1st time using SLI, dude... what's the deal with stuttering?

JediFonger

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i've never used SLI before... i've got an older laptop Alienware M18x running dual SLI GeForce 460M

1. when i enable it, first i didn't know i had to reboot. do newer SLIs still require rebooting?
2. most non-SLI supported games actually STUTTER, is that normal? for example when in single non-SLI mode l4d2 runs fine... but the minute i enable SLI, it stutters like crazy. are there special beta commands or options i need to enable for all games to run SLI.

i know it's ancient by now, i just never got into SLIs after it was introduced, always could only afford 1 single GPU.

any tips would be great, thanks!
 
Tip:

Use crossfire with freesync instead. It doesn't stutter. Or buy a single better card.

Source experience: two crossfired fury x for seven months on a trio of HP Omen 32 monitors in eyefinity. I sold them for a pair of SLI 1080ti, a few weeks back and feel I made a mistake. I'm feeling micro stutter in sli. I'm going back to AMD with freesync on Monday with Vega. Will see if it feels smoother again like I expect.

Flamesuit zipped up. I'll take flack for this, cause most of the enthusiasts are Nvidia only, but my experience with crossfire was stellar. I stopped using SLI after just a few days and went back to a single 1080ti. Before the last couple years with AMD, I was 15 years straight with Nvidia. So I've definately got experiences with both sides. I think the winner overall is the variable refresh rate sync technology. Freesync or gsync either one offer you that buttery smoothness and lack of screentearing. I don't have a gsync monitor to try but perhaps it would rid the sli microstutter too?

https://hardforum.com/threads/name-games-that-dont-work-with-crossfire.1930286/
 
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i've never used SLI before... i've got an older laptop Alienware M18x running dual SLI GeForce 460M

1. when i enable it, first i didn't know i had to reboot. do newer SLIs still require rebooting?
2. most non-SLI supported games actually STUTTER, is that normal? for example when in single non-SLI mode l4d2 runs fine... but the minute i enable SLI, it stutters like crazy. are there special beta commands or options i need to enable for all games to run SLI.

i know it's ancient by now, i just never got into SLIs after it was introduced, always could only afford 1 single GPU.

any tips would be great, thanks!
That's one of the main problems with multi-GPU, the stuttering.

I now avoid multi-GPU partly due to it, but mostly more because waning support and plenty of viable alternative to mGPU exist.
 
That's one of the main problems with multi-GPU, the stuttering.

I now avoid multi-GPU partly due to it, but mostly more because waning support and plenty of viable alternative to mGPU exist.


Yes both Nvidia and AMD have publically said support will cease for MGPU with dx12 and Vulcan. MGPU won't work the same way it has up through dx11. Game developers can still code for MGPU in dx12 or Vulcan, but the sli or crossfire mechanisms are going to be phased out because it is no longer built into the GPU driver. It's built into the game going forward.
 
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Tip:

Use crossfire with freesync instead. It doesn't stutter.

Source experience: two crossfired fury x for seven months on a trio of HP Omen 32 monitors in eyefinity. I sold them for a pair of SLI 1080ti, a few weeks back and feel I made a mistake. I'm feeling micro stutter in sli. I'm going back to AMD with freesync on Monday with Vega.

Flamesuit zipped up. I'll take flack for this, cause most of the enthusiasts are Nvidia only, but my experience with crossfire was stellar. I stopped using SLI after just a few days and went back to a single 1080ti. Before the last couple years with AMD, I was 15 years straight with Nvidia. So I've definately got experiences with both sides. I think the winner overall is the variable refresh rate sync technology. Freesync or gsync either one offer you that buttery smoothness and lack of screentearing. I don't have a gsync monitor to try but perhaps it would rid the microstutter too.

https://hardforum.com/threads/name-games-that-dont-work-with-crossfire.1930286/

Pretty tall order for someone using 460M.

