Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: BaldEagl on February 01, 2009, 03:45:33 PM
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As most of you know I bought a second 8800 GTS 512 to put into my system in an SLI configuration. My system configuration:
Coolermaster Cavalier (Mid-Tower ATX)
EVGA NVidia NForce 780i (BIOS P08/NForce Driver 15.23)
Intel E6750 Conroe 2.66Ghz (1333 FSB/4 Mb L2 cache)
Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 4x1Gb (4-4-4-12 @ 2.0V)
EVGA 8800 GTS G92 512 (Driver 178.13)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro (Driver 5.12.6.1186)
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W PSU (+12V @ 60A Single Rail)
Seagate Barracuda 250 Gb SATA HD (Boot Drive)
Seagate 200 Gb ATA HD (Storage Drive)
Seagate 160 Gb ATA HD (Back-up Drive)
Asus SATA 20x DVD+R DVD Burner
Asus SATA DVD-ROM
Microsoft Windows XP Pro With SP3
LG 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD
Klipsch Promedia 78 watts 2.1 Speaker
I got the second card added and configured for SLI. I entered Aces High II with vsync and triple buffering enabled and was running at almost 285 FPS. This was well above the 60 Hz refresh rate of my monitor and, as I jumped into a plane I was experiencing graphic tearing as well as game stuttering so I exited the game and went to the Aces High video settings where I turned off unlimited frame rate and locked it at 60. I re-entered the game with my frame rates running between 63-65 and was still experiencing tearing and stuttering. No combination of control panal settings would eliminate the problem.
After much research and reading I uninstalled then re-installd my video drivers, turned off triple buffering and vsync and re-set the game video settings to allow unlimited frame rates. I entered the game running 16x anistropic filtering and 16x antiaiasing. This smoothed the stuttering considerably but I was still experiencing some tearing. Frame rates were between 220 and 285 in the air and between 65 and 105 on the ground, likely CPU limited.
I then tried to induce vsync using RivaTuner's D3DOverider utility. It made no difference as my frame rates were still running over 200.
Next I tested each video card independently with vsync and triple buffering on at AFx16 and AAx16. Each card played the game smoothly with no tearing and no stuttering at 59-60 FPS regardless of what type of situation I was in. The only noticable drawback was that response time to snap view changes were slowed slightly.
Since I had first tested the top card alone, then removed it to test the bottom card in the top slot I tried to SLI again with the cards reversed from their previous positions. The results were the same as before.
While the tearing and stuttering produced in-game by the SLI configurations was minimal, it was still annoying. Massive frame rates sound good on the surface but I found that a smooth gaming experience is far more preferable and since I've discovered that my single card can provide that at 16x AF and 16x AA at my monitor's refresh rate I have removed the second card and will RMA it Monday (unless someone wants a perfectly good 8800 GTS 512 for what I paid for it).
I still like the concept of SLI but with todays LCD displays until Nvidia (or someone else) can find a way to force vsync in SLI mode I think it's best left alone.
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Pretty sure you can force V-Sync in Nvidia's Control Panel, not sure if this works or not for SLI but it does for me with my single card.
(http://f.imagehost.org/0725/V-Sync_Force.jpg)
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Pretty sure you can force V-Sync in Nvidia's Control Panel, not sure if this works or not for SLI but it does for me with my single card.
(http://f.imagehost.org/0725/V-Sync_Force.jpg)
It does not work with SLI.
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Somewhere I think you have vsync wrong. With Vsync on you should be running the same as your refresh rate. Take screen shots and post them. In Nvidea control panel there has to be a vsync adjustment(On/Off/Appl.Controlled). Maybe its your registry??? Try uninstalling all Nividea drivers and software. Uninstall control panel and reinstall. Disable riva till you figure this out and then run rivatuner. Also maybe you have the bridge on wrong slots, try reversing them. All I can suggest. Vsync has to work with SLI. If all does not work call your tech support thats what they get paid for.
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Pretty sure you can force V-Sync in Nvidia's Control Panel, not sure if this works or not for SLI but it does for me with my single card.
