Any other enthusiasts who never use SLI/CF and thinks there's too much focus on it?

[CakeMonster]

Just curious about what the mood or views about this. I've been playing games and spending money on PC hardware since before the first Voodoo2 SLI solution was released.

I can afford SLI/CF. I just don't want it. Partly because of the energy use, partly because of the heat, partly because of the noise, partly because of driver and game issues, and pretty much least because of cost of buying an extra card.

I feel like most enthusiasts are the opposite of me, welcoming all the articles and in depth reviews of SLI/CF and drooling over getting that extra card. I get the impression that if it wasn't for the cost or the justification of the cost then a lot if not the majority of enthusiasts would have SLI/CF.

I am tired of all the focus on it, I feel that hardware sites and journalists are wasting their time on it that could have been used to go in depth about current and future technology. I feel that manufacturers are wasting their time tweaking their drivers and making game profiles that could have been used for improving drivers for the majority of single card users instead.

Am I alone in thinking this?

 

[ShintaiDK]

I avoid SLI/CF as well. Its mainly a half working solution with constant problems. But on the other hand you can also say there is no alternative to it performance wise.

I dont think it have gotten much attention lately. I always see good information on single cards.

 

[wand3r3r]

Try 4k and report back. You'll change your mind real quick. That's why the enthusiasts are discussing it a lot, it's necessary with the high resolution or multi monitor setups. There isn't even a single card that can max out 1080p yet, much less raising the resolution.

Feel free to skip such articles if they tire you, but let the rest of us enjoy them.

 

[Wall Street]

A lot of time is spent talking about the high end. This is partially driven by the manufacturers who send test systems so the reviewers can talk about the test systems more. This is also partially because enthusiass tend to read the articles because high end reviews are more sexy than reviews of lower end hardware. The result is that the amount of reviews for 4k monitors, 1200W PSUs, $1000 GPUs and, yes, SLI/Crossfore setups is completely out of proportion to the amount of people who buy these things. On the other hand, you wouldn't expect the enthusiast sites to post reviews of Dell PCs despite them selling relatively well. I think a lot of tech sites have been grappling with the fact that they rarely review the tier of products that people actually use. Several sites have been trying to put out more articles about $500 systems and mainstream level hardware, but that doesn't mean that the reviews of the halo products are going away.

 

[VirtualLarry]

My experiences with CF and SLI are this:

Crossfire: I owned, at one point, two pairs of HD4850 VisionTek cards (single-slot reference design). The most I ever did with them, was to run 3DMark (2006?) with two HD4850 cards in CF, on a Q6600 that was overclocked. I think it scored 19,000-something. I never bothered to use that rig for actual gaming.

SLI: Later on, I had obtained a pair of Gigabyte GTX460 WindForce cards, that I had in an AM3+ rig (990FX supported SLI) with a Thuban. I had the 1045T OCed to 3.5Ghz, with an OCZ Vendetta. I had overheating problems, those cards get hot when they are stacked on top of each other, and they aren't a blower design to exhaust the heat out of the case.

I guess, I really prefer a single card, at this point. However, I don't game much these days.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

If I was running a 4k system I'd do SLI/CF, but it doesn't seem to make sense at 1080p.

 

[bystander36]

Try 4k and report back. You'll change your mind real quick. That's why the enthusiasts are discussing it a lot, it's necessary with the high resolution or multi monitor setups. There isn't even a single card that can max out 1080p yet, much less raising the resolution.

Feel free to skip such articles if they tire you, but let the rest of us enjoy them.

This is where I think too much focus is on. Some of these settings that can't be maxed out make such a little difference, you can hardly tell it isn't maxed out. It seems as if there is a vocal crowd that believes that a game can't be played if it isn't maxed out, yet I take games like Metro 2033, and the difference high and ultra is indistinguishable.

Some settings are more noticeable than others, in different games, but it is silly chasing after maxed out, when most games can gain huge performance gains with a settings change or 2 with little change in appearance.

 

[BSim500]

I am tired of all the focus on it, I feel that hardware sites and journalists are wasting their time on it that could have been used to go in depth about current and future technology.

I don't use it myself (1080p on a single card is good enough for me). Nothing wrong with a "4k section" on tech sites, though I do agree some "enthusiast" sites review's *cough techreport* are fast becoming totally useless to the average 1080p gamer in starting to benchmark only at 1440p / 4K (meanwhile steam hardware survey show 3840x2160 to be 0.02% of the market and all "greater than 1080p" combined resolutions to still be just 1.33% of the market).

