SLI crashing

[nomec]

SLI crashing

I have searched around the forums a bit but didn't really find what I was looking for. I am using the new nvidia 174.74 beta drivers using SLI'ed 8800 Ultras. I consistently crash in the Witcher with SLI enabled, whether it be at the main menu within 10 seconds or if I make it past the main menu maybe a min or two into the game. is SLI just not working in this game? I have been trying to play this game in SLI with the last 5 or 6 drivers made available by nvidia and i am crashing with the "display driver has stopped responding and has successfully recovered" every time. Turning off SLI makes it work fine, but my FPS are lower at 1920x1200 and full settings and I dont want to render my second ultra useless.Does anyone know what to do?

 

[nomec]

oh and im on vista 32 bit with 2gb of ram and evga 8800s with a evga 680i A1 mobo

 

[Maerd.298]

Try the different version of drivers. I mean, go back in the drivers version until you find one which is working. Since my SLI mode works without any problems, you eventually should find drivers that work good.

 

[nomec]

well I play other games too and the most recent drivers are what makes them work well. I dont get why the game works fine with SLI disabled but when I turn it on I get the nvlddmkm error.

 

[Maerd.298]

But you have BETA drivers, "beta" means they were not completely tested for reliability. I had a situation with my previous video card when some games worked with one set of drivers but the other games required the different once, which didn't work with the first game. Bugs happen and are an unavoidable evil.

 

[mobidoy]

well I play other games too and the most recent drivers are what makes them work well. I dont get why the game works fine with SLI disabled but when I turn it on I get the nvlddmkm error.

This is my 2 cents about it... 2 orens sorry.The engine that The witcher was build on was not designed to work with sli mode... It's the same engine that was used for NwN 1 but, heavily modified... So, if they want sli or crossfire to be compatible with it, they will need to hack big time the engine...

 

[Majic8]

With crossfired 3870's I see little or no difference in framerates. No crashes though. If a game does not support SLI or Crossfire there isn't much point in using it. Just another thing to screw things up.

 

[nomec]

Well I have tried all drivers including WHQL drivers from nvidia's site and none of them have ever worked in the witcher with SLI. But then I have people telling me they are running SLI fine with no hitches. So that is why it's bothering me that I get "display driver has stopped responding and has successfully recovered" and I have to stop the game.

 

[vaernus]

Tough to say. You can have five exact same systems compared to each other with SLI, and I can guarantee they will not all work the same. Same drivers and everything. It comes down to how the computer was used. What software was installed and uninstalled? How long has Windows been installed since the last format? Registry problems? Spyware/Viruses? Was the computer properly maintained? The phase of the moon? Did you look at the PC funny?It's hard to compare any computer because of how dynamic a PC is, regardless if the specs are 100% the same. Sometimes you may have to format a drive and start over with a clean installation as a base. Yea it sucks, and I don't want to do it on a regular basis, but that's about the only time you can compare a computer, and even then Windows may install slightly different.

 

[Maerd.298]

The Witcher supports SLI. Stop misinforming people! I just checked myself, the difference in fps is 1.8 TIMES BETTER WITH SLI. Also check the nVidia site, the game is present in the supporting SLI list.What can I tell... try another game and see if it works there... to make sure it's not defective SLI controller or the second video card. Also check the nVidia driver notes sometimes you can read many interesting things there...

 

[nomec]

Of course it supports SLI... just not on Vista apparently, I have heard others that can't run SLI either. Works fine when I turn off SLI so it's prolly a driver problem or something wrong with the game. It works fine in all other games.

 

[Maerd.298]

I have Vista too, so it's confirmed that vista is doing fine. Have you tried to kill all other processes before starting the Witcher?

 

[nomec]

yes of course

 

[mobidoy]

I am not saying it doesn,t support it, i said it was not design for it... This is a big difference...As Vaernus said, it all comes down to single bits... Some can run it with sli, other cant, some can run it with Daemon tool or alcohol 120% installed, many cant.... These problems gets down to individual computers. I have helped so many people here that have tried things in the faq and could not still run it. So i had to do the support for only that computer instead of going with general answers like you get from official support you get from game sites...I had to do it step by step, 1 thing at a time so we could pin point exactly what was causing the problem on that computer. It can be soo many things... Even things that are usualy overlooked like, power supply or linux partitions/bootstrap.

 

[nomec]

understandable... I assume my single 8800 ultra is enough but I have all the settings maxed and on 1920x1200 so it would be nice to get maximum performance and not having to turn on/off SLI everytime I play it would be nice as well.

 

[Eri94_user70]

SLI = overrated by facests at nVidia boot camp who want you to spend money on 2 £300+ cards knowing full well your not going to be using SLI for 3D development work (as SLI and CrossFire are both really intended for).Read nVidia's own driver notes for evedence of SLI issues with various DX routeens.SLI / Crossfire, dont use it. nuff said!

 

[vaernus]

http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/web/11A62C1EDBC3E972CA256FF8000C97F2This tends to describe why SLI is or is not worth it for anyone interested.

 

[nomec]

understandable that some people might think it is useless, but I run my games all on 1920x1200 and once you start getting to 4xAA+ and higher AF and DX10 settings to the max it starts to pay off - I also like to make sure I am getting maximum frames possible even if it is not that big of a deal. In call of duty 4 when I turn off SLI my fps are fine but I get slowdowns - none in SLI. Plus I had money to burn so I wasn't all too concerned.All that aside (I don't want this to turn into a debate about the usefullness of SLI - I just want it to work), I still don't see why I am unable to run in SLI when there are other people out there that are having no problems with it. So does anyone have any suggestions as to knowing why it crashes in SLI but not when turned off? If no one has figured anything out then so be it. Or is my only option to revert back to the 163.75 nvidia WHQL drivers (which will screw up my other games)?

 

[Eri94_user70]

Soooooo what kinda performance boost do you get for your extra £300?Just... Just for the record?.. mmm... what kinda speed improvement do you gain for £300?... Mmmm... just curious because, see, because I can update my RAM and processor to improve my PC speed... for... um... £120... or less... just... just asking, and all that... Mmmm?.... :-\

 

[nomec]

blah this wasn't supposed to go into a debate about how much improvement SLI really gives. I just asked for help and I am still hoping someone out there can maybe provide me with some insight if they have experienced this or might know what I can do. Any help is appreciated ps - i wasn't trying to come off snide or rude or anything I just wanted to stay on topic and i was guilty of not doing that myself