sli rendering mode

[kingdomwinds]

I just got 2x 7900 GT to run in SLI and which mode is best to use under the sli rendering mode? I see single gpu, multi gpu, and sli antialiasing. I also know that coolbits unlocks some new modes like alternate frame rendering. Im confused

[sackynut]

Re: sli rendering mode

well.
single GPU and multi GPU are what they say, I just dont get why you can do "single GPU" after you enable SLi @_@

anyways, SLi anti aliasing lets you use both cards for AA and go higher than x8 AA. basically x16 AA. it slows down performance though.

for most games I would choose Multi-GPU rendering. but if the game is older (such as maybe like UT2k4) I would go single, just so you dont burn one of the other cards, you would probably get a slow down in older games when using SLi multi GPU anyways. so for most games, and newer ones go multi.

coolbits enables more.
alternate frame rendering (each card takes a turn rendering a frame after a frame)
alternate frame rendering 2 (same thing just a little different)
split frame rendering (each card renders one half of the screen)
auto select (it chooses depending on the game)
some other junk that I forgot.
for BF2 people hahve found that alternate frame rendering 2 gives the best frame rates.
I leave mine set to "auto select" for all games, and i have never had a problem.
hope that helped.

[DrunkenPirate]

Re: sli rendering mode

Moved to hardware since this isnt a game specific issue.

[kingdomwinds]

Re: sli rendering mode

wow im just baffled. Even with dual 7900 GT bf2 runs like crap. I still seem to average 50ish most of the time and i see fps drop down to 30s. I give up trying to make bf2 run better.

I overclocked my cpu, tried bunch of different vid cards yet results are the same. I mean i scrore 13k in 3dmark05 with my 7900 GT sli setup. But in bf2 i don't see a diff at all. I game at 1280x1024 all high 4xAA 8xAF.

Does this game care if you use a better cpu or vidcard? This is just major BS.

[sackynut]

Re: sli rendering mode

wow im just baffled. Even with dual 7900 GT bf2 runs like crap. I still seem to average 50ish most of the time and i see fps drop down to 30s. I give up trying to make bf2 run better.

I overclocked my cpu, tried bunch of different vid cards yet results are the same. I mean i scrore 13k in 3dmark05 with my 7900 GT sli setup. But in bf2 i don't see a diff at all. I game at 1280x1024 all high 4xAA 8xAF.

Does this game care if you use a better cpu or vidcard? This is just major BS.

calm down for a sec. okay.now:
BF2 is a system hog, you are trying to run it on max settings. now put the sli mod on "auto select".
as for overclocking your CPU, you really dont need to. the amd athlon 64 3800+ is a friggin AWESOME gaming processer. you can if you want, im just saying it isnt a bottleneck at all, it is great.

it is true that some games run better with one card. try disableing SLi tottaly in your drivers. so that only one card is on.
then try again and see what it does. (make sure vsync is turned off too)

50 fps might be a tiny bit low but it all depends, are you running a lot of background processes that could be eating up ram?
as for the dip into 30, everyone dips dont worry.

[kingdomwinds]

Re: sli rendering mode

no background processes running except for my firewall. That does not really impact fps at all because i ran bf2 with it disabled. The only time i get 90s is when there is not much going on.

[sackynut]

Re: sli rendering mode

if you get 90 when there is nothing going on
50 during action
and some dips into 30, im sorry but thats close to normal performance....

theres a possibility that there may be a small issue somewhere but really thats not bad.

[LoD]

Re: sli rendering mode

What settings are you running the game at? The comp in my sig, which is similar to yours minus SLI runs @ 1280x1024 w/ 4xAA and 4xAF with 75-90FPS on average most of the time, and is 100% playable in any scenerio.

Maybe you are missing your motherboard drivers? or you have something setup wrong? or maybe your trying too much of an aggressive setting?

SLI doesnt really help unless your using AA and AF, and even then its possible your running to aggressive of a setting.

[kingdomwinds]

Re: sli rendering mode

Im dissapointed because i got that same performance with a single 7800 GTX 256mb. I was really hoping that sli would make a big difference. Just wasted $300. Maybe ill return one of the cards

I installed mobo drivers, and latest vidcard drivers. All high settings in bf2 with AA and AF. Im pretty sure i set up everything the right way. I do get 13k in 3dmark05 so i know i did things right. 3dmark gives way lower results if something is wrong

[LoD]

Re: sli rendering mode

What resolution are you running? Because honestly SLi doesnt offer much at low resolutions. I have seen bechmark reviews listing a single 7900GT averaging 60FPS, and an SLI setup averaging 90FPS. Hey if an extra 30FPs is woth $300 by all means. (This was at 1280x1024 with 4x AA)

[kingdomwinds]

Re: sli rendering mode

i said i play at 1280x1024 earlier in my posts. that is the max my LCD supports.

[LoD]

Re: sli rendering mode

yeah at that resolution SLI offers very little. It will however allow you to up the AA and AF to fairly high levels.

[UNDIESRULES]

Re: sli rendering mode

When i used SLI, AFR2 worked fastest for me.

[FingolfinKing]

Well, i have a similar setup:

AMD X2 4400+
2GB RAM
2x 7800GTX (256mb) in Sli.

I too am wondering which settings work. Currently, I can play decently at 1600x1200 with all High settings, 4xAA and app controlled AF. Supersampling is also enabled. I am wondering, should I turn off supersampling, because I do get some fram rate dips.

If you had not heard me say any of that, what would be the ABSOLUTE best I could play on while maintaining a high FPS?

[lonegunm4n]

Re: sli rendering mode

your going to get framerate dips no matter what you do. There is nothing you can do about it, but live with it.