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970s in SLI - what's your experience?

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With all discussions in various threads lately with very mixed results I would like to dedicate this thread to you guys running an SLI setup with 2 970s and hear what your experience is now with the latest Nvidia driver(s)? I read someone saying there seems to be a problem specifically with 970s in SLI in P3D while others report great results...very confusing!

 

First I was thinking going SLI hoping it would allow me to use 4xSGSS even when entering dense clouds without a serious FPS drop. I like to use SGSS to solve the bad AA seen without using SGSS when running P3D @ 1080.

 

I then learned my motherboard (Asus Maximus Formula VI) doesn't support SLI @ x16 but only x8 which made me consider maybe going for a single 980Ti instead. However today I learned that the difference running SLI @ x16 vs x8 is close to none so now I'm again considering an SLI setup since replacing my current 1st gen Titan card with 2 970s would be cheaper than a single 980Ti and still (I guess?) give me better performance as long as the SLI really works the way it's supposed to.

 

Another option would be to get a 4K screen which would allow me to skip SGSS all together and still have good AA but when I tried that in the past using with my current 1st gen Titan card it struggled quite a bit @ 4K so guess should I decide to get a 4K screen I would still need a new graphics card as well.

 

Speaking about 4K...would 2 970s in an SLI setup be able to run a 4K screen and still with good performance, anyone tried that?


Richard Åsberg

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However today I learned that the difference running SLI @ x16 vs x8 is close to none so now I'm again considering an SLI setup since replacing my current 1st gen Titan card with 2 970s would be cheaper than a single 980Ti

 

I only have a single 970gtx. Running two of these in x8 slots wouldn't just have minimal impact, it would have none at all vs. x16. The 970gtx could never saturate pci3.0 x8 lanes, as its max bandwidth is lower than the x8 total bandwidth capability. I'm sorry I don't have the raw data at hand, but when my maximus vii x16 slot died, I ran in the x8 slot for a week with no degradation. Can anyone here confirm this with hard data? I'll be doing a second Evga 970gtx SSC when my new mobo arrives, as it looks like it will be more promising than a single 980ti. I'll be sure to report what I find out when it gets built.

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Thanks for your feedback and it was great to learn that having a motherboard not capable of running SLI @ x16 isn't a problem really.

 

Found this article which I also shared in another thread. It's a bit dated but since it hasn't happened that much since it was written I'm sure it's still perfectly valid and it clearly shows there's pretty much no difference at all with today's gfx cards whether the bus is running at x16 vs x8.

 

Are you able to use 4xSGSS with your single 970 when flying an advanced a/c such as the PMDG NGX or triple 7 and with ASN running in dense clouds?

 

Will be very interesting to hear about your result when you get another 970, looking forward to that and in the meantime I hope more people will report here about their experience and hopefully someone that is already running 2 970s in SLI.


Richard Åsberg

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My experiences with SLi and the new driver are well documented - great results. I've been running my own profile with good results but the new driver (352) made it smoother and less FPS drop in heavy clouds and rain.

 

I tried a 4K monitor using my SLI and the 347 drivers - wound up sending monitor back - stuttered badly - really unflyable.

 

I usually run locked at 20fps with smooth results. Just for kicks I'm running unlimited - still smooth, visuals excellent. So far I can see no difference between 20 and unlimited except more FPS - which to me means nothing as it's not any smoother than running at 20. However, I don't see any downside to unlimited yet, like slower loading graphics etc.

 

IAC, for me - twin 970's have worked like a charm and continue to do so with the newer drivers.

 

Vic


 

RIG#1 - 7700K 5.0g ROG X270F 3600 15-15-15 - EVGA RTX 3090 1000W PSU 1- 850G EVO SSD, 2-256G OCZ SSD, 1TB,HAF942-H100 Water W1064Pro
40" 4K Monitor 3840x2160 - AS16, ASCA, GEP3D, UTX, Toposim, ORBX Regions, TrackIR
RIG#2 - 3770K 4.7g Asus Z77 1600 7-8-7 GTX1080ti DH14 850W 2-1TB WD HDD,1tb VRap, Armor+ W10 Pro 2 - HannsG 28" Monitors
 

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Thanks Vic, sounds great! And is this with SGSS?