(http://f.imagehost.org/0725/V-Sync_Force.jpg)
Is it just me??? The printing on that picture above is all broken up/..cant really read it..
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The picture has been down-scaled, that is why.
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It does not work with SLI.
It did for me BaldEagle! I used to run a pair of BFG 7800GT OC in SLI mode and then ran perfectly. However, if I tried some of the newer stock Nvidia drivers I would experience the tearing that you have had. The best drivers that I used with my nvidia cards were Omegadrivers. You can grab them at www.omegadrivers.net . You might wanna try them and see what happens.
All the Best...
Jay
awDoc1
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It must be turned on with the Nvidia Control Panel applet. You may discover that you have to delete the Nvidia Control Panel AHII profile in order to change it. You do NOT need nHancer.
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(unless someone wants a perfectly good 8800 GTS 512 for what I paid for it)
What did you pay for it?
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What did you pay for it?
$114. It's recertified but I tested it alone and it worked perfectly.
DrDeath, I did force vsync through the Nvidia control panal but still ran 220-285 fps in AHII. I did uninstall and re-install the drivers. The SLI bridge only fits one way.
Chalenge... what AHII profile? I haven't set up any profiles.
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I posted in the other thread with a screenshot of my AHII profile in Nvidia Control Panel. Remove that profile and recreate one from scratch. Sometimes they get corrupted during updates and further changes will not take effect.
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$114. It's recertified but I tested it alone and it worked perfectly.
DrDeath, I did force vsync through the Nvidia control panal but still ran 220-285 fps in AHII. I did uninstall and re-install the drivers. The SLI bridge only fits one way.
Chalenge... what AHII profile? I haven't set up any profiles.
If, after all this is done you decide to be rid of it, PM me. I might be able to scrape together the cash to take it off your hands.
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NOTE: Making the change to Global settings in Nvidia Control Panel is not the same thing as making changes under the 'Program Settings' tab.
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NOTE: Making the change to Global settings in Nvidia Control Panel is not the same thing as making changes under the 'Program Settings' tab.
No joy. They are all set to "use global settings" and then reiterate my global settings.
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Did you select the AH program and then change the settings to vsync on? (http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq197/Chalenge08/costumed-smiley-011.gif)
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Did you select the AH program and then change the settings to vsync on? (http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq197/Chalenge08/costumed-smiley-011.gif)
I think Challenge may be correct. Make an Aces High profile and u should be able to enable Vsync. Looks like global setting may not allow you to do this. If not call Tech support. Its like a guys doesn't ask for directions when they get lost.
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Is it just me??? The printing on that picture above is all broken up/..cant really read it..
LOL @Falcon get a magnifying glass!
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Don't think I will be going SLI or in my case Crossfire.
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Read SLI specifications it states vsync can't be enabled while in SLI mode. Has something to do with the need to split the video image across two cards.
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Read SLI specifications it states vsync can't be enabled while in SLI mode. Has something to do with the need to split the video image across two cards.
I've been researching this for almost a week now. It seems that there are some with issues like the ones I'm experiencing but that vsync works in SLI with alternate frame rendering for the vast majority of users (but to enable vsync in SLI you have to turn off triple buffering).
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Who told you that? I have triple buffering and vsync both on and SLI works fine.
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Who told you that? I have triple buffering and vsync both on and SLI works fine.
There are multiple references across the Internet to this.
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Okay...
(http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq197/Chalenge08/Manage3DSettings.jpg)
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Okay...
(http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq197/Chalenge08/Manage3DSettings.jpg)
Show us your ingame fps with SLI on .. :)
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I have frames set to unlimited under options. It sometimes dips to 59 in the tower or 58 near heavy smoke and flames. (http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq197/Chalenge08/costumed-smiley-011.gif)
EDIT: I forgot photobucket loves to rescale my screenshots.
(http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq197/Chalenge08/ahss36.jpg)
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Don't think I will be going SLI or in my case Crossfire.
