GTX 780 - 3d gaming issue.
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Hello good people at Geforce Forums, This is my 1st post so apologies if it appears I don't know what I'm doing (I don't!). But I'm in need of some advice, as after a week of tinkering and browsing the net for a answer I'm still at a loss.. I recently purchased a single Zotac GTX 780 oc to replace my SLI GTX 580s. The main reason for the "upgrade" was down to the fact that the 580s where just to darn loud under load. Looking at benchmarks I was under the impression that a single 780 would match if not outperform the sli 580s. Impressions after install were good, Battlefield 3 maxed out at 1080p was averaging around 90 fps. However, I play many games in 3d (using nvidia 3DTV Play) one of my favourites being Skyrim and this has thrown a spanner in the works... on ultra setting with 2x msaa I'm getting an average of 35 FSP and as low as 20 FPS in some outdoor areas, indoor can hit 60 fps but not consistently. Also, loads of micro stuttering. Bearing in mid this is only running at 720p in 3d, I was under the impression that this card should crush this game in 3D? I can run the game in 2d @ 1080p Ultra with max AA and get a smooth 60 FPS no probs. The 580s managed it, but the 780 is getting the same performance as a single 580. I have tried everything to get it smooth: Rolled back the drivers to 320, Deleted TESV.exe from nvidia game profiles (using nvidia inspector), tried with and without helix mod, reinstalled Skyrim, disable v-Sync (not a good idea)... nothing made any difference. Even dropping the settings down (from ultra to low) didn't make much of a difference. I ran some performance tests and discovered that the GPU is only hitting 65% max load, so I thought that maybe my CPU was bottlenecking, however, CPU usage was never over 25%! Portal 2 maxed out in 3D @ 720p never drops below 60 FPS, BF3 maxed in 3d = average 50 FPS (Not Great), Just Cause 2 in 3D = average 40 FPS, all these games in 2d run amazing. Ran 3dmark "Fire Strike" and got a score of around 8500 which is about right for my system. I'm thinking there is something is wrong with this card when using 3d? Maybe the Bios? I just wanted to get some feedback/advice before I return it! Could something else be bottlenecking it? i.e. the PCIe x2? I know the rest of my system is getting on a bit but surely it should be able to handle 3d @720p? BF3 maxed hits 98% GPU load in 2D so no bottleneck there. Help me Geforce Forums, your my only hope... My Specs: Windows 7 64 bit Core i7 950 (stock) Gigabyte X58 -USB3 12gb RAM 250GB SSD Zotac GTX 780 OC Optoma HD25 3D projector (3d: 1080p @ 24hz, 720p @60hz) Cheers!
Hello good people at Geforce Forums,

This is my 1st post so apologies if it appears I don't know what I'm doing (I don't!). But I'm in need of some advice, as after a week of tinkering and browsing the net for a answer I'm still at a loss..

I recently purchased a single Zotac GTX 780 oc to replace my SLI GTX 580s. The main reason for the "upgrade" was down to the fact that the 580s where just to darn loud under load. Looking at benchmarks I was under the impression that a single 780 would match if not outperform the sli 580s. Impressions after install were good, Battlefield 3 maxed out at 1080p was averaging around 90 fps. However, I play many games in 3d (using nvidia 3DTV Play) one of my favourites being Skyrim and this has thrown a spanner in the works... on ultra setting with 2x msaa I'm getting an average of 35 FSP and as low as 20 FPS in some outdoor areas, indoor can hit 60 fps but not consistently. Also, loads of micro stuttering. Bearing in mid this is only running at 720p in 3d, I was under the impression that this card should crush this game in 3D? I can run the game in 2d @ 1080p Ultra with max AA and get a smooth 60 FPS no probs. The 580s managed it, but the 780 is getting the same performance as a single 580. I have tried everything to get it smooth: Rolled back the drivers to 320, Deleted TESV.exe from nvidia game profiles (using nvidia inspector), tried with and without helix mod, reinstalled Skyrim, disable v-Sync (not a good idea)... nothing made any difference. Even dropping the settings down (from ultra to low) didn't make much of a difference.

I ran some performance tests and discovered that the GPU is only hitting 65% max load, so I thought that maybe my CPU was bottlenecking, however, CPU usage was never over 25%!

