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

[KaRLiToS]

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 don't understand why you are thinking this.

If the focus is on CF and SLI, it's because Single card have few to no issue as to now. They are focusing on Crossfire and SLI because it's there where more problems can occur.

The more you add cards and/or monitors, the more you have chance of finding bugs.

Single card and single monitor is easy shi...zzle. Plug and play most of the time. For people that don't want to mess around with their rig. (Or noobs, sorry)

 

[tential]

Not remotely.

I'm a single card user, never owned a multi GPU setup but I am VERY happy that we get testing with SLI/CF.

For the OP I'm LOST as to his reasoning.
He cares about single card setups that are well out of his budget, yet would not like to hear about multi GPU testing that he may actually be able to afford?

Sometimes you can add a second GPU and get more bang for your buck then getting a whole new GPU.

The HD7870 CF reviews had it going toe to toe with the GTX Titan. That's an extremely cheap way to get $1k performance.

ESPECIALLY with 4K resolutions coming out, if you're an "enthusiast" chances are you're curious about if it's possible to do 4K and what you need to do it. Again, SLI/CF review portions are CRUCIAL to this.

In fact, even with my HD7950, the day the GTX970/GTX980 came out I was curious about the SLI results at 4K. Because that's the next "frontier" and as an enthusiast, I'm curious (as I'm sure MOST enthusiasts reading these reviews are) about how these cards are performing with SLI/CF, especially considering how "cheap" and relatively easy the upgrade path is.

Is CF/SLI perfect? No, but it hits enough games to be worthwhile (and the ones it doesn't generally already run well enough on a single card anyway if I'm not mistaken).

OP, I'd start paying attention to the SLI/CF portions of these reviews and seeing what you can learn. These technologies have come a long way. A couple years ago I wouldn't have bothered, but now the performance increase for a number of games hits almost LINEAR scaling. That's not something that normally happens with GPUs (getting a $600 GPU over a $300 GPU doesn't net you 2x performance usually) so there are just too many benefits to really ignore or not put quite a bit of effort into this portion of the review.

Is OP correct in saying there are more single card users? Yes.
But review sites cater to enthusiasts, and enthusiasts care about SLI/CF performance. Even if to just say X card is better than Y card on an internet forum.

Edit: My Personal hope actually is review sites start doing "upgrade" reviews. Where we'll see crossfire results of the last generation or two vs the current new gen card so we know the performance delta between upgrading with CF/SLI vs getting a new card. Like right now I'd like to see a review with GTX 970, SLI 770s, SLI 670s, HD7950 CF, HD7870 CF and the GTX 980 to see how it would be to go SLI/CF vs the new GTX 970/GTX 980, especially at 4K resolution, or high AA 1080p (I guess other resolutions for people with those monitors and some other cards too). Maybe quarterly or twice a year. TBH, there is a large time period where there is no new release for GPU/CPU so these types of review would be nice to fill the gap and get more info.

 

[hawtdawg]

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

More doesn't mean a lot, genius. There are very very very very few issues with SLI. I personally haven't experienced any issues at all, and I know that you surely haven't, since you've never used it, and are just talking out of your ass.

 

[toyota]

More doesn't mean a lot, genius. There are very very very very few issues with SLI. I personally haven't experienced any issues at all, and I know that you surely haven't, since you've never used it, and are just talking out of your ass.

oh yeah I am sure you have no issues at all...

so every game works fine? you get great scaling? no microstuttering? no dropped framerates? no compatibility issues?

lol and you accuse me of talking out my ass?

 

[hawtdawg]

oh yeah I am sure you have no issues at all...

derrrr, yeah i mean you read about people having problems on a message board! you are an expert on the subject!

Why don't you tell us about all of these "issues" that plague all of us SLI users to the point that we're ridiculous for even considering using 2 cards?

Go ahead and educate us! I want to know about the problems that I'm having since i can't seem to recognize them on my own.

Infraction issued for inflammatory language.
-- stahlhart

 

[stahlhart]

Reopening the thread for everyone but hawtdawg, who will leave immediately.

Get the tempers and the attitudes under control in here, now.

-- stahlhart

 

[Rakehellion]

The price argument is bunk. Pricing for technology scales exponentially, so SLI is actually less expensive than a single card setup for the same performance. 770 SLI is cheaper than 980. 760 SLI is cheaper than a 780.

