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

Mussels

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Ok thank you very much!
Still have one question. Can I patch my drivers right now even if I'm still waiting for my other card? Just to see if the patch works for me and if a have the SLI option in the Nvidia Control Panel.
Thanks

the option wont appear with just one card.
 

ken2cky

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HHmmm... Is there any other way I can know for sure if the patch failed or not with my only card?
 

Mussels

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HHmmm... Is there any other way I can know for sure if the patch failed or not with my only card?

no. you need two cards.
 

Antineutrino

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First of all, I would to thank anatolymik, sveetsnelda and all the people who supported this great project...After that I can say that all It's working flawlessly for my with XP32 and Asus Rampage Formula and 2 x Asus 8800 GTS 512 G92 :D:D:D. By the way I noticed that the patched ntoskrnl is an older version than the one I have without SLI. Will it bring any problem? Is ther any security issue? :confused: :respect:
 

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Well, no joy for xp64, will not enable sli. I disconnected a few things to lessen the load on my psu until I get a new one. Decided to try under win7 x64, success! :

 

ken2cky

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Nice! But I tought you tried with drivers 197.45. Does it work for 197.45??
 

jiggydancer

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I read all 126 pages of this thread trying to figure out why I couldn't get the SLIPatch working last night. I'm gonna try a few more tricks tonight when I get home (run as admin, different drivers, rebooting multiple times).

Just wanted to say... Thanks for all the hard work guys!
 

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Sorry, didn't have enough time to test the new drivers, my psu is failing and I had to get them back out. I sure would like to know what driver was tested under xp64, I may have to try an older driver or something....
 

jiggydancer

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Okay... my results after a long night.
:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

Not so proud owner of:

Windows 7 Ultimate x64
ECS P55H-A motherboard
55mm MSI GTX 260 (216)
65mm XFX GTX 260 (216)

I tried SLIPatch 0.7 Win7 x64 alpha. Was able to boot successfully into "SLI Enabled" mode, but neither GPU-z nor Everest noted any changes to SLI status. I tried installing every single driver available on the nVidia website from 190.62 through 197.45, and none of them were able to activate SLI.

After uninstalling SLIPatch, I swapped over to the other method of using SLIStringInstaller v2.0. This reveals a SLI Certification in Everest. Following the rest of the steps I was able to activate SLI with up to 191.07 drivers. 195.XX+ drivers does not allow me to activate SLI in the Control Panel.

But that doesn't really matter to me because I need 196.XX+ drivers to play Bad Company 2. Which is the only thing my computer is having any trouble running these days.

If anyone can help me SLI these GTX260's I have lying around, I'd really appreciate it. But then again, I'm impressed that you guys have already gotten this far! Thanks in advance.
 

ken2cky

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I really hope you can solve the prob 'cause I'll be using same VGAs and OS... My 2nd card arrives monday
 

jiggydancer

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As a last ditch effort, I did a clean Win7x64 install.

SLIPatch 0.7a R2 did not work on my ECS P55H-A with nVidia drivers 197.45.

It did however, work with X-treme G drivers 187.66, which reportedly allows effective SLI in Bad Company 2.
 

ken2cky

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As a last ditch effort, I did a clean Win7x64 install.

SLIPatch 0.7a R2 did not work on my ECS P55H-A with nVidia drivers 197.45.

It did however, work with X-treme G drivers 187.66, which reportedly allows effective SLI in Bad Company 2.
What's the difference between WHQL and X-treme G drivers:confused:
 

jiggydancer

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No idea. But I just tested them out tonight. I didn't notice any performance increase over non-SLI mode.

Gonna revert back to 197.45 drivers because it's the best i can do to play Bad Company 2.

Guess SLI was not meant to be for me.
 

ken2cky

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Does SLIPatch 0.7a even meant to work with 197.45 drivers?

EDIT: I can get an HD5850 (2nd hand) for 130€ (173,77$) if I sell my GTX 260 for 100€ (133,67$)... Where should I go? 2x GTX 260 (need to buy another card for 100€) OR 1x HD5850?
 
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jiggydancer

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I've tried with every driver from 196.XX up. None of them work for me.

The 5850 is probably the best deal on the market right now if you're looking to upgrade.

GTX260 SLI will probably run very similar to it if not a little better in certain applications.

However, you would have to deal with all the rendering issues that come with SLI.


I would go with the 5850 just to simplify my life. It runs cool, it performs great, and you don't have to deal with this SLIPatch drama.
 

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From all I've been reading, sli core 216s will about match a 5870 if you tweak them. And will match a gtx295. 2 days until I get my new psu to test all this. Also found out the driver I tried under xp64 doesn't support dual monitors under sli, need the .45, so I'll be trying that again!
 

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Okay, will be testing properly soon, just unpacked my new psu. Let the games begin!!
 

johnspack

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Well, got it working under xp64! So far they do beat my gtx280, my sli gtx260s..:

Note on xp64, 197.45 was supposed to enable dual monitor support, it does not on my system.
 
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johnspack

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Interesting, using the slipatch doesn't work on all games, I have run into several that just crash, like prey ect. When I switch back to my single 280, no problems. Guess it isn't perfect yet. Games like warhead however scale like crazy! Much faster. Guess some bugs still need to be ironed out with this patch. I'll be trying the same stuff under win7 shortly when I reinstall it again.
 

ken2cky

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Interesting, using the slipatch doesn't work on all games, I have run into several that just crash, like prey ect. When I switch back to my single 280, no problems. Guess it isn't perfect yet. Games like warhead however scale like crazy! Much faster. Guess some bugs still need to be ironed out with this patch. I'll be trying the same stuff under win7 shortly when I reinstall it again.
Hmm... After reading this, I really am considering buying that 5850...
 

johnspack

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I'm thinking it will work better under win7, and closer to a 5870. Go for a 5870 if your going to do ati....
 

ken2cky

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I can't buy a 5870 =P the 5850 I saw is a 2nd hand (3 weeks used). Please inform me if the games that crashes on XP64 do the same on win7. ;)
 

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Yep, will be testing games under win7 shortly, I blew up my win7 install when my psu got sick... should be within a day or 2.
 

ken2cky

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Maybe the games you tried are too old (Prey) and have no SLI support... What recent games did you tried?
Games like warhead however scale like crazy!
Did you mean Crysis Warhead?

EDIT: I DID IT!! GTX 260 in SLI on a P5Q Pro with 197.45 and Win7 64.
System specs:
P5Q Pro
E8500 @ 4Ghz
Corsair HX620
2x GTX 260 (192 and 216sp, both 65nm) BUT NO SLI BRIDGE so result is lower than expected.

With one card:


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

2 cards but no SLI Bridge


Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Thanks :respect:
 
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