What are the advantages of a single gpu over multi?

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mutantmagnet

Limp Gawd
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Initially I thought sli and crossfire would be a no brainer decision but recently I became more aware of the inherent flaws they haven't overcome.

1) No triple buffer support
2) Decreasing visual quality as framerates go up, microstutter.

Are there any other bonuses to using a single card over multiple gpus?
 
I've had two SLI setups thus far (8800 GTS in SLI & 260 GTX in SLI) and I have yet to come across the micro stuttering issue in any of my game. The performance differences are huge b/w single card and multi-card at resolutions equal to or higher than 1920x1200. This is specially true of SLI as opposed to Crossfire since SLI scales far better than ATI's implementation.

The main downside that I've found comes from games that just plain do NOT like multi-card solutions and will not really benefit from having SLI/Crossfire, such as GTA IV and so on. There is also the memory limitations since total memory is not shared so the RAM on one card is basically just wasted. The last negative is the higher power consumption and heat generated inside the case that has to be accounted for and taken care of.

Having said all of that, I'm planning on upgrading my current 260 GTX SLI setup to a single 580 GTX + 8800 GTS as a PPU and sell off my 260s. The main reason is really the compatibility issue. Some games that are released just don't have multi-card support out of the gate and that bugs me. I'll probably replace the 8800 GTS with another 580 GTX and go SLI again down the road though if the next generation of cards aren't substantially faster than the current ones.

Hope that helps.
 
You avoid: microstutter, higher power consumption, higher initial cost, higher electricity bills, driver problems inherent to multiple-card configurations, and I'm sure many other people will chip in here with more.

If you use a single monitor to game with, and often even if you don't, single card is still a no-brainer in 2010.
 
so to really take advantage of SLI etc you need a 26"+ monitor (or any monitor whose native res is higher then 1920 x 1200)?
 
polonyc2 said:
so to really take advantage of SLI etc you need a 26"+ monitor (or any monitor whose native res is higher then 1920 x 1200)?
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Yes, pretty much, although I would replace the 26" with 23" and above. You also need a fast CPU to keep up with the GPUs. My last upgrade from an OCed E8400 @ 3.8 GHz to my current i7 940 @ 3.7 GHz for example helped a fair bit in that department while using the 260s in SLI.
 
MajGHOB said:
There is also the memory limitations since total memory is not shared so the RAM on one card is basically just wasted.
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I had a feeling there would be video ram issues but I didn't think it would be that severe.

I'm appreciating the insight everyone is providing so far :)
 
There are no downfalls with my current SLI setup. No micro-stutter and you can force triple buffering on. You just set your games to render SFR versus AFR via nVIdia Informer and D3DOverider work's great. I've had a lot more issues with crossfire versus SLI.
 
In addition the issues above, in my view the single largest drawback of multi GPUs is that drivers become a much, much larger component of your performance than with a single GPU. And the drivers are so, so awful and typically break more than they "fix."
 
verylostindeed said:
In addition the issues above, in my view the single largest drawback of multi GPUs is that drivers become a much, much larger component of your performance than with a single GPU. And the drivers are so, so awful and typically break more than they "fix."
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This. Also, watching your electricity bill grow before your eyes while playing a video game marathon can't be the most pleasant experience.
 
This is what can happen when you have Crossfire enabled without a proper driver profile present. It could be missing or broken.



Source:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd6870-hd6850-crossfirex_10.html#sect3

Yes, you can turn off Crossfire and get single GPU performance. Also in that title Crossfire is not needed for decent performance. However if that was a title where you needed two GPUs for decent FPS with maxed settings you'd be out of luck, or have to turn settings down.

I wouldn't say don't try SLi or Crossfire. I would say, if you do, buy cards from a place that allows you to return them for a full refund if you aren't satisfied.
 
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A general rule is, if you are unsure, always buy the fastest single card you can afford. You can't go wrong.
 
Ive only experimented once with SLI, with a 7950gx2...and it was a bad experience. Half the games didn't support it, and I spent more time dicking around with SLI profiles than playing.
 
requiem99 said:
A general rule is, if you are unsure, always buy the fastest single card you can afford. You can't go wrong.
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That's always been my rule. Look no further than the discussions on both the ATI and Nvidia subforums.
With every new driver release 90% of issues relate to "this breaks multi-gpu support for XXX"
That's one less thing I have to be concerned with each time.
 
Domingo said:
That's always been my rule. Look no further than the discussions on both the ATI and Nvidia subforums.
With every new driver release 90% of issues relate to "this breaks multi-gpu support for XXX"
That's one less thing I have to be concerned with each time.
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QFT.
 
Personally I was scared as shit of running crossfire...now that i've got it setup I couldn't be happier...so far.
 
Carmack was basically talking about this back in 2008.

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=532&type=expert&pid=3

Most games are developed for the console and ported to the PC. Consequentially, they are optimized for single GPU. In addition, most consumers that do happen to be PC gamers own a single mainstream GPU.

I'm moving back to single GPU in both my computers the next time I buy.
 
I think the support for multi-GPU among games is still one of the biggest drawback
 
The irony is that I've owned Xfire capable boards for the past four years or so and I've yet to actually try it out. I only game at 1920x1080 so there was really no need beyond the best single card I could afford.

I bought a HD4890, thinking to buy another one a few months later, and then the 5xxx series came out and they just stopped making it. I would've spent the $400 or so for a HD5870 if it had been available.

Now I'm looking at spending $500 for the HD6970 and it'll likely be as fast as a last generation Xfire setup, but packaged into a single GPU with none of the drawbacks.
 
