MultiGPU Update: Two-GPU Options in Depth
by Derek Wilson on February 23, 2009 7:30 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
FarCry 2 Analysis
FarCry 2 is a good looking game with a well rounded graphics engine. We use the benchmark tool and a custom demo to test with ultra high graphics options while we try to minimize CPU impact.
1680x1050 1920x1200 2560x1600
Relative performance stays very consistent from 1680x1050 to 1920x1200 but looking at 2560x1600 tells a different story. Anything with 512MB of RAM just tanks in performance at the highest resolution. CrossFire and SLI can't help these lower memory parts keep up either. Even at lower resolutions it seems like the G9x based NVIDIA hardware just can't handle FarCry 2 very well at all. This make the 4850 a much better option than the 9800 GTX+.
1680x1050 1920x1200 2560x1600
As for scaling, SLI does really well with GT200 based cards and not so well with the 9800 GTX+. CrossFire scaling is very consistent between 1680x1050 and 1920x1200. Everything drops in scaling at 2560x1600 though. We expect that this is because of the increased memory and bandwidth requirements from the higher res.
1680x1050 1920x1200 2560x1600
Performance per dollar reveals the GTX 260 and GTX 260 SLI as the only NVIDIA options with value that competes with AMD solutions below 2560x1600. At the highest resolution, because of the memory limited performance issues, the value of our 512MB ATI cards drop to near the bottom of the heap. The Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB is consistently high in value here and remains playable across all resolutions.
The settings we chose leave the G9x based parts (even in SLI) and the Radeon HD 4850 unplayable even at 1680x1050. Radeon HD 4870 level hardware and above can achieve the highest visual quality at the lowest res we tested. Pushing up, the 512MB 4870 drops a bit too much in performance to recommend at 1920x1200. The 1GB version of the 4870 holds on to playability and leads the GTX 260 core 216. At 2560x1600, the only single GPU option that barely gets by is the GTX 285. CrossFire and SLI (as long as the cards have more than 512MB of RAM) seem to have enough under the hood to run at the highest settings and resolution.
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nubie - Sunday, March 1, 2009 - link
Have you ever used a tool or edited the game profile yourself?I had an 8800GTS 320MB that I used with AA extensively (Also with 3D stereoscopic), and I was told on a forum to use nHancer to modify the profile into a specific mode of Anti-Aliasing, I am pretty sure it worked. It was the beta 162.50 Quadro drivers I believe, you can just put your card's id into the inf and they install and work great.
It is possible the drivers work great and the control panel/GUI is piss-poor (a theory that may hold water).
I wish that nVidia would open up the drivers a little so that control freaks like myself could really tweak the settings to where I want them.
Razorbladehaze - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link
Yeah In my main rig right now i have a i7 920 with two 1gb 4850's i recently bought a third 4850 and installed it. There was some funky flickering, that i think was driver related in BF2 and HoI2 in 3-way mode, but most games seemed okay. Funny thing is... same thing happened when i tried a 3870x2 & 3870 in 3 way on my older x38 core2. I am really hoping these next articles will come with some additional commentary on image quality.To the person who stated that the 9800gtx+ was comparable to the 4850x2. What R U thinking???
I have never really had a problem with any crossfire setups before except with 3-way and i wonder if it is the odd gpu count and if 4 would eliminate some issues. Looking forward the the upcoming articles, this is mostly a teaser with information many already knew.
I agree that the new format for graphs looks good line graphs are crap visually, but i think the default should be the 1920x1080/1200 that most people are interested in based on your survey data : )
See I pay attention.
SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
THANK YOU !" Yeah In my main rig right now i have a i7 920 with two 1gb 4850's i recently bought a third 4850 and installed it. There was some funky flickering, that i think was driver related in BF2 and HoI2 in 3-way mode, but most games seemed okay. Funny thing is... same thing happened when i tried a 3870x2 & 3870 in 3 way on my older x38 core2. I am really hoping these next articles will come with some additional commentary on image quality. "
________
Another PERFECT REASON to not mention "image quality" - the red fan boy wins again - assist +7 by Derek !
Amazing.
Thank you.
MagicPants - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link
Have you tried forcing on transparency super-sampling? If you don't edges defined by transparency in the texture won't AA. By default Nvidia (ATI?) only AA edges defined by depth difference.SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
I've seen one review on that, with the blown up edged images, and the ati cards don't smooth and blurr as well - they have more jaggies - so they HAVE to leave that out here - cause you know Derek loves that red 4850 and all the red cards -Elfear - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link
Derrick (or anyone else for that matter) can you comment on why the 4870 512MB Crossfire solution generally performed better than the 4870X2?SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
Or WHY the GTX260 isn't praised to the stars for running 20 of 21 tests successfully - taking THE WIN !I guess it doesn;t matter when a gamer spends hundreds and hundreds on their dual gpu setup then it epic fails at games... gosh that wouldn't be irritating, would it ?
Amazing red bias...chizo pointed out the sapphire 4850 / other 4850 driver issues thankfully, while Derek has a special place in his heart for the bluebacked red card, and says so in the article - then translates that to ALL 4850's.
DREAM ON if you think that would happen with ANY GREEN card Derek has ever tested!
MagicPants - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link
I'd like to see an article that rates overall systems in price to performance. Try to get as high as fps for the least amount of money spent.As one reader mentioned frame rate below 15 fps doesn't count because it's unplayable, so just pick a number between 10 and 15 and subtract it from the fps. Maybe vary it by game. Frame rates over 60fps shouldn't count either because most monitors can't even show that.
This would be interesting because even small tweaks would make a difference e.g. adding a $60 sound card might get you 4 or 5 fps in a few games and might pay for itself.
marsbound2024 - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link
It doesn't look like the GTX 260 Core 216 provides much, if any, tangible benefit over the GTX 260 according to these tests. Sure it had some wins, but they weren't very big ones and it also had some loses--albeit not very big ones either. One would be tempted to just get a GTX 260 or 4850 and wait to upgrade until the next generation of cards come out this summer. The time is getting close, anyways.SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
Good call.Even the 4830 or the 9800GT twice either, or the 9800gtx gts250 or 9600gt or 9600gso twice each - or the ati the ati - uhh... uh... do the reds have their "midrange" filled up ? Uh.. the 4670 ?
LOL
Yeah, nvidia needs more midrange - right ?
LOL
THE RED LIARS ARE SOMETHING ELSE!