But to chime in, with SLI 970's and G-Sync, I could notice stuttering only in one game: Bioshock infinite, and it was only visible during benchmarks, and not during actual game play.

I have no idea whether that's due to the inherently high FPS that's masking the microstutter, I am not sensitive to it or if it was G-Sync, but I certainly had to look for it.

Beyond that, my main problem with it was support.
 
Yes both Nvidia and AMD have publically said support will cease for mgpu with dx12 and Vulcan l. MGPU won't work the same way it has up through dx11. Game developers can still code for mgpu in dx12 or Vulcan, but the sli or crossfire mechanisms are going to be phased out because it is no longer built into the GPU
driver. It's built into the game going forward.
Much better than current implementation.

Now, getting game makers using it....
 
i've never used SLI before... i've got an older laptop Alienware M18x running dual SLI GeForce 460M

1. when i enable it, first i didn't know i had to reboot. do newer SLIs still require rebooting?
2. most non-SLI supported games actually STUTTER, is that normal? for example when in single non-SLI mode l4d2 runs fine... but the minute i enable SLI, it stutters like crazy. are there special beta commands or options i need to enable for all games to run SLI.

i know it's ancient by now, i just never got into SLIs after it was introduced, always could only afford 1 single GPU.

any tips would be great, thanks!
Stutter is pretty common with sli and certainly more common within certain models.
 
ok.... thx for the feedback guys mGPUs have been around for a long since 3dfx days. i just never used it myself (til now)

glad it wasnt just.

some games like tomb raider legend looks smooth with it. i guess newer games work best with it that taps into all resources.

the reboots tho are a pita.
 
I'm pretty sensitive to the stutter effect. Drove me insane for the 5 years I ran SLI rigs. It's one the reason I switched to ITX as it forced me to only build for one GPU.
 
so what you guys are sayin is that mGPU gives us little to minimal benefits unless you can find games that are programmed for it?

sux to have all this potential power only to be limited by development.

when i upgrade i might just get fastest single gpu solution instead
 
so what you guys are sayin is that mGPU gives us little to minimal benefits unless you can find games that are programmed for it?

sux to have all this potential power only to be limited by development.

when i upgrade i might just get fastest single gpu solution instead

Correct and it sounds like you're on the right path!
 
it's also a laptop and dual GPUs increase thermal proerties so having just one would be better than dual
 
It's been the case for many gpu generations. A single powerful card generally favors a better overall user experience, regardless of benchmarks.

That is why you will not see support for mgpu's in the not so distant future.
 
A couple of notes:

1. The 460M's are ancient, meaning that the hardware isn't much developed for both in terms of drivers and in terms of game optimization
2. They're decidedly mid-range parts, meaning that they weren't that great of a solution to begin with; consider, would you buy a 1060 SLI setup today?

I'd say that you take whatever performance you can get for whatever you're playing and be happy; turn off SLI if you need to. I have an aging gaming laptop myself that has a GTX560-equivalent, and I'm happy for whatever it can do, but I don't ask miracles from it. It can just about play Fallout 4 with the settings buried!


To add, don't take this as indicative of SLI performance, or multi-GPU performance in general; further, don't take the current hesitation to declare multi-GPU support for DX12/Vulkan to mean that the configuration is on its way out for good.

We're not even close to providing enough performance for 4k120 or for future VR setups with one GPU in today's games. We could, potentially, use three times the performance of what we have now, or what might be available with a hypothetical Volta Ti SLI setup.
 
On point 2, 1060s can't be SLId. They will work with mGPU but there's only one game, that I know of, that supports it (Ashes of Singularity in DX12).
 
Yes both Nvidia and AMD have publically said support will cease for MGPU with dx12 and Vulcan.

Where? I know Nvidia have stopped supporting SLI with more than 2 cards, though 3+ cards are still enableable, but I don't recall hearing the same from AMD.
 
For the past 9 years I've been running sli with 3 - 24" monitors. I've never had a problem in games.
 
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