PSA: Nvida SLI bits for 680's for Far Cry 3 in 310.70 are awful....

[Ferzerp]

Once I updated to 310.70, the game started performing poorly (in comparison) and cut scenes turned in to a huge mess. The default SLI bits for Far Cry 3 DX 11 are 000902F5. If you change it to 0C1902F5 it appears to fix it and everything is nice and smooth again. No more stutter, and the cut scenes are smooth again as well.


edit: I've seen reports that for some people, the 0C1902F5 value is present by default, but others (such as me) have a different value. If you have anything other than 0C1902F5, it would behoove you to swap to in instead and give that a shot.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

It's been said countless times, but Far Cry 3 is not a smooth game regardless of brand or dual card/single card. There are issues with the game that may not necessarily be anything to do with your drivers or SLi profiles. You may eventually see stuttering even on the profile you think fixed the problem.

 

[DigDog]

:/

i'v played FC3 on my 7750 .. DX11, 1920 x 1080, on medium and it was smooth and looked gorgeous. i'v seen the "Ultra-High" videos on youtube and i'm yet to be convinced i was missing out on anything.
Not trying to burst your bubble but i don't really see the point of SLI .. expecially when a single 680 would have served you just as well .. i'll change my mind when SLI stops having issues with every other game, with the "other" being those titles that don't actually need it to run decently.

 

[chimaxi83]

:/

i'v played FC3 on my 7750 .. DX11, 1920 x 1080, on medium and it was smooth and looked gorgeous. i'v seen the "Ultra-High" videos on youtube and i'm yet to be convinced i was missing out on anything.
Not trying to burst your bubble but i don't really see the point of SLI .. expecially when a single 680 would have served you just as well .. i'll change my mind when SLI stops having issues with every other game, with the "other" being those titles that don't actually need it to run decently.

You don't need to see the point of SLI for it to make sense to plenty of people. You game at 1920x1080 with medium settings, no AA either probably, so no, you wouldn't see the point.

Anyway, what is this SLI bit stuff? Third party program to get some games to work properly/better? I had SLI for only a few months this year, so I guess I didn't really run across any issues since I was only playing BF3 and WoT (which doesn't support multi GPU anyway).

 

[moonbogg]

Once I updated to 310.70, the game started performing poorly (in comparison) and cut scenes turned in to a huge mess. The default SLI bits for Far Cry 3 DX 11 are 000902F5. If you change it to 0C1902F5 it appears to fix it and everything is nice and smooth again. No more stutter, and the cut scenes are smooth again as well.

Verified in a major way. Same thing happened to me. It is really astonishing how crippled your FPS will be with default bits. By using the custom ones you listed, it doesn't just improve FPS by a little, it un breaks the game so that you can actually play it and have SLI make a big difference. Default bits break the game.

 

[AdamK47]

Thanks for the tip

 

[AdamK47]

Just tried the Far Cry 2 SLI bits of 000902F5 in Far Cry 3. I have only started the game, but did go through the first part with cut scenes. The game performed sluggishly. Like it was running sub 30FPS with high input lag. Reverting back to the default Far Cry 3 DX11 SLI bits fixed it. It performs at a solid 60 FPS with two 690s in Quad SLI.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Really wanting to buy this game but it sounds pretty buggy right now,any patch for this game due out soon or are the majority of issues simply sli and driver issues?

 

[Ferzerp]

Just tried the Far Cry 2 SLI bits of 000902F5 in Far Cry 3. I have only started the game, but did go through the first part with cut scenes. The game performed sluggishly. Like it was running sub 30FPS with high input lag. Reverting back to the default Far Cry 3 DX11 SLI bits fixed it. It performs at a solid 60 FPS with two 690s in Quad SLI.

Adam, the 0009 ones are the *incorrect* ones, and the 0C19 ones are the correct ones. I saw some anecdotal claims that some people already had 0C19 with 310.70 but some people didn't. It is a mystery (or an issue with nvidia's software somewhere). If you already had 0C19 then yours would work. I (and apparently many others) somehow got another value when updating to 310.70 that really sucks (as you saw when you put it in).

 

[Will Robinson]

NVDA drivers...sheesh....and I'd been told here how uber they were....so often too

 

[tviceman]

NVDA drivers...sheesh....and I'd been told here how uber they were....so often too

Neither company is without problems in their drivers from time to time. It's just that one company addresses issues more timely, in a more sensible manner, and provides a few more features.

 

[Ferzerp]

n/t

 

[AdamK47]

Trying out the DX1x SLI bits of 0x080912F5. I was getting some stuttering when firing using the default bits of 0x080902F5. This seems to fix that. I'll have to play more to really confirm though.

