Witcher 3 SLI broken in Windows 10?

Hey guys,

Just wanted to know if I'm the only one seeming to have SLI troubles in W3.

I've got 2 x GTX 970s that worked fine in SLI in Win8.1 but now with both 353.62 and 355.60 on Win10 things seem to have broken:

• With SLI disabled I get around 50FPS at a section in Novigrad where I'm at attm
• Then, with SLI enabled, that drops to 30FPS...

Am I the only one? Any tips? :O

EDIT: I should probably add that this is at 1440p.

 

I'm running at 1080p, but Witcher 3 is running fine for me with SLI 970s on 353.62. I'm having framerate issues with many games on 355.60 though.

 

No issues here. Witcher 3 runs perfectly with the 355.60 drivers in SLI mode on my FTW 980s..

Make sure that both your cards are seated properly, the power cables plugged in properly and that the SLI bridge is functioning the way it's supposed to.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I've reseated the cards, tested them individually, etc etc. Everything seems to be fine, just not in The Witcher 3.

What's interesting is that there's a guy on the GeForce forums who's having the same problem as me:

So it seems like some combination of: Win 10, recent nvidia drivers, patch 1.08 (& 1.08.1), SLI (maybe just 9-series cards) & maybe even the Skylake platform... is causing the issue.

I wonder if its a game problem or a driver problem?

 

just checked it out , it runs fine

 

Hey man, you're not the only one since I have the exact same problem

See my thread here : http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=401731

Trust me, I've tried almost everything! First I thought it was a driver error but since I've had trouble finding more people with the same problem I assumed it was my motherboard. Now when you wrote maybe it's a driver problem after all. Then again, I read a 6700K review where they ran 970SLI without issues.

Here is another guy with the same problem : https://vip.asus.com/forum/view.asp...age=en-us&board_id=1&model=Z170-DELUXE&page=1

Let me ask you a few questions:
¤ What mobo do you have?
¤ Did you install the manufacturers chipset drivers or just let WU install everything for you?
¤ Do you get 99% GPU usage in 3DMark?
¤ Do you get a lower graphics score than normal in 3DMark?
¤ Do you have a G-sync monitor?
¤ Have you experienced heavy stuttering in other games while in SLI mode?

So if I understand you correctly, Witcher 3 worked perfectly in Win8.1 with the same hardware (6700K) but SLI broke when you upgraded to Win10?

I'll lend a 980Ti from a friend just to see what happens, not that it's a solution but who knows.

Oh and don't worry about the other guys in this thread saying that it runs well on their systems. They dont have the 6700K and Z170 chipset which must be the problem here. My old 3570K ran Witcher 3 beautifully both in Win8.1 and Win10.

 

So to answer your questions:

 

Ah, the plot thickens.

I'm thinking if the mobo drivers are the problem but it shouldn't be since we got different board manufacturers.

Is it a Win10 problem? Maybe not since the other guy I linked to in the ASUS forums said he tried a clean Win8.1 installation and SLI performance was really bad there too.

G-sync problem perhaps? Not sure since the other guy didn't say what monitor he uses. Still a bit unlikely that G-sync could be the issue. I tried disabling G-sync but it didn't help.

The stuttering thing is probably related to a special V-sync setting in NVCPL. Not sure how it's called in English since I use the Swedish language version. Basically there is Vsync ON and V-Sync ON for SLI, the latter seemed to cause these stutters.

I'm still waiting for MSI to comment on my ticket but I really think you should open one too at the ASUS site. We need to combine forces here I'll keep talking to the guy and also try writing on Anandtech.

Regarding benchmarks with your old system, not sure if you kept any records somewhere but I did in a few games which was why I could do the comparisons. My old mobo is broken so I won't be able to do anything else with it.

 

I agree that we need to combine forces and try and press for a solution, so I'll create a ticket with ASUS tech support this evening. I'll update you with any progress made with that.

Perhaps the early motherboard BIOSes are affected by an SLI issue on Z170, regardless of manufacturer?

As a side note, I'm also using exactly the same RAM as you.

// I've gotta say, I'm sorely tempted to just take the hit - sell the 970s and get a single 980ti //

 

Just wanted to share this update from yowan59 on the GeForce forums:

 

Mackers, thanks for finding something on the GeForce forums, I was just about to write there myself. Though I did start a thread on AnandTech just to see if anyone there has the same problem. Looks like we're finding more and more people with the same problem. Interesting if this is indeed VGA driver related or not.

Indeed it doesn't seem to be tied to a motherboard manufacturer but probably to the combination of Z170 chipset and SLI.

I'll get my borrowed 980Ti tomorrow so I can post the results when I've installed it and taken it for a spin.

I also talked to the store where I got my stuff and they were ready to take back the mobo but the guy wondered if that would help which I couldn't disagree with.

 

Mackers, I found one more with our problem over at the ASUS forum.

Soon enough this will be fixed. My contact at MSI might have a BIOS update for me. We'll see if it's true and I'll post back if things improve.

 

Great, thanks for the update!

 

Hi,

I'm the person who done the test in geforce forums.

I don't find any solution for now, i can play certains games at 60 fps like gta v at 4k but with most graphic options downgraded like visual effets, shadows...

My performances problems has come with the new hardware, before i not having any probs...

I have installed the latest bios (V 1.2) of my new motherboard (MSI Z170A gaming pro) and 980's (with msi live update) but nothing change...

I use windows 10 and all is up to date, i've tried other psu, other hdd, windows 8.1, my ddr one by one, memtest.... always the same probs, i realy think this is a compatibility problem between the z170 chipset and sli.

For now i wait for any bios or drivers update.

Ps : Sorry for my english, i'm french.

 

I have open a ticket on MSI support, i give you a feedback if i have any solution.

Bye.

 

Hey Yowan59.

Please create a post on the MSI Forums as well. I did that and now I got a new beta BIOS to try out (1.32) which I'll do when I come home from work this evening.

 

Update - Got to try a beta BIOS from MSI but that didn't help. Tried DDU again, still nothing.

Well, hello 980Ti, want to stay for a while?

 

Thank you, i don't find this bios, i have open a new thread in msi forums, the french msi support want i made all the test i've already made, this is not really help me... and i don't want to made another week of testing...

i hope this help us.

 

I got the BIOS in a thread on MSI forum. Also, didnt you have another MSI board than me? I got the Gaming M5.

I got the recommendation to return the board to my store where I got it. Doubt it will help but OK. Like you I'm done testing, I just wanna play my games in peace.

 

I have the "MSI Z170A Gaming Pro" Motherboard.

msi france want me to test my graphics cards one by one, i've already done that, they want me to find one of the two card is broken, but with my old setup worked great my sli.

So i am sure this is not an graphic card prob.

Today I bought a new tower, I have installed my i5 for my wife, I'll test my sli with the i5 in the same condition with the i7 6700K.