 

I'm a little bit surprised you got so bad performance running at 4K though even in SLI.


Richard Åsberg

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RIG#1 - 7700K 5.0g ROG X270F 3600 15-15-15 - EVGA RTX 3090 1000W PSU 1- 850G EVO SSD, 2-256G OCZ SSD, 1TB,HAF942-H100 Water W1064Pro
40" 4K Monitor 3840x2160 - AS16, ASCA, GEP3D, UTX, Toposim, ORBX Regions, TrackIR
RIG#2 - 3770K 4.7g Asus Z77 1600 7-8-7 GTX1080ti DH14 850W 2-1TB WD HDD,1tb VRap, Armor+ W10 Pro 2 - HannsG 28" Monitors
 

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OK, that is really good to hear you're able to run 4xSGSS with your setup!

 

And this is with ASN running and flying through dense clouds in an advanced a/c such as the PMDG NGX?


Richard Åsberg

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Hi, I am running windows 10 with a 5820 and 2 970 in sli. P3d runs very well, I don't need much AA with the 4K monitor, my game settings are:

 

MSAA   4     SSAA   0     FXAA   1         TBM=30  FPS=0    TexMaxLoad=30       I usually fly the superbug or A2A GA planes and use photoscenery with fullautogen trees ( from Nuvecta)    I have textures max 4096

 

The sim runs butter smooth between 35 -45 in heavy clouds and 40 - 60 anywhere else, with ASN.

 

I would say great bang for the buck using 970's and a 4K monitor. My monitor is a 40 inch 4K as well, so looks awesome.

 

Using 352.63 drivers

 

Hope that helps

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i am sure glad to hear that mark,i am running a 5820k at 4.5ghz, i have a single gtx 970 asus strix and just ordered a second one,my monitor resolution is 2560x1080,i had bought a 4k tv but because it was so big, its on the wall now lol,you may have confirmed i didn't waste my money on a second card. the m.2 ssd's are rolling out with read and write speeds of 1400+, i will be glad when those drop.

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OK, that is really good to hear you're able to run 4xSGSS with your setup!

 

And this is with ASN running and flying through dense clouds in an advanced a/c such as the PMDG NGX?

The most complicated I use is the Majestic Q400 - while not as heavy on the system as the PMDG, it still provides a load.

 

 

Vic


 

RIG#1 - 7700K 5.0g ROG X270F 3600 15-15-15 - EVGA RTX 3090 1000W PSU 1- 850G EVO SSD, 2-256G OCZ SSD, 1TB,HAF942-H100 Water W1064Pro
40" 4K Monitor 3840x2160 - AS16, ASCA, GEP3D, UTX, Toposim, ORBX Regions, TrackIR
RIG#2 - 3770K 4.7g Asus Z77 1600 7-8-7 GTX1080ti DH14 850W 2-1TB WD HDD,1tb VRap, Armor+ W10 Pro 2 - HannsG 28" Monitors
 

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Hi, I am running windows 10 with a 5820 and 2 970 in sli. P3d runs very well, I don't need much AA with the 4K monitor, my game settings are:

 

MSAA   4     SSAA   0     FXAA   1         TBM=30  FPS=0    TexMaxLoad=30       I usually fly the superbug or A2A GA planes and use photoscenery with fullautogen trees ( from Nuvecta)    I have textures max 4096

 

The sim runs butter smooth between 35 -45 in heavy clouds and 40 - 60 anywhere else, with ASN.

 

I would say great bang for the buck using 970's and a 4K monitor. My monitor is a 40 inch 4K as well, so looks awesome.

