28 replies to this topic

[Liquidx]

So, prior to the 3.4 engine update, I had hacked a nvidia profile together to get my SLI configuration working. Life was great. Despite having a pair of 6 year old video cards (8800gt), MWO was running as high as 80 fps, never dropping below 40 in full tilt combat. My GPU monitoring software (MSI Afterburner) showed both GPU's in use and the load being balanced between them.

Since the 3.4 update, my SLI configuration has been broken. The previously mentioned profile resulted in all kinds of horrid black screens on match launch, and while MSI Afterburner showed that both GPU were in use and the load was being balanced, Pretty much the only thing being rendered was the hud on a black background.

Deleting the Nvidia gaming profile for MWO, resulted in one card getting used to 100% capacity, and the other bumping along between 3-12%. This results in a framerate high of 40, and lows in the single digits. Essentially SLI was being used to render SFA.

I have since performed clean installs of MWO and the Nvidia Drivers, which means the default profile that exists for MWO is in use now when I load the game. The results? Exactly the same as if I were running with no gaming profile at all. Meaning SLI is not in use, and I get awful frame rates because the game is not informing the drivers to use SLI. Now, I am not one to suggest that the game should run awesome on 6 year old hardware - It really shouldn't - but the game DOES (or used to) run excellent on this hardware.

So... can anyone confirm that SLI works in the current MWO build? And if so, how did you make it work? I have been playing on essentially a single card ever since that 3.4 engine upgrade patch and I'm done - it is not worth the eye strain and frustration. I really enjoy the game when frame rates are smooth, but when they're bouncing all over the place from 42 down to 5, and hovering around 8 in heavy combat... well I'd rather just walk away.

halp!

[Egomane]

SLI and Crossfire is not supported right now.

Any workaround you did prior to the engine update, you did at your own risk. Without any guarantee that it would work. In fact, it didn't work for a lot of people who tried. You were a lucky exception.

Right now, there is no solution to make it work. If there was, you could bet, it would be a sticky somewhere.

You might want to turn of your SLI completly. It could actually result in better performance. At least until SLI and Crossfire is properly implemented.

[Liquidx]

I have disabled SLI completely, and it results in similar, but worse (more fluctuation, lower highs, etc).

I realize it is not supported - but it should work. I'm asking if anyone managed to get it working in any way shape or form (as I had previously). Nvidia gaming profiles are full of compatibility flags, but there is very little documentation on them - and simply copying these settings from crysis 2 or 3 (in the nvidia drivers) turns on load balancing, but mwo ***** the bed when it comes to rendering assets in match.

[Egomane]

Liquidx, on 06 November 2012 - 02:25 AM, said:

I realize it is not supported - but it should work.

That one nearly made me laugh. "If it is not supported - it might work", would be more correct. If it is not supported it is always a luck game to make it work. Right now there is no solution to make it work. I have not seen a single post that reported a successfull implementation, since the 3.4 CryEngine update to MWO.

[Liquidx]

Egomane, on 06 November 2012 - 02:32 AM, said:

That one nearly made me laugh. "If it is not supported - it might work", would be more correct. If it is not supported it is always a luck game to make it work. Right now there is no solution to make it work. I have not seen a single post that reported a successfull implementation, since the 3.4 CryEngine update to MWO.

no. The engine supports it. thus, it is supported at the base level. MWO may not "support" it, but unless they have explicitly disabled SLI for some reason, it should work. Just as it was not "supported" by MWO in previous patches, yet it did work because the engine supports it.

I'm simply hoping that someone out there has experimented with the settings and flags in this patch.
I'm not asking MWO for support (though it would be nice) - I'm asking the community.

I have also not seen a post suggesting that anyone has made it work - but that doesn't mean someone hasn't tinkered a working solution.

[Egomane]

Liquidx, on 06 November 2012 - 02:56 AM, said:

no. The engine supports it. thus, it is supported at the base level. MWO may not "support" it, but unless they have explicitly disabled SLI for some reason, it should work. Just as it was not "supported" by MWO in previous patches, yet it did work because the engine supports it.

I wish it were that easy! Sadly, it is not! There are more variables at work then simple "support by the engine" and "disabled support by the programmers".

I can only tell you again and again: Before the engine update you were lucky! Hundreds did not manage to make it work. Not to lack of knowledge, but because of variables not known to us. After the engine update no one has that luck anymore.

You will have to wait, for the official implementation for SLI that is announced for the end of the month (if I remember the dev-post in the old forum correctly).

[Inappropriate318]

I haven't found a way to get it to work, therefore I stopped playing the game.

If aging gamer rigs of 2-3 years ago can't support my system then I'm not interesting in wasting my time and money on it.

Let me know if you figure out a solution.

Glad to see there's still interest in this Liquidx, keep trying dude.

[Flapdrol]

Nvidia doesnt want to make a sli driver profile for every patch, once this gets close to launch you'll see sli support.

[Liquidx]

Flapdrol, on 06 November 2012 - 04:14 AM, said:

Nvidia doesnt want to make a sli driver profile for every patch, once this gets close to launch you'll see sli support.

"closer to launch"
I see you've been drinking the koolaid.

There are no more account wipes or database resets planned. Open beta is launch for any other title.

