• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

I guess im out of the loop

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Amarkarian

Member
Joined
May 21, 2005
okay sry to sound like a complete noob,

sli as i understand it is using to graphics cards to act as one, as ive heard you need sli enabled graphics cards and power supply to do it? is there some special cable that connects the two ports to lead to the monitor? pls explain treat me as complete noob
 
Nope!

SLI works like this:

YOu have a motherboard that supports SLI, as well as two SLI enabled video cards. You also need an SLI bridge which connects the two SLI video cards.

The PSU needs 2 PCI-E Power adapters, but that doesn't mean you need a SLI PSU per se.

Most SLI motherboards come with a 4 Pin MOlex(Standard power plug) to PCI-E Adapter or two, so you don't need to worry about your PSU.

To connect your monitor to the Video cards, all you have to do is plug it into one. The way SLI works is basically a load balancing sort of application. You have Video Card A which is the "main" card, and video card B which is the "Secondary" card.

A gives B some work that it needs B to do. A then sends the finished render to Video card A, which outputs it to the monitor.

It's really a cool concept, and has its "cool stuff" factors, and it's flaws. Most notably is driver support(or lack of) for games :)

I hope that helped you, and good luck finding out what video card system is right for you!
 
Back