Portal 2 maxed out in 3D @ 720p never drops below 60 FPS, BF3 maxed in 3d = average 50 FPS (Not Great), Just Cause 2 in 3D = average 40 FPS, all these games in 2d run amazing. Ran 3dmark "Fire Strike" and got a score of around 8500 which is about right for my system.

I'm thinking there is something is wrong with this card when using 3d? Maybe the Bios? I just wanted to get some feedback/advice before I return it!

Could something else be bottlenecking it? i.e. the PCIe x2? I know the rest of my system is getting on a bit but surely it should be able to handle 3d @720p? BF3 maxed hits 98% GPU load in 2D so no bottleneck there.

Help me Geforce Forums, your my only hope...

My Specs:

Windows 7 64 bit
Core i7 950 (stock)
Gigabyte X58 -USB3
12gb RAM
250GB SSD
Zotac GTX 780 OC
Optoma HD25 3D projector (3d: 1080p @ 24hz, 720p @60hz)

Cheers!

#1
Posted 04/09/2014 08:57 AM   
Hi Jam1in, welcome to the forums. I hope you kept the 580s. I built my PC like three years ago, also SLI 580s, and I still crush any game I throw at it, in 3D (not that there are many AAA 3D games lately, cough), if I don't go too wild with antialiasing. Other people smarter than me will likely reply with more details, but I believe it is generally accepted knowledge among the 3D gamers on this forum that for smooth 3D you really need SLI. That being said, if it's not too expensive, this is easy to sort out by adding another 780, maybe in a while (although I think it's better if you get the same model). Although paying more money on Nvidia hardware, with their current lack of commitment to real 3D vision seems like bad advice. But let's hope for a better future.
Hi Jam1in, welcome to the forums.

I hope you kept the 580s. I built my PC like three years ago, also SLI 580s, and I still crush any game I throw at it, in 3D (not that there are many AAA 3D games lately, cough), if I don't go too wild with antialiasing.

Other people smarter than me will likely reply with more details, but I believe it is generally accepted knowledge among the 3D gamers on this forum that for smooth 3D you really need SLI.
That being said, if it's not too expensive, this is easy to sort out by adding another 780, maybe in a while (although I think it's better if you get the same model).

Although paying more money on Nvidia hardware, with their current lack of commitment to real 3D vision seems like bad advice. But let's hope for a better future.

#2
Posted 04/09/2014 09:48 AM   
Hi Zapp, thanks for the reply. Yea still got the 580s, I was happy with the performance of those cards but due the small form factor of my main board the gap between the cards was very tight, which in turn, made for high temps and subsequently loud fan noise (I'm talking really loud!) sounded like a jet engine... Plus I added three extra fans to the side of the case to keep the temps down. The single GTX 780 is so quiet, I don't think I could go back to sli in this setup. It was more of a stop gap till I build a new rig down the road and then get an extra 780 when the price drops... 2d performance on this card is great and if I didn't game in 3d I would have been none the wiser! I'm just concerned that when playing Skyrim in 3d nether the GPU or CPU are breaking a sweat but I'm only getting like 35 fps? My concern is that the Zotac GTX 780 oc might be gimped, it was cheaper than the other brands and seemed like a no brainer, it even uses the same cooling and design as the AMP! edition, so has room for overclocking. But the build quality is poor in comparison to my 580's which were made by Gainward. Just need to figure out whether its the card or the system which is causing poor performance, as I don't want to return it for a replacement and find the same issue...
Hi Zapp, thanks for the reply. Yea still got the 580s, I was happy with the performance of those cards but due the small form factor of my main board the gap between the cards was very tight, which in turn, made for high temps and subsequently loud fan noise (I'm talking really loud!) sounded like a jet engine... Plus I added three extra fans to the side of the case to keep the temps down. The single GTX 780 is so quiet, I don't think I could go back to sli in this setup. It was more of a stop gap till I build a new rig down the road and then get an extra 780 when the price drops...

2d performance on this card is great and if I didn't game in 3d I would have been none the wiser! I'm just concerned that when playing Skyrim in 3d nether the GPU or CPU are breaking a sweat but I'm only getting like 35 fps?

My concern is that the Zotac GTX 780 oc might be gimped, it was cheaper than the other brands and seemed like a no brainer, it even uses the same cooling and design as the AMP! edition, so has room for overclocking. But the build quality is poor in comparison to my 580's which were made by Gainward.

