SLI and Trainz

[bendorsey]

My fellow Trainzers:

This thread is intended to be a serious discussion on the use and configuration of SLI capable video cards. Please do not let it degenerate into an argument about what users can, and can not, afford or what N3V should, or should not do, about SLI. I am fully aware no version of Trainz up to and including T:ANE is written to take advantage of SLI. What I am seeking are user experiences with SLI settings that seem to or have proven to work, suggestions that could be tried, and thoughts on the future of SLI.

SLI stands for Scalable Link Interface. Its a system where two or more identical GPU's can share the "video load" for improved performance. Hardware and software are required: a SLI enabled motherboard, a minimum of 2 identical GPU's, a SLI bridge that connects the GPU's in addition to motherboard connections, and some software.

SLI comes with a graphic activity indicator (which does not have to be active to run SLI). When turned on it gives a vertical bar graph showing SLI activity via a green bar where zero is in the center. Activity is indicated by the green bar extending up and down. With SLI and the activity indicator enabled I obtained the following results:
1. Gmax. Nothing. The entire graph fails to appear. Understandable of course - Gmax isn't a game.
2. TRS2004. The basic graph appears but absolutely no SLI activity was indicated. Not even a 1 pixel high green line in the center of the graph. Again understandable - TRS2004 is at least 10 years old.
3. TS2012. This gave indication of SLI activity. The green bar was about 1/6 of full scale and did vary slightly with screen activity.
4. T:ANE. This also gave indication of SLI activity. The green bar was about 1/3 of full scale and again varied with screen activity.

Why is this happening when neither TS2012 or T:ANE is written to support SLI? I haven't a clue and don't have the knowledge or expertise to investigate it. I do have one suggestion tho.

Hardware and software have improved over the years. The engine (Auranjet) that drives TS2012 is not the same as it was when it drove TRS2004. It has almost certainly been improved over the years. The engine that drives T:ANE is a far cry from Auranjet and is much more sophisticated. GPU technology has also improved. The new Pascal series of GPU's are much different internally as well as operationally. So might it not be possible some combination of new/improved game engines and GPU technology can somehow extract usable SLI info from games that are not written for SLI? I think so but as I said I haven't the ability to investigate it so this is a call for my fellow Trainzers who have a SLI enabled rig plus the computer and Trainz knowledge to look into this. Is it real? What effect does it have on frame rates? Can sliders, etc. be set higher for improved Trainzing? Plus dozens of questions I haven't thought of.

Thanks,

Ben

 

[Swordfish]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Link_Interface

I think technically every game is using SLI on a PC with SLI. But not every game has more fraps with SLI, some has less fraps, as mentioned in the report on wikipedia.
Just my 2c.
Regards
Swordfish

 

[johnwhelan]

Think in terms of cost of additional programming effort. Think in terms of can we get reasonable performance in other ways?

A Titian will give roughly the same level of performance as a couple of GTX1060 cards in SLI.

I think the basic reason for SLI was to support more graphics processing than could be obtained by other means at the time. GPUs are all about parallel processing so adding a second card made handling this fairly easy but note fairly easy.

TANE has to be aimed at a moderately good laptop these days, that's where the customer numbers are. There aren't that many people with an SLI setup clamouring for TANE to support SLI. It isn't going to sell that many more copies.

So if they have an SLI setup in the office and its quiet they might have a look at supporting it but I think its unlikely.

Cheerio John

 

[bendorsey]

I agree SLI will never be for everyone and probably not for most but it does exist and bears looking into for those who are interested.

Please keep in mind T:ANE puts a pretty good load on a GPU and that will only increase as T:ANE is improved and additional capabilities added to it.

Ben

 

[clam1952]

Look at it this way? Not supported doesn't necessarily mean you can't or it won't work, which apparently it does, however I'm not about to buy a second 980TI to find out ;o)

 

[pdkoester]

Malc, if a single 980TI is insufficient, you'd be better off increase of RAM, install on SSD, change CPU. I run a single GTX 980, all settings maximized. TS12 has problems of its own, where as T:ANE, runs smooth as silk on 1920X1080. Ryzen is now an option for CPU in the arena, and that may unleash more for less $$$ for anyone looking to change/upgrade/etc., a system that is years old. I've seen $499, $399, and $329 for the three Ryzen CPUs, each review I witnessed makes it worth while. But, let's still wait for some more tests before jumping there. You might see Intel try to pull a trick or two.

 

[clam1952]

I'm fine with my GTX980TI perfectly sufficient with an i7-6700K and 16GB DDR4.

Can't really find an excuse for a Ryzen as also got an i7-3770K plus GTX970 which works pretty well with TANE.

 

[pdkoester]

Yeah, I upgraded from i7 975 Extreme, to the 4790K a year ago... anything older than the 3770K may be a candidate, like the 2600K or 2700K.