When was the last time you use a multi GPU setup?

A

alg7_munif

Supreme [H]ardness
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Lately there are more and more people talking about microstuttering with multi GPU solution however some of them actually never used a multi GPU setup before.

I would really appreciate it if some of you who have tried and used the multi GPU solution before to share your experience here.
 
ive been hearing alot about microstuttering... which is odd because i've never had anything but gains with adding a second videocard maybe a few games run slower that arn't optimized for it? so..? i don't know what they are talking about? maybe they are making up false information or bringing up something that nobody even notices, because they cant afford two gpus just to make us people with two gpus feel bad? :p just a thought hehe....


(and just incase i offend somebody...i was just kidding ;) )
 
I'll know a whole lot more Monday when I get my replacement GTX 280, one was bad apparently. I think that its gotten a lot better. For the five minutes that Crysis would run properly (I started getting stutters, but it had nothing to do with SLI bad card) in SLI at very high at 1920x1200, its was totally smooth. No stuttering that I could see.

I think going forward that multi-GPU will be farily mainstream. As we can see, multi-GPU solutions are actually becoming cost effect as in the 4850 where it is sometimes running faster than a GTX 280 twice the price. However, its still very dependent on the app in question. Sometimes multi-GPU scales, sometimes it doesn't. That's really a software issue more than anything.

Multi-GPU is for two types of users. One's that want the best performance possible at minimum cost and those who want the best performance at any cost. Seems ironic but that's becoming the reality.
 
its real, but a lot of factors have to come together for it to happen. take gow for example, it sutters all the time with high or highest textures regardless of single or multiple gpu or resolution. its most evident with the transition from in door to out door environments. cod4 exhibits very slight stutter with high res plus aa or middling res (16x10) plus lots of aa. multi sampling or super sampling can contribute to how frequently it happens or if it happens at all. sli and cf configurations predictably also play a role. asymmetric sli and cf like 16/4 on p35's or 16/8 on 750i's are known culprits.
 
The last time I had a SLI set up was with 2x 6600GT's. I used these on a single 20.1" @ 1680x1050 and never noticed any sort of micro stuttering. Don't know if that is very helpful :p
 
7950 GX2 for a year.
Never had any micro-stutter, didn't hear of it until a few months ago (Already on 8800 GTX) ...
 
I personally have been around SLi since the 6800Ultra days. I have NEVER seen or been exposed to this problem. Even now, with my sig rig, I don't get these "micro-stutters" every one is referring to.
 
Proxy said:
I personally have been around SLi since the 6800Ultra days. I have NEVER seen or been exposed to this problem. Even now, with my sig rig, I don't get these "micro-stutters" every one is referring to.
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what res do you play at? what kind and how much aa do you use?
 
I've had issues. Especially with AoC. Sometimes it's minor annyoance, with AoC it is problematic. Locks up for 15-30 seconds then recovers like nothign ever happened.
 
vengence said:
I've had issues. Especially with AoC. Sometimes it's minor annyoance, with AoC it is problematic. Locks up for 15-30 seconds then recovers like nothign ever happened.
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that doesnt sound like microstutter that sounds like the gpu overheating... alot of times i get the same problem... games stop suddenly and then u get a reset message (sometimes you dont) then it goes back just fine... microstutter by my knowledge from what i read is, when the two gpus dont sync properly and the fps is lower then a single gpu because the latency between etch frame is greater then with a single gpu (correct me if im wrong)
 
Yah, I was seeing that same issue with the AoC beta on a single card. It isn't an SLI issue.

I went SLI with the 7800GTs (second one was a graduation gift, I never would bought 2 $450 cards) and wasn't really impressed with the results. I swore not to go down that road again.. but then the prospect of two 8800GTs for under $300 reared its headed and convinced me otherwise.
 
I've almost always had SLI. I've SLI'ed every generation of GPUs since the Geforce 6 series came out.