Just need to figure out whether its the card or the system which is causing poor performance, as I don't want to return it for a replacement and find the same issue...

#3
Posted 04/09/2014 10:25 AM   
Dont wonder too much about Skyrim . The original game is only single threaded . GTX 780 is a great choice . There is a workaround for Skyrim to set it to run in multi threaded mode : http://itcprosolutions.com/skyrimguides/tweak_guide.htm
Dont wonder too much about Skyrim . The original game is only single threaded . GTX 780 is a great choice . There is a workaround for Skyrim to set it to run in multi threaded mode :

http://itcprosolutions.com/skyrimguides/tweak_guide.htm

#4
Posted 04/09/2014 10:30 AM   
[quote="leopard_jumps"]Dont wonder too much about Skyrim . The original game is only single threaded . GTX 780 is a great choice . There is a workaround for Skyrim to set it to run in multi threaded mode : http://itcprosolutions.com/skyrimguides/tweak_guide.htm[/quote] Cheers, I will check that out tonight and see what happens!
leopard_jumps said:Dont wonder too much about Skyrim . The original game is only single threaded . GTX 780 is a great choice . There is a workaround for Skyrim to set it to run in multi threaded mode :

http://itcprosolutions.com/skyrimguides/tweak_guide.htm



Cheers, I will check that out tonight and see what happens!

#5
Posted 04/09/2014 10:50 AM   
One thing to keep in mind here is that 99% of the performance charts you'll see posted by Nvidia and others were done in 2D and not with 3DVision enabled. I had similar issues with heat+noise with a pair of GTX570's. I waited for the NON-ACX 780 model to be in stock at my local Fry's to ensure the hot air was pumped out the back of my case so running 2 780's in SLI did not overheat.
One thing to keep in mind here is that 99% of the performance charts you'll see posted by Nvidia and others were done in 2D and not with 3DVision enabled.

I had similar issues with heat+noise with a pair of GTX570's.

I waited for the NON-ACX 780 model to be in stock at my local Fry's to ensure the hot air was pumped out the back of my case so running 2 780's in SLI did not overheat.

i7-2600K-4.5Ghz/Corsair H100i/8GB/GTX780SC-SLI/Win7-64/1200W-PSU/Samsung 840-500GB SSD/Coolermaster-Tower/Benq 1080ST @ 100"

#6
Posted 04/09/2014 12:28 PM   
I would expect that 780 to be roughly 20% better than your dual 580s. Even in 3D. If you were getting better results with your 580s, something is definitely off. What driver are you running? The latest drivers have been pretty bad with respect to 3D. Go back to 320.49 and try that. 780 was supported then, so should be doable. [url]http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/63458/en-us[/url]
I would expect that 780 to be roughly 20% better than your dual 580s. Even in 3D. If you were getting better results with your 580s, something is definitely off.

What driver are you running? The latest drivers have been pretty bad with respect to 3D.

Go back to 320.49 and try that. 780 was supported then, so should be doable.

http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/63458/en-us

Acer H5360 (1280x720@120Hz) - ASUS VG248QE with GSync mod - 3D Vision 1&2 - Driver 372.54
GTX 970 - i5-4670K@4.2GHz - 12GB RAM - Win7x64+evilKB2670838 - 4 Disk X25 RAID
SAGER NP9870-S - GTX 980 - i7-6700K - Win10 Pro 1607
Latest 3Dmigoto Release
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#7
Posted 04/10/2014 05:32 AM   
[quote="leopard_jumps"]Dont wonder too much about Skyrim . The original game is only single threaded . GTX 780 is a great choice . There is a workaround for Skyrim to set it to run in multi threaded mode : http://itcprosolutions.com/skyrimguides/tweak_guide.htm[/quote] Ok, tried the multi threaded hack but unfortunately made no difference... [quote="bo3b"]I would expect that 780 to be roughly 20% better than your dual 580s. Even in 3D. If you were getting better results with your 580s, something is definitely off. What driver are you running? The latest drivers have been pretty bad with respect to 3D. Go back to 320.49 and try that. 780 was supported then, so should be doable. [url]http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/63458/en-us[/url][/quote] I'm back on the latest beta drivers, I had already tried a complete uninstall and then reinstalled the 320 drivers, but had the same issue. The low fps only seem to really effect Skyrim in 3d, which is a problem as it's my favourite game to play in 3d. I played it last night using ultra settings with highest AA @ 1080p in standard 2d and turned off v sync in the skyrim.ini files and was getting over100 fps in the same outdoor areas that @720p 3d I'm getting 25 fps... That can't be right!? I've wasted so much time trying to get this to run smooth and I don't have a lot of spare time, just want to enjoy some gaming! Think I'm gonna return the zotac and pay the extra for a different manufacturer... If I still get the same issue at least I will know it's not the card. I'm getting the impression that skyrim just performs better in 3d when using SLI, regardless of gpu power, I know the game was never designed to be played in 3d but with helix mod it is truly epic... The thing that still bothers me is: gpu usage = 68% max and CPU 25% max! Thanks to everyone who has replied, I will hopefully sort it soon... In the meantime I will carry on playing through portal 2 in 3d, forgot how great that game is!
leopard_jumps said:Dont wonder too much about Skyrim . The original game is only single threaded . GTX 780 is a great choice . There is a workaround for Skyrim to set it to run in multi threaded mode :

