Does Fortnite Support SLI Technology? [Truth Revealed 2024]

Written By Farhan Bin Matin

Ever wondered how you could scale up your gaming performance with multiple Nvidia graphics cards in a single system?

The hype of Fortnite is beyond reach. And so, hardcore gamers are continuously improvising their skills. If you maintain a balance between skills and performance, you can be an Ace player in no time.does-fortnite-support-sli-technology

In this post, I will talk about such a technology that will boost your Fortnite gaming performance to a top-notch level. Yes, you guessed it right, the technology is named as SLI.

Keep reading, As I’m about to show you the boons of using this technology to boost your gaming experience.

What is SLI?

sli

SLI or Scalable Link Interface is a superior multi-GPU technology developed by Nvidia that lets two or more GPUs intertwine together to create a sign output. In 2004 Nvidia released SLI technology for computational graphics. SLI’s main goal was to use a parallel processing algorithm to increase processing power.

Simply put, SLI technology allows two or even up to 8 graphics cards to share the amount of workload while playing games or rendering 3D graphics.

For SLI, a user needs identical GPUs on an SLI-certified motherboard containing more than one slot for the Graphical Processing Unit to sync the workload perfectly. The major drawback was SLI users needed two identical GPU models.

motherboard-with-many-gpu-slotsSLI was beneficial for rendering real-time 3D animations on paper, but we saw something diverse.

After the release of SLI, the technology struggled to pick up the pace for a good run. SLI started to fade away for a lack of developers’ support and driver issues.

After a lot of hurdles, Nvidia released NVLink as the SLI successor, which allowed the GPUs to function even better. And game developers turned their faces from SLI.

Does Fortnite Support SLI?

Sadly, the answer is No; despite being one of this generation’s most popular Battle Royale games, Fortnite does not support SLI. SLI engineering technology cannot increase Fortnite’s performance because  Fortnite was developed in a way that does not require too much hardware power to run smoothly.

To explain that further, A single 2080 Ti Graphics Card at 50% usage can run on Epic Settings at 1440p resolution. In other words, regular power GPUs are enough to handle the high resolution and refresh rate that Fortnite requires.

Fortnite Epic Setting PC Requirements:

  • Nvidia GTX 1080, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, or equivalent GPU.
  • 4GB VRAM or higher.
  • Intel Core i7-8700, AMD Ryzen 7 3700x, or equivalent.
  • 16GB RAM or higher.
  • NVMe Solid State Drive.
  • Windows 10 64-bit.

You can see that, with this specification, an avid gamer can get the best-looking visuals in Fortnite.

Does SLI Make Any Frame Rate Difference in Fortnite?

Yes, but the difference is not favorable for the gamer. Fortnite does increase Frame Rates by a considerable margin, but occasionally, the game starts glitching and freezes mid-match. SLI was a great experience for gaming back in the day, but nowadays, most games are not optimized for SLI.

One gamer said on Reddit that Fortnite randomly freezes with 2x GTX 770 SLI, and the only way to exit the game was using the End Process from the Task manager.

Another gamer said, His FPS has a super boost from 120-160fps all the way up to 240-260fps. But the problem he faced was that the game started glitching badly and faced missing texture.

In theory, SLI should make a significant difference in gaming, but most games do not support the dual graphic card SLI features. This means you can use two GPUs for SLI, but the result might disappoint you if the game does not support it.

Does Fortnite Support CrossFire?

No, unfortunately, Fortnite does not support CrossFire technology. Therefore it cannot provide a performance boost. Instead, Fortnite on CrossFire creates more issues; many gamers have faced glitching, half-loaded textures, and sometimes in-game objects turned invisible.

AMD introduced CrossFire technology (also known as CrossFireX) to harness the processing power of multiple GPUs but Getting a second GPU for better Fortnite performance would not be a good decision.

Keep in mind, like SLI, most of the new generation games do not support CrossFire.

These games are designed to use a single GPU to process the graphical rendering. So if you have another Graphics Card attached to your motherboard, it means the 2nd one is in idle state while playing these new Gen games.

In these cases, selling the 2nd GPU and upgrading the computer systems is the best decision to take.

