Nvidia GTX 970 SLI for Star Wars

[BonnerFett]

I recently purchased and built a new computer to run SWTOR. I went with an Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card. I have a Samsung monitor that runs at 2560 X 1440. Was wondering if it makes sense to buy another graphics card and run SLI? My goal would be to run at max settings and achieve the best possible FPS in warzones.

 

Here is my computer specs:

 

i5 @ 3.5GHZ

16GB of RAM

SSD

Nvidia GTX 970

 

Do you think I'll see any benefit to doing this in game?

 

Thanks in advance!

[QuinlanSaathis]

No

The game cannot utilize any benefits from SLI

[Ryuku-sama]

No. Your CPU is bottlenecking your performance way more than your current GPU.

[Pagy]

I recently purchased and built a new computer to run SWTOR. I went with an Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card. I have a Samsung monitor that runs at 2560 X 1440. Was wondering if it makes sense to buy another graphics card and run SLI? My goal would be to run at max settings and achieve the best possible FPS in warzones.

 

Here is my computer specs:

 

i5 @ 3.5GHZ

16GB of RAM

SSD

Nvidia GTX 970

 

Do you think I'll see any benefit to doing this in game?

 

Thanks in advance!

swtor is so badly tuned, optimized and supported that it likely wont make a difference.

[BonnerFett]

No. Your CPU is bottlenecking your performance way more than your current GPU.

 

 

Would it make sense for me to upgrade to an i7? My current CPU is an i5 6600K at 3.5GHZ. I was under the impression that the only difference bettwen the i5 I own and the i7 is hyper threading (which SWTOR can't utilize).

 

 

Thanks in advance!

[Dayshadow]

I recently purchased and built a new computer to run SWTOR. I went with an Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card. I have a Samsung monitor that runs at 2560 X 1440. Was wondering if it makes sense to buy another graphics card and run SLI? My goal would be to run at max settings and achieve the best possible FPS in warzones.

 

Here is my computer specs:

 

i5 @ 3.5GHZ

16GB of RAM

SSD

Nvidia GTX 970

 

Do you think I'll see any benefit to doing this in game?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

You do realize this game is like 5 years old? I could play SWTOR on ultra settings with my computer from 2008.

 

I currently have a GTX 970 and a i7-4790K @ 4Ghz and I run the game on ultra with FRAPS recording at 1080p with no lag whatsoever. So, yeah, you're good.

[Ryuku-sama]

Would it make sense for me to upgrade to an i7? My current CPU is an i5 6600K at 3.5GHZ. I was under the impression that the only difference bettwen the i5 I own and the i7 is hyper threading (which SWTOR can't utilize).

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

No need for an i7. SWTOR runs on two threads... This means anything over a i5 dual core is overkill as far as multicore processing goes. You need all your power into single core processing. The best processors for that are the =2565&cmp[]=2570&cmp[]=2275"]i7 6700K and i7 4790K. I would use the 6700K for the higher cache and Skylakes and LGA1151 socket (which is what you have). I know it seems rather aberrant that an i7 has more single core power than an i5, but it is like it is

That would likely upgrade your performance more than a SLI would. Don't expect a huge gain tho.

[DewyMossEmpire]

I am running an even better system & in raids I still can push only about 40 FPS at the max.

 

The problem is the game, it runs on a terribly inefficient engine that even the best rigs cannot cooperate well with.

[Ryuku-sama]

You do realize this game is like 5 years old? I could play SWTOR on ultra settings with my computer from 2008.

 

I currently have a GTX 970 and a i7-4790K @ 4Ghz and I run the game on ultra with FRAPS recording at 1080p with no lag whatsoever. So, yeah, you're good.

 

You realize the 4790K is still the best consummer CPU for single threaded performance??? Even the 6700K is second to that older CPU. You technically have better than him for SWTOR

Edited February 8, 2016 by Ryuku-sama

[DewyMossEmpire]

You do realize this game is like 5 years old? I could play SWTOR on ultra settings with my computer from 2008.

 

I currently have a GTX 970 and a i7-4790K @ 4Ghz and I run the game on ultra with FRAPS recording at 1080p with no lag whatsoever. So, yeah, you're good.

