Do you think multi GPUs are worthy ?

[qubit]

To a point this is true, i dont have many of those issues (touchwood) but i do have in alot of games if vsync is turned on i get mouse lag, this is why i turn it off.

Yeah, mouse lag can happen, but that's usually a problem with the game engine not being properly written. One shouldn't be forced into this.

Also, many times, there are settings one can change to reduce this, which might be hidden away in .ini files or something.

 

[Funtoss]

Gotta repect the power of a single GPU

but then again Multi GPU's are people's option that get more performance for a cheaper price

 

[Yukikaze]

Well, give me a single GPU setup which can run 5760x1080 with respectable performance and I'll gladly replace my cards with it.

 

[NetSurfer]

What a brilliant photoshop!

http://www.geforce.com/News/articles/voodoo-revived

 

[Frick]

Could this really be true that multi card set ups have not been perfected ?

That the industry promote multi card set ups knowing they are inefficient and terrible value ?

I would just like to say that I have not read the other comments, so maybe this has been said already.

1. Absolutely.

2. It's not terrible value. Sometimes dual cards scale really well.

And microstuttering happens sometimes, but with some tweaking most of the kinks can be overcome.

 

[Frizz]

I would just like to say that I have not read the other comments, so maybe this has been said already.

1. Absolutely.

2. It's not terrible value. Sometimes dual cards scale really well.

And microstuttering happens sometimes, but with some tweaking most of the kinks can be overcome.

I've never noticed micro-stuttering I've owned up to 3 cards and I can confidently say that you won't experience any major or noticeable stuttering at all, It will still run as smooth as a single card, this is what I've experienced. And in regards to scaling it always scales really well it is only sometimes that it doesn't depending on the title. It's not perfect but it is completely viable, you definitely will get the performance you've paid for, the only downside is there are "some" games that may need an extra tweak or two that you'll require to do to get it running optimal which will most likely be for an older game as newer games that do have crossfire issues are now much better supported than before, for example Crysis 2 and The Witcher 2 both games received performance patches and hotfixes from the game developer side AND the GPU manufacturers Nvidia/AMD themselves and now have crossfire running optimal for both games without the need to tweak anything.

Imo in terms of gaming and performance a single GPU will never beat multi-GPU setups when it comes to maximum settings. But the question is are you willing to pay the price for maximum settings?

 

[qubit]

I've never noticed micro-stuttering I've owned up to 3 cards and I can confidently say that you won't experience any major or noticeable stuttering at all, It will still run as smooth as a single card, this is what I've experienced.

I'll second that. With vsync turned on and no dropped frames it will indeed be smooth as butter.

You only get microstutter where vsync is off and it will happen whether the rendered frames are going faster or slower than the monitor refresh.

 

[Frizz]

I'll second that. With vsync turned on and no dropped frames it will indeed be smooth as butter.

You only get microstutter where vsync is off and it will happen whether the rendered frames are going faster or slower than the monitor refresh.

Ah I forgot about the people who play without V-Sync, I wouldn't know too much in that area as I prefer not to have screen tearing as opposed to having higher numbers on fraps.

 

[dnottis]

After many attempts at multi GPU setup... I've settled for fastest single card on the market the last few generations and I'm much happier. I went with a 120Hz LCD and gaming is butter ...and you don't need vsync - sorry but the input lag with vsync was a show stopper for me.

Recently a few friends finally dumped their multi GPU setups too... driver (issues including flashing issues and seeing smoother performance with one card over two), microstuter (which I'm particulary sensitive too), heat were factors that came into play... I'll say this they are much happier now with their one GTX 570 vs their multi GPU setups. It might not benchmark as fast but gaming is more enjoyable.

I've attempted it many times but I've found gaming is just more enjoyable with one high end GPU.

 

[iamthewizard2]

dude i dont know which planet you are from but ive owned many nvidia graphics cards in my life...in fact i upgrade at least once-twice a year. i havent noticed the microstuttering issue on ANY NVIDIA CARD (in SLI mode) that was made after the 9800 GX2. Man i keep hearing gamers rage and complain about this issue....err what microstuttering???....either something is wrong with your computer, your settings or your eyes.

 

[dnottis]

dude i dont know which planet you are from but ive owned many nvidia graphics cards in my life...in fact i upgrade at least once-twice a year. i havent noticed the microstuttering issue on ANY NVIDIA CARD (in SLI mode) that was made after the 9800 GX2. Man i keep hearing gamers rage and complain about this issue....err what microstuttering???....either something is wrong with your computer, your settings or your eyes.

