Micro-Stuttering Due To 2 GPUs? Add A 3rd Card!!!!!

Just thought I would post this in a brand new thread as some people seemed to appreciate the info.

If you have stutters/micro stutters and they are the cause of using 2 graphics cards (xfire or sli) then most likely according to professional review sites and peoples experiences in forums aswell, adding a 3rd card (trifire or tri-sli) can remove most, if not all stutters/microstutters that are a result of using 2 GPUs.

from tomshardware.com:

--- "The performance of three- and four-way CrossFire setups not only surprised us, but also managed to utterly convince us that micro-stuttering doesn't have to affect your multi-GPU configuration. For some reason, the third GPU almost always eliminates micro stuttering and has a less-pronounced effect on performance."

Entire 15 page test http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html


Other peoples experiences:

--- "I've owned both Tri CFX and Tri SLI systems, and yes its true Tri GPU has far less microstutter than dual, almost to the point its as good as a single GPU.

Theres a few reasons for this, one being Tri is inherently better due to the method of AFR with 3 GPU's and timings, but the other and probably biggest factor is that you are more on the CPU bound side of things with Tri and Quad, and when slightly (or a lot) CPU bound you get far less microstutter, even with dual cards.

So when you combine Tri's AFR method & timings with being slightly CPU bound you get a very smooth experience."


--- "even in BF3 with SSAA for example and the GPU's being worked off their titts with 99% scaling, there is less microstutter than say dual with no SSAA and lower settings + higher frame rates. So its a combination of things."


--- "I don't know if you are aware of this.. But when you use three videocards, unlike regular Crossfire, your PC runs like you "only" have one very powerful single card. All micro stuttering is gone because of tri-fire, this is also happens with Nvidia Cards according to Tom's Hardware. 3-Sli is like a single Nvidia card, while 2-Sli stutters.

With that said, I was stuttering like a son of a bitch, tried all drivers all that ****. Solution? Since tri-fire doesn't act like a regular Crossfire, I removed the damn CAP4. Holy ****, what a difference!"



Here is a link to another forum that has some kind of microstuttering analysing tool, I havent really checked it out yet http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...ards-examples-included&highlight=microstutter


I have to agree, based on "feel" and my own viewing experiences, adding a third 6970 (overclocked and unlocked 6950) does feel better than having 2.

On a side note, the 3rd card also gave me the extra room in some games to crank supersampling from 2 to 4 which makes a big difference or even to 8 in many games (8x super sampling is definetely better than 4, but definetely not as big an improvement as 4 is from 2), or from not being able to use supersampling (would have to use 8x or 16x regular or adaptive/transparent sampling) to being able to use super sampling. The third scales almost aswell as adding a second card in most games. Sure sometimes some games dont like 3x gpus, some dont even like 2x gpus, but its rare and you can just disable the 3rd or both 3rd and 2nd cards with the click of a button. It also helps keeping frames above a certain point, be it 60, 72, 75, 90, 120 or whatever your looking for. All this though is a wholenother story. My main point here was the microstuttering issue being helped by adding a third graphics card (be it amd or nvidia).

 

"I've owned both Tri CFX and Tri SLI systems, and yes its true Tri GPU has far less microstutter than dual, almost to the point its as good as a single GPU."

This, I find, the most hilarious statement I have ever seen!!

"I owned 3 Ferrari's the other day and I find 3 Ferrari's almost as good as 1 Ferrari."

[I know, I got it out of perspective and its about the micro stutters but it's just funny to read.]

 

The guy is saying that adding a 3rd card in his case makes the microstutters that came along when adding a 2nd card go away, almost to the point where its as smooth as having 1 single card. What is so funny? lol

 

So if you want more FPS and improved performance you get a 2nd card as per normal, but then you get micro-stutters so you need a 3rd card which not every mobo supports.....sounds like a helluva lot of money to me!
If I had two cards I'd be crying for better drivers to get rid of the micro stutters not having to fork out for a 3rd card...personal preference of course! Interesting read though thanks, but for now I think I'll stick to the one card

 

Yes, I too find that owning 3 Ferrari's is almost as good as owning 1

 

So would a fourth card actually achieve the smoothness of one card?

