NVIDIA 376.33 still cause FX to flicker when in SLI performance mode

[Cruachan]

Hi,

This is really disappointing! After all the efforts made to persuade NVIDIA to provide (and support?) an SLI profile for Prepar3D we now have a situation where the last few driver releases still exhibit flickering Prepar3D v3.4 issues affecting boat wakes, contrails, smoke and certain lights. Is there some reason why this has not yet been addressed?

My understanding is that this was reported back in October, possibly even earlier, and I too have recently added my concerns via their GeForce Experience reporting module.

It appears that the only solutions at present are:

1) To disable SLI which, of course, is a significant retrograde step for those of us who have invested in and become accustomed to the benefits of harnessing the power of 2 GPU's working together.
2) Revert to an earlier driver set that doesn't exhibit this issue. This too has negative implications for those who require drivers to be current for other applications.

It is becoming evident that the patience of many who are affected by this issue in the Prepar3D Flight Simulation community is now starting to wear thin. Please, can I ask someone from the Prepar3D Development Team to provide an update as to what we can expect in the weeks to come? Thank you.

Regards,
Mike

My rig: ASUS Rampage V Extreme, i7-5960X (Dynamic OC 4.4GHz), Corsair Hydro Series™ H110i GT Cooler with 2xNoctua NF-A14 PWM 140mm fans, G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) F4-3000C15Q-16GRR, Asus GTX 980Ti Strix DCIII OC (6GB, GDDR5) x2 in SLI, Samsung 850 EVO 1TB SSD x3, LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW, EVGA 1200 P2 Watt PSU, Cooler Master HAF X, ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q (G-Sync) monitor at 120Hz. Windows 7 Pro 64bit. Prepar3D v3.4.9.18400

[rick66]

It`s the Nvidia driver not P3d... read the Nvidia forums which will show multiple other games doing exactly the same thing, it`s Nvidia`s subtle way of ending driver support for SLI and making the end user update to 10 series cards, i remember not long ago Nvidia drivers supported 3 way SLI but now they have ditched that.

just my 2 cents.

[Cruachan]

Hi Rick,

With all due respect, I am well aware that the NVIDIA drivers are the root of the problem. Please check the Subject title. I am assuming that the Prepar3D Developers are in the loop over this matter and have also registered their concerns with NVIDIA. We all know how uncommunicative NVIDIA can be, so my hope is that LM might know a bit more about what is happening, if anything, and when we can expect a fix, if ever.

As to the speculations about NVIDIA's manoeuvrings over SLI, you could be correct. Certainly you are not alone in this regard. If this is true then I regard their approach as being shameful, particularly as they are still promoting and selling GPU's with SLI capabilities. Consequently they should be acknowledging their obligations to provide proper ongoing support for at least as long as this situation continues. Failing to do so should be seen as an abrogation of their responsibilities towards their paying customers who have invested in SLI. If you are suggesting we should simply roll over and accept what may be inevitable then that's likely to guarantee the outcome. I believe our unrelenting requests persuaded NVIDIA, eventually, to produce the Prepar3D SLI Profile for us. Without that encouragement I suspect our needs, often considered niche as flight simming enthusiasts, would have been ignored.

All I'm asking is for some clarification. No doubt NVIDIA are looking at DirectX 12 as a means of devolving the responsibility for multi-GPU coding provision upon the Developers of future titles that may require it. Currently, the only way to get DX12 is to move to Windows 10 and, to date, very few titles are exploiting what DX12 has to offer. Market share is slowly growing, but is still only about 22% in contrast to Windows 7 which is not far short of 50%: https://www.netmarketshare.com/operatin ... pcustomd=0

So, while the market for SLI may be small (largely restricted by unit price), it is still alive and kicking and deserves ongoing and meaningful support.

Regards,
Mike

[dgraham1284]

Hi Rick,

With all due respect, I am well aware that the NVIDIA drivers are the root of the problem. Please check the Subject title. I am assuming that the Prepar3D Developers are in the loop over this matter and have also registered their concerns with NVIDIA. We all know how uncommunicative NVIDIA can be, so my hope is that LM might know a bit more about what is happening, if anything, and when we can expect a fix, if ever.

As to the speculations about NVIDIA's manoeuvrings over SLI, you could be correct. Certainly you are not alone in this regard. If this is true then I regard their approach as being shameful, particularly as they are still promoting and selling GPU's with SLI capabilities. Consequently they should be acknowledging their obligations to provide proper ongoing support for at least as long as this situation continues. Failing to do so should be seen as an abrogation of their responsibilities towards their paying customers who have invested in SLI. If you are suggesting we should simply roll over and accept what may be inevitable then that's likely to guarantee the outcome. I believe our unrelenting requests persuaded NVIDIA, eventually, to produce the Prepar3D SLI Profile for us. Without that encouragement I suspect our needs, often considered niche as flight simming enthusiasts, would have been ignored.

