*REVISED* NVIDIA 180.84 SLI Drivers

[blackforce]

Dont install these drivers, they are not compatible with GTAIV as it says. It will cause a severe memory leak resulting in terrible performance. Even my GTX280 began to lag suddenly.

and where did you read this? link please cause i got a 280gtx and it runs better then before, no memory leak here

[Jc84144]

 

It just doesn't make sense that my 1GB GX2 only shows up as 491 ONLY on GTA:IV.

 

Why would you give me a link to an article from 2006 talking about the possibilities of SLI from people that aren't even sure if what they're saying is true, but rather theories?

 

 

I may not know much about SLI, but I would think 2 graphics cards in SLI is better than 1... but that website states otherwise. So, why is SLI so popular if it's worse than just one card?

 

Again, why does my 1GB GX2 card only have 491MB available? Even the Wiki page you made a link to said it had 1GB running in an SLI configuration. WHAT!? Wait... that goes against your "SLI doesn't give you twice the memory" claim because it REALLY looks to me like since the 9800GX2 is 2 8800GTS 512 G92's in an SLI configuration... SLI does in fact combine the power (memory) of both cards.

 

I guess that's just my "randomness" again that I get from websites that talk about this technology, which tell me that SLI combines the power of the 2 cards. If you want to prove me wrong (or you right) then link a CURRENT (meaning not 2 years old) article saying that 2 cards in SLI perform the same as one... because I find it really hard to believe (especially since I have evidence of it working) that two 512MB cards in SLI wouldn't have the power of 1GB (such as, 2 512MB 8800GTS' in SLI making 1GB).

From the official FAQ on the Nvidia website:

"When I configure two GPUs in SLI mode, do the GPUs work together to create double the memory size of a single GPU?

In SLI mode, each graphics card uses its own framebuffer memory to render a 3D application. "

Source: http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c16

 

You have to understand that the amount (MB's) of Vram DOES NOT = performance (unless you don't have enough).

Once you have enough Vram, adding more wont make a blind bit of difference. When you put 2 cards in SLI, it can use the graphics processing power from both. That is the point of SLI. Not to gain more vram.

 

Do you have any sources to back up your false theories?

Edited December 11, 2008 by Jc84144

[blackforce]

These Drivers are the same drivers that are posted on nzone.There is absolutely no difference .I repeat not a re-release same driver .These drivers do support Sli but not on GTA 4 .Rockstar has to implement Sli in game patch before it will work.

and they are not the same as nzone

[Rokz0r]

Very close your getting there eagle016, actually both cards DON'T have 512mb to play with only the primary card and the secondary is an exact mirror, sort of like a clone. The 2 GPU'S are alternating frames and outputting 1 frame after another - this is Nvidia AFR profile which is in the links i sent you earlier.

AFR= alternate frame rendering, one card renders 1 frame the other card renders the next, this process is being done by each GPU separately as the ram on the primary card is the one actually holding the framebuffer and texture data and is outputting to your display while the secondary needs to act the same way and "clone" your primary so SLI can act as one card and render efficiently.. so in theory it's like a multicore cpu.

There is also split frame rendering which renders half the screen with the primary GPU and the other half with the secondary at the same time.

[noid449]

well i just changed to the reccomended new *ahem * drivers 180/84 from nzone and it jerks and jumps and is unplayable back to the 18048`s then and back to the quad sli afr and wait and see :|

lol

 

[eagle016]

Very close your getting there eagle016, actually both cards DON'T have 512mb to play with only the primary card and the secondary is an exact mirror, sort of like a clone. The 2 GPU'S are alternating frames and outputting 1 frame after another - this is Nvidia AFR profile which is in the links i sent you earlier.

AFR= alternate frame rendering, one card renders 1 frame the other card renders the next, this process is being done by each GPU separately as the ram on the primary card is the one actually holding the framebuffer and texture data and is outputting to your display while the secondary needs to act the same way and "clone" your primary so SLI can act as one card and render efficiently.. so in theory it's like a multicore cpu.

There is also split frame rendering which renders half the screen with the primary GPU and the other half with the secondary at the same time.

So... in layman's terms it's essentially Card A creating one frame and outputting while Card B is doing the same thing for the next frame, and just alternating back and forth?

[dkm87]

And im guessing just because its showing indicators doesn't mean the game is taking advantage of it. As R* said THEY need to add that via a patch.

