SLI Hardware Guide and F.A.Q

[Son1990]

Ok ok, you got me...i said that due to what someone ealse told me and i dont feel like saying who. So i gave him the wrong info sorry. Altho i did and do know that dual GPUs have a HUGE impact on 3dmark scores.

~Ken

 

[jcw122]

Thanks for admitting u got info from one man Son.

Anyway, still doesn't make me so sure about SLI having to wait for the CPUs...hmm...I don't even know how they got the conclusion of that whne SLI first came out, dunno.

 

[Son1990]

Motherboard section Updated

 

[Dave65]

Hi guys,I have been reading the FAQ about SLI,but couldn't find what I was looking for.

I have two of these Leadtek WinFast PX6800 TDH in SLI,I have MB in my sig.
Question is,I haven't played any real new games yet,like Battlefield 2,I do play BF 1942 and some Nascar 2003,I cannot see any difference from a single card to SLI,both have the same frame rates.
I have read some older games are more CPU intence instead of GPU intence,is this true?
I guess what I am wondering is,is mine working correctly?
I have SLI enabled through the display settings and they are modestly overclocked.
Any info would be helpful..Thanks.........

 

[LoneWolf121188]

^^ Feel free to make your own thread on the topic, usually when people post in a sticky its feedback on the original post. To answer your question, make sure your resolution is up and your eye candy is turned on...you may be to the point where one GPU can handle the load by itself and doesn't really need the other. SLI shows the biggest gains with more eye candy turned on. After 100 fps, no one can really tell the difference anyway, so it may be running faster and you wouldn't know. Try a 3DM05 run and see what kind of score you get, it should be around 9k or 10k if SLI is working fine. Also, yes, a fair amount of games are far more CPU intensive than GPU instensive. HL2 is a great example of this, and it not even that old.

 

[Dave65]

Ok thank a lot,I ran 3DM05 and got around 8000.
But I will turn the eye candy on and see what happens..Thanks

 

[Super Nade]

Mate you must include the very competitive mid-range 6800GS. It beats a 6800GT and can hang with a 6800 Ultra. Also, when run in SLI, they can beat a 7800GTX

 

[Son1990]

Mate you must include the very competitive mid-range 6800GS. It beats a 6800GT and can hang with a 6800 Ultra. Also, when run in SLI, they can beat a 7800GTX

Everything has been updated! Have a look-see

 

[Darren]

good read, thanks for your info & time.

 

[lament]

Can I mix and match graphics cards?
No. NVIDIA currently doesn't support SLI on two different models or from different vendors. SLI supports configurations with the same model (i.e. 6800 Ultra) from the same vendor (Vendor XYZ). A common misconception about SLI is that the BIOS revision has to be identical between the cards. This is not true. A manufacturer can revise the BIOS without affecting SLI. NVIDIA does however recommend that customers confirm SLI compatibility with the manufacturer before making a purchase.

This needs to be updated to:

"In order to provide optimal symmetric scaling, SLI Technology requires the NVIDIA GPU to match. For example, a GeForce 7800 GTX must be paired with another GeForce 7800 GTX. Likewise, a GeForce 6600 GT must be paired with another GeForce 6600 GT. However, using the latest Release 80 Graphics Drivers, NVIDIA GPUs sold by different manufacturers can be used together in SLI Mode. For example, a GeForce 7800 GT from vendor ABC can be matched with a GeForce 7800 GT from vendor XYZ."

 

[Son1990]

Updated for ya.

 

[QuietIce]

Well, I know it's been a few months since this has been updated so I thought I'd chime in since I'm getting ready to go SLI myself.

- The ASUS A8N32-SLI is an AMD x16 motherboard not Intel. The latest BIOS version is 1303 but 1205 is still supported.

- The 7900 & 7950 cards have been out for awhile now, are these "Certified"?

- I understand the Maze4 is still very popular for water cooling but the Swiftech MCW60 is also a very good, low restriction water-block. It's compatible with most motherboards and GeForce cards from 6600 up. Here is the link for the compatibility chart. There are add-on kits available for some of the non-compatible cards

- Swiftech also has the MCWRAMcool VGA memory block for GPU RAM, also compatible with most GeForce cards from 6800 - 7950 with a couple of exceptions. Here is a link for it.


Thanks for providing such a good collection of facts in one spot.

 

[Mito]

q6700
eVGA 680i
8800gtx SLI

what do you guys think?

 

[wanab]

q6700
eVGA 680i
8800gtx SLI

what do you guys think?

do it!

 

[Cisco Kid]

7800GTX SLI vs 8600GT SLI superclocked

Owning 1 7800GTX already and trying to prepare a bit for Crysis using a Xeon x3210 on a 680i SLI board am I better off to just add a second GTX or sell my current card and go with a pair of used 8600GT cards.

Plan is to game withing Vista if SLI has improved if not stay DX9 and if thats the case I guess just add a second GTX for 1650x1080 res

 

[Mito]

8600 sli, however, you won't be able to OC the 8600si in SLI.

 

[RSDXzec]

Hey, about SLI, why cant my bios detect that i have 2 8800GT in SLI???
Ntune can

Specs are in my sig