SLI / Crossfire compatability list?

[ZoNe]

It has come to my attention reading these forums that there are compatibility issues with running dual cards. No one ever says what games exactly though just statements such as: "some games will not work" or "compatibility issues" - I am planning a dual card solution and was wondering if there is a list somewhere of games that will not work with sli or crossfire so I can judge if this is for me.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Seems like such a list would be a PITA to maintain since driver updates would always be changing it.

 

[JayteeBates]

You are going to have to pick a particular game you want to play and google how it works with sli/crossfire.

 

[Matrices]

Not worth it to be honest. Much easier to come up with a list of games that don't work, and it would be a damn small list, at least with SLI (and I doubt CF is any different). The more likely issue is scaling, and that can vary, though in most new games where you would actually benefit from CF/SLI, it works fine.

Bottom line, it's really not an issue anymore. People who keep repeating this mantra about "it doesn't work sometimes" are just trying to justify their purchase of a single card as somehow superior or are relying on bad past experiences to color their judgment.

The one thing that's true is that the framerates you get in SLI are not the same in terms of smoothness compared to a single card running at the same framerate, so you have to trim about 20% from your listed FPS to arrive at your "actual" FPS. But since scaling is 80 to 100% in most games, it's still a hell of a lot better than a single card.

 

[Kardonxt]

Like matrices said. Sometimes xfire or sli don't scale well, but very rarely will it cause a game to just not work.

 

[silent-circuit]

Most recent example I can think of was Zeno Clash, which would have all kinds of odd missing poly issues with Crossfire enabled, but run fine on one card. Of course a single 4890 will run the game maxed at 2560x1600, so it was just annoying. Fixed a couple of Catalyst versions later, and that was a fairly low profile title released quite a while ago (late April 2009). To reiterate, works fine now and has for a long time.

I had more trouble with SLI (mostly SLI slowing down games, not so much breaking visuals) but that was with 8800GTXs and several years ago, so it's not a fair comparison. Also never bothered me that much, I'd just look for a newer driver and it'd be fixed 90% of the time.

 

[samuelmorris]

Too difficult to make a list. What works/doesn't work changes each driver, and different people have different experiences, even with the same drivers and hardware. You can't simply write a list of what games work and which don't. You just have to try them.

 

[ZoNe]

Not worth it to be honest. Much easier to come up with a list of games that don't work, and it would be a damn small list, at least with SLI (and I doubt CF is any different). The more likely issue is scaling, and that can vary, though in most new games where you would actually benefit from CF/SLI, it works fine.

Bottom line, it's really not an issue anymore. People who keep repeating this mantra about "it doesn't work sometimes" are just trying to justify their purchase of a single card as somehow superior or are relying on bad past experiences to color their judgment.

The one thing that's true is that the framerates you get in SLI are not the same in terms of smoothness compared to a single card running at the same framerate, so you have to trim about 20% from your listed FPS to arrive at your "actual" FPS. But since scaling is 80 to 100% in most games, it's still a hell of a lot better than a single card.

Thanks. Do you mean there is lag or studdering with SLI/XFIRE when you say it won't be as smooth as a single card?

The reason I'm going for it is I'm poor and want high end performance for cheap. reviews are telling me GTX460 and 6850s in dual mode beat GTX580 and these can be had for $180-$280 for both cards! GTX580 is over $500! I just want to make sure it's safe.

 

[Intel_Hydralisk]

From my experience, xfire has never 'not worked' (as in, the game just won't run when xfire is on).

Only one game was unplayable with xfire on (Blur - not sure if they've changed it since launch).

Scaling is a complete hit or miss. Big name AAA titles are safe. More obscure games are not (i.e. Mount and Blade, Divinity 2, etc.). Even some big name games like SC2 don't really scale with xfire / sli. If scaling is poor or non existent, you are better off running with 1 card for an overall smoother experience.

 

[heatlesssun]

Oh oh, here comes the dreaded micro-stutter conversation. Sigh.

There's an effect that's commonly called micro-stutter and this forum is full of discussion on this topic but here's the Reader's Digest explanation. Micro-stutter is a visual quirk that's caused by the variance in the time it takes to render frames often casuing perceptible hitching in a game. While the actual frame rate of a game can be high, great variations in the time it takes to each frame can cause a stuttering effect. It is a real phenomenon and it can even happen with a single card. However the effect is more pronounced in multi-GPU configurations. That said multi-GPU configurations tend to offer far more performance that single GPU setups and that can often mask the effect of micro-stutter.

Some people will swear up and down that the problem is horrific and it's why they don't like muli-GPU setups. I say fuck it, I want performance and speed and beauty and single GPU gaming to me is Yawn City.

You just need to try it out and see for yourself, there's no right or wrong answer, not everyone perceives the problem the same. I see it all the time but I can crank shit up so high that it hardly matters to be. My games are beautiful and play fluidly enough for me.

 

[ZoNe]

I knew it had to be too good to be true No way can you pay so little and get so much or everyone would be doing it. Right? Makes no sense to buy $500 card when two $90 cards after rebate do more work. Sucks.

I don't know about trying it. I can't exactly afford to take chances and want a 2 year solution.. My original idea was the 6950 to flashed 6970 maybe I'll go back to that. Thanks.

