SLi 8800 GTX's, Vista, horrible performance

[icewolf69]

Hi, I'm having some problems with my SLi config.

I've got:
evga 680i mobo
C2D x6800
Sli 8800 gtx
4gb RAM
Vista x64 ultimate
Samsung 244t 24" monitor

When i play FEAR, FPS is horrible, it's like 15 when i'm in a firefight, and like 22-24 idle. Resolution is 1920x1200, all settings max except soft shadows and the other one that gives you the warning that it's a high performance option when you turn it on. Vsync is on.

Now i realize that it's maxe settings and all, and a high resolution, but come on, 20fps? I have had it to 60 FPS before, but it seems like it comes and goes, sometimes i can just run arround for 20 seconds and the FPS will sudenly doubly and then be stable at 60 till i load a map or die. And sometimes it never goes up and just stays at 20ish.

WoW is kinda the same way. When i'm idle it's 60 fps, but when i move the camera arround it bottlenecks kinda bad down to about 40ish, and when i'm flying in some areas, like shattrath city, it bottlenecks a lot. All settings are max on wow, except multisampling, which is at 1x. vsync enabled, same resolution as fear.

I've tried different drivers and none seem to work any better than the other. Uh, sli is enabled according to nvidia control panel, and it shows 2 8800gtx's in device manager.

Any help is appreciated thanks.

I've narrowed the FPS problem in FEAR due to shadows. For some reason, i can have every single thing maxed out and on and get 60 fps, but the second i enable shadows, 20fps. It sucks because shadows add so much to the game, anyone know what this is about?

Still havent figured out wow though.

 

[sarsoft]

Vista = Bad for gaming (well not that bad with some games). Wait couple of months or to a year before things get better with Vista hopfully by SP1. Go with XP Pro and you will get nice results. e6600 clocked at 3.6 and sli 8800gtx's at 642 and 1000 gets me at 16000 aroundish in 3dmark06 no complaints there.

 

[prozac26]

Forget Vista for now if you're a gamer. Performance sucks.

Wait a little, drivers should clean this issue.

 

[Primitivus]

It's not only Vista that sucks with games, it's also the graphics drivers that are still too immature. Things will get better but if you want results here and now, install XP.
One thing you could try for the moment, though, is to disable VSync

 

[PSYCHoHoLiC]

Yeah, i dont think all of his problem is vista, I get better performance than that with my 1900XTX. I think some of it has to do w/ nvidia's vista driver problems.

 

[spike180]

Did u turn off aero?

 

[bullaRh]

you use logitech mouse? that could be the problem in FEAR looky here -> im 99% it would help http://forums.vugames.com/thread.jspa?threadID=33244&tstart=15

 

[Stewartwi]

Not sure if your running Xfire messanger but that can cause really bad framerate loss as well.

 

[warezme]

1: Make sure you have the latest SLI capable drivers

2: Make sure one of your cards is not defective, here's why,

I started out with one 8800GTX, everytime I tried to update the driver, I would get the Nvidia power sentinel stating I did not have enough power to the card. I was running PC Power and Cooling 700W SLI certified PSU and later upgraded to a 1Kw BFG Quad SLI certified PS with the same results.

Turns out the card had a BAD Voltage regulator and although it ran fine with the default driver from the installation disc, the new drivers have the sentinel and trigger the voltage regulator issue.

The card then goes into safe mode and runs at HALF speed. This is true for both XP and VISTA>

You need to pull both cards out and make sure you test one at a time with the latest driver making sure the sentinel is not kicking in. Vista is not very good at showing the sentinel but XP is and it will be triggered on boot up into the OS. You will see the warning.

Whichever card is bad will fail with the sentinel warning with the latest driver. The card will have to be returned, no other options.

You should only be seeing a 15% loss in performance compared to XP, thats it, provided the game has no other issues like it crashes because it doesn't like VISTA.

Also, I am assuming you have a high powered SLI certified PS.

Good luck,

 

[Stealth_JAG]

Also, Did you do a clean install of Vista or did you upgrade over XP? I've heard some people have performance problems when they did an upgrade over XP vice a clean install.

Rob

 

[icewolf69]

you use logitech mouse? that could be the problem in FEAR looky here -> im 99% it would help http://forums.vugames.com/thread.jspa?threadID=33244&tstart=15

yes i use a G5, but i've allready dissabled the HID complient devices.

Not sure if your running Xfire messanger but that can cause really bad framerate loss as well.

I'm not using Xfire, is that ATI?

Did u turn off aero?

I'll try that. Allthough i doubt it would have any impact on FEAR because it's only shadows that make it slow.

Also, Did you do a clean install of Vista or did you upgrade over XP? I've heard some people have performance problems when they did an upgrade over XP vice a clean install.

Rob

Clean install

1: Make sure you have the latest SLI capable drivers

I do, 100.65

2: Make sure one of your cards is not defective, here's why,

hmm, i doubt that i am, I've never seen any warnings like that, a possibility though, I've RMA'd 2 parts outa my PC already

Also, I am assuming you have a high powered SLI certified PS.