Some people are more sensitive to it... others aren't. its real, it's documented, we know what causes it and why. Its there. Whether it bothers you or not is something that you cannot control. Either you see it or you don't.

 

[iamthewizard2]

I went with a 120Hz LCD and gaming is butter ...

err.....you really dont understand how monitors and framerate work do you???? a faster refreshing monitor doesnt mean you get smoother or faster framerate dude. that depends on your graphics card, how demanding the game is and whether or not you have vsync turned on or off to prevent screen tear. it also is dependent on the graphical settings and what resolution you are playing on. to say a 120 hz monitor is faster than an ordinary 60hz monitor is so...welll....BS. you need to research better.

trust me...i have a wealth of experience in the graphic design business....

 

[dnottis]

err.....you really dont understand how monitors and framerate work do you???? a faster refreshing monitor doesnt mean you get smoother or faster framerate dude. that depends on your graphics card, how demanding the game is and whether or not you have vsync turned on or off to prevent screen tear. it also is dependent on the graphical settings and what resolution you are playing on. to say a 120 hz monitor is faster than an ordinary 60hz monitor is so...welll....BS. you need to research better.

trust me...i have a wealth of experience in the graphic design business....

I never said it was "faster". You have no idea what you are talking about clearly.. you can feel the difference of a 120hz LCD on the desktop. The mouse movement is smoother.

Unfortunately your wealth of experience didn't get turned into something more useful. I worked in pre-press and graphic design for 8 years but that has nothing to do with refresh rates and gaming without tearing ...

 

[iamthewizard2]

Some people are more sensitive to it... others aren't. its real, it's documented, we know what causes it and why. Its there. Whether it bothers you or not is something that you cannot control. Either you see it or you don't.

i do know what microstuttering is...like i said previously ive owned many many nvidia setups in my life. back in the day of the 9800 i noticed the microstuttering...very very obvious+++....now with my duel GTX 580s and duel 480s on my other pc...no microstuttering whatsoever.

 

[iamthewizard2]

you can feel the difference of a 120hz LCD on the desktop. The mouse movement is smoother.
.

so you're version of 'gaming like butter' is 'faster mouse movement'....ROFL.....

 

[dnottis]

err.....you really dont understand how monitors and framerate work do you???? a faster refreshing monitor doesnt mean you get smoother or faster framerate dude. that depends on your graphics card, how demanding the game is and whether or not you have vsync turned on or off to prevent screen tear. it also is dependent on the graphical settings and what resolution you are playing on. to say a 120 hz monitor is faster than an ordinary 60hz monitor is so...welll....BS. you need to research better.

trust me...i have a wealth of experience in the graphic design business....

so you're version of 'gaming like butter' is 'faster mouse movement'....ROFL.....

yea, cause thats what I said... Come back when you are capable of having a conversation not just "ROFL blah blah blah durrr ROFL".

 

[qubit]

err.....you really dont understand how monitors and framerate work do you???? a faster refreshing monitor doesnt mean you get smoother or faster framerate dude. that depends on your graphics card, how demanding the game is and whether or not you have vsync turned on or off to prevent screen tear. it also is dependent on the graphical settings and what resolution you are playing on. to say a 120 hz monitor is faster than an ordinary 60hz monitor is so...welll....BS. you need to research better.

trust me...i have a wealth of experience in the graphic design business....

Eh, what? I'm sorry, but it's you who doesn't understand this.

Having a faster screen refresh on your monitor increases your temporal resolution, so yes, the movement literally is smoother. You can certainly feel the difference even on the desktop, too.

Having a game animate smoothly at 120Hz (vsync on, no dropped frames) is quite literally twice as smooth as one animated at just 60Hz (also with vsync on and no dropped frames).

In my old CRT days, I was able to get a refresh of around 200Hz or so with no dropped frames and movement was smooth like liquid, truly unbelievable. It's hard to describe, but it was fantastic.

Note that I was running at only 800x600 and playing an old, undemanding game, to prevent frame drops. Oh and the picture wasn't exactly sharp, either.

If you don't believe us, just google it. This is basic stuff.

I never said it was "faster". You have no idea what you are talking about clearly.. you can feel the difference of a 120hz LCD on the desktop. The mouse movement is smoother.

