sli worth it

[apaar123]

I wanted to ask that is sli really worth it. How much performance it will improve and games which do not support sli do they utilise one gpu to its full potential? Also how do i provide cooling to them if i aint doing custom looping?

[Oshino Shinobu]

Depends on the cards. In general, it's best to go for the most powerful single card you can, but in some rare cases it's better value to go for 2 lower end cards, or to add another card instead of upgrading to a new one. 

 

SLI support is patchy still, it always has been. You're more likely to run into bugs, issues and bad performance with SLI than a single card. Some times SLI can end up being worse than a single card in games if the driver or game support is bad and causing bad performance. 

 

As for cooling, good airflow and open design cards can work, but they can end up overheating other components if the case's airflow isn't good enough (I have a friend with this issue, his SLI 780s cause his FX8350 to overheat as they pump out so much heat into the case under heavy load and the airflow isn't great in his case). Going for blower style cards can be a better option, particularly for restrictive or small cases as it prevents so much hot air being put out into the case. 

[apaar123]

how does sli effects the performance of games not supported by it

3 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Depends on the cards. In general, it's best to go for the most powerful single card you can, but in some rare cases it's better value to go for 2 lower end cards, or to add another card instead of upgrading to a new one. 

 

SLI support is patchy still, it always has been. You're more likely to run into bugs, issues and bad performance with SLI than a single card. Some times SLI can end up being worse than a single card in games if the driver or game support is bad and causing bad performance. 

 

As for cooling, good airflow and open design cards can work, but they can end up overheating other components if the case's airflow isn't good enough (I have a friend with this issue, his SLI 780s cause his FX8350 to overheat as they pump out so much heat into the case under heavy load and the airflow isn't great in his case). Going for blower style cards can be a better option, particularly for restrictive or small cases as it prevents so much hot air being put out into the case. 

how does sli effects the performance of games not supported by it

[Ryoku]

5 minutes ago, apaar123 said:

I wanted to ask that is sli really worth it. How much performance it will improve and games which do not support sli do they utilise one gpu to its full potential? Also how do i provide cooling to them if i aint doing custom looping?

Probably looking at best case 30-50% increase on the good games, Very very rarely you can see a game with like 100% scaling but these games are like unicorns.  The bad ones will actually give you negative scaling and reduce your performance, others will just do nothing and not use the second gpu or cause stuttering.

 

For cooling generally the top gpu will be hotter then the other(s) and the only thing you can do is increase airflow to the gpus.

[That_Random_Guy]

Just now, apaar123 said:

how does sli effects the performance of games not supported by it

how does sli effects the performance of games not supported by it

thats a yes and no.... technically it shouldnt and it doesnt in most cases. if sli isnt supported it just glosses over the second card and does nothing, but every now and then you run over a certain game that just out right hates sli... like No Mans Sky... that game fucking hates sli and if its enabled you will get 6fps max no matter what gpu you have... 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, apaar123 said:

how does sli effects the performance of games not supported by it

It doesn't. The game should just use one GPU as if the other wasn't there. 

 

If the game does support SLI but the implementation is particularly bad to the point where performance is worse than a single card, SLI can be disabled though Nvidia Control Panel (or AMD's equivalent, I can't remember what it's called). 

[Frankenburger]

1 minute ago, apaar123 said:

how does sli effects the performance of games not supported by it

Often times there is simply no boost in FPS, and in rarer cases it can hurt FPS.

 

In a situation like that, it's best to load Nvidia Inspector and change the game's SLI compatibility bits to see if you can get SLI to work.

[App4that]

I run SLI and I don't have the problem other people seem to run into. It's rare I find a game that doesn't scale well, and 2 games ever have given me any issues. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

The other issue with SLI (and any multi-GPU setup) is you can potentially experience micro-stuttering. The game may report say 150 FPS, but the time frames are up can be so small it can feel more like 60 or 50 FPS. Though Fast Sync may help (if NVIDIA made it possible to use it with SLI)

[App4that]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

The other issue with SLI (and any multi-GPU setup) is you can potentially experience micro-stuttering. The game may report say 150 FPS, but the time frames are up can be so small it can feel more like 60 or 50 FPS. Though Fast Sync may help (if NVIDIA made it possible to use it with SLI)

I have never had that issue, in any game. Though I run GSYNC. 

[Frankenburger]

1 minute ago, Ryoku said:

Probably looking at best case 30-50% increase on the good games

Incorrect. It's not uncommon for SLI to scale up to 80% in most supported games.

 

Out of 12 games, SLI managed to scale up to 71% on average in this review here.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1080_SLI/20.html

[IKnight]

I run (old) crossfire cards and in most games, I see 0 improvement. Assetto Corsa can't even take advantage of them, and GTA V stutters like crazy. Only game that works for me is Call of Duty (bo2). 

[apaar123]

so does this nvidia inspector really helps in those games?

[apaar123]

Why are so many people crazy for sli out there. I also saw onw guy using 8 titan xp in his pc. I dont know if it was real but i saw him in setup wars

[App4that]

1 minute ago, apaar123 said:

so does this nvidia inspector really helps in those games?

Not something I use, as I don't have any issues which would require it. In the 2 games that don't like SLI, No Man's Sky and War Thunder. I just turn off SLI in the settings. 

[Frankenburger]

1 minute ago, apaar123 said:

so does this nvidia inspector really helps in those games?

I consider Inspector an essential tool for SLI users. It can help with enabling SLI in a good number of games.

[apaar123]

Just now, App4that said:

Not something I use, as I don't have any issues which would require it. In the 2 games that don't like SLI, No Man's Sky and War Thunder. I just turn off SLI in the settings. 

then it works well?

[apaar123]

Just now, Frankenburger said:

I consider Inspector an essential tool for SLI users. It can help with enabling SLI in a good number of games.

so that means sli can help me in maximum games and games which do not support sli i can somehow tweak some settings and they will be fine? Are there any games that no matter what you do will run like s*** in sli?

[App4that]

1 minute ago, apaar123 said:

then it works well?

Freaking awesome. My 2 980ti give me 1440 fps numbers the same or better than a 1080ti. 

[apaar123]

2 minutes ago, App4that said:

Freaking awesome. My 2 980ti give me 1440 fps numbers the same or better than a 1080ti. 

what if i use 2 1080ti

[App4that]

Just now, apaar123 said:

what if i use 2 1080ti

Sillyness. Unless you're trying to feed a 144hz 4k monitor, then good luck finding a CPU that can keep up LOL. 

 

1070 is the sweet spot right now for SLI at 1440, 2 1080 will be useful for 4k. I don't see a need for 2 1080ti yet, you'll just be disapointed in the results as they'll be held back way too often. 

[apaar123]

1 minute ago, App4that said:

Sillyness. Unless you're trying to feed a 144hz 4k monitor, then good luck finding a CPU that can keep up LOL. 

 

1070 is the sweet spot right now for SLI at 1440, 2 1080 will be useful for 4k. I don't see a need for 2 1080ti yet, you'll just be disapointed in the results as they'll be held back way too often. 

well i will be using 4k 144hz monitor probably

[Frankenburger]

3 minutes ago, apaar123 said:

so that means sli can help me in maximum games and games which do not support sli i can somehow tweak some settings and they will be fine? Are there any games that no matter what you do will run like s*** in sli?

There will always be a few games out there that simply won't work with SLI no matter what you do. But yes, using Inspector can help you maximize the value of your investment.

[App4that]

Well, if you have that kind of money go for it. 

[apaar123]

well i will be saving for it. Instead of buying a tv i will be buying it