 

With regards to CPU limited I have a decent quad and on benchmarks get about 60% CPU usage 70% memory and 98% GPU which suggests that i AM GPU limited if  anything so SLi should help me when they have it properly implemented.

98% GPU is probably the VRAM, I bet the card is actually barely breaking a sweat.

Not truer word spoken!!!!!

 

 

My 9600, with zalman fan is barely getting over 47 degrees = for f*cks sake my car works harder playing counterstrike!

[Rokz0r]

Yep you hit the nail on the head - card A outputs 1 frame then next frame card B takes over, the texture and framebuffer gets held in both cards exactly the same (same exact data on both at the same time) but only card A can display it -hence why you don't get double the memory.

[MMhardKy]

SLI WITH 180.84 DOES NOT GENERATE DYNAMIC SHADOWS (appart from the global sun shadows) AND YOU MAY THEREFORE SEE A FPS GAIN. IT IS HOWERVER CAUSED BY MISSING SHADOWS!

 

I write it all around this forum and noone seems to give f*ck and is ranting about his supper fps! Ok, I might release a "patch" where all settings will stay at 0 even if you set them to 100 and all of you would then probably be happy that you have great performance, as obviously it doesn't matter to most of you what the engine actually generates...

[Rokz0r]

SLI WITH 180.84 DOES NOT GENERATE DYNAMIC SHADOWS (appart from the global sun shadows) AND YOU MAY THEREFORE SEE A FPS GAIN. IT IS HOWERVER CAUSED BY MISSING SHADOWS!

 

I write it all around this forum and noone seems to give f*ck and is ranting about his supper fps! Ok, I might release a "patch" where all settings will stay at 0 even if you set them to 100 and all of you would then probably be happy that you have great performance, as obviously it doesn't matter to most of you what the engine actually generates...

HEY STOP TALKING IN CAPS IT DOESNT MAKE YOU LOUDER, i left you a nice post here http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=382463, i don't know how to direct link so make the effort and scroll down and stop spreading this sh*t.

[MCZ]

Does the new driver pack have any influence on the performance of the 8500GT series? In other words, will I benefit from installing it on my machine?

[Rokz0r]

don't know you can only try it...

[eagle016]

Yep you hit the nail on the head - card A outputs 1 frame then next frame card B takes over, the texture and framebuffer gets held in both cards exactly the same (same exact data on both at the same time) but only card A can display it -hence why you don't get double the memory.

Alright, glad I finally understand it somewhat. I guess insomnia paid off tonight by learning something about SLI.

[Brawly]

So will this driver improve graphics and fps by much?

[Jodo]

wow what a sad argument , i seen so much incorrect information i couldnt stop luaghing. not at you people. but at your facts.

 

k first of all proper support with Sli will yield more ram , for instance

 

when i benchmark Crysis with sli disabled i get 3 things:

1. 512 v-ram

2. other rendering information dumped of system ram.

3. slower frame rates

 

And when i re-enable it 3 things again:

1. 1024 v-ram

2. more available system ram

3. faster frames

imagine that...

E=mc2=faster rates lol (jk)

so your theroy of ram relativity of just dissproven , sorry.

not trying to be an ass , i was a professional pc preformance analysis for 5 years now.

Its all in your settings and how the app. uses Sli , now whats-his-face isnt entirely wrong some apps will only use 512 but with dual gpu's , Most not tho.

as for that guy post info on a GX2 , hey bud i dont know which GX2 your talking about but the lastes 9800GX2

has a total of:

1 GIGABYTE RAM

1 GIGABIT MEMORY INTERFACE (512 gigbit x 2)

dual 675mhz dual 1687mhz thread's dual 1050mhz shaders

Anymore questions and i can professionaly asnwer them anytime , (quit my job)(new manager didnt like him) just PM me

 

***********Self~Built**************

EVGA NFORCE 780i 1333FSB [email protected]

EVGA 9800GX2 [email protected] 1687MHZ(Streams)x2 1050x2(Memory)

INTEL QX8200 2333MHZ [email protected] 1600MHX FSB

OCZ OC 2x2GB OC^@960MHZ(Beat that ram )

NFORCE MCP 533 [email protected] 600Mhz

X-FI X-TREME GAMER 32MB S-RAM

ANTEC 64A 850W

LCD 24" 1920x1200

Edited December 11, 2008 by Jodo

[Rokz0r]

Wow we have another Einstein...one word, proof?