My experiences with SLI have been pretty good until I got a pair of 9800GX2's. (BTW I didn't have any 7950GX2's I had stuck with my 7900GTX SLI setup at that time) and the only issues I really had were with Age of Conan. In that game the micro-stuttering was pretty bad even with a single 9800GX2. I couldn't use quad-SLI hardly at all in AoC.
 
i use multiple GPUs right now.

i have a watercooled 8800GTX oc'ed quite a bit, and a 8300GS for more screen support.

the 8800GTX makes game playing much better, the 8300GS supports my 3rd and 4th screen.

having 4 screens enabled and playing on 1 fullscreen, in any game, causes absolutely no loss in FPS (that i can tell). and it allows me to look at my stocks, server status, and email/webbrowsing/pandora at the same time..
 
I ran my Quad-SLI 9800GX2's until today. I've just pulled them out and swapped in a Geforce GTX 280. I'll probably pickup another one here soon but for now I just wanted to give the one card a try. It does much better in Age of Conan than the 9800GX2's do and that's the only game I'm really playing much of right now.
 
Last weekend...I pulled my 2nd 9800GTX out because of the lockups in Age of Conan with SLI enabled.
 
"Micro-stutter" is a horrible name for it, it's more like "Frame drop". But it depends on the games and motherboard configuration, not every one will experience it.
 
Used SLi 6600GTs for about 3-ish years with no trouble. Ironically, it was on the NF4 P4 platform when it just came out. Had no trouble with that box until one of the vrm caps popped on my board lol.
 
I'm a fan of multi GPU myself, I've used 2x 6800Ultras in Sli but 1x 7950GT was faster. I've also used 2x7950GT in SLi. Then Iwent with 2x HD3870 in Crossfire. From my experience adding another card will add more performance but the improment would be bigger with an equivalent single card.

I always buy a single card first and later when a new card comes out, i will add another used card until the price of the new card is reasonable.

I haven't used SLi for quite some time now however when I switched to Crossfire, I noticed that the scaling is better.

Before this 2x slower cards would have a same price as an equivalent single card so it would be better to buy a sngle card first and add another later but now it seems that 2x slower cards are cheaper from the beginning.

Btw rennyf77, what cards did you use for your multi GPU solution and when?
 
Back in '06. Two 7900GTs fresh off the market. Going to sell them today. :D

HD4850 ftw :cool:
 
Proxy said:
Multi.
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at 1600 res i don't see any kind of stuttering until i apply super sampled 8x aa in cod4. even then, it occurs very brief like it stalls for a split second when i turn around quickly. cod4 stutters severely in 16/8 8800gtx sli at 19x12 with super sampled aa but seems to have no problem with multi sampled. apparently conan suffers greatly from stuttering, but in other games you have to do a lot to reveal the issue.
 
alg7_munif said:
Btw rennyf77, what cards did you use for your multi GPU solution and when?
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x1900xt cf, 7900gtx sli, x1800xt cf when the master cards were finally easy to find, x1950xtx cf, 8800gtx sli, 8800gts 320 sli, 6800xt sli, 2900xt cf, 8800 ultra sli, 3870 cf, 3850 512 cf, 3870x2 cf, gtx280 sli arriving by the 25th. thats pretty much in order. tried to get a x850 master card a few months ago, but some yutz on ebay wanted $180 with no dongle.
 
Micro-stuttering is VERY MUCH a real issue to me. I observed this when I first started doing SLI last year, long before it was ever given a name or openly discussed.

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1031628877&postcount=6

I've spent the last year or so testing out dozens of different multi GPU configurations and they all suck for this. I plan to only go with single GPU solutions from now on until the micro-stuttering gets fixed.

Interestingly my brother isn't bothered by it at all, and he's had a bunch of SLI/Quad SLI/Quadfire/Dual GPU cards himself.
 
Never had a multi GPU setup but a 4850 crossfire setup is tempting.
I will wait until the 4870 is out before making a decision.
Alternatively, the GTX 280 could an option if the price would be more reasonable...
 