http://itcprosolutions.com/skyrimguides/tweak_guide.htm



Ok, tried the multi threaded hack but unfortunately made no difference...

bo3b said:I would expect that 780 to be roughly 20% better than your dual 580s. Even in 3D. If you were getting better results with your 580s, something is definitely off.

What driver are you running? The latest drivers have been pretty bad with respect to 3D.

Go back to 320.49 and try that. 780 was supported then, so should be doable.

http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/63458/en-us


I'm back on the latest beta drivers, I had already tried a complete uninstall and then reinstalled the 320 drivers, but had the same issue. The low fps only seem to really effect Skyrim in 3d, which is a problem as it's my favourite game to play in 3d. I played it last night using ultra settings with highest AA @ 1080p in standard 2d and turned off v sync in the skyrim.ini files and was getting over100 fps in the same outdoor areas that @720p 3d I'm getting 25 fps... That can't be right!?

I've wasted so much time trying to get this to run smooth and I don't have a lot of spare time, just want to enjoy some gaming! Think I'm gonna return the zotac and pay the extra for a different manufacturer... If I still get the same issue at least I will know it's not the card.

I'm getting the impression that skyrim just performs better in 3d when using SLI, regardless of gpu power, I know the game was never designed to be played in 3d but with helix mod it is truly epic...

The thing that still bothers me is: gpu usage = 68% max and CPU 25% max!

Thanks to everyone who has replied, I will hopefully sort it soon... In the meantime I will carry on playing through portal 2 in 3d, forgot how great that game is!

#8
Posted 04/10/2014 07:43 AM   
Could be some sort of profile problem. If it works better in SLI than single card. Doesn't seem like the card can be bad if you get normal performance in other games. Matching or better than your 580s. I haven't played with Skyrim, but are you using mods? I read that some of the mods can interact badly with 3D. The CPU 25% max is bad, and suggests that you are only using a single core at full speed. Affinity, or settings can change what cores are in use, but maybe that is normal for Skyrim. I would not expect that to change from SLI 580 to single 780 though.
Could be some sort of profile problem. If it works better in SLI than single card.

Doesn't seem like the card can be bad if you get normal performance in other games. Matching or better than your 580s.

I haven't played with Skyrim, but are you using mods? I read that some of the mods can interact badly with 3D.


The CPU 25% max is bad, and suggests that you are only using a single core at full speed. Affinity, or settings can change what cores are in use, but maybe that is normal for Skyrim. I would not expect that to change from SLI 580 to single 780 though.