I wouldn't do it at any price point because of frame jitter. It's a hack with displeasurable results.

 

[greybaby]

I think it gets a lot of hype because it can be cost effective and also when you have the fastest GPU there is only one way to go faster: sli or crossfire.

 

[digitaldurandal]

I haven't had any real issues on my 670 SLI setup. There are a few games that don't play well with it but the only one I have run across is League of Legends, which doesn't really need it anyways. The only other thing I would complain about is it cannot remember the order of my three monitors each time I turn it off or on I have to drag a monitor display back over, but that takes literally 5 seconds.

I am receiving 2 290s on Tuesday so I will see if there is a difference on the other side.

I have used SLI in multiple setups. 285 SLI had the "most" issues which were that in some games I experienced stuttering or no real FPS improvement. Going to 570 SLI there were less games that had issues. Virtually none of the games I play except LOL had issues on my 670 SLI setup.

Now, I will say I almost never have a game within the first 3 weeks it is out. I will not buy a game at full price except maybe once a year, so I think very often there are profile updates before I try a game.

I don't understand how users in this thread who have not used multiple GPUs can accuse other users of lying about their setup and lack of issues. I also don't think people should bother to argue with them, but the question remains, why stay in a thread discussing the topic if you are not interested in hearing about the experiences of other users?

I would say that I am disappointed that 4 years later, most reviews do a very poor job at gauging 5760x1080 or 5760x1200 performance for SurroundView/Eyefinity.

 

[Morgoth780]

During my short period with 7950 CF (second card was used and turned out to be defective or something, so I returned it) and I had almost very good scaling and didn't notice any microstutter.

That said I was playing on 1080p 60hz and I frequently got >100fps.

 

[Black Octagon]

To add to what has already been said:

If it weren't for in depth reporting of Crossfire by the likes of Tom's and PCPer, somehow I doubt we would have come so far so fast in understanding the importance of frame times over fps.

 

[antihelten]

Honestly I think multi-GPU setups are going to become much more popular in the future thanks to the oculus rift. The consumer version will most likely have a 1440p display, and you need about 90 fps, plus AA is preferable. Managing that on a single GPU is going to be very difficult if we're talking demanding games.

Luckily Oculus rift basically comes with built in SFR, so compatibility and scaling should be close to perfect.

 

[kasakka]

I got my first SLI setup this spring and only because I got a good deal (used) on the second card. With a 2560x1440 display I pretty much have to have a lot of GPU horsepower to get good framerates at native resolution.

It still ended up several hundred euros cheaper than if I were to buy a single GTX 980 now.

OP mentioned noise and to be honest my rig isn't any noisier than it was before. With two non-reference cards I had to upgrade the cooling in my case (added a side fan) to deal with the heat though.

With G-Sync I haven't noticed any issues with microstutter either. The only problems I've had have been things like having to add profiles for some games before drivers are updated or some games (mainly idTech5-based like Wolfenstein: New Order) just plain not supporting SLI.

If anything, I'd like to see more emphasis on single card, dual GPU solutions. That would at least solve the ventilation issues and possibly be slightly less power hungry too. Also not having to use a bridge would be beneficial for bandwidth I think. It's just that now if a manufacturer offers a single card SLI solution, it's always sporting the current top GPU model available. I'd rather see something like a SLI GTX770 single card at a more reasonable price than a very expensive single card SLI GTX780Ti/980.

 

[Sohaltang]

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.

Pfft.. Try getting 120+ fps @1440p\120hz in 2 year old AAA games maxed with anything less than a OC 780ti SL .

 

[JoeRambo]

Pfft.. Try getting 120+ fps @1440p\120hz in 2 year old AAA games maxed with anything less than a OC 780ti SL .

But isn't public lately becoming aware (in the light of Civ Mantle SFR technique), that 120hz could have problems when rendering is done in AFR?


I had GTX460 SLI, while it was amazing performer in benchmarks, it just didn't feel right in the games and I had lots of problems with heat dissipation and crashes. Oced 920 + SLI 460 in non blowers = disaster ( I guess that is why i smile when ppl blabber about "value" of custom R290 cards in CF)

 

[poohbear]

Well i dont like 4k resolutions, & since most people dont use it, they should stop that nonsense too!

