Not getting the performance out of SLi that I would expect, could use some help.

[kendirect]

Hi forum,

 

I've checked around Linus' youtube channel for some help on the subject, but haven't been able to find much info about what could be my culprit.  So I'm coming to you for some help on figuring out what the issue might be!

The Rig:

AMD FX 8350 @ 4.3 GHz

ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0

16 GB DDR 3 RAM @ 1600 (Corsair Vengeance LP)

SLi EVGA GTX 970 SuperClocked w/ ACX 2.0

Corsair RM 850 PSU

Corsair H110

Samsung 840 EVO / Some WD Blue 7200 RPM

 

Side specs:

Only one monitor ATM (Second is broken)

1080p, can't afford a 1440p monitor right now.

 

The issue:

I'm not getting the performance I would expect from SLi.  (Bear with me here, as this is my first time using SLi technology.)

I don't understand if it's purely a CPU bottleneck, or I have over estimated the technology...

 

Some game stats:

• Dragon Age: Inquisition @ Ultra 2x MSAA 60+FPS sometimes tipping below 60 and never below 50. (On HDD)
• Battlefield 4 @ Ultra 4x MSAA 100% Resolution Scaling 60+ fps sometimes tipping below 60 as in during explosions and heavy particles. (On SSD)
• Total War: ATTILA @ "Maximum Quality" setting, 60 FPS never below 50.
• Tomb Raider @ Ultra 200+ FPS

Awesome stats!  

 

Some more game stats:

• Evolve @ "High" 30 FPS max, microstuttering, tearing, flickering
• Dying Light @ "High"/"Medium" 30-50 FPS sometimes 10-20, microfreezing, missing textures
• Heroes of the Storm @ "High" 30 fps (most of the time), tearing, flickering, microstuttering
• PlanetSide 2 @ High/Ultra 30-40 FPS, dipping to 15-20 FPS, no microstutters, but sometimes just bad FPS.
• Arma3 @ Any settings 40 FPS in SP, 15 in Multiplayer... (120 player servers, King of the Hill / Wasteland)

 

So I'm just baffled by the disparity in results.  I know a lot of games aren't optimized for SLi, but does having SLi enabled really hurt them that much?  Is my CPU bottlenecking me THIS badly?  What information can I give you guys to help me figure out what the issue might be?  I'm willing to throw my left foot in the pile if it helps.

 

Thanks everyone.

[creativename]

Check the temperatures of your GPU, they might be throttling. It might just be your CPU.

[Overl0rd]

I hope you have made sure that SLI is actually enabled?

[david cassar]

All the games you play require very good single threaded performance. Your 8350 is bottlenecking bad. Especially in games like dying light , planetside and arma. Get an I5 Asap. Also at 1080p why did you get 970 sli? A single 970 would have been enough. Anyways the 8350 is known to bottleneck a single 970 let alone two.

[kendirect]

I hope you have made sure that SLI is actually enabled?

 

Haha, yeah it's definitely enabled.

 

Check the temperatures of your GPU, they might be throttling. It might just be your CPU.

 

Temps are fine, 58/64 under load.

 

All the games you play require very good single threaded performance. Your 8350 is bottlenecking bad. Especially in games like dying light , planetside and arma. Get an I5 Asap. Also at 1080p why did you get 970 sli? A single 970 would have been enough. Anyways the 8350 is known to bottleneck a single 970 let alone two.

 

Can you provide actual evidence of this other than just your post?  I would like to read about it.

[Suffokation]

All the games you play require very good single threaded performance. Your 8350 is bottlenecking bad. Especially in games like dying light , planetside and arma. Get an I5 Asap. Also at 1080p why did you get 970 sli? A single 970 would have been enough. Anyways the 8350 is known to bottleneck a single 970 let alone two.

Agreed.

\m/

[GhostWindGamer]

The 8350 is bottlenecking 

[Suffokation]

The 8350 isn't intended too run on high end graphics processors.

A budget CPU goes with a budget GPU.

It's as simple as that...

[kendirect]

The 8350 isn't intended too run on high end graphics processors.

A budget CPU goes with a budget GPU.

It's as simple as that...

 

http://www.tweaktown.com/tweakipedia/55/amd-fx-8350-powering-gtx-780-sli-vs-gtx-980-sli-at-2560x1440/index.html

 

I'm just going to say I trust a reputed website more than hear-say if you're not willing to show me better factual information with proven benchmarks.

I'm not going to argue that you're wrong because I honestly do not have the deep technical knowledge needed, but I've seen multiple sites showing that the 8350 should not heavily bottleneck the 9xx series.

[Godlygamer23]

All the games you play require very good single threaded performance. Your 8350 is bottlenecking bad. Especially in games like dying light , planetside and arma. Get an I5 Asap. Also at 1080p why did you get 970 sli? A single 970 would have been enough. Anyways the 8350 is known to bottleneck a single 970 let alone two.

A single 970 isn't necessarily enough - just because it's 1080p doesn't mean it's not demanding. For example, I have a 1080p 144Hz monitor. Pushing 144 frames versus 60 will be more demanding - and some games like Borderlands The Pre-Sequel are not optimized very well.

