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

[ken2cky]

That's it, I got to hunt down a used 280. Daaaammm, sli 260s in Grid at 1920x1200, all high, 16x csaa, MIN fps 100... max 170. Scales or what!! I think sli 280s probably = 1 480.
Edit: I use high quality driver settings, multisampling enabled ect. I'll throw super at it next...

Is an 260 SLI not enough or what?? =P

 

[johnspack]

Nope, with supersampling I drop to a paltry 80fps min.. need more powa!

 

[johnspack]

Ug, BFBC2 sure is a gpu killer. Same 1920x1200 res, max settings, supersampling on:

 

[Justmeez]

Hey john are you using nvidia recommended, afr1 or afr2? Also are you on 197.45 or different drivers?

 

[johnspack]

On the 197.45 drivers, under XP64. Using recommended sli settings, but cranked up to supersampling. Also driver quality setting is at high quality. I know, I need to use a better codec for screenshots....

 

[Mussels]

On the 197.45 drivers, under XP64. Using recommended sli settings, but cranked up to supersampling. Also driver quality setting is at high quality. I know, I need to use a better codec for screenshots....

i wonder if your results would be different under DX10

 

[Wile E]

On the 197.45 drivers, under XP64. Using recommended sli settings, but cranked up to supersampling. Also driver quality setting is at high quality. I know, I need to use a better codec for screenshots....

You should always use png for screenshots. It's lossless.

 

[johnspack]

Yep, have to try png, but I still have to reduce it to upload one, what's the best way for that? And yes, fps are lower in Win7 64, but not really by that much. Just enough that I stay xp64 for all dx9 games, it kicks xp 32s butt ect. Dx10 games of course I just run under win7. Bioshock 1 and 2 both run just as fast under both. Dirt2 seems to prefer dx10, as does just cause 2. Yep, I's busy!!!!!!

 

[Wile E]

Yep, have to try png, but I still have to reduce it to upload one, what's the best way for that? And yes, fps are lower in Win7 64, but not really by that much. Just enough that I stay xp64 for all dx9 games, it kicks xp 32s butt ect. Dx10 games of course I just run under win7. Bioshock 1 and 2 both run just as fast under both. Dirt2 seems to prefer dx10, as does just cause 2. Yep, I's busy!!!!!!

I suggest finding a host that allows the needed file sizes. lol

 

[Mussels]

like techpowerup.org?

 

[Wile E]

like techpowerup.org?

Except the limit is 2MB, and many pngs easily exceed 2MB.

 

[Mussels]

Except the limit is 2MB, and many pngs easily exceed 2MB.

 

[johnspack]

Dam, guess I'll have to install photoshop, those jpgs are way too ugly, and just don't do what I'm seeing justice!

 

[Wile E]

Dam, guess I'll have to install photoshop, those jpgs are way too ugly, and just don't do what I'm seeing justice!

Just try Paint.NET. Has about the best resizer you can find. Best Quality uses super sampling.

 

[Neeyon]

Just wanted to say THANKS!!!

I just wanted to say thanks to all the posters on this thread for putting all the testing and effort in making SLI possible to "incompatible" motherboards.

I have an ASUS Maximus Formula Motherboard with an X38 Intel chipset that I SLI'd with a pair Nvidia 250GTS. I was going to upgrade to a 5850 instead of going SLI but my brother gave me his Nvidia 250 GTS to pair up with my existing 250 GTS. I thought that I was finally going to be able to run BFBC2 on high quality but to my dismay, I found out that I could not SLI the X38 chipset because of Nvidia's decision to lock out earlier Intel chipsets.

If it wasn't for this thread and the peeps at Xdevs, I would've been stuck with an extra 250GTS collecting dust.

Just for information's sake, the only patch I used was the SLIpatch 0.7a Win7 32 bit (I am running Win7 32 bit). Nothing else was necessary. I ran Installsli.cmd in a dos window, rebooted under SLI enabled x32 system and voila! SLI worked! I even updated to the latest Nvidia driver 197.57 and it's still SLI'd.

I did try SLIStringinstaller and the modded nvlddmkm.sys but they both didn't enable SLI for my system.

