How bad is microstuttering in SLI these days?

I am thinking of buying a new pc soon (you can probably tell by my recent posts!)

Like most people spending £2000 I want to make sure this purchase is perfect.

However I have recently heard of a worrying problem with SLI. I plan to get the 285GTX SLI but I hear SLI causes microstuttering at frame rates below the refresh rate of the monitor (usuall 60Hz). So with demanding games like crysis and GTA 4 etc...there will be microstuttering pretty much all the time.

Wont this ruin the gaming experience?

Anyone with Nvidia 2xx series SLI care to comment? Any improvements with recent drivers?

I have no idea about it but I recommend getting only 1 top of the line graphic card and just buying a new one later on.

To most gamers they don't notice it as they are too absorbed itno playing the game. And usually it isn't that noticeable anyways, only with a keen eye would you see microstutter. After the 9800 GX2, they seem to have fixed it, though the GTX 295 has a really bad case of it as shown in Vantage.

ehhh, pretty bad.

I would say only get one good GPU.

Anyone with Nvidia 2xx series SLI care to comment? Any improvements with recent drivers?

en3sge

No problems here.

I have a pretty keen eye for things like that so it will no doubt really drive me mad! I really hope they have fixed it. Which is worse for microstutter? Nvidia or ATI?en3sge

[QUOTE="en3sge"]I have a pretty keen eye for things like that so it will no doubt really drive me mad! I really hope they have fixed it. Which is worse for microstutter? Nvidia or ATI?samuraiguns

False

[QUOTE="samuraiguns"]

[QUOTE="en3sge"]I have a pretty keen eye for things like that so it will no doubt really drive me mad! I really hope they have fixed it. Which is worse for microstutter? Nvidia or ATI?Lyron-Baktos

False

Yeah I thought as much.

Youtube shows 4870s having lots of problems.

Talking of youtube, it has gtx285s, 260s, 295 and 9800gtx sli all microstuttering.

It seems microstutter might be more or less visible to you depending on how an*l you are with frame rate. If you are a frame rate wh*re like me then it may be obvious, whereas people less sensitive may not notice/care.

For example, I was pretty much the only one (in the world it seemed!) to spot numerous frame rate issues with timesplitters and quaKe III revolution on ps2. I wasnt looking for it, I was just wayyy more sensitive to it than other ppl.

I haven't noticed any microstuttering since I purchased SLi (8800GT). I'm fairly certain it's only noticeable at low FPS. If you pick up a high end SLi system, you shouldn't see microstuttering when your FPS is above 30. I haven't read about it in awhile, but the main result is one card putting out frames slightly slower than the other. The result is a mild difference in FPS, but if you're already above the detection limit of the human eye...Swiftstrike5

That does sound sensible. Can anyone coroborate this? That over 30fps and microstuttering is not visible to the human eye?

In this case it should be ok as i cant imagine even the mighty crysis making the sli setup getting under 30fps (generally) at resolutions 1080p or below.

[QUOTE="samuraiguns"]

[QUOTE="en3sge"]I have a pretty keen eye for things like that so it will no doubt really drive me mad! I really hope they have fixed it. Which is worse for microstutter? Nvidia or ATI?Lyron-Baktos

False

I have an hd3870x2(which is known to microstutter a lot) with an hd3870, and I notice none of it, maybe I am blind.

PS: ati fixed microstuttering problems with the 4x series, 3x and below have it.

[QUOTE="Swiftstrike5"]I haven't noticed any microstuttering since I purchased SLi (8800GT). I'm fairly certain it's only noticeable at low FPS. If you pick up a high end SLi system, you shouldn't see microstuttering when your FPS is above 30. I haven't read about it in awhile, but the main result is one card putting out frames slightly slower than the other. The result is a mild difference in FPS, but if you're already above the detection limit of the human eye...en3sge

That does sound sensible. Can anyone coroborate this? That over 30fps and microstuttering is not visible to the human eye?

In this case it should be ok as i cant imagine even the mighty crysis making the sli setup getting under 30fps (generally) at resolutions 1080p or below.

I run two 260 GTX's in sli and have no problems with micro stuttering. Get the two 285 GTX's, you won't disappointed.

mine has no microstutter at all, except crysis wars online is the only game but my 4890 handles that by itself anyway so microstutter is not an issue. crysis games may be the only game that might get microstutter, if any any other game a crossfire setup will tear up smoothly with mega FPS.