 

Not even close to 5 years old

[BonnerFett]

No need for an i7. SWTOR runs on two threads... This means anything over a i5 dual core is overkill as far as multicore processing goes. You need all your power into single core processing. The best processors for that are the =2565&cmp[]=2570&cmp[]=2275"]i7 6700K and i7 4790K. I would use the 6700K for the higher cache and Skylakes and LGA1151 socket (which is what you have). I know it seems rather aberrant that an i7 has more single core power than an i5, but it is like it is

That would likely upgrade your performance more than a SLI would. Don't expect a huge gain tho.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I'm thinking about moving to an i7 as I'm having a little buyer's remorse on the i5. Not having any problems with it... just looking to get the most out of this computer. Should I go with the 6700k?

[DataBeaver]

Not even close to 5 years old

Official release was on December 20th 2011. It's now February 8th 2016. So it's four years and one and a half months old. Also 2016 - 2011 = 5, so I'd say it's close but not quite 5 years old.

[Dayshadow]

You realize the 4790K is still the best consumer CPU for single threaded performance??? Even the 6700K is second to that older CPU. You technically have better than him for SWTOR

 

Yeah, but I could run the game on max setting with my oldest computer which had a 9800 GTX and E8400 CPU. Point is, this game doesn't take much to run. That being said...

 

I am running an even better system & in raids I still can push only about 40 FPS at the max.

 

The problem is the game, it runs on a terribly inefficient engine that even the best rigs cannot cooperate well with.

 

...If you're having issues it's not the game. It's your rig. Although the eye can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS. 40 FPs in a raid shouldn't be an issue.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Dayshadow

[BonnerFett]

Yeah, but I could run the game on max setting with my oldest computer which had a 9800 GTX and E8400 CPU. Point is, this game doesn't take much to run. That being said...

 

 

 

...If you're having issues it's not the game. It's your rig. Although the eye can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS. 40 FPs in a raid shouldn't be an issue.

 

 

I'm lucky to get 30fps in warzones... which has me thinking about upgrading to an i7....

[Pagy]

Although the eye can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS.

1998 called; they want their urban legend back.

[DewyMossEmpire]

 

 

 

...If you're having issues it's not the game. It's your rig. Although the eye can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS. 40 FPs in a raid shouldn't be an issue.

 

I suppose, but the fact that a game with such outdated & cartoony visuals as these demands such ridiculous power is pitiful.

[DataBeaver]

Although the eye can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS.

The situation is more complex than that. It's true that something between 20 and 30 fps is enough for the brain to interpret it as continuous motion instead of distinct images. However as fps increases the motion becomes smoother, especially with perfectly sharp graphics like games.

 

Input latency is another thing. The faster we see the results of our actions the faster and more accurately we can perform those actions. If you have a setup that can display 30 or 24 fps, you can try it yourself: set your monitor's refresh rate to the lowest available, then try hitting things with your mouse. The difference may be surprising.

[ALaggyGrunt]

Yeah, but I could run the game on max setting with my oldest computer which had a 9800 GTX and E8400 CPU. Point is, this game doesn't take much to run. That being said...

 

The game will occasionally demand 4 cores for something. On that CPU, you'll get a very noticeable stutter when that happens.

 

...If you're having issues it's not the game. It's your rig. Although the eye can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS. 40 FPs in a raid shouldn't be an issue.

 

If the frame timing were constant, that would be true. Movies "feel" smooth because the time between one frame and the next is exactly the same. When you are watching a computer which is drawing complicated things on the fly, the time between frames is not constant, because it will have to deal with new details in the scene, or something will be missing. That's why 30 FPS isn't really good enough.

[TX_Angel]

Would it make sense for me to upgrade to an i7? My current CPU is an i5 6600K at 3.5GHZ. I was under the impression that the only difference bettwen the i5 I own and the i7 is hyper threading (which SWTOR can't utilize).

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Allow me to jump in here. The 6600K is a wonderful gaming CPU, for many reasons. But in SWTOR's case, the benefit comes from single threaded performance and clock speed (the combination of the two).

 

If you have that CPU installed on a Z170 motherboard and you have decent cooling, you can hit 4.2GHz fairly easily (higher if you know what you're doing).