Getack,
I benchmarked 12,500 with 1 ATI 3870(512) video card. With 2 3870's(Crossfired) I went to 15,500 in 3DMARK06. That's a nice improvement in performance. 20%
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Getack,
I benchmarked 12,500 with 1 ATI 3870(512) video card. With 2 3870's(Crossfired) I went to 15,500 in 3DMARK06. That's a nice improvement in performance. 20%
Wow, I may do it as soon as I get another J.O.B.. I've sent out some resumes to jobs where I fit it like a glove. No replies though. uhg.
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The last headhunter to call me reported 16000 applications for the same position.
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Getack,
I benchmarked 12,500 with 1 ATI 3870(512) video card. With 2 3870's(Crossfired) I went to 15,500 in 3DMARK06. That's a nice improvement in performance. 20%
Pay double for 20% improvement doesn't appeal me much..
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The last headhunter to call me reported 16000 applications for the same position.
You are depressing me. What field was that btw?
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Running a GTX280i SLI configuration here, there is no problem managing all GFX settings in the nVidia control panel. To force Vsync is a must to get smooth and good image quality imo. Running at a monstrous resolution of 2560x1600 with 16x aa it still max out at 60 fps. It will never, under any circumstance, go below 30 fps unless I'm recording FRAPS while running the game.
Built this system for max performance in AH and I have no complaints so far. :)
Corsair PowerSupply (PSU) 1000W HX ATX 2.2 - The most important component imo. System reliability is directly connected to the PSU.
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz 1066 FSB - Next component to be upgraded.
XFX ATX nForce 780i
XFX GTX280i 1 GB RAM - dual-SLI setup giving a total of 2 GB GFX RAM
4 GB Corsair XMS2 Xtreme DDR2 XMS2-6400 800MHz
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music
Samsung SATAII 1TB
Seagate SATAII 1.5TB
Pioneer Blu-Ray / DVD BDC-S02BK
Lian Li PC-P80 ArmorSuit
Creative Gigaworks S750 - 7.1 surround system THX certified
Sennheiser Headset PC-160 SK-Gaming limited edition
Samsung SyncMaster 305T Plus 30" LCD 2560x1600 native resolution
Saitex X52 Pro
TrackIR 4 Pro + TrackClip
Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Vista Home Premium 32-bit
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Should go with a 64-bit OS. All that RAM is wasted if the OS can't utilize it.
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Too many issues with 64-bit. Was running 64-bit a year ago on AMD Phenom and had a lot of system reliability issues but yeah, the RAM was extremely fast.
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Really? I run Win. XP Pro 64-bit and it's just as stable as any 32-bit OS I've used. I can't comment with Vista 64-bit as I don't have a whole lot of exp. with it.
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You are depressing me. What field was that btw?
Unfortunately for me my resume is most recently populated with nothing more than CAD but the field would be Construction or Civil Engineering or Survey. All of them apply to the construction woes in Florida but the job I applied for was Pipe Layout Drafting for the oil company. Of course the job in CAD I prefer is interior layout for executive jets which is limited in the number of companies doing that sort of thing.
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Unfortunately for me my resume is most recently populated with nothing more than CAD but the field would be Construction or Civil Engineering or Survey. All of them apply to the construction woes in Florida but the job I applied for was Pipe Layout Drafting for the oil company. Of course the job in CAD I prefer is interior layout for executive jets which is limited in the number of companies doing that sort of thing.
Now that sounds awesome. Just an over educated accountant here. I keep trying.
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I was reading MaximumPC magazine. and I'm going to quote a few things. Just so you all have the info. If your currant CPU is slower than 2.93 duel-core Conroe you probably wont see much benefit in games other that Crysis if you upgrade to more than one graphics card" "the CPU cant handle its tasks fast enough."
Also "in many situations. a custom profile must be added to the videocard's driver before the game will recognize and assign part of the rendering workload to the second GPU"
Just thought you might want the info if you are considering two cards...
You will have to do a search to find the relevant link but I'm remember reading that AH works better with Nivida cards than ATi...
I suppose I would ask "Skuzzy" for sure he many have very differant info.
<S>
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I think thats in agreement with everything I have run into.