1080TI SLI not working! Please save me!

[Arkavick]

Title says it all.

I've been trying to enable SLI in Skyrim with my 1080Tis using Nvidia Inspector but nothing I do seems to work.

 

 

• OS
  Windows 10
• Processor
  I7 7800X (OC 4.4Ghz)
• Memory
  64GB DDR4 (3000Mhz)
• Motherboard
  Asuz TUF X299 Mk2
• Graphics Card:
  GTX 1080Ti SLI

 

 

FPS in game varies from 60 to 100FPS (depending on location) which is very low for my spec.

1080TI SLI should be running at about double this for Skyrim.

 

Changing resolution does very little to effect performance.

Each GPU is only performing at at 35% usage and my CPU is at 25% usage.

 

All my drivers are up to date and I am not using ENB. This is just straight vanilla skyrim.

 

 

skyrim.ini

 

 

[General]

sLanguage=ENGLISH

 

uExterior Cell Buffer=36

 

[Display]

fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000.0

fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000.0

fLightLODMaxStartFade=3500.0

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048

bAllowScreenshot=1

 

[Audio]

fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0

fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0

fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0

fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0

 

[Grass]

bAllowCreateGrass=1

bAllowLoadGrass=0

 

[GeneralWarnings]

SGeneralMasterMismatchWarning=One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for more information.

 

[Archive]

sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa

sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices.bsa, Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa

bInvalidateOlderFiles=0

SInvalidationFile=ArchiveInvalidation.txt

 

[Combat]

fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0

fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

 

[Papyrus]

fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500.0

bEnableLogging=0

bEnableTrace=0

bLoadDebugInformation=0

[Water]

bReflectLODObjects=1

bReflectLODLand=1

bReflectSky=1

bReflectLODTrees=1

 

 

 

 

skyrimprefs.ini

 

 

[General]

fBrightLightColorB=1.0000

fBrightLightColorG=1.0000

fBrightLightColorR=1.0000

iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1

bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0

 

[imagespace]

bDoDepthOfField=1

iRadialBlurLevel=2

 

[Display]

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3

fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000

fShadowDistance=8000

iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=1024

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048

iShadowSplitCount=2

iMaxAnisotropy=1

fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000

fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000

fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=1e+007

fGamma=1.0000

fDecalLOD2=1500.0000

fDecalLOD1=1000.0000

fSpecularLODStartFade=2000

fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000

fLightLODStartFade=3500

iTexMipMapMinimum=0

iTexMipMapSkip=0

iWaterMultiSamples=0

iMultiSample=0

iShadowMode=3

bTreesReceiveShadows=0

bDrawLandShadows=0

bFull Screen=0

iSize H=1600

iSize W=2560

fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000

fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000

fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000

fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000

fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=1e+007

fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=1e+007

iScreenShotIndex=2

bShadowMaskZPrepass=0

bMainZPrepass=0

iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25

iMaxDecalsPerFrame=100

bFloatPointRenderTarget=1

sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti"

bFXAAEnabled=0

iShadowMapResolution=4096

fShadowBiasScale=0.15

iShadowMaskQuarter=4

iAdapter=0

iPresentInterval=0

 

[Grass]

b30GrassVS=1

fGrassStartFadeDistance=7000

fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000

fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000

[MAIN]

bGamepadEnable=1

bCrosshairEnabled=1

fHUDOpacity=1.000

bSaveOnPause=1

bSaveOnTravel=1

bSaveOnWait=1

bSaveOnRest=1

[GamePlay]

bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1

bShowQuestMarkers=1

iDifficulty=2

[interface]

bDialogueSubtitles=0

bGeneralSubtitles=0

[Controls]

fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000

fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125

bAlwaysRunByDefault=1

bInvertYValues=0

bGamePadRumble=1

bMouseAcceleration=1

[Particles]

iMaxDesired=750

[saveGame]

fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000

[AudioMenu]

fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000

fVal7=1.0000

uID7=0

fVal6=1.0000

uID6=0

fVal5=1.0000

uID5=0

fVal4=1.0000

uID4=0

fVal3=1.0000

uID3=0

fVal2=0.4000

uID2=466532

fVal1=1.0000

uID1=554685

fVal0=0.8000

uID0=1007612

[Clouds]

fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000

fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000

fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000

fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000

[TerrainManager]

fTreeLoadDistance=75000

fBlockMaximumDistance=250000

fBlockLevel1Distance=70000

fBlockLevel0Distance=35000

fSplitDistanceMult=1.5

bShowLODInEditor=0

[NavMesh]