I do, a silverstone zues 850w



I've noticed after some testing, even with shadows enabled, most of the time if i just sit there and don't move after i load a level, the FPS will magically go back up. After about 35-40 seconds. I would have no idea what would be causing this. And even if shadows are enabled and the FPS has increased after i wait, if i hit a check point in FEAR that does the auto-save, or i load a new level, it goes back down into the 20's.

 

[Dahak]

UNinstall your video drivers,reboot into safe mode,then re-install the video drivers.Hopefully that will fix your issues.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.6 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X EVGA 7950GT KO IN SLI
2X 512MB CRUCIAL BALLISTIX DDR500
WD300GIG HD
ACER 22IN WIDESCREEN LCD 1600X1200
THERMALTAKE TOUGHPOWER 850WATT PSU
COOLERMASTER MINI R120
3DMARK05 13,471

 

[Diddly]

I thought the reason was that Nvidia have yet to release a proper driver for Vista -> despite what nvidia might tell you with their vista ready stickers etc.

anyway read this + some of the linked news items are also good reading:
INQ

 

[Dahak]

Oh ya,you're on vista.Sorry bout that.You are right though that NVIDIA drivers suck for Vista right now.Well all I can suggest is either go back to to xp pro,or wait till sp1 for Vista comes out.By then nvidia should have their driver problems worked out.Goodluck.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.6 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X EVGA 7950GT KO IN SLI
2X 512MB CRUCIAL BALLISTIX DDR500
WD300GIG HD
ACER 22IN WIDESCREEN LCD 1600X1200
THERMALTAKE TOUGHPOWER 850WATT PSU
COOLERMASTER MINI R120
3DMARK05 13,471

 

[Stewartwi]

Quote:
Not sure if your running Xfire messanger but that can cause really bad framerate loss as well.



I'm not using Xfire, is that ATI?

No X-fire is a messanger based program that allows instant messages while playing your favorite games. It's a neat program but can cause problems. Check them out if you like. X-Fire

 

[icewolf69]

Just to update everyone since someone replied, i reformatted and went back to XP, problem fixed.

Thanks for your help

 

[slashzapper]

Whats everyone talking about VISTA IS BRILLIANT !!!

*system crashes* 8O No it SUX :lol:

 

[petevsdrm]

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_101.41.html

I saw that you reinstalled XP, and right now I totally agree that's the way to go. In fact that's the same thing I ended up doing last weekend. If there is anyone else having problems with vista drivers here is a link to the latest nVidia beta drivers for Vista that people seem to be having a lot better results with. I am sticking with XP for now though.

good luck

 

[Stewartwi]

Just to update everyone since someone replied, i reformatted and went back to XP, problem fixed.

Thanks for your help

Glad you got it working again.

 

[human_error]

Just to update everyone since someone replied, i reformatted and went back to XP, problem fixed.

Thanks for your help

Glad to see it's working again. I would like to see less vista bashing and more nvidia driver bashing going on, as i am on vista (have been for a few months now) and have the system in my spec, latest ATI drivers are pretty good, very little performance hit compared with XP drivers and i'm hoping next weeks' driver release will bring ATI's vista drivers even closer to XP.

For nvidia users i would suggest waiting in xp until nvidia get their dx10 issues sorted out as i feel that their vista driver development is on getting dx10 working as opposed to getting dx9 games running well under vista, so pester them to get dx9 working well first.

 

[harmattan]

Just to update everyone since someone replied, i reformatted and went back to XP, problem fixed.

Thanks for your help

Glad to see it's working again. I would like to see less vista bashing and more nvidia driver bashing going on, as i am on vista (have been for a few months now) and have the system in my spec, latest ATI drivers are pretty good, very little performance hit compared with XP drivers and i'm hoping next weeks' driver release will bring ATI's vista drivers even closer to XP.

For nvidia users i would suggest waiting in xp until nvidia get their dx10 issues sorted out as i feel that their vista driver development is on getting dx10 working as opposed to getting dx9 games running well under vista, so pester them to get dx9 working well first.

True, immature nV drivers are to blame here. This same issue was happening to me in Vista, so I switched back to XP.

In all fairness I'm running Vista Premium on my laptop and lovin' it. I find the interface much cleaner than XP and basic performance (IE, Desktop Search etc.) is much better. The ATI driver has been running my X1800 Mobility perfectly.

 

[deathbybubba]

Try turning the vsync off. I've always had problems when it was enabled, but then again, my system is POS

 

[Spidubic]

So far I guess I am lucky. I have installed 10-15 of my games on Vista and found they all run just as well as on my old XP install. Some games like World of Warcraft and Everquest II actually run better. BFG 7950 FX2 with 97.xx drivers

 

[petevsdrm]

I have found that most of the problems with nVidia drivers come from the 8800 series. My 7900 was running fine in vista, the trouble started when I upgraded.

 

[tamalero]

correct me if im wrong but, since when nvidia released the SLI driver fo vista?
last time I seen, they hadnt.