How To: Enable SLI on pre-i7/i5 hardware

[danceman]

the power supply it says it is SLI ready (it is an ULTRA X4 600w)

the bfg gtx 260 require 2 pcie power connectors ( my psu comes with only two, so I used 2 converters for the 2nd card).

1) At a minimum you need a PSU with enough power connectors for both cards. But more importantly..
2) your 260s' GPU requires 550w for one card. In SLI 700w is recommended but i think still to low. Else:"..* freezes during gameplay.."
FROM:
"...Recommended Power Supply

GeForce GTX 260

* A GeForce GTX 260 requires you to have a 550 Watt power supply unit at minimum if you use it in a high-end system. That power supply needs to have (in total accumulated) at least 40 Amps available on the 12 volts rails.

GeForce GTX 260 SLI

* A second GeForce GTX 260 requires you to have a 700 Watt power supply unit at minimum if you use it in a high-end system. That power supply needs to have (in total accumulated) at least 50 Amps available on the 12 volts rails.

There are many good PSU's out there, please do have a look at our many PSU reviews (http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=psu) as we have loads of recommended PSU's for you to check out in there. What would happen if your PSU can't cope with the load?:

* bad 3D performance
* crashing games
* spontaneous reset or imminent shutdown of the PC
* freezes during gameplay
* PSU overload can cause it to break down
"

In my case a single 9800 GX2 "Minimum System Requirements: Minimum 580w (12V) PSU". So to run in SLI i had to by a 1200W TR2 RX PSU.

 

[tutenkp]

I tested both the slots and the cards , and both of them are good

I guess I have to see the amperage output.
If i have to replace the psu, that would suck big time ... as I just spent $100 for that modular psu

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[razaice]

Did you order the ultra psu from tigerdirect? If you did, I know that they take things back at for at least 30 days after you buy them.

 

[tutenkp]

Did you order the ultra psu from tigerdirect? If you did, I know that they take things back at for at least 30 days after you buy them.

it has been more than 30 days .... I think i got it from amazon ... anyway the first psu was bad, so i rma it.

 

[razaice]

The ultra x4 600 is only 37a on the 12 volt. That's actually more like 444 watts, since the 12 volt is the most important. That's not very good considering my 650 watt psu is 53a on the 12 volt. I made the same exact mistake as you recently with my first psu. I've found that xfx or corsair are the best psus. Just my opinion though. I didn't check it, but if the gtx 260 actually calls for that much, I don't think it would run properly with your psu.

 

[Funtoss]

i cant find any good x38 775 sli support motherboards in my country

 

[danceman]

If i have to replace the psu, that would suck big time ... as I just spent $100 for that modular psu

You can recoup your $100 loss into savings over time buying a 1200w psu now. It's power will last thru your current single gpu's to your inevitable dual gpu/quad sli purchases and beyond. My 1200W Thermaltake TR2 RX costs $198.00 but i'll never need higher wattage or another psu for at least 5 years (re:warranty).
PS: Your Ultra's sell for $109.99 to $163.09 on eBay so you can probably sell yours there or to friends quick for just under $100, or higher if you take more time. Just stress its "Power saving" SLI ready lol

Thanks for the replies guys

no prob's, hit the thanks button if you like

Good luck, but you won't need much

 

[danceman]

i cant find any good x38 775 sli support motherboards in my country

Plenty new or used with Worldwide or International Shipping! on eBay.com or many online stores/eBay storefronts

 

[johnspack]

Sure hope the slihack gang is working on the 270 series drivers. We can't go out like this!!

 

[Sinzia]

Sure hope the slihack gang is working on the 270 series drivers. We can't go out like this!!

Who said anyone was going anywhere?

 

[johnspack]

Found a temp solution... grab the 268.03 driver and modded inf. It has the 270 profiles and performance enhancements, without the slihack issues! It has native profile support for crysis 2, and loads both my gpus at 90% +. Very good performance.
Edit: you must try this driver, it's greased lightning in a jar! Every game I've thrown at it runs fast, and smooth. I actually don't care about xp64 anymore....
Edit2: if you have an older driver installed with evga sli enhancement patch ect, uninstall that first, then install this driver, use advanced, clean, and you
will still have all profiles.

 

[perche]

Hi, i have a problem with physx and sli hack, i get a bsod in 3dmark11 and vantage every time i run the physx test.




