Something wrong with my SLI

[mrw1986]

Hey guys,

I'm only getting 13247 in 3DMark06 which seems low for these cards in SLI. I know my CPU might be bottlenecking, but thats why I have it overclocked to 3.15ghz. I'm running the latest drivers for everything and SLI is operational according to ntune. Anyone know what could be wrong?

Thanks,
mrw1986

[ktr]

Dont have to much faith in 3dmarks. Play the games you play and see if you get a performance jump. 3dmarks say i get 5500, which is like 1000 more from a single card. but when i play tf2 I can max out and maintain a higher fps.

[Darknova]

Run it with only one card in the motherboard and see what happens.

[bud951]

I can fart more 3dmarks than that and we have similar hardware. Make sure you are running in SLI. I got 13456 with a single card. My max was 16258 in SLI with CPU and video oc'd. I originally had a problem with a bad SLI bridge. Once it was replaced My 3dmarks shot right up. Check your software to see if SLI is enabled and if all else failes get a new bridge. they go bad more than you would think.

[Demos_sav]

I can fart more 3dmarks than that and we have similar hardware. Make sure you are running in SLI. I got 13456 with a single card. My max was 16258 in SLI with CPU and video oc'd. I originally had a problem with a bad SLI bridge. Once it was replaced My 3dmarks shot right up. Check your software to see if SLI is enabled and if all else failes get a new bridge. they go bad more than you would think.

A q6600 and an e6300 is not similar hardware....

Anyway download gpu-z and check if SLI is enabled

[DanTheBanjoman]

I would say SLI is disabled, I get nearly the same with a single GTS320

[mrw1986]

GPU-Z says its disabled. NTune says its enabled. I'm thinking bad bridge.

[mrw1986]

Annnnd a new bridge doesn't work...both cards work and the board detects it as SLI, while GPU -Z does not.

EDIT: Upon further reading I found out it is a bug in GPU-Z. My score is considerably lower with 1 card.

[Black Panther]

Just guessing, maybe try another driver?

Your rig is far better than mine.
I got 12782 score. See my sig for compare site.
True I oc'd my GT, but heck you've got 2 of them and a far better pc!

[Tatty_One]

So both BIOS and Nvidia control panel is set for sli? In that case have you selected the correct rendering method for SLi, assuming you have those options in control panel, not having SLi (yet) I would not know but I think "Alternate frame rendering" is the one to have.

[Nitro-Max]

Ive actually had a bug with 3dmark and my new 3870x2 were it doesnt run on 3d settings so i get a low mark or 3dmark only recognises 1 gpu core i cant be sure but somtimes the test will run fine and i get high marks somtimes it dont and i get lower marks.

[TooFast]

go x-fire........ much better.

[mrw1986]

Ya I use AFR1 for my SLI settings. I was reading on evga forums that there is a bug with GPU-Z saying that SLI is disabled. I also will try other drivers and such.

[mrw1986]

Hmm...been playing with drivers and tons of different settings and can't seem to break 14k...I actually got down to 6.5k at one point...however the funny thing is I can run Crysis at 1280x1024 with EVERY setting on Very High in DX10 at 30+ FPS. I have yet to have a hiccup in Crysis. Weird, I'm guessing its a bug in 3DMark. Also my temps on my vid cards never go above 65C load on stock cooling (P182 FTW!)

[Tatty_One]

Hmm...been playing with drivers and tons of different settings and can't seem to break 14k...I actually got down to 6.5k at one point...however the funny thing is I can run Crysis at 1280x1024 with EVERY setting on Very High in DX10 at 30+ FPS. I have yet to have a hiccup in Crysis. Weird, I'm guessing its a bug in 3DMark. Also my temps on my vid cards never go above 65C load on stock cooling (P182 FTW!)

Strange, I can only imagine you have the beta set of Forceware drivers and the Crysis performance patch, I only say that because the Beta Forcewares have improved Crysis SLi performance.