All I'm asking is for some clarification. No doubt NVIDIA are looking at DirectX 12 as a means of devolving the responsibility for multi-GPU coding provision upon the Developers of future titles that may require it. Currently, the only way to get DX12 is to move to Windows 10 and, to date, very few titles are exploiting what DX12 has to offer. Market share is slowly growing, but is still only about 22% in contrast to Windows 7 which is not far short of 50%: https://www.netmarketshare.com/operatin ... pcustomd=0

So, while the market for SLI may be small (largely restricted by unit price), it is still alive and kicking and deserves ongoing and meaningful support.

Regards,
Mike

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Cruachan]

Update:

Since my comments made on 21 Dec. regarding NVIDIA and their possible intentions for SLI, I have been advised that this only applies to 3 and 4-way SLI. Nothing has been stated indicating any intention to withdraw support for 2-way SLI.

Mike

[Beau Hollis]

As Adam posted an update on another thread, we are working with NVidia to address potential issues in both the driver and client application. Can someone please confirm the last Nvidia driver that did not have flickering effects in SLI?

[Cruachan]

Hi Beau,

Thank you very much for responding. Believe me when I say how much better it makes us feel when we know someone us listening. I have not tested myself, but Rob Ainscough has advised us that 373.06 seems to be free of those flickering issues as exhibited with the more recent NVIDIA driver sets. I always update (clean install) via GeForce Experience and never have any problems, so feel reluctant to go back. Currently I am on 376.33 and SLI is working very well with P3D v3.4.9.18400, but I do see the flickering effects. Reports regarding the hotfix 2 and SLI are discouraging me from updating further meantime.

Kind regards,
Mike

My rig: ASUS Rampage V Extreme, i7-5960X (Dynamic OC 4.4GHz, HT=OFF), Corsair Hydro Series™ H110i GT Cooler with 2xNoctua NF-A14 PWM 140mm fans, G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) F4-3000C15Q-16GRR, Asus GTX 980Ti Strix DCIII OC (6GB, GDDR5) x2 in SLI (Driver version: 376.33) Samsung 850 EVO 1TB SSD x3, LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW, EVGA 1200 P2 Watt PSU, Cooler Master HAF X, ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q (G-Sync) monitor at 120Hz. Windows 7 Pro 64bit. Prepar3D v3.4.9.18400

[steveland]

The only stable combination for me at present is to use P3D v3.4.14.18870 and nVidia drivers 373.06.

All drivers after this results in flashing effects and menu's, even with P3D v3.4.18.19475.

Interestingly, the v3.4.18.19475 and 373.06 combination also results in the same flashing problem.

Cheers.
Steve.

:EDIT: Here's my system spec.
OS: Win7 Pro SP 1
GPU: Two Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB in SLI
Memory: 32GB DDR4
Mobo: MSI X99S XPOWER AC (MS-7881)
CPU: i7 5820K @ 3.4GHz : No overclocking

[vgbaron]

373.06 with P3D v3.4.14.18870 work for me. All later drivers exhibit flashing.

with P3D v3.4.18.19475 it makes no difference - they ALL flash in SLI mode.

Vic

3770 @ 4.7 16G ram - 2 x EVGA GTX1070 in SLI - W10 Pro Anniversary edition

[Cruachan]

Beau, further to the above, I have posted over at AVSIM asking for further info and confirmation. Hopefully this will help to clarify the situation for you quite quickly.

Thanks again,
Regards,
Mike

[Beau Hollis]

Thank you all for your reports. I will forward this information on the NVIDIA. We tracked down the cause of the UI flicker and performance drop in HF2 and are working on a fix.

[supersym]

Thanks a lot, LM !

[Cruachan]

Hi Beau,

Thank you for posting again so quickly. That is indeed good news! You have made many of us very happy and pleased we have been able to help with our modest contributions. Eagerly Looking forward now to the next update.

Best regards,
Mike :)

[zap737]

As Adam posted an update on another thread, we are working with NVidia to address potential issues in both the driver and client application. Can someone please confirm the last Nvidia driver that did not have flickering effects in SLI?

Just recently updated to V 3.4.18.19475 and am on 375.70 drivers.
Two EVGA 980 GTX in SLI.
All working perfectly.

[Beau Hollis]

Just recently updated to V 3.4.18.19475 and am on 375.70 drivers.
Two EVGA 980 GTX in SLI.
All working perfectly.

I think you may have inadvertently disabled SLI, or you are running an older version of Prepar3D. The performance hit and UI flicker introduced in HF2 will require a client-side change to resolve.