Can't Get SLI with 3D Vision Enabled
I can't seem to get 3D Vision and SLI enabled at the same time. If I enable SLI (and the SLI Visual Indicator) - I see it and can use SLI in any of my games. However, if I check "Enable Stereoscopic 3D", I can use 3D Vision in games, but don't see the SLI Visual Indicator - or see the performance. It's like if I have 3D Vision enabled, it only works on one Card. Tried clean install of drivers, even clean install of Windows - same difference. Even tried 275 drivers, still getting the same problem.

Setup:

Dual eVGA GTX460 in SLI (with hardware bridge)
Core i7 Processor/Sandy Bridge
ASUS P8Z68-V
8GB RAM
Nvidia Driver 280.26

Any suggestions? I love SLI and love 3D Vision, and want them to work together!
I can't seem to get 3D Vision and SLI enabled at the same time. If I enable SLI (and the SLI Visual Indicator) - I see it and can use SLI in any of my games. However, if I check "Enable Stereoscopic 3D", I can use 3D Vision in games, but don't see the SLI Visual Indicator - or see the performance. It's like if I have 3D Vision enabled, it only works on one Card. Tried clean install of drivers, even clean install of Windows - same difference. Even tried 275 drivers, still getting the same problem.



Setup:



Dual eVGA GTX460 in SLI (with hardware bridge)

Core i7 Processor/Sandy Bridge

ASUS P8Z68-V

8GB RAM

Nvidia Driver 280.26



Any suggestions? I love SLI and love 3D Vision, and want them to work together!

#1
Posted 08/27/2011 08:15 AM   
The SLI Visual indicator is just a meter to show you how well SLI is being used.

From what you've said it only appears as if the indicator is missing with 3D on?

Do you still have equal GPU usage with 3D on?
The SLI Visual indicator is just a meter to show you how well SLI is being used.



From what you've said it only appears as if the indicator is missing with 3D on?



Do you still have equal GPU usage with 3D on?
No. I don't.

Here's an example of the FPS I'm seeing with a specific game (The Sims 3 - Terrible example, only thing I have installed at the moment) at the neighborhood screen:

SLI Disabled, 3D Disabled: 145 FPS
SLI Enabled, 3D Disabled: 270 FPS
SLI Enabled, 3D Enabled (but NOT rendering in 3D): 120 FPS
SLI Enabled, 3D Enabled (rendering in 3D): 60 FPS

It's clear that when SLI and Stereoscopic 3D are enabled - I'm not getting any SLI performance.

EDIT: Does turning on Stereoscopic 3D (even when not rendering 3D) force a Vertical Sync? That would make sense based on the numbers I'm seeing.

Let me go try it with something more intensive. Tried Portal 2, and Star Trek Online - same results. Rendering is too good with either a single card to see if it's forcing a Vertical Sync (good problem to have, hehe). I'll try some others in the morning. I think I'm just paranoid.
No. I don't.



Here's an example of the FPS I'm seeing with a specific game (The Sims 3 - Terrible example, only thing I have installed at the moment) at the neighborhood screen:



SLI Disabled, 3D Disabled: 145 FPS

SLI Enabled, 3D Disabled: 270 FPS

SLI Enabled, 3D Enabled (but NOT rendering in 3D): 120 FPS

SLI Enabled, 3D Enabled (rendering in 3D): 60 FPS



It's clear that when SLI and Stereoscopic 3D are enabled - I'm not getting any SLI performance.



EDIT: Does turning on Stereoscopic 3D (even when not rendering 3D) force a Vertical Sync? That would make sense based on the numbers I'm seeing.



Let me go try it with something more intensive. Tried Portal 2, and Star Trek Online - same results. Rendering is too good with either a single card to see if it's forcing a Vertical Sync (good problem to have, hehe). I'll try some others in the morning. I think I'm just paranoid.

#3
Posted 08/27/2011 09:05 AM   
3D vision FORCES Vsync. Which is why I asked about GPU-usage being equal - not FPS.

It looks very much like normal behavior at this stage.
Thank you -{RaptoR}-! You were correct. A quick look at GPU load shows a balance when running SLI and 3D at the same time. I am going crazy!

:)

-Hastin
Thank you -{RaptoR}-! You were correct. A quick look at GPU load shows a balance when running SLI and 3D at the same time. I am going crazy!



:)



-Hastin

#5
Posted 08/27/2011 09:29 AM   
your sli is working just fine. it's just that when you enable 3d stereoscopic, maximum hz you can get is 60hz thus you can only get 60hz max. besides, when you run 3d stereoscopic mode, your pc basically has to render 2x game so your performance drops to half. for example, if you were able to get 100 fps b4 3d stereoscopic enabled, you only get 50fps or so when you enable 3d stereoscopic. This is why you need sli even on single monitor setting if you wanna play games in 3d stereoscopic coz most single gpu aren't powerful enough to play games smooth in 3d stereoscopic mode. I am running mine on i7 2600k + gtx 580 sli but there are a lot of games that I can't get 60fps on high setting at 1920x1080. games like crysis 2, dx 11, high res enabled, ultra setting at 1920x1080, I only get 35ish fps with 3d stereoscopic enabled. games like metro 2033 and witcher 2, I don't even choose very high coz I don't get smooth frames on 3d mode. it's sad but it is the truth. also, maximum fps you can get through dual dvd is 60fps on 3d mode so no matter how powerful your system is, you can't get more than 60fps on 3d mode. dual dvd = 1080p @ 60hz, hdmi 1.4 = 1080p @ 24hz.
your sli is working just fine. it's just that when you enable 3d stereoscopic, maximum hz you can get is 60hz thus you can only get 60hz max. besides, when you run 3d stereoscopic mode, your pc basically has to render 2x game so your performance drops to half. for example, if you were able to get 100 fps b4 3d stereoscopic enabled, you only get 50fps or so when you enable 3d stereoscopic. This is why you need sli even on single monitor setting if you wanna play games in 3d stereoscopic coz most single gpu aren't powerful enough to play games smooth in 3d stereoscopic mode. I am running mine on i7 2600k + gtx 580 sli but there are a lot of games that I can't get 60fps on high setting at 1920x1080. games like crysis 2, dx 11, high res enabled, ultra setting at 1920x1080, I only get 35ish fps with 3d stereoscopic enabled. games like metro 2033 and witcher 2, I don't even choose very high coz I don't get smooth frames on 3d mode. it's sad but it is the truth. also, maximum fps you can get through dual dvd is 60fps on 3d mode so no matter how powerful your system is, you can't get more than 60fps on 3d mode. dual dvd = 1080p @ 60hz, hdmi 1.4 = 1080p @ 24hz.

I7 8700K

Asrock Killer Z370

G.Skill 16gb DDR4 3000 Ram

Gigabyte RTX 2080

Corsair AX1200 watts Platinum PSU

1tb Samsung 840 Evo SSD

BenQ 27 inch 4K monitor

Asus VG278H 27 inch 3D monitor

#6
Posted 08/28/2011 04:17 PM   
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