Unfortunately your wealth of experience didn't get turned into something more useful. I worked in pre-press and graphic design for 8 years but that has nothing to do with refresh rates and gaming without tearing ...

Yup, +1.

 

[Frizz]

After many attempts at multi GPU setup... I've settled for fastest single card on the market the last few generations and I'm much happier. I went with a 120Hz LCD and gaming is butter ...and you don't need vsync - sorry but the input lag with vsync was a show stopper for me.

Recently a few friends finally dumped their multi GPU setups too... driver (issues including flashing issues and seeing smoother performance with one card over two), microstuter (which I'm particulary sensitive too), heat were factors that came into play... I'll say this they are much happier now with their one GTX 570 vs their multi GPU setups. It might not benchmark as fast but gaming is more enjoyable.

I've attempted it many times but I've found gaming is just more enjoyable with one high end GPU.

Of course you can say you don't need vsync, you have a 120hz monitor. You get MUCH MUCH more screen tearing with Vsync off on a 60hz for obvious reasons. Also you'd need Jesus' eyes to notice any micro stuttering on the newer cards. Heat etc, really all depends on how well you can accommodate these factors as it is definitely the reason most of us here invest on a well ventilated case to support overclocks and multi-gpu setups.

 

[dnottis]

Of course you can say you don't need vsync, you have a 120hz monitor. You get MUCH MUCH more screen tearing with Vsync off on a 60hz for obvious reasons. Also you'd need Jesus' eyes to notice any micro stuttering on the newer cards. Heat etc, really all depends on how well you can accommodate these factors as it is definitely the reason most of us here invest on a well ventilated case to support overclocks and multi-gpu setups.

after I gave up on multi GPU setups I went with a 120hz LCD. I didn't invest in 120hz till just recently but will never go back to 60hz LCD now.

I water cool GPU and CPU so heat was never my issue. Just micro stutter.

 

[buggalugs]

Theres a good article at Toms about micro stuttering and crossfire/sli performance.

Toms is very critical about both companies:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html


I always tell people to buy the fastest single GPU you can afford. For people with multiple monitors or really high res and need a second GPU, your best option is 2 highend cards.

2x low-mid range cards isnt good according to Toms.

 

[Athlonite]

I just read that Toms article very interesting I don't however suffer from micro stutter whilst using 2x HD5770's but then I also don't run high AA (above 4x) either I don't find the need for it at 1920x1080 I find MLAA does a much better job and is faster than 4x AA

and according to Tom low end/mid range cards don't come with 2x CF bridge connections well that's just bollocks my HIS HD5770 comes with two

 

[qubit]

and according to Tom low end/mid range cards don't come with 2x CF bridge connections well that's just bollocks my HIS HD5770 comes with two

It'll likely depend on the brand and which country it's sold in, so I wouldn't say there's no truth in it.

 

[yogurt_21]

Theres a good article at Toms about micro stuttering and crossfire/sli performance.

Toms is very critical about both companies:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html


I always tell people to buy the fastest single GPU you can afford. For people with multiple monitors or really high res and need a second GPU, your best option is 2 highend cards.

2x low-mid range cards isnt good according to Toms.

hardly a throrough review, but it does show that 2 cards in sli are less likely to experience it than 2 in crossfire. perplexingly though it also shows that if you do have it in 2 card crossfire, just add another card as that will fix it.

as shown on the graphs properly configured sli and 3 or 4 way crossfire looks very much like a single card experience as far as frame variation goes. This pretty much proves what most of us have been saying. Microstutter? what microstutter?

this is especially true as microstuuter tends to be less the higher average frame you're rendering. So with higher end cards it will be less noticible simply because they're rednering higher frames.

and to be fair even single cards give off the microstutter phenomenon if you look at the graphs.

 

[Volkszorn88]

Personally I absolutely love crossfire/sli setups. With anything, there's ups and downs. But in my opinion, way more ups than down.

It brings me great joy that my 380USD crossfire 6870s kill a 500 USD GTX 580, 480, and 5970. Great performance for the cost. When it works, it works.

 

[ensabrenoir]

2 HIS 6870 in crossfire at stock. Only issues pop up Depending on drivers(preview) and a clean install of drivers. The caps usually smooth everything out. I usually max everything out just,because I paid for 2 cards 2 b able to. Worth it.2 me yes for the tripple monitors