How SLI can be bad

[StarBound]

For those of you who haven't noticed yet my signature has changed. Is it that new socket 2011 i7? Nope sadly I am not that lucky yet. I've dumped my 2 560ti SLI setup for a single 580gtx. Trust me when I say it is a financially stupid idea when you look at the figures. However in the 2-3 hours I've used it so far a few note worthy findings has been made.

The noise level is the first noticeable difference. With 1 card there is enough breathing room in my case (and the HAF is a huge case) for the card to stay cooler than a multi GPU setup.

Speed difference is also noticeable. Even the 580gtx can't push out the numbers that the 560ti SLI could push. For the price they still rock the socks off the high end cards. But I've noticed that even though the average is slower the over all experience is somewhat smoother. The here and there mini stop is oddly enough gone. And this mini stop does have a name. Micro-stutter.

My benchmark for unigine heaven shows the 580gtx only 20% faster than the 560ti which is a possibility. A single 560ti is well capable of hitting 60fps on its own. Going into games I've still got to play Deus Ex with the new card to see its results. But I think I will find the same results as I have with Just Cause 2.
JC2 had a tendancy to be sluggish for the first 3-4 seconds after loading. I've always assumed its some kind of steaming. With a single 580gtx in place that sluggish performance is gone. The game does feel to be running with less frames though. My other test with JC2 was a certain race that brought my system to a horrible 10-15fps experience. It is the most south race on the desert isle with the buggy driving along the beach. This time around the game didn't slow down.

With everything said and done my view on SLI has slightly shifted.
- If it is possible to get the same performance for the same price, ignore sli/xfire.
- Only use sli/xfire on more powerful cards. They need to be able to handle the app on their own.
- Noise and heat goes hand in hand so prepare yourself for it.
- And finally if such slow downs doesn't phase you then your in the clear.

SLI/Xfire is a very viable option for me. But at the end of the day I think I prefer a single gpu to deliver.

[RuadRauFlessa]

Reminds me of those MX440 cards from Matrox. Those things had the issue that you had to take a look around the first time you come into a scene so that it actually loads all the textures properly.

[StarBound]

It could be texture swapping. After all 2 1gb cards does not equal 2gb for textures and such. But I doubt that a 1gb card can be saturated so fast.

[thrillseeker75]

gta4 uses the entire 1gb of video memory, dead space 2 on the other hand hardly uses video memory.

[StarBound]

Play the games you use to play in SLI and you'll be surprised at how bad some microstutter effects were. Despite this though a pair of 560ti vs a 580gtx when it comes down to money the SLI setup will be the better choice if you have the cooling for it else the 580gtx would be the better choice.

Or just settle for 60fps and a single 560ti

[thrillseeker75]

my games all play fine with no stuttering, I have yet to come across a game that can lag my pc.

[StarBound]

Well a 40fps drop is noticeable. Even when its 100 or 120 to 60 or 80fps.

[Slimshaedy]

Metro on full graphics will lag ur gpu, and The Witcher 2.

[THE_STIG]

Well a 40fps drop is noticeable. Even when its 100 or 120 to 60 or 80fps.

40fps is a massive drop....in my case that sort of drop would render the game unplayable or in the negative fps

[rustypup]

fortuitous conjunction of the spheres?