Ashes of the Singularity DirectX 12 Mixed GPU Performance

[W1zzard]

Today, the RTS game Ashes of the Singularity was released in a version that supports mixing GPUs from various vendors, even of different architectures, to provide a performance uplift similar to SLI and CrossFire. We test a selection of NVIDIA and AMD cards to investigate what to expect from the new DirectX 12 feature.

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[ShurikN]

Pictures are broken

 

[EarthDog]

Great read W1z!

Pics arent showing up (perhaps its just me), but the video does...

 

[W1zzard]

fixed

 

[Sasqui]

 

[Moofachuka]

FuryX's faster than 980ti O_O

 

[BiggieShady]

Red and green working together ... fun times.
Too bad micro stuttering is back, all that frame pacing efforts are going down the drain with DX11.

Also AMD 16.1 and 16.2 drivers do not support DirectFlip feature of DX12 yet, so everything is always vsynced (although measured fps is over 60)... coming soon in the next version

 

[nem]

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Ashes...8/Specials/Benchmark-Test-DirectX-12-1187073/

 

[LightningJR]

very cool

 

[TheMailMan78]

That chart doesn't make any sense.

 

[HD64G]

That chart doesn't make any sense.

It clearly shows the % gains in FPS from DX11 to DX12 for each card.

And to add something: some of us talked about when someone asked for buying a new GPU to keep it for as long as possible. Look into the link below and check how much more VRAM DX12 asks for. And then rethink about 970 3.5GB vs 390 8GB...

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/..._beta_phase_2_directx_12_performance_review/5

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Am I just blind or is there no SLI/Xfire baseline to compare to? Wouldn't that be the essential comparison point rather than single card?

Edit: Oh there it is, only 970s Why not just include that in the main graph?

 

[nickbaldwin86]

so in order to keep from being called a fanboi you have to run both AMD and NVidia?

 

[TheMailMan78]

It clearly shows the % gains in FPS from DX11 to DX12 for each card.

And to add something some of us talked about when someone asked for buying a new GPU to keep it. Look into the link below and check how much more VRAM DX12 asks for. And then rething about 970 3.5GB vs 390 8GB...

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/..._beta_phase_2_directx_12_performance_review/5

Except it shows a gain on a 680 over a 780ti. Doesn't make sense.

 

[EarthDog]

The only item being compared in that graph is the change in FPS when using DX12. Other cards do not matter (not comparing it from card to card, just the gains). its saying the 680 gains 21 FPS when moving to DX12. Its saying the 780ti loses 3 FPS when moving to DX12. That's it.

In other words, the 780ti may get 100 FPS in DX11, but using DX12, it gets 97 (so -3). While the 680 may get 75FPS in DX11 but gets 96 FPS in DX12). The 780ti is still beating it. They are not saying its XX FPS faster than any other card... just the difference.

WHY that is... no clue. But the graph makes sense.

 

[Fluffmeister]

Except it shows a gain on a 680 over a 780ti. Doesn't make sense.

It's best to visit the article in question, rather than just view the cherry picked graphs and take them on face value.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10067/ashes-of-the-singularity-revisited-beta/5

For example Fury X does show the most gains from DX12, but then it's DX11 performance was pretty poor in the first place (in this one title).

As to why the 680 benefits more than the 780 Ti *shrugs*

 

[Brusfantomet]

Just swapping your monitor#s cable around can provide a 5% performance uplift.

That is only true at 1080p, (76.31-72.74)/72.74 = 4.9% wile at 4K its (47,34-42,53)/42,53 = 11,3% of an increase.

Otherwise an good article, would also be interesting to see a resolution scaling comparison between a 290X and a 390X, to gauge where 4 GiB becomes the problem.

 

[msamelis]

This is a very nice technology which would be fantastic if it was implemented. I haven't read much about it, so please bear with me with a few questions that I have.

1. This is probably the most stupid question from the lot but I assume you just add the GPUs without any SLI/Crossfire bridges, right?
   
2. According to the results, does this show that AMD has played the long game and planned ahead with DX12? Is this something that Nvidia can rectify with a drivers update?
3. Will Gsync/FreeSync technology work only if you have connected the appropriate GPU to the monitor? Will they work regardless which GPU you connect? Will they work at all?

Thanks for the article W1zzrd

 

[looniam]

looks like my 780TI might come back out of the closet.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I hear champagne pops from AMD's HQ... they had to search for the booze a lot... it was covered under thick layer of dust...

 

[Frick]

I had no idea mixed GPUs would be a thing in Directx12. The concept is good, but honestly I don't see many upsides to it. If you're buying a second GPU, why not getting the same one again? Maxing price/performance would be a scenario, but mixing high end cards with lower end cards doesn't seem to work. Like ... what was the company that had the same idea some years ago? There were even some motherboards support it, but in reality it didn't really make much sense. Again, the only time it would make sense if it you could essentially just add the performance of the second card, and even then it wouldn't be bad to be tied to a single vendor because they share the same market.

And the only thing this tells us is honestly how the cards perform in this game.

 

[the54thvoid]

Perhaps the most 'indulgent' benefit is where someone has one brand (or an older arch that works well, 390X for example) and when they upgrade they can keep older card for DX12 back up. As W1zzard says though, it's up to the dev's to code to make it work and how many will bother?

AoS is a known quantity so far but in the world of consoles I'm not so sure it'll catch. As far as the card differences, we know AMD has a better DX12 Async architecture so the results aren't too surprising. But once again we still need more DX12 game benchmarks. I have zero interest in AoS as a purchase so other titles implementation of DX12 features will have varying results and more interest for me. It's very annoying Deus Ex Mankind Divided was pushed back as that was going to incorporate DX12 was it not? Plus it was an AMD sponsored title so that would be a great platform for AMD/RTG to shout about their achievements.

 

[THE_EGG]

I hear champagne pops from AMD's HQ... they have to search for the booze a lot... it was covered under thick layer of dust...

I'd be amazed if they still had any. I thought they sold it to help with their financial status

 

[ShurikN]

Quantum Break should be out in a month and a half, and thats supposedly a full DX12 game. Lets see if the red team can produce the same

 

[nem]