fObstacleAlpha=0.5000

fCoverSideHighAlpha=0.8000

fCoverSideLowAlpha=0.6500

fEdgeFullAlpha=1.0000

fEdgeHighAlpha=0.7500

fEdgeLowAlpha=0.5000

fTriangleFullAlpha=0.7000

fTriangleHighAlpha=0.3500

fTriangleLowAlpha=0.2000

fLedgeBoxHalfHeight=25.0000

fEdgeDistFromVert=10.0000

fEdgeThickness=10.0000

fPointSize=2.5000

[Trees]

bRenderSkinnedTrees=1

uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20

[Decals]

uMaxDecals=1000

bDecals=1

bSkinnedDecals=1

uMaxSkinDecals=100

uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=60

[LOD]

fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15

fLODFadeOutMultItems=15

fLODFadeOutMultActors=15

[Launcher]

bEnableFileSelection=1

bShowAllResolutions=0

uLastAspectRatio=4

[blurShaderHDR]

bDoHighDynamicRange=1

[blurShader]

bUseBlurShader=0

 

 

 

 

 

 

It should also be noted that within Nvidia inspector I did enable Force AFR2 and in Nvidia control panel under SLI rendering mode I have Force alternate frame rendering 2.

 

I can run other games 4k SLI no problem so I'm fairly sure this isn't a bottleneck issue.

 

If you have a solution for this, questions, or any suggestions as to what should try please get back to me! ;-;

Edited July 30, 2017 by Arkavick

[Reynard131]

Title says it all.

I've been trying to enable SLI in Skyrim with my 1080Tis using Nvidia Inspector but nothing I do seems to work.

 

 

• OS
  Windows 10
• Processor
  I7 7800X (OC 4.4Ghz)
• Memory
  64GB DDR4 (3000Mhz)
• Motherboard
  Asuz TUF X299 Mk2
• Graphics Card:
  GTX 1080Ti SLI

 

 

FPS in game varies from 60 to 100FPS (depending on location) which is very low for my spec.

1080TI SLI should be running at about double this for Skyrim.

 

Changing resolution does very little to effect performance.

Each GPU is only performing at at 35% usage and my CPU is at 25% usage.

 

All my drivers are up to date and I am not using ENB. This is just straight vanilla skyrim.

 

 

skyrim.ini

 

 

[General]

sLanguage=ENGLISH

 

uExterior Cell Buffer=36

 

[Display]

fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000.0

fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000.0

fLightLODMaxStartFade=3500.0

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048

bAllowScreenshot=1

 

[Audio]

fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0

fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0

fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0

fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0

 

[Grass]

bAllowCreateGrass=1

bAllowLoadGrass=0

 

[GeneralWarnings]

SGeneralMasterMismatchWarning=One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for more information.

 

[Archive]

sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa

sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices.bsa, Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa

bInvalidateOlderFiles=0

SInvalidationFile=ArchiveInvalidation.txt

 

[Combat]

fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0

fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

 

[Papyrus]

fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500.0

bEnableLogging=0

bEnableTrace=0

bLoadDebugInformation=0

[Water]

bReflectLODObjects=1

bReflectLODLand=1

bReflectSky=1

bReflectLODTrees=1

 

 

 

 

skyrimprefs.ini

 

 

[General]

fBrightLightColorB=1.0000

fBrightLightColorG=1.0000

fBrightLightColorR=1.0000

iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1

bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0

 

[imagespace]

bDoDepthOfField=1

iRadialBlurLevel=2

 

[Display]

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3

fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000

fShadowDistance=8000

iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=1024

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048

iShadowSplitCount=2

iMaxAnisotropy=1

fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000

fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000

fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=1e+007

fGamma=1.0000

fDecalLOD2=1500.0000

fDecalLOD1=1000.0000

fSpecularLODStartFade=2000

fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000

fLightLODStartFade=3500

iTexMipMapMinimum=0

iTexMipMapSkip=0

iWaterMultiSamples=0

iMultiSample=0

iShadowMode=3

bTreesReceiveShadows=0

bDrawLandShadows=0

bFull Screen=0

iSize H=1600

iSize W=2560

fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000

fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000

fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000

fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000

fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=1e+007

fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=1e+007

iScreenShotIndex=2

bShadowMaskZPrepass=0

bMainZPrepass=0

iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25

iMaxDecalsPerFrame=100

bFloatPointRenderTarget=1

sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti"

bFXAAEnabled=0

iShadowMapResolution=4096

fShadowBiasScale=0.15

iShadowMaskQuarter=4

iAdapter=0

iPresentInterval=0

 