Some of these settings that can't be maxed out make such a little difference, you can hardly tell it isn't maxed out. It seems as if there is a vocal crowd that believes that a game can't be played if it isn't maxed out, yet I take games like Metro 2033, and the difference high and ultra is indistinguishable.

Agree 100%. In many games I can't tell High from Ultra. In other games, the difference of SSAO on vs off is barely visible and yet can easily knock off 40% performance. In others I disable some features even if they run 60fps simply because they're a personal pet hate (eg, badly done Depth of Field & Motion Blur look absurd far more often than they "improve" anything).

 

[hawtdawg]

this notion that SLI has all of these issues is nonsense. there are occasional games that dont have SLI support upon release. that is the bulk of the issues associated with it. Try doing any serious 120hz gaming without it. "enthusiast", pssh. Please.

 

[Owls]

this notion that SLI has all of these issues is nonsense. there are occasional games that dont have SLI support upon release. that is the bulk of the issues associated with it. Try doing any serious 120hz gaming without it. "enthusiast", pssh. Please.

we've had problems with microstutter for how long? let's not forget how bad SLI was. It still is in many ways and it's the reason why I have 3x GTX680s that I need to sell.

Just get the fastest single card money can buy and be done with it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I could afford it but I avoid it since I'm happy with a single 19x12 monitor.

 

[alcoholbob]

I've had four SLI/CF setups. I sold the 2nd card each time after less than a month. GT6800 SLI, GTX 285 SLI, 6970 CF and 780 SLI. None of the times I had the setup did I think SLI was worth it, and in a lot of games it felt slower with two cards than one despite the higher reported framerate.

As far as 4K, I'm running it now and enjoying it on a single 980. All you gotta do is down down SSAO, AA, and Shadows a bit and you can get 40-50 fps and pretty close to Ultra details on all games anyway.

 

[toyota]

you could not pay me to use SLI/Crossfire. whats hilarious is when some people using it try to defend it and say it works it great for them with no issues. thats BS as you are going to have more issues and that a fact. some games dont support it all. some games have poor scaling. some games will have more framerate drops and/or more frametime issues. I play games to get away from problems not spend more time worrying about and fixing them.

 

[Black Octagon]

I had a terrible experience with 7970 CF and sold the second card before AMD launched frame rating. I'm curious by the progress reportedly made, but just the thought of trying again makes me tired.

A single OC'd 7970 still meets my needs at 2560x1440@120Hz, just. Then again, I rarely play with AA on and am not too proud to turn down my settings to medium.

 

[Final8ty]

Feel free to skip such articles if they tire you, but let the rest of us enjoy them.

+1

 

[Carfax83]

I've been using SLI for years, and I've had very little problems with it. SLI/Xfire is really the only reliable method of getting good frame rates at high resolution high IQ settings. Single GPUs eventually catch up, but it's an endless game as developers just keep adding more detail, and we get higher resolution monitors which start the process over again. 4K currently is not viable without multiple GPUs.

So if you stick with single GPUs, you'll have greater compatibility and less issues overall sure, but you'll be limited in terms of resolution and IQ..

For people like myself that want high visual fidelity AND high frame rates in the latest cutting edge games, we have no choice but to go multiple GPUs.. It's an acceptable trade off.

 

[hawtdawg]

This thread seems more like people who are jealous of those with 2 video cards rather than people who actually have any clue what they're talking about.

 

[CakeMonster]

Please forget the jealousy/conflict/drama angle. If you read my initial post you see that I'm talking about the focus of articles and reviews which I think is disproportionally focused on SLI/CF compared to the actual users of it. (That is my subjective opinion, feel free to argue against it even if you arent heading out to count the articles and words).

I am happy to read reviews with testing at 4K, and I'm happy to read reviews about enormously expensive single cards. Those feel relevant to me as I am looking to upgrade to a 4K+ monitor someday, and I am interested in what can be done with the most badass single card out there even if I won't pay for it. It feels useful because I might buy a lower clocked version of it, or a new expensive release will hint at what will soon be available for the masses, or it tells me about what can be expected with OC.

SLI/CF does get a lot of coverage considering its low amount of users. And those reviews do not tell as much about game performance or resolution/cpu scaling since any game tested might suffer from driver or profile issues. SLI/CF seems to me as an extremely imperfect temporary band-aid measure while the engineers are working on bringing out better chips, and as someone who is very interested in the technology advances, I feel that most of the in depth study if SLI/CF specific performance is mostly noise about various issues that doesn't deal with the most interesting parts of the world of GPUs.

 

[toyota]

This thread seems more like people who are jealous of those with 2 video cards rather than people who actually have any clue what they're talking about.

