12 months of trying to resolve SLI - time to turn to square enix

[klepp0906]

Where do I submit a bug report that will actually be listened to? I have spent an ENORMOUS amount of time and energy trying to resolve this issue myself AND with NVidia.

I have been working with them for almost a FULL YEAR now and its finally come to light that it is likely the client and not the driver/software.

If you are using windows 8.1 and surround - SLI doesn't work. It will work ONE TIME after a reformat and then it stops working.

Put it this way - with 4 titans I should not need to turn my graphics down to get a playable framerate.

Im not going to go into too much detail lest im speaking with someone with the technical know how to look in to/solve this problem. As I mentioned ive spent upwards of 100 man hours over the last year trying every single possible solution and some of the not so possible ones - thrice!

It isn't my system so if your going to suggest that, save your time. I'd like to pin it on NVidia - and I did for a very long time, however I recently ran into someone on a crossfire/eyefinity rig who claims to have the same issue.

It appears to be an issue between Windows 8.1+FFXIV+Multi-Display+Multi-GPU tech. Remove ANY of those 4 variables and it works fine. However under those conditions all cards simply fully load but do not work in concert.

Very weird problem and I don't understand how developers or software engineers for that matter, don't try EVERY possible configuration to ensure solidarity. I mean cmon, you guys are multi multi million/billion dollar companies with access to any hardware you choose. Multiple GPU's and Multiple Display configurations are no longer rare. The tech has been available a decade now and its only becoming more and more common.

I forgot for some absolutely ridiculous reason I only get like... 1000 characters so i'll likely be stuck splitting this up /sigh. Anyhow, where can I ensure this reaches the proper people? Better yet, where can I find someone who is not reading from a script in which I can engage in a dialogue regarding the matter?

see here http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?...461&highlight=

The first few pages are hardforum riff raff being hard forum riff raff so aren't worth reading. Page 3-4 onward however contain relevant info and many of the attempted fixes as well as several people reaching the same conclusion after a lengthy process of elimination. That it is in fact between NVidia and you guys. Either way it needs to be fixed as it is severely harming my experience and no doubt many others.

If you need more info or specific info you know how to reach me. Their is also a immense amount of information under my handle on the GeForce forums.

[klepp0906]

hey lookie there - I didn't have to split it up. /wipes brow

[CHA0S_DECEPTI0N]

Try this.

Open Catalyst control Center Latest Version.
Go under "Gaming" and open up "3D Application Settings" and click Add.
Search and find "ffxiv.exe" in your benchmark/game folder and select it (You will have to do this to the main exe during launch as well)
Scroll down and under "AMD CrossfireX" change the "AMD CrossfireX Mode" to "Use AMD pre-defined profile"
Search for "fear.exe" ***(You don't have to own the game to select this option, it's there by default.

[Raist]

If I remember right, it will always be a shoddy implementation even if you manage to get it to work somewhat with a hack---a large part of the problem is that it's built around DirectX9c. And not a very good implementation at that. The game is still VERY CPU bound, on many rigs moreso than the GPU. The only way DX9 functions normal in this game (well as normal as it can) is in Windows XP, because you aren't dealing with the emulation fiasco that is used in Vista and newer Windows versions. From DX10 forward, all pre-DX10 is run through an emulation layer. So, by design, the game will be weighted heavily towards CPU horsepower and it doesn't really play nice in general with the newer multiple GPU setups

So, in a way, it's the fault of multiple entities. Microsoft for punting DX9 into oblivion, Nvidia/AMD for also not doing thorough regression testing in their new designs/drivers for DX9 or older calls, and SE for sticking to DX9 with the 2.0 rebuild.

On the upside though, it also means the game can run quite well on older hardware. Can get 50FPS out of 5 year old hardware... a dual core running DDR2 and an old ATI 5870. It plays almost flawlessly on my laptop as well (ASUS ROG G75VX, i7-3630Q, 8GB DDR3, NV GTX 670MX... think it's a 2012 design). Because of the older API's and such, it doesn't really take monster hardware to make it run decent.

If they ever get off their duffs and put out the promised DX11 client though, we should see a LOT of people's headaches disappear.