 

Using 352.63 drivers

 

Hope that helps

 

Thanks for your feedback. A little bit hard to know though how the a/c you're flying compare to the NGX which is known to be very hungry on resources.

 

Very interesting to hear how you have a butter smooth experience running your SLIed 970s @ 4K considering Vic posted above (in post #4) how he had to return his 4K screen due to severe stuttering but I guess as always YMMV depending on the combination of add-ons used, the combination of all your settings etc etc...

The most complicated I use is the Majestic Q400 - while not as heavy on the system as the PMDG, it still provides a load.

 

 

Vic

 

OK, I haven't any experience with the Q400 myself so can't compare it to the NGX but thanks for the info.


Richard Åsberg

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I run 970's in SLI, in 4K. Mostly ORBX regions, and always with ASN. With PMDG in a FSX I can easily run at 20fps. Have not been able to test them in p3D due to a lack of extra cash lately.

 

The other night flying the Flysimware MU-2 in P3D, PAJN to A69, with real weather, lots of individual cloud layers, I occasionally dropped under 20fps. I keep it locked at 30. However I had MSI afterburner open on my other monitor and noticed that GPU 2 never went above 10% usage. Will have to fiddle around with my settings and post exactly what I'm using as I'm at work right now and can't remember them.

 

Oh yeah, i7-4790k, and 2 MSI GTX970 Twin Frozr cards, all at stock speeds. Haven't ventured into overclocking yet.


Matt Bernard
20+ Years Commercial/GA A&P/PLST

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I run 970's in SLI, in 4K. Mostly ORBX regions, and always with ASN. With PMDG in a FSX I can easily run at 20fps. Have not been able to test them in p3D due to a lack of extra cash lately.

 

The other night flying the Flysimware MU-2 in P3D, PAJN to A69, with real weather, lots of individual cloud layers, I occasionally dropped under 20fps. I keep it locked at 30. However I had MSI afterburner open on my other monitor and noticed that GPU 2 never went above 10% usage. Will have to fiddle around with my settings and post exactly what I'm using as I'm at work right now and can't remember them.

 

Oh yeah, i7-4790k, and 2 MSI GTX970 Twin Frozr cards, all at stock speeds. Haven't ventured into overclocking yet.

 

Probably your SLI is out of sync. Try to hit Alt+Enter key that should resolve it. Reason why this happens is if you go into the menu bar to change settings then one of the GPU´s will drop out. This is a known bug.


Greetz


MJ


 


My youtube blog________________________Prepar3D v2.5/v3


youtubefooter.jpg

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Probably your SLI is out of sync. Try to hit Alt+Enter key that should resolve it. Reason why this happens is if you go into the menu bar to change settings then one of the GPU´s will drop out. This is a known bug.

 

I agree although it doesn't happen on all systems. I have never had SLI drop out for any reason but it has happened to some.

 

Vic


 

RIG#1 - 7700K 5.0g ROG X270F 3600 15-15-15 - EVGA RTX 3090 1000W PSU 1- 850G EVO SSD, 2-256G OCZ SSD, 1TB,HAF942-H100 Water W1064Pro
40" 4K Monitor 3840x2160 - AS16, ASCA, GEP3D, UTX, Toposim, ORBX Regions, TrackIR
RIG#2 - 3770K 4.7g Asus Z77 1600 7-8-7 GTX1080ti DH14 850W 2-1TB WD HDD,1tb VRap, Armor+ W10 Pro 2 - HannsG 28" Monitors
 

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I agree although it doesn't happen on all systems. I have never had SLI drop out for any reason but it has happened to some.

 

Vic

 

...and not every time. I noticed that changing some graphical settings it stays in sync whereas changing aircraft or airport it drops out. Anyway the workaround is to hit ALT+Enter key till one gets back into fullscreen mode.


Greetz


MJ


 


My youtube blog________________________Prepar3D v2.5/v3


youtubefooter.jpg

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