playing older game with a GTX 580x possible ? any SLI issues ?

[techmarcforum]

Hi guys.

My plan is to buy 1x GTX580x first. I will be playing good older games for the next couple months, then I'll buy a 2nd GTX580x (to set SLI with my first one) and start playing most recent game. But I have 2 concerns:

1st: SINGLE (1-way, non-SLI) mode (i.e 1x GTX580x):
I've heard that the GTX serie (or any recent serie) may have problem running older games because the card is simply too recent. Is that True ? (my feeling is that they just forgot to install the proper directx version for these game, but I really gotta make sure).

2nd: SLI mode (2-way, 3-way or 4-way SLI) (i.e GTX580x 3-way SLI):
I've also heard that some (even recent) games have problems running when GPUs are set in SLI (i.e GTX 580x 2-way, 3-way or 4-way SLI). Is that true ? (seems to be the same for ATI in crossfire)

If not, will this be a problem with older games ? (hopes not, cuz I might be forced to buy a single GTX590x instead (which I would not prefer..)


Thanks a lot for you help guys.

 

[Sean W.]

a lot of older games ( depends on how far back you wanna go ) are capped at a certian frame rate. for example, Battle Field 1942 is capped at 60fps... i dont care how awesome of a computer you have, its no possible to go over 60fps on that game...


Crossfire and SLI do scale different in some games, i think when the GTX 580 came out Crysis 2 could only run off one of the cards, then Nividia did a driver update and it works fine now... thats the way its always going to be, trying to optimize your hardware to work in perfect conjunction with your software

 

[techmarcforum]

a lot of older games ( depends on how far back you wanna go ) are capped at a certian frame rate. for example, Battle Field 1942 is capped at 60fps... i dont care how awesome of a computer you have, its no possible to go over 60fps on that game...


Crossfire and SLI do scale different in some games, i think when the GTX 580 came out Crysis 2 could only run off one of the cards, then Nividia did a driver update and it works fine now... thats the way its always going to be, trying to optimize your hardware to work in perfect conjunction with your software

I'll play mostly last decade games (2000 +) only. What I want to make sure is that the only issue could have would be older games not detect my 2nd card, or simply not benefit from it.
Is that mostly the only issue I may have ?

If however older games get buggy or simply not work just because I have a SLI setting, I might reconsider my purchase.

Thanks for confirming that important point.

 

[tj_extreme]

I'll play mostly last decade games (2000 +) only. What I want to make sure is that the only issue could have would be older games not detect my 2nd card, or simply not benefit from it.
Is that mostly the only issue I may have ?

If however older games get buggy or simply not work just because I have a SLI setting, I might reconsider my purchase.

Thanks for confirming that important point.

If you're only planning on playing older games for the time being, save yourself the cash and go with a 550ti or a 6850. Even if you plan on playing newer games at decent framerates, you probably aren't going to need sli'd 580's, let alone 590's.

 

[techmarcforum]

If you're only planning on playing older games for the time being, save yourself the cash and go with a 550ti or a 6850. Even if you plan on playing newer games at decent framerates, you probably aren't going to need sli'd 580's, let alone 590's.

If you read my first post (first 2 lines) you'll get ur answer

 

[tj_extreme]

If you read my first post (first 2 lines) you'll get ur answer

Read my whole reply. You don't need a 580 for old games. I know you want to play new games eventually, but a single 580 will max out BF3 and Skyrim, unless of course you're playing on like 3 monitors or some insane resolution. What resolution do you monitor(s) do you play on?

 

[techmarcforum]

Read my whole reply. You don't need a 580 for old games. I know you want to play new games eventually, but a single 580 will max out BF3 and Skyrim, unless of course you're playing on like 3 monitors or some insane resolution. What resolution do you monitor(s) do you play on?

Thanks.
I won't ever be playing multi-screen, nor will I play 3D or watch 3D movies.
I'm not sure what screen I will get since I'm still in the process of choosing componant of my PC, but here are some componant I'm pretty sure to get:

CPU: i7 2700K
Memory: 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz RAM (2x8gb)
HD: 150Gb SDD
PSU: some good branded 850 or 1000W
GPU: trying to choose one.. (had 580 in mind as you notice)
OS: Win7 64bit
Mobo: no idea yet
Cooling: same


I agree with you But the fact is... I also want to be able to try BTF3, the Witcher 2 and some of these latest game too..But since I will be playing a lil bit more of older games in the first months, I though it was just wise to go that way.. (Do you really think that my GTX580 will be too much powerfull for running older games on ultra setting like Doom3 and such... those are kind of demanding... ) Well, actually I have no idea...I would like to have that info (what's the highest requirement for playing maximum setting for any particular game)... that info would help me a lot.

All games company seems to provide both the minimum and recommended system requirement for all games they releases. But we don't have the "maximum" system requirement information. (what system is required to play the game on maximum setting).. Do we ? Because I never saw that kind of info and I'd love to have it...


Thanks

 

[GhOsT1321]

There are many reasons for a company NOT to provide the requirements for maximum settings with perfect FPS. They would have to get very technical, and go extensive research and testing to be sure they are correct. This would be a waste of money, as your average gamer does not want to max out a game.
To max out a game depends largely on your resolution. I can max nearly any game with my 6850 and get consistent 40+FPS. This is because my resolution is smaller than most are using lately. My resolution is 900 x 1440 (1,296,000 pixels). Many use 1920×1080 (2,073,600 pixels) or higher. The later resolution has 62.5% more pixels, and thus, the video card has to populate those pixels. This requires more graphical processing power.

About 8-9 years ago, the old CRTs were 640 x 480 (307200 pixels). 720HD being 1280 x 720 (921600 pixels). The lowest resolution in TVs considered to be HD, 720 has over 3 times the amount of pixels.

Resolution plays a large role in system requirements for any game.

 

[techmarcforum]

There are many reasons for a company NOT to provide the requirements for maximum settings with perfect FPS. They would have to get very technical, and go extensive research and testing to be sure they are correct. This would be a waste of money, as your average gamer does not want to max out a game.
To max out a game depends largely on your resolution. I can max nearly any game with my 6850 and get consistent 40+FPS. This is because my resolution is smaller than most are using lately. My resolution is 900 x 1440 (1,296,000 pixels). Many use 1920×1080 (2,073,600 pixels) or higher. The later resolution has 62.5% more pixels, and thus, the video card has to populate those pixels. This requires more graphical processing power.

About 8-9 years ago, the old CRTs were 640 x 480 (307200 pixels). 720HD being 1280 x 720 (921600 pixels). The lowest resolution in TVs considered to be HD, 720 has over 3 times the amount of pixels.

Resolution plays a large role in system requirements for any game.

Just found a site that does it:
game-debate. c o m

 

[GhOsT1321]

Just found a site that does it:
game-debate. c o m

I was unable to find where the requirements are for maximum settings with perfect FPS.
I found hardware calculators, but they did not mention what resolution, or what quality the game was being played at.