[Red519]

I seem to have the same issue. Running two 660Ti's with two monitors on Windows 8.1. When I have SLI enabled I get the same FPS but both cards load up similarly. I also start to have system hard locks when playing FFXIV, or the display driver will crash and sometimes I can recover, sometimes I have to reboot. Turn off SLI and the same FPS and I can play without having the system lock up either. I play with SLI enabled in other games and have never had any crashes or issues yet, so I'd like to eventually see this resolved though I doubt it will be anytime soon.

[Spot]

Try this.

Open Catalyst control Center Latest Version.
Go under "Gaming" and open up "3D Application Settings" and click Add.
Search and find "ffxiv.exe" in your benchmark/game folder and select it (You will have to do this to the main exe during launch as well)
Scroll down and under "AMD CrossfireX" change the "AMD CrossfireX Mode" to "Use AMD pre-defined profile"
Search for "fear.exe" ***(You don't have to own the game to select this option, it's there by default.

Pro Tip: Catalyst is for AMD cards.

To the OP: I Gave up on getting SLI to work on multiple monitors on this game. I don't know how new you are to having multi-monitor/GPU setups, but having issues like this is more of the norm than actually having everything work. Doing more than 2 Way SLI just makes it even more of a pain. If you haven't tried it yet, pull two cards and bridge for 2 way SLI then set the game to windowed. It *will run* like that at 5760x1200/1080. You'd probably be okay at 7680x1440 with 2 titans, if it runs right. It's going to be more CPU taxing than anything else.

[klepp0906]

I have a fix for you guys. What I need is to get this info to square and find out if its rooted in Nvidia/Amd's profile application or if its rooted in ffxiv itself. I have spent such a long time and so many man hours, its almost..... crazy. I finally get it fixed as im now getting burned on the game. Either way im insatiably curious as to what the root cause of the problem is, as this is just a "bandaid" persay. It solves it but doesn't address the root of the problem.

Without further adieu...

(you guys are gonna die lol) Rename your Final Fantasy XIV - A Realm Reborn install directory. I changed mine to FFXIV - A Realm Reborn. Another guy simply made a batch file that added a number afterwards. (he needs to change his after every time he uses the game. It would always work (SLI) the first time after a reformat, and then stop. He changes his directory name and it works and stops again after 1x. So he created a batch to rename it upon launch of the game each time. For me - I just had to rename it once. Once renamed it works fine. Same thing fixes the Benchmark.

I "assume" this is an issue with nvinspector not applying the proper profile to the game. When you change the directory name - it just uses the "default" profile or something. The game still has issues such as very very poor performance when advanced lighting effects are on screen (such as the startup screen or dungeon portals) I get ~80fps at the startup screen with SLI off and 18 with it on :P (this is WITH it working post fix) Other than that, Im now able to get 120fps+ on maximum at 4680x2560 now. Its wonderful. Sad that it took this much time and effort. Also extremely pessimistic regarding the lighting issue being addressed considering the fact I had to fix the SLI issue on my own BUT... its progress.

Just wanted to share that with you guys. Its been tried on several machines already by several people. If you have the same issue as I do - it will fix it. However, if you have the issue I do, instead of giving up I would suggest/have suggested/do suggest contacting square and NVidia as I have. They ignored me because I was the only one raising a stink. Is that wrong? Dramatically so... but they did it. Their own words were something along the lines of "we check for noise regarding issues and if we don't see action on the forums etc, we assume its the user".

Sad from a company that charges a 100% premium on its products and flawed to the core when it comes to a rig like mine which very few people use to begin with. Of those people you get guys such as yourself who just wash their hands of it.. and NVidia never knows. Of course with their resources and the advertisement claims they make - you would think they check this stuff front and backwards in house before launching a driver but its become very evident over this saga that they care about one thing and it shares a shade/color with their logo.

Ironically as I think I mentioned - I built an AMD rig partially out of spite, and partially because I needed a back up rig anyhow... and xfire works just fine for me. This isn't to say it doesn't have its own issues (cant get bezel compensation to work in 14.6 when displays are in portrait orientation) but it should have been more than enough to get NVidia to do something. Apparently not. 20 or so driver releases, 12 months of dialogue between myself and 3 different NVidia employees, 30 screenshots, 2 videos, 6 pages of logs and what can only be labled as a practical disseration's worth of explanatory information and attempted resolutions by myself... and the last contact I got from anyone at NVidia was march. They just began ignoring me and the problem.

