Lossless scaling works well indeed!
Lossless scaling works well indeed!
I found out about Lossless Scaling’s dual GPU option and ended up getting an RTX 3060 from Facebook. I use the frame generation tool for STALKER 2 and Skyrim (with a Nolvus mod) to achieve smooth 60 FPS on my RTX 3090 at 4K. Lossless scaling works well with the 3090, producing extra frames on the 3060 without extra cost, which is exciting to test.
Early findings from dual GPU lossless scaling with Skyrim, Nolvus. Hardware: CPU 9950X3D, PBO, Curve Optimizer, 2000FCLK RAM, 64GB Hynix A @ 6000CL30. Board: Asus x670 Pro Art GPU 1 (render): RTX 3090 @ x8 PCI, 2nd GPU: RTX 3060. Important note: The 3060 needs the 3090 running at x8 PCI, with the 3090 output feeding the 3060. This setup causes some performance problems that I plan to test by swapping to the 3090 and turning off PCI bifurcation to check if just the 3090 with x16 PCI performs better. No lossless scaling observed: RTX 3090 at 100% usage, 430W power draw. RTX 3060 at 9% usage, 50W power. RTX 3060 at 33-35% usage, 68-72W power. Base FPS: 29 with steady frame time of 36. Frame time: 43ns (inconsistent). I uploaded the scene, loaded a save, kept camera angle constant, waited for CPU movement to stop, then refreshed MSI charts. The yellow line marks where lossless scaling is active. I’ll collect single-GPU results later without going through PCI or 3060 to verify if this approach is beneficial.
The game is running smoothly at Ultra Settings with 4k resolution, vanilla Nolvus mod, DLAA enabled, and no upscaling. Lossless scaling is set to off with two frames generated per second. Performance remains stable on a single GPU (x16 PCI, no passthrough). Frame rate and frame time are unchanged compared to the dual GPU configuration. When Lossless Scaling is off, the RTX 3090 uses more power and generates slightly lower FPS (29 vs 27). With Lossless Scaling active, GPU usage drops and frame timing increases by about 10ns. Overall, using an RTX 3060 for rendering yields a marginal improvement over the dual GPU setup.
I’d like to see the Labs discuss this and hear Linus’s perspective. I’m not a big supporter of frame generation; I’d prefer more optimized games and lower-cost GPUs. For now, it could work for single-player titles. I wouldn’t recommend frame generation in multiplayer games. However, I spent $200 on the RTX 3060, which was a solid price at the time but still higher than I’d have liked. The extra 2 FPS and 10ms of latency didn’t seem worth it, though I hope my decision isn’t too frustrating. Maybe I’ll try rendering three frames per second next on the 3060. I can confidently say that three-frame rendering on the 3090 is terrible and unusable in my opinion.