For me it is not just micro stutters. I get higher FPS with one card versus two.

 

With XFire, there is a known issue where using 2 cards does in some cases lower your FPS instead of raising it. Going with 3 would fix that issue as well. Not sure if going with 4 would be much better though. Think of it this way, 3 is like having triple buffering turned on even when it isn't, the workload gets spread across 3 cards so things smooth out. With 4, you might end up with what feels and looks like 2 very powerful cards in XFire instead of 3 looking like 1. Spinelli might know more about it though, as he seems to have researched it a bit.

 

Order now and you get not one weelie-whooler potato peeler, not two weelie-whooler potato peeler, but THREE!! wheelie-whooler potato peelers for the same low price!!

This three card business sounds like those late night 'limited tv offer' shill...

 

Epic

 

If you have micro stutter on rf2 with SLI, enable "adaptive vsync" in the nvidia control panel and leave vsync disabled in-game.

It completely removed my microstutter!

Buying a 3rd card to fix a problem that developed from buying a 2nd is nuts.

 

Vsync looks beautiful and feels so smooth, but its ****, adds input lag, ive tried every combination, some are better than others, but none are as good as no vsync at all.

If you have a 1440p/1600p monitor (2560 x 1440/1600) (many 27inch monitors come in that resolution and just about all 30 inch monitors come in that res) OR if you play with eyefinity (5760 x 1080) well thats ALOT of pixels to be pushing around for a GPU, add a bunch of AA on top of that and you can clearly see why there is a market for multiple video cards.

Of course ideally one card would be the best, but its not powerfull enough for playing the modern games on high res, triple screens, tons of AA, every option on absolute max, etc etc

3 cards in general also usally scale very well as good as just 2 cards, its just usually the 4th card that scales noticeably less according to lots of research.

My friend used to have a 6850x2+6850 in trifire and his system flew, just as good, if not better than 2 6950s in crossfire, and more importantly smoother and CHEAPER than 2 6950s.

If you are going to do crossfire, I would rather get a cheaper model and 3xgpu them rather than 2x more expensive models.

If you arent going to do crossfire at all, and are only a single gpu kind of guy then of course all of this will seem crazy to you hahaha, but then again you probably arent concerend with playing the most modern games, on ultra high resolutions, with tons of AA.

Try playing Battlefield 3, Crysis 2 with High res texture and DX11 update, Crysis 1 with high end demanding graphics and physics mods, Metro 2033, etc etc in Eyefinity, or even in just 1080p with every option on max, and REAL aa, not cheap FXAA. Youll soon realize why the power of multiple video card setups really make a difference. I havent even mentioned Super Sampling AA as I dont even think a 3x GPU setup can handle one of those games with super sampling lol.

With 3x overclocked 6970s, I in general get the performance of about 1.5x overclocked HD 7970s/GTX 680s. I paid about 400 used all in for all 3 of them, I got a good deal, lets say it costed me 470 or 500 for the sake of argument (they are 6950s unlocked to FULL 6970 shaders, and over clocked to beyond 6970, hecne why I just call them 6970s), well compare that $400-$500 price to the price of 1.5x any non-stock cooler HD7970 or GTX680, and you start seeing some light at the end of the tunnel for the hassle (at times) of a multiple (3 in this case) card setup. .

When the HD 8000 series come out or the GTX 700 series Ill probably do the same, sell my 3 6970s, buy 3 used 7970s for cheap, instead of a single HD 8000/ GTX 700, although I might skip a gen and do this every 2nd gen rather than every gen due to the power of 3x cards.


