These are probably considered "power users", the same as high end SLI users are. And its a shame I can use SLI with my LCD properly. As there are games that can become very slow if I set the settings too high.

 

[SleepWalkerX]

wow, i'm still not used to the apples to apples comparison that [hardocp] does, it confuses me i guess..

its nice to see somebody do something different, but i'll have to just stick to apples to oranges.