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

[OgaiB]

New toys arrived

Single

Dual


Single

Dual


Single

Dual

 

[coolmiester]

Bit later than i'd had hoped but still trying to decide which board i want to use in a future build but i was given a chance to test a few boards today along with dual GTX285's and confirm that i got Sli to work on Supermicro X8DAi and Supermicro X8DAH+-F though i must point out that i could not get either to work with the SLIStringInstaller v1.81 using the Supermicro button and had to resort to using the Hal Mod followed by SLIStringInstaller v1.81 and using the Asus button.

I have no idea why this was but i tried multiple times using the SLIStringInstaller v1.81 without success but Hal Mod followed by Asus button worked first time on both boards.

Thanks again for all the hard work

 

[Mosfet321]

works great on:

AMD 790GX (ECS A790GXM-A) + 2 x GeForce 9800GT
AMD 790GX (ECS A790GXM-AD3) + 2 x GeForce 9800GT/2 x GeForce 250GTS

In Windows 7 x64 using SliString 1.81 and HALLmod 9

 

[Nick [D]vB]

I just got an email from Biostar saying that they can't fix their broken TA790GX-128M boards with a bios update.

(they tried to save money on PCIE switching ICs by using a hard-wired design that can only detect x2 identicle ATI cards)

so with no chance of SLI on my new system I have gone over to the dark side:

...the dark red side!

 

[TheWolf]

Note for those using the Modded Driver vs HalMod. Folding could become unstable IF used together.

As for bench scores:

Haven't had time to check to see if the difference is HalMod vs Modded Driver.
My test ran on the IX38 were with the Modded Driver "scored better", were on the X48 were ran with HalMod "lower scores".

Bench scores could be a little better with the modded driver "could have been the small OC differnce".
Only once I test that way can I say for sure. I'll report once I do.

Also driver versions were different, lastest driver 191.07 with HalMod.
190.62 driver was used with Modded driver.

I did try the Modded driver with 191.07, but Folding @ Home became unstable & lost work units.
No bench marks were ran once I saw how unstable Folding became.
I did still have the HalMod installed while adding the Modded driver.
This could have caused the unstable problem, running the two together.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Wolf,

By what anatolymik stated a while ago, modded drivers defeat the purpose of HALmod. Meaning HALmod becomes null and void once you use modded drivers.

 

[TheWolf]

Yes I had read that & was only a test to see what might happen.
I did run the two together on my old setup with driver 190.62 without the above problem.
So it could be a problem of the new driver 191.07 & the two being ran together or
the many HalMod version changes that had some effect.
I'm sure I wasn't testing with the same HalMod version as I did back then either.
My post was more of a little insight into what can happen in some circumstances.

 

[agentdax5]

So I uninstalled my second video card and now windows won't boot.

I get a Bluescreen saying the BIOS is not ACPI compliant. I've tried the 3 different bios on the asus page and it still isn't working. If i plug another video card in the second pci slot it boots...

using the repair utility from the install disk doesn't help, it cannot repair it automatically...

 

[chuck216]

I just got an email from Biostar saying that they can't fix their broken TA790GX-128M boards with a bios update.

(they tried to save money on PCIE switching ICs by using a hard-wired design that can only detect x2 identicle ATI cards)

so with no chance of SLI on my new system I have gone over to the dark side:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/38/10011250defaults.png

...the dark red side!

There's nothing wrong with those boards, it's an ATI chipset meaning it's designed to work with ATI videocards. you can't run cooperative video with the wrong type of card. If you wanted SLI you should have gotten an NVidia chipset based MB

 

[Nick [D]vB]

There's nothing wrong with those boards, it's an ATI chipset meaning it's designed to work with ATI videocards. you can't run cooperative video with the wrong type of card. If you wanted SLI you should have gotten an NVidia chipset based MB

Bollocks. Every other proper 790GX board can run two Nvidia cards, or at least 1 ATI + 1 Nvidia card,

the fact is that Biostar were too cheap to include a proper PCIE lane switch on this board.


I did actually realise that it was not an SLI board, but Biostar should say in the manual that it does not properly support Nvidia cards.

I'm sure many Folding@Home and PhysX users have already found this out the hard way.


Apart from the PCIE problems there is also an HT speed bug, and they didn't even fit a $2 sink to the power MOSFETs,

try running prime95 and see how long the board lasts, look on the Rebels Haven forum if you want proof.


My first SlotA Athlon board was a Biostar, and as I remember that board would only run my Matrox G400 at AGPX2,

it seems not much has changed in 10 years, you still get what you pay for....

 

[TheWolf]

If you wanted SLI you should have gotten an NVidia chipset based MB

I think the whole point of this thread proves you don't need a NVIDIA chipset board to run SLI.
Its beyond me why you would even post as such in this thread. roflmao

 

[Ghostleader]

Running 9800GTX in SLI on a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P

Hi guys, I gave that SLI hack a shot on my Gigabyte EP45-UD3P.

