GTX 260 - 2 way SLI poor performance.

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r00ktard

n00b
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Dec 3, 2008
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Hello Everyone,

I currently have two GTX 260 in 2 way SLI and I'm experiencing poor performance in most of my games. I'm reaching out to you guys for help. I have tried to gather as much as information as possible to help you guys understand whats going on.

Currently i'm noticing that both of my GPU's are at 100% percent usage when playing almost any game. In this example i'm playing Battlefield Bad Company 2. Screenshot link listed below.

EVGA Precision: http://imgr.us/images/mpuexgghepbwh71rgf53.png

What is going on is that I will be playing for awhile then i will start noticing some heavy latency in my games. I'm also providing a screenshot of the game settings:

Game settings: http://imgr.us/images/j8j9r4zwczvd1rkcq8l.png

Previously i had an XFX 780i motherboard with a Quad core 9300 2.5ghz and my GPU would average around 80% usage while my CPU around 30 - 70% usuage. I have a feeling that my new i7 is bottlenecking my GPU's. My new i7 averages at almost exactly 30% usuage, seems to be hardly doing any work.

Please feel free to ask me questions about my setup. My signature should contain all my system specs. Below are more screenshots of CPUZ and GPUZ. Please help! thanks!

CPUZ: http://imgr.us/images/k8z0qs9tqrh8qsxdh8.png

GPUZ:

Video card 1: http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/11/02/04/86y.png
Video card 2: http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/11/02/04/7va.png
 
Two things I noticed, I may be a n00b on the first one.

The two cards are clocked differently. Any idea why? BIOS version is also different.

If your CPU is only running at 30% it sounds like your bottleneck is somewhere else. Did you reload your pc from scratch when you swapped to the i7?

What happens when you run a single card?

Is PhysX enabled on one card or disabled?
 
your problem is the amount of AA that you're using for the game.

if you want that much AA i suggest you get a better video card.
 
catogtp said:
Two things I noticed, I may be a n00b on the first one.

The two cards are clocked differently. Any idea why? BIOS version is also different.

If your CPU is only running at 30% it sounds like your bottleneck is somewhere else. Did you reload your pc from scratch when you swapped to the i7?

What happens when you run a single card?

Is PhysX enabled on one card or disabled?
Click to expand...

Hey thanks, the reason they are clocked differently is because they are both different revisions. One of them is revision 0.0 and the other 1.0. However they are both 216 core. I use evga precision to clock them the same. I also agree i think the bottle neck is the video cards... any to answer the last question, yes i did install windows 7 clean.
 
EVGA Precision should set them to the same clocks, unless you didn't apply it the clocks?
 
DualOwn said:
Use 2xAA and you should be fine.
Click to expand...

Hey DualOwn, I will try lowering the AA, i haven't tried that... Also what kind of video card would you suggest for SLI thats better then the GTX 260?

Also the clocks are the same after i applied, i took the screenshot before i applied.
 
r00ktard said:
Hey DualOwn, I will try lowering the AA, i haven't tried that... Also what kind of video card would you suggest for SLI thats better then the GTX 260?
Click to expand...

i would suggest an AMD card for BC2, somethng like 6970 would be perfect with your setup..

with 6970 you would be able to use even more than 8xaa and still have faster frame rate than no AA that you running now with 2x 260's

260's got to go if you like alot of AA and all settings at very high.


right now, drop all your bc2 settings to Medium and use 2xaa, it will be much better for playing online.
 
DualOwn said:
i would suggest an AMD card for BC2, somethng like 6970 would be perfect with your setup..

with 6970 you would be able to use even more than 8xaa and still have faster frame rate than no AA that you running now with 2x 260's
Click to expand...

How about in the nvidia class? i'm not a big fan boy of AMD or ATI.
 
r00ktard said:
I prefer SLI looking no more to spend 250 on each card. However if you have other suggestion please do share as well. I can probably reconsider my spending options. thanks man!
Click to expand...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187128

friend of mine got 2 of these in sli and it ripped my single $500 gtx480 to shreds, but i bought it while back so.........ohh well.

these have 2GB for each gpu so that's the biggest investment you're getting for the games or a bigger monitor setup in the future.

these two in sli will make your bc2 game icon hide from your desktop so it doesnt get raped.
 
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They don't get that hot and he has a 3 way board so he can space them out while having the fan speed at 70-80%. And from what you linked that would be a waste since he could get 470's for cheaper.

He basically stated his budget was $500 just get a 580 and call it a day you won't have to upgrade for a while.
 
AdvanSuper said:
They don't get that hot and he has a 3 way board so he can space them out while having the fan speed at 70-80%. And from what you linked that would be a waste since he could get 470's for cheaper.

He basically stated his budget was $500 just get a 580 and call it a day you won't have to upgrade for a while.
Click to expand...

the 2 video cards i showed him will cost him less, better game performance and will have more ram to play with in the future.
 
thanks for all the replies! you guys really helped solve my problem with my vid cards!

much appreciated!
 
DualOwn said:
the 2 video cards i showed him will cost him less, better game performance and will have more ram to play with in the future.
Click to expand...

How is $439.96 for those less than $400 for 470's? And who told you used 470's are burned up? I have two used ones that clock to 900/2100 for benching.
 
AdvanSuper said:
How is $439.96 for those less than $400 for 470's? And who told you used 470's are burned up? I have two used ones that clock to 900/2100 for benching.
Click to expand...

you got lost somewhere, i told him to go with 2x 460's 2GB rather than a single gtx580.

and, btw, i would rather pay the extra $40 dollars for 2 brand new 460's over two used 470 cores.
 
hey everyone, i ended up buying two evga GTX 470's SC since they were on sale.

These cards run great! however they get reeaal hot! anyone recommend a cooling solution for these cards?
 
Yep, that's why you shouldn't buy 470s :p (Unless they were less than $180 each they weren't worth it).
Very few aftermarket coolers that can take on the enormous amount of heat the 470s put out, and also work in SLI.
 
They were actually exactly 200 each. The perfomance outwieghs the price in my opinion. I was thinking about following this video. This guy places a backplate that has what looks like a thermal pad underneath and a high flow bracket.

What are your suggestions on this? Think it will cool any better like these people say it would?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQOmInFQLyU&NR=1
 
Not when a pair of HD6850s is an equal performer for half the wattage and none of the noise. However, that's another discussion.
As for the backplate, I don't really see how it reduces temperatures as it isn't directly interfacing with any components on the rear of the card. It may perhaps radiate heat from the PCB slightly better which might see you lose a degree or two, but nothing worth writing home about. Were you not running SLI, I'd say buy the Thermalright Shaman, as it's a very impressive cooler. However, for two cards you can't really use them. You may be able to run Thermalright Spitfires in the upright position, but no guarantees on this, as you need the separate GF100 bolt-through kit to use those.
 
r00ktard said:
hey everyone, i ended up buying two evga GTX 470's SC since they were on sale.

These cards run great! however they get reeaal hot! anyone recommend a cooling solution for these cards?
Click to expand...

yeah, move to north pole.

you should of listened to me instead of AdvanSuper.
 
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