 

[martinje]

I have been playing many games and have only come accross 2 that dont work in my SLi. Surround rig

Painkiller Black
Zero Gear

Games that Ran that I thought could give me problems;

The Ball
Zeno Clash
Wizard 101
Darksiders
Flatout 2
Rift

 

[samuelmorris]

Crossfire is not too good to be true. it works, the majority of the time. It just doesn't work 100% of the time. The games you play, you may never encounter a single issue. I for one haven't yet, the only graphics issues I have would affect me even if I only had one card.

Given the enormous gains of using HD6850 crossfire instead of a similarly priced GTX570 or HD6970, it's always worth doing at resolutions up to 1920x1200.

 

[ZoNe]

Crossfire is not too good to be true. it works, the majority of the time. It just doesn't work 100% of the time. The games you play, you may never encounter a single issue. I for one haven't yet, the only graphics issues I have would affect me even if I only had one card.

Given the enormous gains of using HD6850 crossfire instead of a similarly priced GTX570 or HD6970, it's always worth doing at resolutions up to 1920x1200.

What about this micro stuttering thing people are talking about? And at this point I'd use GTX460 768MB for $90 ea AR.Total $180. Still beats $500 GTX580 at 1920x1200.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-sli-review/8

 

[samuelmorris]

The 768MB on GTX460s can tank even at 1920x1200 in certain situations. I don't advocate using them for SLI. The FarCry2 example you've used there is a pretty rare case, more often than not you tend to see two GTX460s perform around the HD6970 level. Still good for two cards that are that cheap, but they are very memory limited, and they're also pretty power hungry for the level of performance you're getting, over 300W on full load. [Four PCIe connectors needed too]

 

[Intel_Hydralisk]

What about this micro stuttering thing people are talking about? And at this point I'd use GTX460 768MB for $90 ea AR.Total $180. Still beats $500 GTX580 at 1920x1200.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-sli-review/8

I've said this before in other threads, but:

Reviews and benchmarks only cover the popular titles / benches that ATI and nVidia pay close attention to. They paint a rosey picture that isn't always the case with more obscure titles. You won't see great scaling in all games whereas a single card is guaranteed to give you reliable performance.

It's also pretty much a given that while two cards give you more frames, it NEEDS more frames to feel as smooth as one card.

 

[Matrices]

CF/SLI is hardly "too good to be true." It's good enough that most high-end gamers use it. It's not some kind of exotic configuration to have two video cards. Microstutter only rears its head in games where the FPS is low, 30 or less. That's the only time you'd notice stuttering.

But that's exactly why you don't use CF and SLI with low budget parts. It's not a budget technology to be used with the crappiest available cards, like a 768mb vRAM card on a 1900x1200 monitor. Use it withhigh-end and mid-range cards.

 

[samuelmorris]

Actually microstutter is detectable up to around the 75fps mark. This applies to multi-GPU and single-GPU configurations.

 

[Matrices]

Actually microstutter is detectable up to around the 75fps mark. This applies to multi-GPU and single-GPU configurations.

Detectable by what ridiculous metric? It's meaningless.

Bottom line, OP: you can sit here all day reading random people on the internet nitpick every dumb thing, or you can actually enjoy the technology and the vastly increased performance the way it was meant to be enjoyed, which is with two mid-range or high-end cards.

I've been using the technology for every single generation since 8800GT (not to mention Voodoo2 SLI) and it's only gotten better and better to the point where any bitching about it is the result of people with nothing better to do on the internet or freakishly abnormal visual power.

As I already said, scaling is 80 to 100%, and subtract ~20% to arrive at a number that approximates the "actual" FPS. You do the math: it's still far better.

 

[heatlesssun]

Bottom line, OP: you can sit here all day reading random people on the internet nitpick every dumb thing, or you can actually enjoy the technology and the vastly increased performance . . ..

Agreed. Multi-GPU isn't foolproof but the performance increase is just wonderful and it works far more often than not these days.

 

[samuelmorris]

Detectable by what ridiculous metric? It's meaningless

Detectable as in 'this is clearly not smooth, it's pissing me off'. It's blindingly obvious to me, which means by some [H] users it would be utterly unbearable, as I'm nowhere near as sensitive to these sorts of issues as some IQ nutcases around here

If I had a big issue with crossfire I wouldn't have been using it for three years, but I'm merely pointing out that microstuttering can be an issue. Some people wouldn't even consider crossfire unless they were certain they'd get it perfect, and if they didn't, they'd probably be really angry. To save that disappointment, this disclaimer is put out there.
I, and I would like to think most other people, enjoy crossfire for giving me what no single GPU can in terms of performance, but it's not 100% perfect, is all I'm saying.

 

[ZoNe]

Detectable by what ridiculous metric? It's meaningless.

Bottom line, OP: you can sit here all day reading random people on the internet nitpick every dumb thing, or you can actually enjoy the technology and the vastly increased performance the way it was meant to be enjoyed, which is with two mid-range or high-end cards.

I've been using the technology for every single generation since 8800GT (not to mention Voodoo2 SLI) and it's only gotten better and better to the point where any bitching about it is the result of people with nothing better to do on the internet or freakishly abnormal visual power.

As I already said, scaling is 80 to 100%, and subtract ~20% to arrive at a number that approximates the "actual" FPS. You do the math: it's still far better.

That's why I decided not to risk it. I;m really sensitive to stuff like input lag, wireless mouses, v sync being on. Basically anything that is not instant feedback. No reason to chance this stuttering issue with limited funds and other good deals out there. Went with 6950 done deal.

Appreciate samuelmorris and other bringing up this possibility. Thanks everyone.