As much as I like their "hardware" their software and their customer service A) doesn't merit anything remotely close to the price premium they charge and B) the way they carry and handle themselves with customers should deter anyone from buying their products. I had provided my personal contact info and asked a dozen times to be put in contact with a software engineer or driver specialist or whatever they label them as over there, only to be ignored each and every time. It got to be so bad that I considered looking into whether any legal action was possible. I unintentionally (then intentionally) saved every single bit of correspondence both ways and to anyone interested.. it will show them in a very new light.

Anyways - rename your install folder (not the SquareEnix, the sub folder) and enjoy :P (you may have to do it each time you play, if so theirs a batch file available on page 8 or 9 of this thread http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?...461&highlight=)

[klepp0906]

Pro Tip: Catalyst is for AMD cards.

To the OP: I Gave up on getting SLI to work on multiple monitors on this game. I don't know how new you are to having multi-monitor/GPU setups, but having issues like this is more of the norm than actually having everything work. Doing more than 2 Way SLI just makes it even more of a pain. If you haven't tried it yet, pull two cards and bridge for 2 way SLI then set the game to windowed. It *will run* like that at 5760x1200/1080. You'd probably be okay at 7680x1440 with 2 titans, if it runs right. It's going to be more CPU taxing than anything else.

fwiw checking to see if it was due to the number of cards was the first thing I checked :P 2 cards,3 cards, 4 cards, x4, x8, x16 the end result is the same. If your using 2 cards and your sli is working and its on multiple displays in windows 8.1 than your having a different issue all together.

think about that for a minute. I just said I was working on fixing this for 12 months.. and you suggest I try running with 2 cards instead of 4 ... /facepalm

not that id just pop out 2 (half) of my gpus and have em hang out over a game anyhow. Its not up for me to make my system work its up to the vendors to make the game/hardware work.

Anyhow IF people are using 8.1xSurroundxSLI and are having an issue - renaming the install directory will fix it for you. While I need to understand the root (believe it has something to do w/ profiles but no way of saying till I hear from someone on the inside) I wanted to make sure I got the word out to all the folks suffering with this.

As for DX9 v DX11 - in wow for example, I get better minimum fps and a smoother framerate in dx9 than in dx11. Also in dx11 I have really funky rendering issues where postrendering of mountains/stuff on the horizon just shows up white/blank. I don't think the dx11 client is going to be the end all be all of fixes people are hoping for. Regardless it should help some and with image quality for sure. Problem is it should have been present ALL along. Instead another greedy company has no cooth/shame in blatantly and obviously showing how greedy it is by developing every client and system that can make them $$ before bringing the game up to speed for people who have already paid for it.

you and NVidia are soulmates it appears.

[necrosis]

Is the game even officially written and advertised to work with SLi/Crossfire?

[Syx]

Crystal Tools is a nice graphics engine hampered by an ancient graphics API. Time and time again I place the blame for poor performance on DX9.

Three-way 4k display is about 26,000,000 pixels. You need about 2.4GB/s of bandwidth to push 30 frames of RGB444 data to your monitor without any sort of compression or optimization. There are no hardware bottlenecks you can find in your system. There is a software bottleneck that is resolved by tricking Windows into viewing the directory as newly created. The problem did not exist until Windows 8 was updated to Windows 8.1. Is it the "Windows 8.1 Update" or pre-Update 8.1? It might be worth investigating Windows Updates for 8 that made changes to core components of the operating system. That you have to change the directory name every time you boot the game gives me the feeling that it's a prefetching or superfetching or some sort of OS caching that might be misbehaving with DX9. askwoody.com is a good resource for information regarding patches pushed through Windows Update and their effects on the operating system.

What about processes running during the poor performance? Another good tool to use for analysis would be Process Explorer. It will allow you to view the properties of a process and get very detailed information about its resource usage.

One last analytical tool would be Resource Monitor. In the CPU tab of Resource Monitor, you can right click on a process and view the Wait Chain tree.

If this is truly killing you and you want to go above and beyond to find out what the hell is going on, you can debug the executable using the registry's image file execution option. You'll have to work out the debugger to use on your own.