Edited December 11, 2008 by Rokz0r

[noid449]

just womdering what setting in nvidi acontrol panel ya using for sli i have option for quad if usable .. afr sfr 4 gpu afr 2 ? lol to many options now LOL

9800gx2 x2 currently helpd back by cpu after crimbo will get a new xhip and reinstall 64 so add some more ram just messing with settings is starting to fry my brain ... if i knew the game was running ok then i could have a platform to work on

[Jodo]

Wow we have another Einstein...one word, proof?

ok i see you what a screen shot or somthing , you got it , this is my internet pc not gaming rig , i dont have it connected to inters , lemme just flash over a screen shot , gimme a min

[bekhan]

wtf SLI ?

[Rokz0r]

Wow Jodo, what great talent you have you must be smarter than a supercomputer i mean at 13 years old you started your imaginary career as a "professional pc preformance analysis", damn you must be smartest person i know. here i thought id bake these fresh for you

[PeaceMan99]

Guys when I installed 180.84 drivers I got this:

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 49.04

Duration: 37.48 sec

CPU Usage: 55%

System memory usage: 62%

Video memory usage: 100%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1280 x 1024 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Highest

View Distance: 50

Detail Distance: 100

 

after restarting pc I get this:

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 45.96

Duration: 37.20 sec

CPU Usage: 55%

System memory usage: 68%

Video memory usage: 100%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1280 x 1024 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Highest

View Distance: 50

Detail Distance: 100

 

any ideas why this happens?

if I re-enable SLI fps grow again?

[Jodo]

 

Wow Jodo, what great talent you have you must be smarter than a supercomputer i mean at 13 years old you started your imaginary career as a "professional pc preformance analysis", damn you must be smartest person i know.   here i thought id bake these fresh for you     

sorry it will be five years after new years , and yes at 14 years old i started same paygrade as repair tech, at my fathers shop , family connections , i didnt need to be A+ certified , and at 15 years old got a lead preformance position at a place called Friendly computers , on sunset blvd. in las vegas where i used to live , past 2 years been in ohio , i took leading position when doom3 came out , u might remember it , the big 6800 ultra craze , , i understand u might be a skeptic , but i get it , i had a exceptional experience , but yeah , been looking into Hardware engineering , need a degree for that lol , hop e this helps you , btw just got screen shot for Crysis , lemme go ahead and post it

[Rokz0r]

Sorry peaceman99 id like to help you but i'm not a "professional preformance analysis".

Edited December 11, 2008 by Rokz0r

[Ghostwise]

I'll throw my SLI hat into the ring. Woot! Split-frame rendering in sli essentially gives you twice as much vram because the work load for each card is split in half. You technically only have say 512 if both your cards have 512 ram. With the work load split in half though it is as if you have twice as much. You really don't though.Alternate frame rendering yields better performance though with one card rendering even frames and the other rendering odd frames. Split frame rendering balances the geometry workload between the cards but not nearly as good as Alternate frame rendering does because it scales as the workload is increased. None of this helped anyone I'm sure. Teehee.........c'mon patch!

[Rokz0r]

Wow Jodo, what great talent you have you must be smarter than a supercomputer i mean at 13 years old you started your imaginary career as a "professional pc preformance analysis", damn you must be smartest person i know.   here i thought id bake these fresh for you     

sorry it will be five years after new years , and yes at 14 years old i started same paygrade as repair tech, at my fathers shop , family connections , i didnt need to be A+ certified , and at 15 years old got a lead preformance position at a place called Friendly computers , on sunset blvd. in las vegas where i used to live , past 2 years been in ohio , i took leading position when doom3 came out , u might remember it , the big 6800 ultra craze , , i understand u might be a skeptic , but i get it , i had a exceptional experience , but yeah , been looking into Hardware engineering , need a degree for that lol , hop e this helps you , btw just got screen shot for Crysis , lemme go ahead and post it

Sorry i have only been a computer technician for 7 years and currently studying Games graphics programming, maybe you will teach me? me=noob.

[Jodo]

i am working on the image , but imageshack is a hassle , my security has my putting the the password every time i click and i got to keep resisny the image becuz there lame

[Jodo]

i have the image but i cant upload it at imageshack its pissing me off , dont think i can up load it here ,

you guys know of any other imaging places i can use?

 

[PeaceMan99]

Sorry for newb question but how enable SLI indicator?

 

and jodo try this page: tinypic.com

[Ghostwise]

i have the image but i cant upload it at imageshack its pissing me off , dont think i can up load it here ,

you guys know of any other imaging places i can use?

photobucket always does the trick.

[Jodo]

got it