[Grass]

b30GrassVS=1

fGrassStartFadeDistance=7000

fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000

fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000

[MAIN]

bGamepadEnable=1

bCrosshairEnabled=1

fHUDOpacity=1.000

bSaveOnPause=1

bSaveOnTravel=1

bSaveOnWait=1

bSaveOnRest=1

[GamePlay]

bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1

bShowQuestMarkers=1

iDifficulty=2

[interface]

bDialogueSubtitles=0

bGeneralSubtitles=0

[Controls]

fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000

fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125

bAlwaysRunByDefault=1

bInvertYValues=0

bGamePadRumble=1

bMouseAcceleration=1

[Particles]

iMaxDesired=750

[saveGame]

fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000

[AudioMenu]

fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000

fVal7=1.0000

uID7=0

fVal6=1.0000

uID6=0

fVal5=1.0000

uID5=0

fVal4=1.0000

uID4=0

fVal3=1.0000

uID3=0

fVal2=0.4000

uID2=466532

fVal1=1.0000

uID1=554685

fVal0=0.8000

uID0=1007612

[Clouds]

fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000

fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000

fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000

fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000

[TerrainManager]

fTreeLoadDistance=75000

fBlockMaximumDistance=250000

fBlockLevel1Distance=70000

fBlockLevel0Distance=35000

fSplitDistanceMult=1.5

bShowLODInEditor=0

[NavMesh]

fObstacleAlpha=0.5000

fCoverSideHighAlpha=0.8000

fCoverSideLowAlpha=0.6500

fEdgeFullAlpha=1.0000

fEdgeHighAlpha=0.7500

fEdgeLowAlpha=0.5000

fTriangleFullAlpha=0.7000

fTriangleHighAlpha=0.3500

fTriangleLowAlpha=0.2000

fLedgeBoxHalfHeight=25.0000

fEdgeDistFromVert=10.0000

fEdgeThickness=10.0000

fPointSize=2.5000

[Trees]

bRenderSkinnedTrees=1

uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20

[Decals]

uMaxDecals=1000

bDecals=1

bSkinnedDecals=1

uMaxSkinDecals=100

uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=60

[LOD]

fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15

fLODFadeOutMultItems=15

fLODFadeOutMultActors=15

[Launcher]

bEnableFileSelection=1

bShowAllResolutions=0

uLastAspectRatio=4

[blurShaderHDR]

bDoHighDynamicRange=1

[blurShader]

bUseBlurShader=0

 

 

 

 

inspector.PNG

 

It should also be noted that within Nvidia inspector I did enable Force AFR2 and in Nvidia control panel under SLI rendering mode I have Force alternate frame rendering 2.

 

I can run other games 4k SLI no problem so I'm fairly sure this isn't a bottleneck issue.

 

If you have a solution for this, questions, or any suggestions as to what should try please get back to me! ;-;

 

 

 

 

You are running a 32-bit Direct X 9C game on a 64-bit operating system requires that you set it up correctly in order to get decent performance you need to go to STEP Wikipedia and go through their setup guide to important to get ENB boost in place following their recommendations. You also need memory allocation patch SKSE.ini put in following their instructions.

 

Because of the limitation of the game engine using Havok physics you need to limit the game to 60 FPS in the driver interface. V sync needs to be on. (You cannot rewrite the laws of physics)

 

You may have to dig around for an older driver that has an SLI profile for Skyrim.

 

 

 

 

[Arkavick]

 

 

You are running a 32-bit Direct X 9C game on a 64-bit operating system requires that you set it up correctly in order to get decent performance you need to go to STEP Wikipedia and go through their setup guide to important to get ENB boost in place following their recommendations. You also need memory allocation patch SKSE.ini put in following their instructions.

Because of the limitation of the game engine using Havok physics you need to limit the game to 60 FPS in the driver interface. V sync needs to be on. (You cannot rewrite the laws of physics)

 

You may have to dig around for an older driver that has an SLI profile for Skyrim.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the reply!

I have followed your instructions to the letter and while I do see a slight FPS increase the SLI still seems to be broken.

 

After some more testing I have found the SLI to be acting far more peculiarly than I had originally thought.

At first I had thought that It was simply halving the usage across both cards but from the looks of things It's actually putting in twice the work in order to put out same FPS (raw FPS that is with frame rate uncapped).