 

The jump from 3.5 to 4.2 won't matter in solo content, but it will make a noticeable difference in warzones and ops.

 

Side note: The i7-6700K is just your current CPU with hyperthreading enabled, an extra 2MB L2 cache (which is nice, but not that big of a deal), and a default clock speed of 4.0GHz turboing to 4.2GHz. But the i5-6600K you have is really the same CPU made on the same production line, it should hit 4.2GHz as well, with a touch of overclocking.

[TX_Angel]

...If you're having issues it's not the game. It's your rig. Although the eye can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 FPS. 40 FPs in a raid shouldn't be an issue.

 

Sure it can... I can tell the difference between those two easily. Both my iPhone and video camera both shoot at 60fps (the video camera does 4k at 60fps), and the difference is clear and obvious from 30fps.

 

Now, that doesn't mean it is an issue, the game is playable at 20fps, if annoying. The smoother speed is "nicer", not "required".

[TX_Angel]

I recently purchased and built a new computer to run SWTOR. I went with an Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card. I have a Samsung monitor that runs at 2560 X 1440. Was wondering if it makes sense to buy another graphics card and run SLI? My goal would be to run at max settings and achieve the best possible FPS in warzones.

 

Do you think I'll see any benefit to doing this in game?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

No, you won't see any performance benefit to adding a second GTX 970 card. I suspect you wouldn't see any performance loss either if you had only a GTX 960 card, you aren't GPU limited, you're CPU limited.

 

Good cooling (I personally suggest liquid if you have the case for it), and good overclocking following one of the good guides on the web, is your best bet for more performance.

[TX_Angel]

Yeah, but I could run the game on max setting with my oldest computer which had a 9800 GTX and E8400 CPU. Point is, this game doesn't take much to run. That being said...

 

Run, yes... play 8v8 warzones in anything other than a slide show, no...

[TX_Angel]

The situation is more complex than that. It's true that something between 20 and 30 fps is enough for the brain to interpret it as continuous motion instead of distinct images. However as fps increases the motion becomes smoother, especially with perfectly sharp graphics like games.

 

Input latency is another thing. The faster we see the results of our actions the faster and more accurately we can perform those actions. If you have a setup that can display 30 or 24 fps, you can try it yourself: set your monitor's refresh rate to the lowest available, then try hitting things with your mouse. The difference may be surprising.

 

^ Quoted for truth...

 

For a short period of time, I had one of my 4k monitors at work connected to something with only HDMI, so I could only run it at 30hz.

 

It "works", and if it is all you have, it is usable, but even not in a game, just running Windows, the difference in refresh rate and mouse smoothness is noticeable, coming from years of 60hz.

 

Frankly I really want to see 120hz become standard, it gives so much more room for stable framerates and smooth display of things. Sigh...

[TX_Angel]

If the frame timing were constant, that would be true. Movies "feel" smooth because the time between one frame and the next is exactly the same. When you are watching a computer which is drawing complicated things on the fly, the time between frames is not constant, because it will have to deal with new details in the scene, or something will be missing. That's why 30 FPS isn't really good enough.

 

Movies also feel smooth because of a lot of tricks that Hollywood has learned over the years to make 24fps "appear" smooth.

 

Steady frame rate combined with motion blur and lighting tricks make it look better than it really is. Watch some real 60fps video and be amazed at the difference.

[BonnerFett]

Allow me to jump in here. The 6600K is a wonderful gaming CPU, for many reasons. But in SWTOR's case, the benefit comes from single threaded performance and clock speed (the combination of the two).

 

If you have that CPU installed on a Z170 motherboard and you have decent cooling, you can hit 4.2GHz fairly easily (higher if you know what you're doing).

 

The jump from 3.5 to 4.2 won't matter in solo content, but it will make a noticeable difference in warzones and ops.

 

Side note: The i7-6700K is just your current CPU with hyperthreading enabled, an extra 2MB L2 cache (which is nice, but not that big of a deal), and a default clock speed of 4.0GHz turboing to 4.2GHz. But the i5-6600K you have is really the same CPU made on the same production line, it should hit 4.2GHz as well, with a touch of overclocking.

 

Thanks for this info! I'm overclocking the i5...