oblivion SLI problems [RESOLVED]

[philheckler]

Hi,

I'm having some problems running sli with elder scrolls oblivion - basically I don't see any of the SLI visual indicators when running oblivion that I see on all my other games - this probably means that from some reason that I can't fathom SLI isn't running for oblivion on my machine - I checked the profiles in the nvidia control panel and the profile is there - it should run whenever I run ovlivion.exe... any ideas

PS - I also have the latest nvidia drivers loaded

Phil.

[Indoril Nerevar]

Hi Phil,

Exactly what is the problem? What do you mean the "SLI visual indicators"?

SLI doesn't run "per application" - it's either on or it's off, and that's controlled by the drivers. If you have it turned on in the drivers, then it's on, no matter what game you're playing.

[philheckler]

Hi,

What I mean is that even though I have SLI enabled in the nvidia control panel - it does not appear to be running in oblivion - the main indicator being no SLI visual indicators which I see in all my other games exept oblivion - the lack of which usually means that SLI is not running.

As far as I understand it SLI only runs properly for an application if there is an SLI profile in the NVIDIA driver - for some reason this is not happening in oblivion for me even though there is an SLI profile for Oblivion in the driver.

The SLI visual indicators are in game graphical overlays that you can turn on and off in the nvidia control panel - they indicate GPU loading - the indicators vary depending on SLI mode - (alternate frame rendering - AFR - vertical green bar , split frame rendering - SFR - horizontal bar) - currently they are present in all my games bar oblivion hence my suspicion that SLI is not running in oblivion.

Phil.

[Indoril Nerevar]

Okay, open the NVIDIA Control Panel, and go View -> Use Classic NVIDIA Control Panel -> OK (if you're already using the Classic version, skip that step). The go Start -> Control Panel -> Display -> Settings -> Advanced -> *Your Card* -> Performance and Quality Settings. Select the Oblivion profile under "Active Profile". Then select "Advanced Settings" under "View". Scroll down until you get to "SLI rendering mode", and check that it's ticked. Then, select SLI multi-GPU on the left, and make sure the "Show GPU load balancing" checkbox is ticked.

If that's all as it should be (ticked in both cases), then try turning off SLI and see if your in-game performance drops. If it does, then you know SLI is working fine, even if the load balancing isn't showing.

Another thing - you can create a custom profile for Oblivion, and change what SLI setting is used. Click "Modify Profile" and save it under a new name, then scroll back down that list to "SLI rendering mode". Untick it, and a drop-down box will appear, allowing you to select which mode you want to use. See if changing that brings up the load balancing in-game.


You might also want to have a read of the NVIDIA Drivers thread in my signature - some interesting information in there about the latest NVIDIA Drivers, and why you shouldn't be using them...

[philheckler]

Hi,

I switched to SFR mode in the oblivion profile and got the horizontal indicator straight away but comparing the frame rates between sfr and afr modes walking down the same street in skingrad I got worse frame rates in sfr - I can only conclude from this that oblivion must be running in SLI afr mode but for some reason no AFR indicators are being displayed

I get frame rates of between min 20 fps - to around 80 fps max with all settings on highest exept HDR which i do not like - prefer bloom and 4xaa - I think the lack of AFR indicators must be a driver bug so I'm going to forget the tech stuff and just concentrate on playing this great game.

Thanks for the help.

Phil

[Indoril Nerevar]

No worries. If you're not having any performance issues, I really wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy the game!

[philheckler]

Hi,

Ok - i think i've found why i don't get AFR visual indicators in oblivion see below that I found on a forum.. I quote

" If you see the horizontal green bar in SFR, then SLI is working (although my performance sucks with that method at the mo). As for AFR, apparently the two white lines don't show up if you have vsync enabled - disable it and see if they reappear. "

I haven't tried it yet cuz I'm in work - but I'll post back with the results...


Phil.

[philheckler]

Hi,

Well this is truly resolved now - if you have vsync enabled i the oblivion startup menu you will not see AFR visual indicators in game..

Phil.

[Indoril Nerevar]

Thankyou very much for posting that info, Phil. I'm sure it will come in handy for other people.