Do you have the latest patch for 3D Mark 2006? There were some multi GPU issuses a while back and I think the last 2 patches fixed the issue.

[mrw1986]

Actually, I'm running a non-patched version of Crysis and 169.25 drivers. The drivers are not beta drivers, but release drivers. I still need to patch Crysis. Also, I will try to find the 3DMark patch.

P.S. The monkey was a better avatar, makes you more easily identifiable!

[warhammer]

You have SLI enabled but it is working as a single card and your score is about right.
I have the following setting for SLI bench it with the FURy DOUGNUT do a before and after and you will notice the difference.

Enabled SLI in the control panel.
Then under "Manage 3d Settings" go to the "Global Settings" tab. Under "Antialiasing-Transparency" select "Multisampling".
Under "Multi-display/Mixed-GPU acceleration select "single display performance mode". Under "SLI performance mode" select "Force alternate frame rendering 1 or 2" your choice. Under "Vertical Sync" select "Force Off".


Hope It helps..:)

[mrw1986]

I used those settings, I found them in a post somewhere...might have been you

[Tatty_One]

Actually, I'm running a non-patched version of Crysis and 169.25 drivers. The drivers are not beta drivers, but release drivers. I still need to patch Crysis. Also, I will try to find the 3DMark patch.

P.S. The monkey was a better avatar, makes you more easily identifiable!

Yeah, I am kind of "in disguise" ATM :pimp:

[mrw1986]

Update...SLI is still broken. Here are some recent 3DMark06 scores:

SLI Disabled
------------
SM2.0: 5247
HDR/SM3.0: 5209
CPU: 2428
Total: 11142

SLI Enabled
------------
SM2.0: 2901
HDR/SM3.0: 3999
CPU: 2436
Total: 8118

[erocker]

Have you checked to make sure you have all your drivers installed in the Device Manager?

[philbrown23]

holy friggin crap batman! yeah find those 3dmark patches asap! I was getting almost 14 k with my gt before I got my gts it was heavily oc'd but still sometings up.

[erocker]

I hope this from Microsoft helps.:) Link. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936710) I think it will.;)

[mrw1986]

I already run the latest 3DMark06 patch and I already had that hotfix erocker :( I don't know what to do. My last resort is to uninstall the drivers, delete the c:\nvidia folder, reboot, install new drivers, reboot, shut down, install the 2nd card/bridge, boot, and enable sli.

[erocker]

I already run the latest 3DMark06 patch and I already had that hotfix erocker :( I don't know what to do. My last resort is to uninstall the drivers, delete the c:\nvidia folder, reboot, install new drivers, reboot, shut down, install the 2nd card/bridge, boot, and enable sli.

Darn it man!:( Reinstall your drivers. Might as well. I wrote this up a little while ago, it should help you with a clean reinstall. http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=52502&highlight=uninstall

[mrw1986]

I already run the latest 3DMark06 patch and I already had that hotfix erocker :( I don't know what to do. My last resort is to uninstall the drivers, delete the c:\nvidia folder, reboot, install new drivers, reboot, shut down, install the 2nd card/bridge, boot, and enable sli.

I just used my method and it yielded me about 11.1k with SLI-Disabled and 12756 with SLI-Enabled. I wonder if its my CPU holding me back now? I have a quad on the way so I guess I'll see!

[wolf]

the quad alone at 3+ ghz should add 1000 points

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

FPS is life. Look at the framerate not at the score.

[mrw1986]

FPS isn't even that impressive...with 1 card I was averaging like 60fps through return to proxycon...with 2 cards I was averaging like 61fps through return to proxycon...makes no sense, at all.

Edit: I can play Crysis at all settings Very High at 1680x1050 and the FPS never drops below 25...go figure.

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

Ever tried removing SLI bridge then bench it? Compare it with the bridge connected. SLI still is detected even without the bridge so ittl be alright. That way you will be able to see if your SLI bridge has a defect if the previous score with the SLI bridge is identical to the non SLId bridge' score.