[Suffokation]

 

Okay mate.

EDIT:

I just looked at those benchmarks.

None of them are the games you are trying to play.

And half of them are synthetic.

Are you actually serious or just trolling?

[kendirect]

A single 970 isn't necessarily enough - just because it's 1080p doesn't mean it's not demanding. For example, I have a 1080p 144Hz monitor. Pushing 144 frames versus 60 will be more demanding - and some games like Borderlands The Pre-Sequel are not optimized very well.

 

I'm only on a 60Hz monitor at the moment.  I've got high hopes for the Acer XB270HU though!  Maybe I should work on my SLi issue before thinking about that though.  

[kendirect]

Okay mate.

EDIT:

I just looked at those benchmarks.

None of them are the games you are trying to play.

And half of them are synthetic.

Are you actually serious or just trolling?

 

I'm sorry, I don't want to be condescending, but this is going to sound so... because it is - I'll wait for someone older than 16 to help me out.  I'm not trying to be rude, I'd just rather someone with experience to help.

[Overl0rd]

What I'd do is this: install MSI Afterburner and get an overlay of you GPU and CPU usage up on your screen.

Then go into BF4 and see if your GPU's are fully utilized, if not there is most likely a bottleneck.

For example; with my OC'd 2600K and two GTX 570's I can get over 60fps on 1080p Ultra.

 

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm 

Be sure to download both Afterburner as well as RivaTuner.

[Suffokation]

I'm sorry, I don't want to be condescending, but this is going to sound so... because it is - I'll wait for someone older than 16 to help me out.  I'm not trying to be rude, I'd just rather someone with experience to help.

You came to a forum and asked for help.

But, even an experienced user is going to tell you exact same thing as me mate.

Have a nice day.

Oh uh and, i've built 34 systems in my life and I am currently studying a Certificate 4 in Computer Engineering in Tafe 3 days a week.

[TheMcSame]

Bottlenecks would be my guess for most of the games. Not the CPU bottlenecking the cards, the games "bottlenecking" the CPU.

 

That being said, maybe SLI is off? Vsync is on? Only other two things I can think of atm.

[kendirect]

You came to a forum and asked for help.

But, even an experienced user is going to tell you exact same thing as me mate.

Have a nice day.

 

I'm sorry, but this is exactly why I'll be waiting for someone who is of a higher age to speak to.

[kendirect]

Bottlenecks would be my guess for most of the games. Not the CPU bottlenecking the cards, the games "bottlenecking" the CPU.

 

That being said, maybe SLI is off? Vsync is on? Only other two things I can think of atm.

 

I have SLi enabled in the nVidia control panel.  Vsync is off in all games, I've been told to use Adaptive V-Sync in the nVidia control panel, but I didn't see any difference so I turned it back off. 

[Godlygamer23]

I have SLi enabled in the nVidia control panel.  Vsync is off in all games, I've been told to use Adaptive V-Sync in the nVidia control panel, but I didn't see any difference so I turned it back off. 

Adaptive V-Sync turns V-Sync on and off depending on the situation. That's its function.

[kendirect]

Adaptive V-Sync turns V-Sync on and off depending on the situation. That's its function.

 

Would you recommend it?  Or is it more of a game-to-game basis?

 

What I'd do is this: install MSI Afterburner and get an overlay of you GPU and CPU usage up on your screen.

Then go into BF4 and see if your GPU's are fully utilized, if not there is most likely a bottleneck.

For example; with my OC'd 2600K and two GTX 570's I can get over 60fps on 1080p Ultra.

 

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm 

Be sure to download both Afterburner as well as RivaTuner.

 

http://i.imgur.com/q8TfCpr.png

 

That's what I'm looking at after about 5 minutes of gameplay.

[Overl0rd]

Would you recommend it?  Or is it more of a game-to-game basis?

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/q8TfCpr.png

 

That's what I'm looking at after about 5 minutes of gameplay.

Can you also show the CPU usage?

Tip: in the options tab you can disable things like VID usage, fan speed and so on, these aren't necessary now.

[kendirect]

Can you also show the CPU usage?

Tip: in the options tab you can disable things like VID usage, fan speed and so on, these aren't necessary now.

 

Give me one sec.

 

http://imgur.com/a/hevUO

 

That's more of what you were looking for I think!

[Overl0rd]

If it's working correctly it should look like this:

 

 

Both of my GTX 570's are fully utlized. (don't mind the memory bug)

[Overl0rd]

Give me one sec.

 

http://imgur.com/a/hevUO

 

That's more of what you were looking for I think!

Well as you can see, the GPU's are only barely utilized. This does lead me too believe that the 8350 (despite some benchmarks showing differently) is indeed the bottleneck here.

[kendirect]

Well as you can see, the GPU's are only barely utilized. This does lead me too believe that the 8350 (despite some benchmarks showing differently) is indeed the bottleneck here.

 

Yeah, it's really weird though - because some games (IE Dragon Age) I'm using higher load (which I actually thought was bad, lol) but then some use.. 36% like BF4.