Difference Between CrossFire and SLI

amd-nvidiaAt first glance, CrossFire and SLI may sound and look like the same type of technology that uses two or multiple Graphical Processing Units to amplify the graphics performance and quality.

But there are levels to this; I will list them furthermore.

Here Is The Major Difference Between CrossFire And SLI:

SLI TechnologyCrossFire Technology
ManufacturerNvidiaAMD
Release DateReleased in 2004.Released in 2005.
GPU CompatibilitySLI requires identical GPUs to operate.CrossFire supports all GPUs that have come with the same architectural generation.
ConnectorNeeds Nvidia SLI Bridge to connect GPUs.No bridge connector is needed; PCIe does the work.
APU Compatibility CrossFire supports APUs.SLI doesn’t support APUs.
Motherboard CompatibilityRequires SLI-certified motherboard.Requires a motherboard that has two or more PCIe slots.
Resolution SupportSLI is compatible with windowed/borderless or Fullscreen mode.CrossFire is only compatible with Fullscreen mode.
CompatibilitySupport triple, dual and quadruple GPUs.Support triple, dual and quadruple GPUs.
CostExpensiveCost-effective.

In the end, we can say that Nvidia’s SLI is a more complex technology while AMD’s CrossFire is simple and more affordable.

List of Games That Supports SLI

Even though developers have almost stopped optimizing games for multi-graphics card systems because the hype about SLI died start of this generation.

But whether you have a dual GPUs SLI-based system or are planning to install an SLI setup computer for better performance.

And also, if you are eager to check the SLI performance by yourself, you can check that on other games without Fortnite; there are tons of games available on the market that support the SLI technology.

Some modern last-gen AAA games can use the SLI performance boost feature while running with multiple GPU gaming setups.

Here Is The List Of Games That Supports SLI:

  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
  • Outriders
  • Halo Infinite
  • Far Cry 6
  • Far Cry 5
  • SCARLET NEXUS
  • Dying Light 2
  • Dark Souls III
  • DEATH LOOP
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  • Fallout 4
  • Hitman 3
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
  • Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag
  • Mass Effect Legendary Edition
  • Returnal
  • Little Nightmares II
  • Crysis 3

These are the most notable triple-A games that are optimized for SLI. You can play these games in that sweet Ultra 4K resolution with the help of two or more Graphical Processing Units at once.

Every gamer dreams of better FPS. No matter the type of games one plays, better performance is their only goal. But getting an SLI system only for gaming will be a waste of time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: Does SLI increase FPS?

SLI technology or multiple GPUs can increase the FPS and boost the overall gaming performance. But only for those games which support SLI in the first place. Otherwise, the game experience on the games that don’t support SLI can be horrible.

Question 2: Why do games not support SLI anymore?

Because game developers stopped optimizing games for SLI. Because there are not many gamers with Multiple GPUs. SLI optimization requires a lot of time, effort and money. This is why game developers ditched the idea of optimizing games for SLI or Multi-GPU.

Question 3: Can I run 2 graphics cards?

Yes, you can; with the help of a motherboard with more than one PCIe slot or GPU slot, you can install two GPUs in one computer. It will increase overall graphics rendering performance. And give you an additional boost for better multitasking. 

Question 4: Does SLI increase VRAM?

No, SLI does not increase the amount of VRAM in your computer; instead, you will get increased graphical processing power.

Final Thoughts

Fortnite is fun to play videogame alone and with friends. Epic games keep their gamers hooked by bringing colorfull skins and cross-overs with different games, anime or movie franchises.

That game was developed with casual gamers in mind. Therefore Fortnite does not support SLI or multi-GPU features to give an extra performance boost.

In this post, I have answered the question, Does Fortnite support SLI? and explained why it does not. I hope after reading my post have consumed knowledge and found the answers you were looking for, Thanks.

Do you have further questions about the topic? Let me know in the connect section.

Peace out!

About The Author
Farhan is a tech researcher and enthusiast. He’s been into tech and gaming since he got a PS2 in his childhood.Currently, he’s almost done with his undergrad.Besides testing and researching geeky stuff, Farhan has an utmost passion for photography.

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