Acer H5360 (1280x720@120Hz) - ASUS VG248QE with GSync mod - 3D Vision 1&2 - Driver 372.54
GTX 970 - i5-4670K@4.2GHz - 12GB RAM - Win7x64+evilKB2670838 - 4 Disk X25 RAID
SAGER NP9870-S - GTX 980 - i7-6700K - Win10 Pro 1607
Latest 3Dmigoto Release
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#9
Posted 04/10/2014 11:51 AM   
[quote="bo3b"]Could be some sort of profile problem. If it works better in SLI than single card. Doesn't seem like the card can be bad if you get normal performance in other games. Matching or better than your 580s. I haven't played with Skyrim, but are you using mods? I read that some of the mods can interact badly with 3D. The CPU 25% max is bad, and suggests that you are only using a single core at full speed. Affinity, or settings can change what cores are in use, but maybe that is normal for Skyrim. I would not expect that to change from SLI 580 to single 780 though.[/quote] I'm gonna "waste" some more time tonight and run some more CPU tests. looking at what other people have said about skyrim it could be CPU bottleneck, I'm no expert but I'm thinking that with skyrim the CPU was being used more efficiently with the 580s in sli than the single 780, not able to push all the information through a single pci quick enough?... I don't actually know what I'm talking about! Lol... But if it is only using 1 of the available cores that would explain 25% max load. I did try turning off HT but it made no odds... Maybe I will try a small overclock a see what happens. I feel I'm falling into the dreaded trap of tinkering with settings more than actually playing the games! But I'm more concerned that I've got a gimped 780 and running out of time to swap it (had it 9 days now)...
bo3b said:Could be some sort of profile problem. If it works better in SLI than single card.

Doesn't seem like the card can be bad if you get normal performance in other games. Matching or better than your 580s.

I haven't played with Skyrim, but are you using mods? I read that some of the mods can interact badly with 3D.


The CPU 25% max is bad, and suggests that you are only using a single core at full speed. Affinity, or settings can change what cores are in use, but maybe that is normal for Skyrim. I would not expect that to change from SLI 580 to single 780 though.


I'm gonna "waste" some more time tonight and run some more CPU tests. looking at what other people have said about skyrim it could be CPU bottleneck, I'm no expert but I'm thinking that with skyrim the CPU was being used more efficiently with the 580s in sli than the single 780, not able to push all the information through a single pci quick enough?... I don't actually know what I'm talking about! Lol... But if it is only using 1 of the available cores that would explain 25% max load. I did try turning off HT but it made no odds... Maybe I will try a small overclock a see what happens.

I feel I'm falling into the dreaded trap of tinkering with settings more than actually playing the games! But I'm more concerned that I've got a gimped 780 and running out of time to swap it (had it 9 days now)...

#10
Posted 04/10/2014 12:46 PM   
[quote="mbloof"]One thing to keep in mind here is that 99% of the performance charts you'll see posted by Nvidia and others were done in 2D and not with 3DVision enabled. I had similar issues with heat+noise with a pair of GTX570's. I waited for the NON-ACX 780 model to be in stock at my local Fry's to ensure the hot air was pumped out the back of my case so running 2 780's in SLI did not overheat.[/quote] Out of interest, what size gap have you got between your 780s? The problem I had with sli is that the cards were just too close together (like 5mm gap)... Cheers!
mbloof said:One thing to keep in mind here is that 99% of the performance charts you'll see posted by Nvidia and others were done in 2D and not with 3DVision enabled.

I had similar issues with heat+noise with a pair of GTX570's.

I waited for the NON-ACX 780 model to be in stock at my local Fry's to ensure the hot air was pumped out the back of my case so running 2 780's in SLI did not overheat.


Out of interest, what size gap have you got between your 780s? The problem I had with sli is that the cards were just too close together (like 5mm gap)...

Cheers!

#11
Posted 04/10/2014 12:52 PM   
[quote="Jam1in"]I'm gonna "waste" some more time tonight and run some more CPU tests. looking at what other people have said about skyrim it could be CPU bottleneck, I'm no expert but I'm thinking that with skyrim the CPU was being used more efficiently with the 580s in sli than the single 780, not able to push all the information through a single pci quick enough?... I don't actually know what I'm talking about! Lol... But if it is only using 1 of the available cores that would explain 25% max load. I did try turning off HT but it made no odds... Maybe I will try a small overclock a see what happens. I feel I'm falling into the dreaded trap of tinkering with settings more than actually playing the games! But I'm more concerned that I've got a gimped 780 and running out of time to swap it (had it 9 days now)...[/quote]Yep, it's a drag to tinker with the settings, but very often worth it. Another way to look at it is that you'll wind up wasting time returning and trying another card, so it's one or the other. I'd double check a different game, since Skyrim is known to be single threaded. Compare SLI580 to 780 on some other game, and that will tell you whether the 780 is working or not. There isn't a scenario that I know of where SLI would be faster than a single card with regard to CPU or PCI bus traffic. SLI requires a LOT of bandwidth that a single card typically does not. (So much so that you have to have the SLI connector) What other cards do you have installed? What OS are you running? For Skyrim itself, did anything else change when you swapped cards? CPU, RAM, new OS, anything? I can easily understand that 25% for a single core, single threaded game. I cannot explain why SLI580 would run any faster in that scenario, because it won't change CPU usage, and I'd expect SLI580 to be capped by the 25% single core max as well. Assuming that's the bottleneck, it shouldn't change. Unfortunately, I think that to solve the problem, you'll need to at least temporarily re-install the 580s to be sure you are seeing what you remember. Think of it as another game, just not the one you thought you were playing. :-0
Jam1in said:I'm gonna "waste" some more time tonight and run some more CPU tests. looking at what other people have said about skyrim it could be CPU bottleneck, I'm no expert but I'm thinking that with skyrim the CPU was being used more efficiently with the 580s in sli than the single 780, not able to push all the information through a single pci quick enough?... I don't actually know what I'm talking about! Lol... But if it is only using 1 of the available cores that would explain 25% max load. I did try turning off HT but it made no odds... Maybe I will try a small overclock a see what happens.