I knew it would not take long before someone would make a ridiculous comment this.

its a FACT that multi gpu has MORE issues than single card use including some games that dont even support it at all.

your arrogant short sided comment does not change that simple fact.

 

[cbrunny]

Just curious about what the mood or views about this. I've been playing games and spending money on PC hardware since before the first Voodoo2 SLI solution was released.

I can afford SLI/CF. I just don't want it. Partly because of the energy use, partly because of the heat, partly because of the noise, partly because of driver and game issues, and pretty much least because of cost of buying an extra card.

I feel like most enthusiasts are the opposite of me, welcoming all the articles and in depth reviews of SLI/CF and drooling over getting that extra card. I get the impression that if it wasn't for the cost or the justification of the cost then a lot if not the majority of enthusiasts would have SLI/CF.

I am tired of all the focus on it, I feel that hardware sites and journalists are wasting their time on it that could have been used to go in depth about current and future technology. I feel that manufacturers are wasting their time tweaking their drivers and making game profiles that could have been used for improving drivers for the majority of single card users instead.

Am I alone in thinking this?

I understand the concerns about having SLI/CF. I do not understand the bitterness about tech journalists reporting on SLI/CF. Of all the things to be bitter about in the video card industry, why this in particular?

If "Review Site X" doesn't report on SLI/CF, "Review Site Y" will. To suggest that all should stop is irrational. To suggest it takes away from single card reporting is confusing since you have to report on a single card before you can report on SLI/CF configurations.

Driver tweaks, optimizations, etc. are there because it is in demand, period. I am confused - should these companies just stop investing in these areas? That wouldn't make sense from a business perspective.

Enthusiasts are enthusiastic about the hardware. That's what makes them enthusiasts. Generally speaking, a car enthusiast likes to read about cars that they don't own and couldn't possibly afford. Car enthusiasts might like learning about electric cars, or hybrids, or just beastly engines, or any other thing. Surely they would not limit themselves to learning about an inline 4 piston engine like the one in their driveway when they can do that AND learn about a beastly V8 at the same time. *EDIT: And, if they chose to only learn about the inline 4 piston engine, should they be bitter about a perceived lack of coverage of that little thing when there is also so much awesome stuff out there about every other car? Seems crazy to me./EDIT* The same is true about video card enthusiasts. That's why there is coverage. People like learning about pushing the limits of what we know. Enthusiasts like this even more so.

 

[amenx]

Never considered SLI/CF mainly due to not seeing the need to max out games while still enjoying a great graphical experience (even at 1440p). Always satisfied with not being 'maxed out' as well as not needing 60fps all the time every time. Sometimes I view high end multi-video card setups like I view hot-rodded cars. I just want to get from point A to B in a simple, easy manner. Dont need to do it in 4.6 secs or with flames shooting out the exhausts for it to count.

 

[SPBHM]

I would like to see lower end hardware and older hardware receiving more attention on sites like Anandtech, but I don't see the problem with covering multi GPUs, the same as $1000 cards and CPUs, it's interesting enough to read and see how high it can go, and some people are buying this stuff.

I would never touch SLI/CF mostly because of cost, but the other worries are also valid, more inconsistent performance and heat/power problems, but as fast as a single GPU can be, if you combine 2 you are going even faster... so.. yes..

 

[3DVagabond]

Just curious about what the mood or views about this. I've been playing games and spending money on PC hardware since before the first Voodoo2 SLI solution was released.

I can afford SLI/CF. I just don't want it. Partly because of the energy use, partly because of the heat, partly because of the noise, partly because of driver and game issues, and pretty much least because of cost of buying an extra card.

I feel like most enthusiasts are the opposite of me, welcoming all the articles and in depth reviews of SLI/CF and drooling over getting that extra card. I get the impression that if it wasn't for the cost or the justification of the cost then a lot if not the majority of enthusiasts would have SLI/CF.

I am tired of all the focus on it, I feel that hardware sites and journalists are wasting their time on it that could have been used to go in depth about current and future technology. I feel that manufacturers are wasting their time tweaking their drivers and making game profiles that could have been used for improving drivers for the majority of single card users instead.

Am I alone in thinking this?

Why do you believe that resources being used for multi GPU are holding back single GPU? The crap reviews we get from most review sites aren't because they are spending time on multi GPU, it's because of poor review practices. I think they spend too much time running 30sec. canned benchmarks at too many resolutions to do any kind of in depth reporting.

 

[Skurge]

If you have issues, turn of SLI/CFX, if you don't, enjoy the 80% performance boost. If you have the money to spare why care?

There is no other option for that performance. If you don't need the performance good for you. Someone us do and we have very few issues and enjoy our games more because of it.

 

[toyota]

never mind