IMO SLI is the way to go. I know they exist, but I've never played a major title that didn't support it. In some cases SLI has exceeded 100% increase vs. a single card, and I think it's fair to say the avg is 70-80%.
I'm not saying issues don't exist, I'm saying I've never had one. Right now you can get two 768MB 460GTX for $230 after code and MIR at the egg... that's sick FPS for the price point.
 
Tolyngee said:
You're confusing "denial" with a river in Egypt.
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lol, I can't deny something that doesn't happen to me. I can't speak for 5XXX CF systems but I haven't had one issue yet.

The idle GPU2 issue never affected me since this card still had too much performance, and now they fixed that too. I'm happy as a peach with my purchase!
 
so is SLI from a generation or 2 back better then the current highest end single GPU?...seems like SLI would be more worth it to me like that versus getting 2 of the current top end GPU's
 
polonyc2 said:
so is SLI from a generation or 2 back better then the current highest end single GPU?...seems like SLI would be more worth it to me like that versus getting 2 of the current top end GPU's
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The answer to that is a firm no. I just upgraded my system from 2 260s in SLI to a single 580 and I can tell you right now that the 580 is far more powerful of a card than the two 260s put together. I'm getting much higher FPS in all of my games with everything maxed out.

Frankly, I wasn't expecting a huge jump in performance going from 260 SLI to a 580 but I've been pleasantly surprised thus far with its performance. Interestingly enough, I had planned to have a 8800 GTS in there as a PPU but the system was faster in Mafia II and Batman without the PPU as opposed to with it...paired up with a 580. The 8800 GTS PPU was actually holding the 580 back hehe.
 
MajGHOB said:
The answer to that is a firm no. I just upgraded my system from 2 260s in SLI to a single 580 and I can tell you right now that the 580 is far more powerful of a card than the two 260s put together. I'm getting much higher FPS in all of my games with everything maxed out.

Frankly, I wasn't expecting a huge jump in performance going from 260 SLI to a 580 but I've been pleasantly surprised thus far with its performance. Interestingly enough, I had planned to have a 8800 GTS in there as a PPU but the system was faster in Mafia II and Batman without the PPU as opposed to with it...paired up with a 580. The 8800 GTS PPU was actually holding the 580 back hehe.
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well ya a 295 is slightly stronger than the 480 and the 580 would be slightly stronger than the 295...(your setup is the "295")
there's also the DX11 aspect of it and the zero scaling issues
 
mutantmagnet said:
Initially I thought sli and crossfire would be a no brainer decision but recently I became more aware of the inherent flaws they haven't overcome.

1) No triple buffer support
2) Decreasing visual quality as framerates go up, microstutter.

Are there any other bonuses to using a single card over multiple gpus?
Click to expand...

My microstuttering only happened with two videocards in SLI. This two GPU in one PCB card so far has eliminated all the microstuttering I had. I thought I had microstuttering with Transformers war on cybertron. But what it really was an FPS lock in the game. So it appeared to stutter all the time. I also get this stuttering with any game that has a 30 FPS lock. Even the force unleashed II has this.

My experience has been very good with dual GPU in one PCB. But I am sure there are people out there with nightmare issues with dual GPUs they want to share.

I don't know about visual quality being depriciated with dual GPU systems. This is news to me.
 
Mr Mean said:
My microstuttering only happened with two videocards in SLI. This two GPU in one PCB card so far has eliminated all the microstuttering I had. I thought I had microstuttering with Transformers war on cybertron. But what it really was an FPS lock in the game. So it appeared to stutter all the time. I also get this stuttering with any game that has a 30 FPS lock. Even the force unleashed II has this.

My experience has been very good with dual GPU in one PCB. But I am sure there are people out there with nightmare issues with dual GPUs they want to share.

I don't know about visual quality being depriciated with dual GPU systems. This is news to me.
Click to expand...

There is no difference at all in the way that crossfire or SLI is implemented in a single PCB card versus running two physical cards.

If anything, the single pcb card has several disadvantages like having to share a single x16 pcie bus through a bridge and having to work with a smaller physical space to cool two gpus.
 
Abit667 said:
There is no difference at all in the way that crossfire or SLI is implemented in a single PCB card versus running two physical cards.

If anything, the single pcb card has several disadvantages like having to share a single x16 pcie bus through a bridge and having to work with a smaller physical space to cool two gpus.
Click to expand...

Granted there is no difference with two GPU working in tandem. But I was speaking in my personal experience. I should have clarified that. My personal experience has been pretty positive with a single PCB, dual GPU design.

Granted the heating issue with a single PCB could be an issue with not a good ventilated case. But so far the heat from the 5970 isn't as severe as I was expecting. Even with a mild overclock it still runs perfectly.
 
I've run both Sli and Crossfire. Tried the triple sli setups and the 3 way and quad fire setups too. I am now down to an ASUS G73JH because I just want to play my games at 1920 X 1080 smoothly and save my cash. My electric bill has already took notice. :p BUT If you are a cronic bench marker that has to have all that damned power then nothing out there will ever make you happy and you will always be broke. Every setup has it's advantages and disadvantages but just having a good setup with "one" mid range to enthusiast level video card will keep you happy gaming and day to day stuff at 1080i all day long. This laptop I have now cranks out 35-40 fps on Crysis with an ATI 5870m (comparable to a juiced up desktop 5770) I have no problems with that. My former i7 Quad Fired 4870X2 setup wasn't really much faster. (40-45fps) This was a wake up call to my wallet, especially when I got my last electric bill after that bitch had been unplugged for a month now. My next desktop will probably be an X58 Shuttle with a 5870 in it... if I get the bug to build again.
 
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