Anyways, I just wanted to let people who are into or considering multiple card setups, know that 3 gpus typically remove most if not all stutters that are specifically brought on by adding a 2nd card.

Tip : if looking to crossfire 2 HD 7950/70s, From my own experience and research I would suggest going with 3 7850/70s instead (if those cards are even capable of it, I know on the 68xx series you had to buy a 6850x2 as the cards only had 1 crossfire cable plug, amd and nvidia probably do this on there lower cards so that people dont go off buying 3x cheaper models instead of 2x higher models).

 

Spinelli i checked your system specs but it looks like you are having 2x6950? Anyway, when i get my third card (hopefully next week) if i get problems with power, what PSU do you recommend if im going to overclock all 3*6950 to 3*6970, is 1000w enough you think? And maybe i give it a go on my cpu too.. And do you use stock cooling? My gfxcards have 2 fans each, maybe its enough for oc?

Many questions but im glad you Spinelli came along so i hopefully can proceed with my hobby again

And btw for all disbelievers, all hobbies are expensive if you go for highend! If you think 3 gfx cards are crazy i better not say what i use for screen and sound...

 

Some good common sense here with a nice dose of humor, made my day

 

I have 3 gtx 480 and i7 960 to 4 Ghz, and with this build I have fps drop (3D mode) for example 70 to 50 and the game slows down,
and why I left fps.

 

Of course... Why not 15 GPUS or a NASA mainframe to run RF2? After all, a high end GPU is so cheap...

 

Hey there sorry for the late reply. I am not sure on power usage I have a Corsair TX950, its there cheaper model it runs fine but I dont overclock the cards for now (other than the unlocked shaders) as I dont want to risk it. I did tons of succesfull testing with all 3 cards overclocked and overvolted (specs above), it seemed to run perfectly fine for everything, but I just dont feel good in my stomach about it if you know what I mean

I would go for a 1000+ watt PSU just to be safe (plus the least close to the psu's max power you use, the longer it will last and also perform more stable). BUT, make sure you get a GOOD psu, some 800 watt psu's can handle more power that a 1000 watt psu for example, because theres MUCH more to it then just the maximum wattage that the company advertises.

If you dont know which brand names, and which models from those brand names are really good, especially for a setup like yours, than just ask and ill make a list for you

 

As to the PSU, I would highly recommend you have one that has several 12v power rails. Make sure that the power rails each have at least the capability of handling 20 to 25 amps. This way you are sure that the PSU can handle things. It is also helpful to look at the specs and be sure that each of the PCI-e power plugs are on separate rails. The total wattage of the PSU for the 3 card setup should be around 800 to 1100 watts depending on what else you have in your system.

If you are going to overclock, and you are planning on having to increase the voltages of the cards to get the most out of them, then stock cooling will not provide adequate cooling for you and you might consider water cooling. If you are not planning on changing voltages, then the temps should remain where the stock fans can handle it, but upgraded fans will keep them just a little cooler at the expense of space in the case.

 

I have installed the third 6950.
It did miracles in all games/sims except....guess which....

I kept my PSU which is an Corsair TX 750w and now its on the limit of capacity. I use it until it gives up and then buy a silver or gold 1000w+ modular PSU, i think the platinum certified PSU´s are abit over the top for me.
But for now i have no need to OC either the CPU or the gfx cards lol, since the CPU doesn't even use 50% of its capacity and the same with the gxf cards in rF2, but nevertheless the ¤#¤&%& &%¤&# stuttering is so severe i cant race the sim in the current state.
I really really hope this get sorted out soon since this racesim not only are the best racing experience right now, but for me its the most fun of all games/sims for the moment on PC!

 

Just curious Christian, do you experience that on all tracks, or just some?

 

Its on all original tracks, haven't tried any user made ones. The thing is i had some slight stuttering on iRacing too before when using 2 cards but now that sim is smooth too, as the 2 other games i have tried so far which is Crysis2 and Battlefield3.