 

This is GPU usage when running SLI through Nvidias Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim profile (60 to 70FPS):

 

 

This is GPU usage when running on one GPU (60 to 70FPS):

 

 

 

While I know I could just run the game off one card and still get 60FPS stable in vanilla, I plan on ultramodding my game down the line and I know this will tank the FPS and raise temps.

 

Here's the profile i'm using. Maybe its wrong somewhere?:

 

Edited July 30, 2017 by Arkavick

[Arkavick]

 

[Arkavick]

UPDATE:

After some bench-marking in Unigine Heaven it seems like my SLI is f*#@ed up or something. I get the same FPS when running SLI with both GPU's maxed and not running SLI with a single GPU maxed. I'm going to try downgrading my drivers to see if that will work.

 

EDIT 2:

Old drivers didn't fix anything. I also tried the old uninstall everything, remove GPU's, and install one at a time trick but that didn't work.

 

If anyone has any ideas as how to fix this please let me know!

Edited July 30, 2017 by Arkavick

[HeyYou]

I rather suspect that you will not be able to mod Skyrim enough to overload a single card...... I suspect the game will blow up long before you get to that point....

 

Does SLI work in any other game? Are the cards connected? Is SLI enabled for Skyrim in the NVIdia control panel?

[Arkavick]

I rather suspect that you will not be able to mod Skyrim enough to overload a single card...... I suspect the game will blow up long before you get to that point....

 

Does SLI work in any other game? Are the cards connected? Is SLI enabled for Skyrim in the NVIdia control panel?

 

>Does SLI work in any other game

I've gotten it to work on multiple benchmarks. I figure that's proof enough. Here's my 3D mark SLI score:

I also ran It on one card just to be sure and got about half the score.

Also did Superposition with SLI on and off all the while using a Nvidia inspector profile for it..

 

>I rather suspect that you will not be able to mod Skyrim enough to overload a single card

I wouldn't be here if that was the case. Just after a bunch of 4k retextures and SMIM and I'm down to 30-40 FPS average.

I think I can safely conclude that even the single GPU is under-performing.

 

 

 

Considering my Overkill setup, this game has no excuse not to run at 200FPS minimum... I recently had a theory though... What if my GPUs are too powerful for the the game, moreover the CPU itself? Considering the fact Skyrim only runs on 2 cores, what if the master GPU is stealing CPU time from the skyrim host process thus resulting in a slowdown of the game engine and the apparent lack of any SLI improvement.

 

I don't know if this is logic but if I Undervolt/Underclock my Master GPU could this cut down demand for the CPU and reduce any bottleneck my Juiced up card may be creating? This would theoretically shift the bottleneck to the SLI bridge but allow the CPU to better Utilize the GPU performance and actually reap the benefits of SLI.

 

i hope this just isn't the sleep in me talking.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Arkavick

[Arkavick]

I have since alleviated single GPU under-performance. It seems like Single GPU rendering is now performing better than AFR1 and AFR2. AFR1 and AFR2 appear to be negatively scaling.

 

FPS at Dragonsreach Stairs:

SLI 90-100FPS (Stable)

1GPU 100-110FPS (Pretty Stable)

Main Menu (This is where things stop making sense):

SLI: 420FPS

1GPU: 2000FPS

escMenu:

SLI: 450FPS

1GPU: 2500FPS

While the game is now playable, the fact SLI isn't working and my FPS could potentially be higher is still a problem. There must be a definitive answer as to why I am seeing intense negative scaling with AFR1 and AFR2 enabled.

Edit:

I'm not sure if it means much but does my PhysX setting matter?

Edited August 2, 2017 by Arkavick

[wambosons]

Set enableunsafememoryhacks=true in your enblocal

 

Also try removing enboost. SKSE/enboost do not play well together on Win10. Unsafememoryhacks=true is good for cards over 4gb in vram.

 

Also check this out http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50214/?

 

 

 

Source: I run 2 Titan Xp (2017) in SLI @ 4k with 300+ mods all 4k texture. My performance was abysmal at first. I believe the problem lies in how skse/enboost 'talk' to each other as well as enabling unsafememoryhacks in enblocal.

[Nyameri]

Hi, just a question:

You say you are on Win 10, right?

Do you know about the vram bug in the stable version of Win 10?

Or is it so that you are on the insider program and got access to the fixed build.

 

If not there is not much you can do since the hard limits vram to about 4 gig.

I'd suggest you go to enbdev.com and download the Vramsizetest tool.

To be sure about how much you have accessible run the dx9 tool.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Nyameri