I feel I'm falling into the dreaded trap of tinkering with settings more than actually playing the games! But I'm more concerned that I've got a gimped 780 and running out of time to swap it (had it 9 days now)...
Yep, it's a drag to tinker with the settings, but very often worth it. Another way to look at it is that you'll wind up wasting time returning and trying another card, so it's one or the other.

I'd double check a different game, since Skyrim is known to be single threaded. Compare SLI580 to 780 on some other game, and that will tell you whether the 780 is working or not. There isn't a scenario that I know of where SLI would be faster than a single card with regard to CPU or PCI bus traffic. SLI requires a LOT of bandwidth that a single card typically does not. (So much so that you have to have the SLI connector)

What other cards do you have installed? What OS are you running?


For Skyrim itself, did anything else change when you swapped cards? CPU, RAM, new OS, anything?

I can easily understand that 25% for a single core, single threaded game. I cannot explain why SLI580 would run any faster in that scenario, because it won't change CPU usage, and I'd expect SLI580 to be capped by the 25% single core max as well. Assuming that's the bottleneck, it shouldn't change.

Unfortunately, I think that to solve the problem, you'll need to at least temporarily re-install the 580s to be sure you are seeing what you remember. Think of it as another game, just not the one you thought you were playing. :-0

Acer H5360 (1280x720@120Hz) - ASUS VG248QE with GSync mod - 3D Vision 1&2 - Driver 372.54
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#12
Posted 04/10/2014 11:29 PM   
[quote="Jam1in"][quote="mbloof"]One thing to keep in mind here is that 99% of the performance charts you'll see posted by Nvidia and others were done in 2D and not with 3DVision enabled. I had similar issues with heat+noise with a pair of GTX570's. I waited for the NON-ACX 780 model to be in stock at my local Fry's to ensure the hot air was pumped out the back of my case so running 2 780's in SLI did not overheat.[/quote] Out of interest, what size gap have you got between your 780s? The problem I had with sli is that the cards were just too close together (like 5mm gap)... Cheers![/quote] Mine are not right next to each other (there's a single card slot between the 780's when installed) so there's enough room for air flow but not enough for 570HD models which had the impeller mounted in the center of the card instead of towards the rear of the card like the Titans and my non-acx 780's. The top 570HD always ran 10-20C hotter than the bottom one because of this. With both cards "spun up" it would make one heck of a racket of noise. My 780's temp's track each other within 5C and are much quieter. (without ANY other modification to my system) There were a few SLI 780 early adopters in the EVGA forums whom swapped out their stock heatsinks for ACX models thinking that their cards would run even cooler. Most of them swapped back to the "hot air out the rear" solution within a few hours after their experiments.
Jam1in said:
mbloof said:One thing to keep in mind here is that 99% of the performance charts you'll see posted by Nvidia and others were done in 2D and not with 3DVision enabled.

I had similar issues with heat+noise with a pair of GTX570's.

I waited for the NON-ACX 780 model to be in stock at my local Fry's to ensure the hot air was pumped out the back of my case so running 2 780's in SLI did not overheat.


Out of interest, what size gap have you got between your 780s? The problem I had with sli is that the cards were just too close together (like 5mm gap)...

Cheers!


