[Windows 7] Hybrid SLI and CrossFire unstable, says Microsoft

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11-08-2008, 04:56 AM
XSAlliN

Yep, I agree with Microsoft on this, concerning nVidia and ATi. As for "Hydra chip" I need to see some practice that show his potential, on paper even nVidia/ATi solutions look great but in practice it's like a major marketing scam.
11-08-2008, 10:16 AM
mattkosem

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shintai

Could you have 2 individual outputs on a X2 card?

No.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shintai

Are you sure SLI/CF is working?

I run 2 premium clients on a single non OC 8800GT on 2 24". One 1750*1100 and one 1880*1140. No lag etc. So you could be cheated even running one GPU.

Both answered in post 45

--Matt
11-08-2008, 10:38 AM
Sentential

Tried getting hybrid SLI to work with my current configuration but overall it was a disaster. Not only are there no driver options that can even detect the onboard chip correctly but I cannot POST past 205 FSB with it on (not to mention constant reboots at stock)

There is supposed to be some kind of software that is used to configure how your hybrid settings are set. Not only do I not see it available for download on nvidia's site but my MFGR doesnt have it either. Ntune doesnt have it nor does my standard driver options.

Unstable I think is far too kind; Epic Fail would be better. (atleast for nvidia)

Now as far as standard Xfire and SLI I think we have come a LONG way from where it was before. Crossfire is fully viable and I have had no issues with either it or SLI in the games I play. There are occasional annoyances but all of the issues are minor and if you're smart enough to setup a Xfire/SLI rig you'll be able to resolve the issue.

Multi-GPU for the average joe schmoe is pushing it as its not 100% idiot proof yet.
11-08-2008, 12:53 PM
halo112358

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattkosem

Hmm, That does indeed seem to be the case. My X2 does spin up the first gpu when running in a window though. The second one remains at the 2d clock, following your point about no CF in a window. The premium client has jaggies everywhere with or without FSAA, so I don't really run it on that game. I guess it is easy to see the performance degredation though, all you need to do is force on some FSAA. The slowdown is much more harsh than in games where CF is working properly.

I take back the part about having no problems. A single 4870 is more than anyone would ever need in that game anyways though, even with 3 clients I have no trouble.

--Matt

IDK, I force 8xAA/16qAF and turn off all the performance optimizations when I play fullscreen. The game is pretty badly optimized for filtering and eye candy so it runs at a max of ~75fps _with_ 4870 crossfire, on a single card I can get it running as low as ~20-30fps with all the quality options forced on in the driver :D

If it's running windowed at the desktop speeds then meh, ~7-15fps. By contrast I could probably run 4 or 5 copies of the basic client without any issues, but I'm partial to eye candy.

Try forcing FSAA sometime (you have to rename ExeFile.exe to UT3.exe or Oblivion.exe), the performance hit with HDR enabled is pretty brutal.
02-20-2009, 07:30 PM
Nil Einne

Quote:

Originally Posted by fragmasterMax

update your drivers..........
my 9800gx2 sli on a card murders that game.

msft is in the pockets of amd anyway,
that was proven last year with the "power together tour"
man i've never heard so much amd/msft propaganda in a four hour timespan in my life.
on the bright side i won 150 in s/w airlines tickets, and a am2 mobo

Um wtf does that have to do with anything? You're saying Microsoft is dissing Hybrid Crossfire, an AMD tech, because AMD told them to? Or it's AMD propaganda that hybrid crossfire is unstable and unreliable? Yeah sure... That makes a lot of sense

BTW, you're also saying MSFT a company with a market capitalisation of US$160 billion in the pockets of AMD a company with a market capitalisation of US$1.24 billion? Again you're surely making a lot of sense here...
02-21-2009, 02:09 PM
cegras

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003

No, Shintai is correct. If you can't see the stutter/shutter it is because either SLI/CF is not working (so no chance to see the problem), or you are not stressing the GPUs enough to constrict inter-GPU bandwidth and cause frame drops, aka stuttering. This is not a case of one opinion over another. Stuttering is an inherent problem with Alternate Frame Rendering, and currently can only be compensated for by more brute GPU power.

Try replacing multi-GPU with single-GPU and the same thing happens!
02-21-2009, 03:44 PM
BababooeyHTJ

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xoulz

:rolleyes:

I have no idea why motherboard manufacturers are even worried about SLI/Crossfire compatability...

... I'd rather just pay $50 more, for a Mobo that had Lucid's Hydra chip, than any other solution. Why we aren't seeing enthusiast mobos with this technology is beyond me.

.

Because there is no proof that it even works.

My main problem with crossfire and sli was the low minimum framerate which causes horrable screen tearing and occasionally stuttering. Driver support is a pain as well. I don't find it to be worth the hassle. Ill stick with a single gpu for now.
02-21-2009, 04:33 PM
B.E.E.F.

Quote:

Originally Posted by halo112358

I needed a custom catalyst profile

You can do custom profiles? I thought this wasn't possible for catalyst. How did you do this and did you try changing profiles for other games?

It would be nice to run different profiles without having to rename the *.exe file.

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