Uploaded with ImageShack.us

i try with many drivers, 266.58, 267.26, 270.28, but always get the fuck bsod in the physx test, i use slipatch 1,2 over w7 x64 with 2 gtx460 with sli bridge in a gigabyte ma790x-ds4.



*fixed, was a problem with my vcore and my overclock.

 

[RiC@RDOC]

268.03 and modded Infs to all Win versions:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144019

 

[juanchacin]

I’ve installed the 268.03 with the 267.24 inf and works fine, the question is; these files (inf) have something to do with the performance or are just to be able to install the drivers?
In others words, the inf determinate what modules of the driver should been installed or something like that???

I hope my question was clear enough.

 

[RiC@RDOC]

I’ve installed the 268.03 with the 267.24 inf and works fine, the question is; these files (inf) have something to do with the performance or are just to be able to install the drivers?
In others words, the inf determinate what modules of the driver should been installed or something like that???

I hope my question was clear enough.

Using the inf from another driver might work but i don't advise it, it's like you are saying sometimes different drivers different files and modules. I only add to the inf the IDs to all the cards.

 

[juanchacin]

Using the inf from another driver might work but i don't advise it, it's like you are saying sometimes different drivers different files and modules. I only add to the inf the IDs to all the cards.

Got it Chief.
I'll reinstall my Drivers with the .inf that you posted, and then report.

Have a nice day

 

[tutenkp]

Thanks for the suggestion .... i was also thinking of selling both cards and buy a newer one ... the thing is I got the 2nd card from my bro

and yes razaice ... looks like 2 GTX 260 require at least 50A on the 12V lines.

I combine the power cables (from cd-rom and fans etc) for the 2nd card, and now after windows freezes at startup I also get a blue screen that says Bios is not fully ACPI compliant ... even though i have the latest bios and ACPI is enabled in bios. .... oh well is not worth it since the psu can't handle it at full load anyway.

You can recoup your $100 loss into savings over time buying a 1200w psu now. It's power will last thru your current single gpu's to your inevitable dual gpu/quad sli purchases and beyond. My 1200W Thermaltake TR2 RX costs $198.00 but i'll never need higher wattage or another psu for at least 5 years (re:warranty).
PS: Your Ultra's sell for $109.99 to $163.09 on eBay so you can probably sell yours there or to friends quick for just under $100, or higher if you take more time. Just stress its "Power saving" SLI ready lol


no prob's, hit the thanks button if you like

Good luck, but you won't need much

 

[juanchacin]

Reporting:
I’ve already installed the Forceware 268.03 with the .inf that RiC@RDOC posted, and is working perfectly, I also take my time to first install the 270.51 driver just to extract the SLI profile that this driver has and I notice a few things.

I compare the SLI Profiles of the Forceware 268.03 and the 270.51 using WinMerge and notice that are a little different, for example; the 268 don’t have SLI support for TDU2 and a few others apps, and the 270 don’t have support for NFS Shift 2 and others stuff, both don’t have support for AC Brotherhood.

So using WinMerge I manage to create a .txt with all the profiles include, even ACB, look the link at the end. All you need is the “Geforce SLI Profile Tool”, hit the import button and select the .txt file, then you’re good to go.

Official SLI Profiles.txt
Geforce SLI Profile Tool
WinMerge (If you want to try this app)

NOTE: I use 268.03 + SLIPatch 1.2b and no issues so far.

 

[RiC@RDOC]

It's a shame that Shift 2 lacks proper Sli support, i really wanted the cranck up the AA levels, the game really need it.
Oh well, at least we got a little performance improvement in single gpu mode with the 268.03.
Better than nothing

 

[Kamikaz]

270.61 whql up! gonna try these out, hopefully they'll work this time with slipatch

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=342931

 

[johnspack]

Don't be dissapointed if they don't! I'm pretty sure nvidia has "fixed" the 270 series drivers.....

 

[Kamikaz]

Don't be dissapointed if they don't! I'm pretty sure nvidia has "fixed" the 270 series drivers.....

Yep, they don't work with slipatch, same problem as 270.51, flickering on every game.. back to 268.03

 

[anatolymik]

new patch version. link below.
new nvidia protection workaround

 

[anatolymik]

Yep, they don't work with slipatch, same problem as 270.51, flickering on every game.. back to 268.03

flickering or low performance? or both? flickering is the driver problem. i haven't issues in windows 2008 but in windows 7 i have strong flickering

 

[Francko79]

Dude, seriously I love you.
I´ll try it when I get home.
And right before long easter weekend!!