Mine are not right next to each other (there's a single card slot between the 780's when installed) so there's enough room for air flow but not enough for 570HD models which had the impeller mounted in the center of the card instead of towards the rear of the card like the Titans and my non-acx 780's.

The top 570HD always ran 10-20C hotter than the bottom one because of this. With both cards "spun up" it would make one heck of a racket of noise. My 780's temp's track each other within 5C and are much quieter. (without ANY other modification to my system)

There were a few SLI 780 early adopters in the EVGA forums whom swapped out their stock heatsinks for ACX models thinking that their cards would run even cooler. Most of them swapped back to the "hot air out the rear" solution within a few hours after their experiments.

i7-2600K-4.5Ghz/Corsair H100i/8GB/GTX780SC-SLI/Win7-64/1200W-PSU/Samsung 840-500GB SSD/Coolermaster-Tower/Benq 1080ST @ 100"

#13
Posted 04/11/2014 01:42 AM   
Definitely keep a one-PCIe-slot gap between SLI cards if you can. If you don't have a flexible or extra-long 2-way SLI bridge, just use a 3-way SLI bridge (leaving the middle prong/s unused). I use the gap in between mine for a PhysX card. Because it's short, it doesn't block the other cards' fans, and temps are all fine: [img]http://postachio-images.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/700adbbdfac613bd3a6c994890af82a8/eb95c1d7c0ac450dfe4c2303b4c94f96/cf6f135c6f4526cb8d1fe8b1d40e9cad.jpg[/img]
Definitely keep a one-PCIe-slot gap between SLI cards if you can. If you don't have a flexible or extra-long 2-way SLI bridge, just use a 3-way SLI bridge (leaving the middle prong/s unused).

I use the gap in between mine for a PhysX card. Because it's short, it doesn't block the other cards' fans, and temps are all fine:

Image

ImageVolnaPC.com - Tips, tweaks, performance comparisons (PhysX card, SLI scaling, etc)

#14
Posted 04/11/2014 05:19 AM   
Cheers for everyone's help and feedback! after installing some other older games I have come to the conclusion that it an issue with Skyrim. Played Dirt 3 last night with all settings maxed, in 3d @ 720p its rock solid at 60fps... in 2d @ 1080p it was averaging something like 110fps! so the card is good... Out of curiosity I tried skyrim on ultra settings @ 1080p 24hz in 3d... it stayed rock solid at 24 fps (unplayable obviously) but still interesting that as soon as I drop the resolution to 720p 60hz it jumps anywhere between 15 - 60 fps! (that's ultra settings without AA). If I scale back the settings to high it becomes playable but still stuttering. In all scenarios the GPU never went over 68% load, i watched the CPU usage via task manager on another screen, and none of the single cores went higher than 50%. BF3 on highest settings again had 98% GPU and pretty much used every CPU core 70 - 80%. I may try completely uninstalling it again and installing from disk as apposed to downloading via steam, see if that sorts it! Wow! I'm starting to bore myself with this now! Thanks again for all you input, and enjoy your 3d gaming! Roll on Oculus rift! (if Mark Zuckerberg doesn't destroy it 1st)...
Cheers for everyone's help and feedback! after installing some other older games I have come to the conclusion that it an issue with Skyrim. Played Dirt 3 last night with all settings maxed, in 3d @ 720p its rock solid at 60fps... in 2d @ 1080p it was averaging something like 110fps! so the card is good...

Out of curiosity I tried skyrim on ultra settings @ 1080p 24hz in 3d... it stayed rock solid at 24 fps (unplayable obviously) but still interesting that as soon as I drop the resolution to 720p 60hz it jumps anywhere between 15 - 60 fps! (that's ultra settings without AA). If I scale back the settings to high it becomes playable but still stuttering. In all scenarios the GPU never went over 68% load, i watched the CPU usage via task manager on another screen, and none of the single cores went higher than 50%. BF3 on highest settings again had 98% GPU and pretty much used every CPU core 70 - 80%.

I may try completely uninstalling it again and installing from disk as apposed to downloading via steam, see if that sorts it! Wow! I'm starting to bore myself with this now!

Thanks again for all you input, and enjoy your 3d gaming! Roll on Oculus rift! (if Mark Zuckerberg doesn't destroy it 1st)...

#15
Posted 04/11/2014 12:39 PM   
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