Lol seriously, u can just ignore the reviews of products u dont use man. Selling 2 cards instead of one is more business for these companies, so it doesnt make business sense for them to stop.

More power? Gtx 670 SLI is 300wts whole system is about , & thats 2 generations ago! hows that not manageable? Custom gigabyte coolers keep them cooler than my cpu! So what are u on about? I need them for my 1440p resolution, & i can only imagine how 4k is. So let us enthusiasts enjoy them who like all the eye candy.

Personally, i dont think SLI is getting ENOUGH attention these days. Lots of new games dont even have SLI profiles.

 

[Deders]

I think it's good to have the variety of articles so people can make informed decisions based on their needs. It's not as if we are lacking single card reviews.

 

[Black Octagon]

Pfft.. Try getting 120+ fps @1440p\120hz in 2 year old AAA games maxed with anything less than a OC 780ti SL .

1) you appear to be agreeing with the guy you quoted

2) why the obsession with running games maxed out? Yeah it looks prettier, but ultra is only slightly prettier than med/high. Noticeably? Sure. Worth many hundreds more to afford? YMMV

 

[SViscusi]

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?

You're not wrong. Multi-Gpu gaming is probably over-represented, it's users are a niche within a relatively small niche already. Entry level is really costly for just the cards, some of the reasons given like ultra high resolutions also require costly components. The number of people who can afford it, desire it, and make full use of it are incredibly tiny.

Even so, I'm ok with it being slightly over represented. We're all enthusiast so even those who can't afford can at least drool a little bit over it. Plus is also allows us a slightly better view of where technology is right now and provide a preview of where it'll be going.

 

[tviceman]

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.

What game can a gtx980 not max out at 1080p sans artificial hardware hits aka SSAA?

 

[wand3r3r]

What game can a gtx980 not max out at 1080p sans artificial hardware hits aka SSAA?

Here's one, I'm surprised if you think the 980 can run everything at 60 fps with max settings (It's getting close, but not there in everything yet). Sure you can drop AA a notch or two and then it would run them at 60 fps, but you should get that the statement was to make a point that we aren't at a level where a single GPU is sufficient, especially at a higher resolution.

I personally prefer a minimum of 60 FPS but I was referring to an average of 60 in any case.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_980/13.html

 

[toyota]

Here's one, I'm surprised if you think the 980 can run everything at 60 fps with max settings (It's getting close, but not there in everything yet). Sure you can drop AA a notch or two and then it would run them at 60 fps, but you should get that the statement was to make a point that we aren't at a level where a single GPU is sufficient, especially at a higher resolution.

I personally prefer a minimum of 60 FPS but I was referring to an average of 60 in any case.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_980/13.html

if you wanted to stay over 60 frames per second you can use common sense and use SMAA instead of MSAA.

 

[wand3r3r]

if you wanted to stay over 60 frames per second you can use common sense and use SMAA instead of MSAA.

What I said is factually correct and still stands. If you prefer to turn down settings that's fine but doesn't change the statement.

 

[Dribble]

I think it depends what you want. Most people want hardware that:
a) is hassle free.
b) gives them the best chance of playing the game well.
c) looks as nice as possible.
A few also fall into the camp of:
d) benchmark junkies - i.e. they love knowing how fast their setup is vs the rest of the world.

Sli/Xfire/4K don't give you a and b. They add hassle and bugs, they introduce lag, 4K means 60hz, more blur, lower fps. That is a major failing - I don't want to spend all that money to have to continually fight with the drivers and then after all that have worse performance playing my choice of online shooter because it's actually laggier and stutters so I can't aim as well.

Hence it's really for people who care more about c and d then a and b.

Personally I set my settings to give me b then don't worry about them again. Sure it's nice to have the very highest you can get (which with a 1920p screen and a single 970 I can generally get) but do I really care if I used FXAA and textures aren't quite as sharp, or my screen isn't 4K when I am playing the game - no, too busy playing to notice. I do notice fast however if there's lag, or low fps (I have a 120hz screen) and it's making me miss...

 

[toyota]

What I said is factually correct and still stands. If you prefer to turn down settings that's fine but doesn't change the statement.

and MSAA is not needed over SMAA as even if you stare at the screen all day long you would be hard-pressed to see any difference. it's a basically useless setting in this game and artificially makes it more demanding then it needs to be. might as well apply 8x MSAA and make it completely unplayable on any single gpu card.