SLI (NVLink) for prolonging the life of 3D Vision?

[P.C.Zen]

What do people think about SLI (NVLink) for prolonging 3D Vision's longevity?

Currently SLI is being phased out, with Z590 mid range boards not supporting 8x by 8x via the PCIe x16 slots; that's now reserved for high end motherboards. ​

Personally I'm going to try to SLI to keep things going a little longer....what do people think?

I'm building a custom water loop to keep the cards cool, it's super-expensive but I've been wanting to water cool for years and just haven't had a use case to justify it ,until now.

EK Waterblocks are currently selling a 2000 series GPU waterblock at a reduced price that fits a wide range of 2000 series cards, including Titan RTX: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-ve ... kel-acetal

Here's the compatibility list for the block: https://www.ekwb.com/configurator/water ... 1109814345

They also have a plexi version if you want RGB but they're more expensive.

I have two of the nickel and acetal GPU blocks on their way to me and will be building a new dedicated 3D PC over the next two to three months.

I hope to add a second GPU some time in the future once it becomes affordable.

As far as SLI boards are concerned I'm going to opt for a ROG STRIX Z590-E Gaming, because I already have an Intel CPU and a water block for it and because I have very fast RAM which can make a difference when running 1080p resolution in applications needing very high frame-rates.

Also...Intel's Alder Lake chips are scheduled to launch in Q4 of this year, so there's that to consider but I'm sticking to Z590 boards really for cost and convenience at this point.

What do people think about SLI...?...I know it's not recommended but I'm going for it anyway.

[Tullebob]

For my previous two builds, I have rocked SLI. First with 2x970, then 2x1080ti. The experience with 3d vision and SLI is generally negative, increasingly so with newer games. The experience is much better now with 2080ti single card solution. Keep in mind that we generally struggle with CPU limitations, no so much GPU. My impression is that the 2080ti will be awesome for years to come yet, and that the best improvements can be had by upgrading cpu and ram. Read the posts by DJ-RK pertaining to his relatively recent CPU and RAM upgrade to his current rig, where he makes clear the benefits of his ryzen chip in combination with 4x ram pieces. So, SLI? No thanks. Even though I liked the concept and many things about SLI, the actual experience just does not cut it any longer.

[P.C.Zen]

For my previous two builds, I have rocked SLI. First with 2x970, then 2x1080ti. The experience with 3d vision and SLI is generally negative, increasingly so with newer games. The experience is much better now with 2080ti single card solution. Keep in mind that we generally struggle with CPU limitations, no so much GPU. My impression is that the 2080ti will be awesome for years to come yet, and that the best improvements can be had by upgrading cpu and ram. Read the posts by DJ-RK pertaining to his relatively recent CPU and RAM upgrade to his current rig, where he makes clear the benefits of his ryzen chip in combination with 4x ram pieces. So, SLI? No thanks. Even though I liked the concept and many things about SLI, the actual experience just does not cut it any longer.

Wow, really? :0/

That's good to know, so absolutely not worth it?

I'm going to buy a second card as a backup at some point but you don't think it's worth SLI-ing it, even if I have it?

...I guess the answers going to be 'no' but, thought I'd ask anyway.

[3DNovice]

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[3DNovice]

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[Necropants]

I used SLI and nvlink for the longest time. It just never really worked well and in some cases created extra issues in 3d vision or introduced artifacts, it just never got developer attention enough to really be beneficial in most games and the driver profiles often needed adjustments to make it work and introduced more problems than it was worth.

Really unfortunately creates too many headaches to be worth it. I currently have a 2080ti and one for a backup but I am not running SLI in my new build due to this.

[P.C.Zen]

Thanks guys, that's actually a real weight off of my mind now that you've talked me out of it, because it was turning into a major headache.

I guess I'll just stick with what I've got. It's kind of a relief if truth be told.

[NeIVIeSiS]

Well, for example, I just started a new Skyrim game. I heavily modded it with 4k and 8k textures, high polygon meshes, and over 800 mods including many script extensions. In other words, it makes the game very demanding.

I have SLIx2 GTX 1070 with the newer bridge, and I am running Evo SSD, 3900x, 64 GB RAM. Skyrim by default does not support SLI, so only a single card was being used and I got 15-20fps with 3d Vision on my 1440p monitor. I then used the driver hack to enable SLI on Skyrim, and it doubled my framerate. Only a small bug is introduced with the flickering background when the main menu is overlaid, and no support for game antialiasing.

So it does work, granted, Skyrim SE is an older game. But in this instance, SLI made a huge difference. With that said, I' would have upgraded both 1070 to a single 2080ti, had I known prices were going to go crazy down the road and 3d vision would be impossible for the 30x gen. But at this point, I can't justify spending $1500 + for 1 of them.

[RAGEdemon]

SLi support got so bad recently that I ended up side-grading from 2x 1080 SLI to a single 2080 Ti. Additional advantage is VR does not support SLi.

NeIVIeSiS, you're not doing yourself justice if you're not playing Skyrim in VR in 2021

[NeIVIeSiS]

SLi support got so bad recently that I ended up side-grading from 2x 1080 SLI to a single 2080 Ti. Additional advantage is VR does not support SLi.

NeIVIeSiS, you're not doing yourself justice if you're not playing Skyrim in VR in 2021

You're probably right. But the last VR set I tried, the Samsung Odyssey had too low a resolution for my taste. I know newer VR such as the Pimax 8KX is much better, but then I currently lack the hardware with 2 gtx 1070 to drive it. I am waiting for the tech to mature a bit further, and for the VGA market bubble to burst. I've been using 3D vision since 2009 non-stop. I really like it.

And btw, I thought two 1070 sli match a single 2080ti, based on all the comparisons I saw. I would have expected two 1080ti > single 2080ti in games that support SLI?

[RAGEdemon]

My 1080s were non-Ti

[msm903]

I still have my 2 2080-ti's configured for SLI still get some uplift on some games...... older titles ... and yeah none of my VR games support it.

Brings tears to my eyes. I can't remember the last time I did not run SLI in my system