 

[AdamK47]

Tried out 0x080912F5 for over an hour and it's been perfect.

 

[scooterlibby]

I had a drop in SLI performance with the most recent drivers on my GTX580's. could the cause be this?

Also, where exactly do you go to change this string of text in the drivers?

 

[cmdrdredd]

I had a drop in SLI performance with the most recent drivers on my GTX580's. could the cause be this?

Also, where exactly do you go to change this string of text in the drivers?

Nvidia inspector, edit the far cry 3 profile.

You don't need to see the point of SLI for it to make sense to plenty of people. You game at 1920x1080 with medium settings, no AA either probably, so no, you wouldn't see the point.

Anyway, what is this SLI bit stuff? Third party program to get some games to work properly/better? I had SLI for only a few months this year, so I guess I didn't really run across any issues since I was only playing BF3 and WoT (which doesn't support multi GPU anyway).

In the drivers every game has a profile where compatibility bits are set for things like AA modes supported, ambient occlusion, and SLI. Different compatibility bits flag different things for the drivers and can have an impact on the game. Some are better than others, some crash the game, some have low GPU usage etc. Finding the right ones to use is what Nvidia does when they release updates for SLI profiles in their drivers. Sometimes though, via Nvidia inspector, the community can find the best ones before Nvidia releases them into drivers. Like Sleeping Dogs. The Nvidia profile had low GPU usage and sluggish performance. Someone discovered a bit setting that would give 98% usage across two gpus and gave huge performance benefits. Nvidia eventually used those same compatibility bits in a later driver.

Nvidia has more QA testing to do than end users. Sometimes one bit would work with a GTX670 but not a GTX580. Nvidia needs to be sure it works for all and without problems.

NVDA drivers...sheesh....and I'd been told here how uber they were....so often too

SLI is always a work in progress. That has always been the case.

 

[cmdrdredd]

double

 

[lavaheadache]

The only thing that will ensure smooth gameplay in Far Cry 3 is by keeping your framerate locked at 60 fps with a Frame limiter. The second your FPS drops below 60 even if it is 59 the game will stutter. I have tried everything and this is the only solution.

The issue is brand agnostic too. Nvidia and Amd cards are affected by the problem.

 

[Ferzerp]

The only thing that will ensure smooth gameplay in Far Cry 3 is by keeping your framerate locked at 60 fps with a Frame limiter. The second your FPS drops below 60 even if it is 59 the game will stutter. I have tried everything and this is the only solution.

The issue is brand agnostic too. Nvidia and Amd cards are affected by the problem.

Mine runs fine with the proper SLI bits on Ultra and HDAO@2560x1600. I'm not sure what my AA is set on, but there is no need for any limiter.

 

[lavaheadache]

Well, a limiter might not actually be needed it's just habitual for me since you don't needlessly render more frames than you have to.

But making sure you don't get less than 60 fps is essential for the this game engine

 

[cmdrdredd]

Mine runs fine with the proper SLI bits on Ultra and HDAO@2560x1600. I'm not sure what my AA is set on, but there is no need for any limiter.

Are you noticing a dark shadow across the bottom 1/4 of the screen with HDAO enabled?

I limit my fps to 75 in far cry 3 because sometimes 100fps is just overusing the cards and heating up everything. In some games I don't bother limiting the fps. In this one I almost have to if I play long enough because I end up with a space heater lol. Why not 60? Cause I get a little better game play over 60fps since I'm not using vsync.

 

[Ferzerp]

Are you noticing a dark shadow across the bottom 1/4 of the screen with HDAO enabled?

I limit my fps to 75 in far cry 3 because sometimes 100fps is just overusing the cards and heating up everything. In some games I don't bother limiting the fps. In this one I almost have to if I play long enough because I end up with a space heater lol. Why not 60? Cause I get a little better game play over 60fps since I'm not using vsync.

I'm not.

I have very good cooling on my video cards, so they stay cool and quiet even at 90+% utilization

 

[lavaheadache]

I actually haven't used my 120 hz monitor in a little bit cuz 7970 lighting don't have Dual link DVI

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'm not.

I have very good cooling on my video cards, so they stay cool and quiet even at 90+% utilization

And what driver are you using? The 310.70 WHQL? That's what I'm using and if I set HDAO on I have a black shadow (more of a dark grey) across the bottom 1/4 or so of the image. HBAO doesn't have this effect.

 

[Ferzerp]

310.70, yes.

Weird. Test without AA for a second to see if it's still there?