Second Life Forums Archive - SLi Video and SL? Any Benefits or OverKill?

Gene Jacobs

Who? Me?

Join date: 30 Jul 2004

Posts: 127

05-27-2006 06:25

It is that time to build a new computer, and I have been eyeballing the SLi Video PCi Ex Video Cards... dual 512meg video seems like a thrill ride, but I notice in preferences the 512meg "cap" if you will.

I figure the 64 Dual Core 4800 AMD chip and about 2 gig Memory would be in play also.

Anyone running anything that is similar, and any suggestions for optimum SL play time on the video.

I would like to build in the direction of future Linden growth plans.

Doc Nielsen

Fallen...

Join date: 13 Apr 2005

Posts: 1,059

05-27-2006 07:50

Hmmm, a couple of people warned me off AMD dual cores when I was building a new system in April. I'm told the dual cores *can* have problems in SL - plus SL doesn't support them anyway, so it only makes sense if you want to run SL on one core and one or more other 'hungry' programs on the other... I plumped for a FX57 for one machine and a 64-4000+ in the other, both very nice, though the FX is just that little bit faster

but probably not enough to really justify the extra cost.
What IS important with these cpus however is getting hold of low latency RAM, it makes a noticable difference to performance.

As far as SLi is concerned - who knows? My MB (DFI LanParty nF4 SLi-DR Expert) handles it, but given my results in 1.10 with a single card I'm not wasting money on another for SL!
What I do know is that a BFG 7900GTX 512 which worked REALLY well in 1.9 is now suffering all sorts of problems. Moderate to severe fps reduction depending on location (accurately measured and verifiable), texture strobing, slow texture loading and general wierdness. Oh, and a dead stable system now crashes fairly regularly in SL!

Obviously on a PC built from scratch last month it has a) the latest offical drivers, b) no 'old' driver leftovers, c) a brand new clean XP SP2...
SL has been clean installed a couple of times too. So, a pretty high end syatem that used to work well in SL and doesn't any more.

I had these troubles in Preview (though not, strangely, the strobing textures) from when they crippled the vertex shaders, which were bug reported but sadly not fixed prior to release.

My feeling is that while some of the lower spec nVidias are OK in 1.10 - 6600s seem particularly trouble free - the higher end cards are having 'issues'. If I were bolting something together right now I think I'd shove a cheap 6600 in to use until (if) LL get their act together with the high end cards - if you want this machine mainly for SL that is.

I know it's not hugely encouraging, but those 512 cards are fairly expensive, I'm irritated enough at having bought one that no longer works acceptably, I'd hate you to shell out twice as much and have the same outcome.

_____________________

All very well for people to have a sig that exhorts you to 'be the change' - I wonder if it's ever occurred to them that they might be something that needs changing...?

Ron Overdrive

Registered User

Join date: 10 Jul 2005

Posts: 1,002

05-27-2006 09:04

the only benefit of SLi in SL from what I understand is higher AntiAlaising and Ansitropic Filtering wich just makes it look pretty.

SuezanneC Baskerville

Forums Rock!

Join date: 22 Dec 2003

Posts: 14,229

03-13-2007 14:32

Is it correct that the only significant benefit of SLI for SL is higher anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing?

Would Dual SLI's (4 cards) allow one to make SL look better than one SLI (2 cards)?

_____________________

-

So long to these forums, the vBulletin forums that used to be at forums.secondlife.com. I will miss them.

I can be found on the web by searching for "SuezanneC Baskerville", or go to

http://www.google.com/profiles/suezanne

-

http://lindenlab.tribe.net/ created on 11/19/03.

Members: Ben, Catherine, Colin, Cory, Dan, Doug, Jim, Philip, Phoenix, Richard,
Robin, and Ryan

-

Teeny Leviathan

Never started World War 3

Join date: 20 May 2003

Posts: 2,716

03-13-2007 16:04

I just upgraded from a GeForce 7800GT (256MB) to a GeForce 8800GTS (320MB). Big jump in performance, and I was able to move draw distance to 224m and run with 8x anti-aliasing. Even better, the 8800 seems to be less a power hog than the 7800. Unfortunately, the FL viewer seems to only address 256MB of the card's 320MB of ram. I'm tempted to add a 2nd 8800 in a few months, but I suspect the viewer will still not address all the video memory.

Ketra Saarinen

Whitelock 'Yena-gal

Join date: 1 Feb 2006

Posts: 676

03-13-2007 17:03

People have reported much higher framerates with SLI. But only if you create a profile for SL in your Nvidia drivers.

See my post HERE about using SLI graphics with SL.

_____________________

From: Doctor Who

J: You've been to the Factories?
DW: Once
J: Well they're gone now, destroyed. Main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot.
DW: Like I said: Once. There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good.

From: Clutch, 10001110101

Robot Lords of Tokyo, smile, Taste Kittens!

Flash Ferguson

Registered User

Join date: 8 Aug 2006

Posts: 96

03-14-2007 07:51

I tried SLI and was pretty disappointed. Some games use it, some don't (or may even crash). I never saw much of a difference with SL after lots of tweaking. To me it was a complete waste of money. Better in the long run to just purchase the most powerful video card you can afford, and upgrade every 2-3 years.