But again, my point was not that pgi needs to support sli right now, or that nvidia has to make it work. It was asking if anyone has been able to cludge something together. I figured stating that multiple times already might have gotten the point across. But just in case it hasn't:

HAS ANY MEMBER OF THE PLAYER BASE BEEN ABLE TO CONCOCT A WORK AROUND TO GET NVIDIA SLI TO WORK IN THE CURRENT BUILD?

Hope that's clear enough.

[Hakkukakt]

that's clear .... and the answer is no ... IS THAT CLEAR FOR YOU ?

no need to cry, the people dont will answer to someone that go on crazy rage cry ... we are all in the same boat ... i have too a SLI and for this moment ... that's not working ... that's all

so wait .... do a little zen ... be patient ...

[TunaR]

No SLI for me, but I have the same problems with my Nvidia card in my laptop. The game used to run well- great even- and since that damned patch I've been trying every possible configuration and optimization to no avail. Occasionally I can manage to squeeze 30 FPS out at the beginning of a match, but it declines linearly over the next minute to a slideshow of 4.5 FPS.

My theory is that it's not SLI specifically that's ******* your system, but some memory leak in general. Here's hoping a few of us at least get the issue fixed with today's patch.

See you on the PowerPoint battlefield.

[Liquidx]

FPS has greatly improved on a single card with the most recent patch, and no longer dips into single digits which is great.

Still looking for an SLI solution though.

Hakkukakt, on 06 November 2012 - 06:09 PM, said:

that's clear .... and the answer is no ... IS THAT CLEAR FOR YOU ?

no need to cry, the people dont will answer to someone that go on crazy rage cry ... we are all in the same boat ... i have too a SLI and for this moment ... that's not working ... that's all

so wait .... do a little zen ... be patient ...

another who contributes nothing to the thread.
If all you have to say is "it's not supported" or whatever it is that you just said, please, keep it to yourself and move on to the next thread.

[Egomane]

You don't want to get it, do you Liquidx?

We do not only say, that it is not supported right now. We say, that it is not working at all! No matter how many times you tell us, that we do not contribute to this thread, it still remains the truth that currently can not be changed.

You will find no one, who made it work, because there is no one!

[Straker]

My SLI "may" be working. I have 2 x gtx 680 cards running in SLI. I am using 3 monitors in a surround pattern, which should be easy with two cards. My fps sits at 40-50 on high settings. With my rig, I should be able to run max.

The odd thing is that using prec x or afterburner, I can see that both video cards are being fully utized. So SLI seems to sort of work. However, I certainly don't think things are running as smooth as they could be.

[Egomane]

Straker, turn of your SLI and look at the results you get then an report it here please. If I turn on my CrossfireX, I'll get the same high load on both cards, but no improvement in FPS.

It has been noted, that CrossfireX/SLI will look like it is working with MWO, when in fact it is not.

If you did manage, to make it work, you are the first. Please let us know what you did to achieve it.

[AtomicFrawg]

My Twin 660 gtx's are working in SLI. Have you tried the Beta drivers?

[RSharpe]

Straker, on 07 November 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

My SLI "may" be working. I have 2 x gtx 680 cards running in SLI. I am using 3 monitors in a surround pattern, which should be easy with two cards. My fps sits at 40-50 on high settings. With my rig, I should be able to run max.

The odd thing is that using prec x or afterburner, I can see that both video cards are being fully utized. So SLI seems to sort of work. However, I certainly don't think things are running as smooth as they could be.

I had similar results with my 2 x GTX 580s running SLI and surround and a 6000x1200. My FPS was pretty much around 30fps though, Both cards read 99% utilization, but I don't think they were working correctly. I'm able to run BF3 at 60fps, and I think I shoudl at least be in the 40s or 50s with MWO. Single screen SLI is absolutely broken.

[Straker]

The problem is I can't just check disable SLI. Like I said, I am running in surround mode. If you disable SLI, then I disable my 3 monitor surround as well. Obviously 1 monitor will run better then 3.

My only real way to test it would be turn off SLI, disconnect my SLI bridge and then run surround off one card. Then we could compare values. However, I'm not going to do that. Gtx 680 SLI bridges can be a bit touchy to get working and I'm not mucking with it. My setup works great on other games and benchmarks. Just Mwo gives it problems

I can't say for sure if my SLI is working right in Mwo. But I do know both video cards are running at Max when I play.

[Liquidx]

Straker, on 07 November 2012 - 09:24 AM, said:

I can't say for sure if my SLI is working right in Mwo. But I do know both video cards are running at Max when I play.

This sounds like it is working to me - I mean I'm not sure what kind of results you get in other games, but 3 monitors worth of pixels is a lot to refresh 60x per second.

I'll give the beta drivers a try. Running this game on a single 8800gt from six years ago is not a pretty thing, nor a fast thing. Maybe with 2 working it could at least be one or the other.

and whether SLI is optimized or not, thanks for reporting that your cards are at least load balancing MWO.

[Hakkukakt]

the why you think your SLI is activated on surround view that's just because your second card work in // for running your 3rd monitor, but it's not a right SLI => no best performance on fps

i'have before a SLI GTX560 and when i receive my 3 screen, i have the same result .... before with 1 screen, only 1 card run ... after with 3 screen, the 2 card run .... but with the same fps when the only 1 card run ...

that's just that for surround the GTX under 6xx need to have 2 card to working...that's all ... but still no improvment on fps ...

so the result is the same, wait and be patient