Just a couple of pointers:

1: Make sure that your power supply is adequate to run both video cards in SLI. My previous power supply was a 500w Antec and even though it had two PCIe power outputs, it wasn't enough to run two 250 GTS in SLI. Even though I installed SLIPatch correctly, the SLI option did not come up under Nvidia Control Panel when I was using my 500w PSU to power both cards. I had to get a dedicated graphics card power supply unit to give them enough juice. FYI, I picked up a Visiontek 450W dedicated graphics card power supply from Ebay for $50 it works great.

2: An SLI Bridge Connector is not necessary to enable SLI but it does make SLI performance better (much better!).

3: Your top most PCIe slot is the primary graphics card that you plug your monitor into. I thought that I could plug in my monitor to either card. I was wrong.

4: You can overclock both cards using Rivatuner. Use the drop down menu to choose each cards profile and overclock them using identical values.

5: I use Nvidia Nhancer (google it ) to boost antialiasing values to higher levels than just using the Nvidia Control Panel.

I hope that others will have pain free experiences in making their "incompatible motherboards" SLI compatible.

 

[johnspack]

Afterburner will actually clock both cards at the same time. But if you have a 55nm and 65nm card together, the shaders will come out slightly different, so then use rivatuner to tweak them up even. Found out BF2BC will drop to around 40fps min under dx10, but I've got 8x aa enabled compared to 1x under xp64, except for jaggies, I don't see much difference..

Hmm, that didn't turn out well either, wonder if I'll ever learn how to post screenies!

 

[Neeyon]

Will MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision still work even if I have a card made by BFG?

 

[johnspack]

Yes, so far I've used Afterburner on XFX, Palit and PNY cards. Won't have voltage control on 55nm cards is all. I don't bother with voltage control anymore...

 

[Wile E]

Afterburner will actually clock both cards at the same time. But if you have a 55nm and 65nm card together, the shaders will come out slightly different, so then use rivatuner to tweak them up even. Found out BF2BC will drop to around 40fps min under dx10, but I've got 8x aa enabled compared to 1x under xp64, except for jaggies, I don't see much difference..
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff126/CamelJock/BFBC2Game2010-05-1412-15-32-18.png
Hmm, that didn't turn out well either, wonder if I'll ever learn how to post screenies!

To post true screens, you have to use png, not resize, and just find a host that allows large pictures. No other way to do it, really. If you are just posting a quick screen without needing to show 100% quality, then you can resize or use jpg and stuff, otherwise, it's as I said.

 

[ken2cky]

Me again. I'd like to know if I can plug my second card like this, as my PSU only has 2 "real" PCI-E cables. I need to use 2 PCI-E adaptors (http://www.materiel.net/live/32249.jpg). Won't there be any issue?


Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Thank's

 

[Wile E]

Me again. I'd like to know if I can plug my second card like this, as my PSU only has 2 "real" PCI-E cables. I need to use 2 PCI-E adaptors (http://www.materiel.net/live/32249.jpg). Won't there be any issue?
[url]http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/4001/branchement.png[/URL]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Thank's

Do one on each.

 

[ken2cky]

Do one on each.

You mean 1 "real" PCI-E cable + 1 adaptor for each card?
Didn't think about that =P
You sure it's better?

 

[Velvet Wafer]

You mean 1 "real" PCI-E cable + 1 adaptor for each card?
Didn't think about that =P
You sure it's better?

dependant on the rail splitting of your psu, it may help!

 

[ken2cky]

dependant on the rail splitting of your psu, it may help!

I don't understand much about rails and all that...
Can U help me find the best way to plug my cards?
Here's the web page of my PSU:
http://www.corsair.com/products/hx/default.aspx

Thank's!

 

[Velvet Wafer]

I don't understand much about rails and all that...
Can U help me find the best way to plug my cards?
Here's the web page of my PSU:
http://www.corsair.com/products/hx/default.aspx

Thank's!

seems like your PSU can power all rails equally, by load balancing. you will be fine, when you plug one real 6 pin to each card, and one you adaptered,preferabily from 2 different 4pin molex wires