SLi Video and SL? Any Benefits or OverKill?
Gene Jacobs Who? Me? Join date: 30 Jul 2004 Posts: 127	05-27-2006 06:25 It is that time to build a new computer, and I have been eyeballing the SLi Video PCi Ex Video Cards... dual 512meg video seems like a thrill ride, but I notice in preferences the 512meg "cap" if you will. I figure the 64 Dual Core 4800 AMD chip and about 2 gig Memory would be in play also. Anyone running anything that is similar, and any suggestions for optimum SL play time on the video. I would like to build in the direction of future Linden growth plans.
Doc Nielsen Fallen... Join date: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 1,059	05-27-2006 07:50 Hmmm, a couple of people warned me off AMD dual cores when I was building a new system in April. I'm told the dual cores can have problems in SL - plus SL doesn't support them anyway, so it only makes sense if you want to run SL on one core and one or more other 'hungry' programs on the other... I plumped for a FX57 for one machine and a 64-4000+ in the other, both very nice, though the FX is just that little bit faster but probably not enough to really justify the extra cost. What IS important with these cpus however is getting hold of low latency RAM, it makes a noticable difference to performance. As far as SLi is concerned - who knows? My MB (DFI LanParty nF4 SLi-DR Expert) handles it, but given my results in 1.10 with a single card I'm not wasting money on another for SL! What I do know is that a BFG 7900GTX 512 which worked REALLY well in 1.9 is now suffering all sorts of problems. Moderate to severe fps reduction depending on location (accurately measured and verifiable), texture strobing, slow texture loading and general wierdness. Oh, and a dead stable system now crashes fairly regularly in SL! Obviously on a PC built from scratch last month it has a) the latest offical drivers, b) no 'old' driver leftovers, c) a brand new clean XP SP2... SL has been clean installed a couple of times too. So, a pretty high end syatem that used to work well in SL and doesn't any more. I had these troubles in Preview (though not, strangely, the strobing textures) from when they crippled the vertex shaders, which were bug reported but sadly not fixed prior to release. My feeling is that while some of the lower spec nVidias are OK in 1.10 - 6600s seem particularly trouble free - the higher end cards are having 'issues'. If I were bolting something together right now I think I'd shove a cheap 6600 in to use until (if) LL get their act together with the high end cards - if you want this machine mainly for SL that is. I know it's not hugely encouraging, but those 512 cards are fairly expensive, I'm irritated enough at having bought one that no longer works acceptably, I'd hate you to shell out twice as much and have the same outcome. _____________________ All very well for people to have a sig that exhorts you to 'be the change' - I wonder if it's ever occurred to them that they might be something that needs changing...?
Ron Overdrive Registered User Join date: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 1,002	05-27-2006 09:04 the only benefit of SLi in SL from what I understand is higher AntiAlaising and Ansitropic Filtering wich just makes it look pretty.
SuezanneC Baskerville Forums Rock! Join date: 22 Dec 2003 Posts: 14,229	03-13-2007 14:32 Is it correct that the only significant benefit of SLI for SL is higher anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing? Would Dual SLI's (4 cards) allow one to make SL look better than one SLI (2 cards)? _____________________ - So long to these forums, the vBulletin forums that used to be at forums.secondlife.com. I will miss them. I can be found on the web by searching for "SuezanneC Baskerville", or go to http://www.google.com/profiles/suezanne - http://lindenlab.tribe.net/ created on 11/19/03. Members: Ben, Catherine, Colin, Cory, Dan, Doug, Jim, Philip, Phoenix, Richard, Robin, and Ryan -
Teeny Leviathan Never started World War 3 Join date: 20 May 2003 Posts: 2,716	03-13-2007 16:04 I just upgraded from a GeForce 7800GT (256MB) to a GeForce 8800GTS (320MB). Big jump in performance, and I was able to move draw distance to 224m and run with 8x anti-aliasing. Even better, the 8800 seems to be less a power hog than the 7800. Unfortunately, the FL viewer seems to only address 256MB of the card's 320MB of ram. I'm tempted to add a 2nd 8800 in a few months, but I suspect the viewer will still not address all the video memory.
Ketra Saarinen Whitelock 'Yena-gal Join date: 1 Feb 2006 Posts: 676	03-13-2007 17:03 People have reported much higher framerates with SLI. But only if you create a profile for SL in your Nvidia drivers. See my post HERE about using SLI graphics with SL. _____________________ From: Doctor Who J: You've been to the Factories? DW: Once J: Well they're gone now, destroyed. Main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot. DW: Like I said: Once. There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good. From: Clutch, 10001110101 Robot Lords of Tokyo, smile, Taste Kittens!
Flash Ferguson Registered User Join date: 8 Aug 2006 Posts: 96	03-14-2007 07:51 I tried SLI and was pretty disappointed. Some games use it, some don't (or may even crash). I never saw much of a difference with SL after lots of tweaking. To me it was a complete waste of money. Better in the long run to just purchase the most powerful video card you can afford, and upgrade every 2-3 years.

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SLi Video and SL? Any Benefits or OverKill?