2 hd4850's in crossfire, no problems here. hell im even using a p35 board for 16x/4x pci-e lanes. not a single stutter.
 
Well I played some COD4 and some Age of Conan with my single Geforce GTX 280 OC. I was so impressed that I bought another. Now I have two in SLI. :cool:

My friends think I have an addiction. :D
 
I've been thinking about getting 2 GTX 280s because I'm just itching for more performance at 2560x1600. I'm pretty sure my PSU can handle it since it's a 900watt Cooler Master UCP.
 
Dan_D said:
Well I played some COD4 and some Age of Conan with my single Geforce GTX 280 OC. I was so impressed that I bought another. Now I have two in SLI. :cool:
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You said in another thread that the 9800GX2 microstuttered badly (which I noticed with 8800GT SLI). I'd be curious to know whether the GTX 280s have improved in that regard. I'm installing one GTX 280 tonight and am highly skeptical of multi-GPU setups at the moment, but if enough people who've noticed microstuttering in the past notice that it's not a problem with the 280s, I might keep that option open for the future.
 
LAst time I used a "multi-GPU" setup was when I had my Voodoo 5-5500.

I actually still have it... It is in my retro gaming rig.... Athlon Slot-A overclocked to 1.08Ghz
 
TKD said:
You said in another thread that the 9800GX2 microstuttered badly (which I noticed with 8800GT SLI). I'd be curious to know whether the GTX 280s have improved in that regard. I'm installing one GTX 280 tonight and am highly skeptical of multi-GPU setups at the moment, but if enough people who've noticed microstuttering in the past notice that it's not a problem with the 280s, I might keep that option open for the future.
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Well the problem of the stuttering was bad in Age of Conan with one 9800GX2. The problem was even worse in Quad-SLI mode. I suspect that the issues with Age of Conan and SLI are with the specific game as Quad-SLI worked well for me in every other game. Though with the 8800GTX and older SLI setups I've had I never noticed it. So I'm hoping that I won't have the issue with the Geforce GTX 280 setup.
 
pandora's box said:
mainly been playing age of conan

1680x1050 4xaa 16xaf high setting in game
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you're one of the lucky ones. a good number of people complain about multi gpu performance in conan. i don't play it so i have no frame of reference. try some other titles and play with different settings. the stuttering is distinctive because it can happen in an environment that would otherwise produce consistent frame rate. fear stutters when you're zoomed in with your weapon if you apply 4x super sampled aa.
 
vick1000 said:
"Micro-stutter" is a horrible name for it, it's more like "Frame drop". But it depends on the games and motherboard configuration, not every one will experience it.
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Microstutter is a great name, but what most people here are describing is not microstutter.

Regular stuttering can and will occur when assets needed to be loaded into memory from disk, whether that's main memory or video memory. These operations can take so long that indeed a frame or two is not drawn at all.

Microstuttering, on the other hand, is not a product of lost frames. Rather, it's a product of the frames not being displayed in an even manner. Here's a link. The chart is time in the Y axis and frames in the X axis. Therefore a lower slope means a higher framerate. Obviously the Crossfire config takes less time to draw those 30 frames, but the time between each frame isn't consistent. This is what causes a perceived lessening of smoothness, even though framerate is higher.

There's a video, but I can't tell the difference at all. That's likely because you'd need a high-speed camera to capture the discrepancy.
 
Dan_D said:
Well the problem of the stuttering was bad in Age of Conan with one 9800GX2. The problem was even worse in Quad-SLI mode. I suspect that the issues with Age of Conan and SLI are with the specific game as Quad-SLI worked well for me in every other game. Though with the 8800GTX and older SLI setups I've had I never noticed it. So I'm hoping that I won't have the issue with the Geforce GTX 280 setup.
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I've heard that a lot of people are complaining about AoC so I could also be the game.
 
I am using two OC 8800GTX s and I have never noticed stuttering. That said, I really do not know what to look for. It is like the “rainbow effect” on DLP TVs; I never noticed it until it was pointed out too me.
 
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