[QUOTE="Lyron-Baktos"]

[QUOTE="samuraiguns"] Nvidia only. ATi doesn't suffer from this problem.

samuraiguns

False

shouldnt vsync help alot? Im no sli expert, but I would be inclined to think so.

shouldnt vsync help alot? Im no sli expert, but I would be inclined to think so.

TerroRizing

shouldnt vsync help alot? Im no sli expert, but I would be inclined to think so.

[QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"][QUOTE="TerroRizing"]

shouldnt vsync help alot? Im no sli expert, but I would be inclined to think so.

Marfoo

[QUOTE="Marfoo"][QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"] Well with I use crossfire, crossfire + vsync = a big no no, especially with triple buffering, the screen lag is so bad it's crazy.TerroRizing

You guys might actually want to read and learn what micro-stuttering is before you comment on it.

It is a timing issue with the frames. It happens with every GPU, single or CF/SLI. It is really only noticeable on multiGPU setups, most likely due to the inherent latency between GPUs.

So yes, it is always there. It was worse on previous generations. It will always be there, though they maybe able to snyc the frames well enough to cause it to not be noticeable.

[QUOTE="TerroRizing"][QUOTE="Marfoo"] That's true even for single card setups. It's really apparent in first person shooters. Vsync = Delayed Frames = Non instantaneous input.Marfoo

[QUOTE="Marfoo"][QUOTE="TerroRizing"] I never noticed any input lag with vsync, although I only use it with games that seem to need it. For example, when I play the witcher i get weird stuttering without vsync enabled on my 4850.JigglyWiggly_

You won't notice microstutter unless you read about it from the internet. It's very mental.

You won't notice microstutter unless you read about it from the internet. It's very mental.

Mr_BillGates

shouldnt vsync help alot? Im no sli expert, but I would be inclined to think so.

Going off on a slight tangent, who thinks it is worth the wait for the next gen (dx11) cards then instead of putting up with the problems (and expense) of sli?

Going off on a slight tangent, who thinks it is worth the wait for the next gen (dx11) cards then instead of putting up with the problems (and expense) of sli?

en3sge

if gaming at 1680x1050 then a GTX285 or 4890 is all you will need to max any game. so get a system with just one of those cards then get the next series after they have been out a while.

Wait till dx 11 cards come out, i bet that issue will be fixed and the performance will kill crysis in 1 shot.

[QUOTE="Marfoo"][QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"] Well with I use crossfire, crossfire + vsync = a big no no, especially with triple buffering, the screen lag is so bad it's crazy.johnny27

Well in some games u can change the input delay like in crysis, idk the console command anymore tough.

But you can actually use the trick on nvidia card control panel like:

Go nvidia control panel

manage 3d settings

maximum pre-rendered frames = 0

that should reduce the input lag but idk if it's that much to make a huge difference.

[QUOTE="johnny27"][QUOTE="Marfoo"] That's true even for single card setups. It's really apparent in first person shooters. Vsync = Delayed Frames = Non instantaneous input.PanDa_Gaming

Well in some games u can change the input delay like in crysis, idk the console command anymore tough.

But you can actually use the trick on nvidia card control panel like:

Go nvidia control panel

manage 3d settings

maximum pre-rendered frames = 0

that should reduce the input lag but idk if it's that much to make a huge difference.

[QUOTE="PanDa_Gaming"]

[QUOTE="johnny27"] yeah v-sync has really bad mouse lag especially i fps games like cs:s and l4d its really bad for other games like say dmc4 not noticableMarfoo

Well in some games u can change the input delay like in crysis, idk the console command anymore tough.

But you can actually use the trick on nvidia card control panel like:

Go nvidia control panel

manage 3d settings

maximum pre-rendered frames = 0

that should reduce the input lag but idk if it's that much to make a huge difference.

Yeah but i've tried it and it works :P

[QUOTE="Marfoo"][QUOTE="PanDa_Gaming"]

Well in some games u can change the input delay like in crysis, idk the console command anymore tough.

But you can actually use the trick on nvidia card control panel like:

Go nvidia control panel

manage 3d settings

maximum pre-rendered frames = 0

that should reduce the input lag but idk if it's that much to make a huge difference.

Yeah but i've tried it and it works :P