Hardware used, Gigabyte EP45-UD3P / E8600 / 2x2 OCZ Blade PC-9600 / XFX 9800GTX Black Edition

E8600 @ 500 4,0, 2x2 OCZ Blade PC-9600 @ 1200 555 15 tRD 8

Here´s how I did it.

1 - Install Win7 RC x64.
2 - Install System and 191.07 Win7 x64 (WHQL) drivers.
3 - Disable UAC.
4 - Restart.
5 - Run SLI String Installer v1.81 as Admin select ASUS certificate.
6 - Run HAL Mod 0.9a as Admin

(Check out this for more info, Activating NVIDIA SLI on all motherboards, detailed HOW-TO )

Reboot, and we have a SLI capable system

Enable SLI

Some benchmark comparision between single card and SLI

Single

SLI

Single

SLI

Single

SLI

Single

SLI

Single

SLI

Single

SLI

Single

SLI

Single

SLI

That was it.

Thanks once again for those who made this possible.

 

[Scott_M]

Trouble with P35

First...Many thanks to all who have put so much work into this project !!

I have been trying to get this to work on my mobo with no luck.

Gigabyte GA-P-35 DQ6 mobo
I am using a pair of identical EVGA 8800GS's
Win7 x64 Build 7600 - Clean install
191.07 drivers
Halmod method ( Shows testmode watermark on desktop )

I think the problem lies with not recognizing the injected sli string. I have used several versions of string installer and even tried it manually. But CPUZ still reports it as a P35 and no sli option in Nvidia control panel.
I am not sure where to go from here or what to try next. I have read all 82 pages of this post over the last few weeks and tried many suggestions but no luck.
I will attach my DSDT table with the hope that someone will spot the trouble.

Thanks in advance

Scott

 

[TheWolf]

First...Many thanks to all who have put so much work into this project !!

I have been trying to get this to work on my mobo with no luck.

Gigabyte GA-P-35 DQ6 mobo
I am using a pair of identical EVGA 8800GS's
Win7 x64 Build 7600 - Clean install
191.07 drivers
Halmod method ( Shows testmode watermark on desktop )

I think the problem lies with not recognizing the injected sli string. I have used several versions of string installer and even tried it manually. But CPUZ still reports it as a P35 and no sli option in Nvidia control panel.
I am not sure where to go from here or what to try next. I have read all 82 pages of this post over the last few weeks and tried many suggestions but no luck.
I will attach my DSDT table with the hope that someone will spot the trouble.

Thanks in advance

Scott

Did you try using the ASUS Cert sli string from the slistringinstaller program?
Edit: Never mind I see fron the file you left that you did.

Following this: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=1605993&postcount=2037
Should get you SLI, have both video cards installed dearing the setup.

 

[Scott_M]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

1 - Install Win7 RC x64.
2 - Install System and 191.07 Win7 x64 (WHQL) drivers.
3 - Disable UAC.
4 - Restart.
5 - Run SLI String Installer v1.81 as Admin select ASUS certificate.
6 - Run HAL Mod 0.9a as Admin

I am not sure what "Install System" means in #2, obviously not the OS that was done in #1
Other than the "Install System" I have done those exact steps many times. Even running String installer and Hal Mod from a admin command prompt.

Additional info
Both cards installed and connected by sli bridge. Only 1 monitor nothing connected to second card.
Both cards show in device manager and GPUZ as working properly and work fine on another sli board.

CPUZ always shows a P35 chipset

Thanks again

Scott

 

[TheWolf]

Thank you for the prompt reply.



I am not sure what "Install System" means in #2, obviously not the OS that was done in #1
Other than the "Install System" I have done those exact steps many times. Even running String installer and Hal Mod from a admin command prompt.

Additional info
Both cards installed and connected by sli bridge. Only 1 monitor nothing connected to second card.
Both cards show in device manager and GPUZ as working properly and work fine on another sli board.

CPUZ always shows a P35 chipset

Thanks again

Scott

With the latest HalMod it will show P35 is correct. Earlier versions showed X58.

Look in Device Manager, under System Devices for Microsoft Windows Management Interface for ACPI
to see if it is there, also check Hardware Ids should show: ACPI\pnp0c14
If not there you will need to enable ACPI in your bios options.

 

[Scott_M]

With the latest HalMod it will show P35 is correct. Earlier versions showed X58.

Look in Device Manager, under System Devices for Microsoft Windows Management Interface for ACPI
to see if it is there, also check Hardware Ids should show: ACPI\pnp0c14

Check and check

Both there
proper id's

Things that make you go... hummm

Scott

 

[TheWolf]

Have you tried 190.62 driver or the modded driver?

Also check the date of Hal.dll to the modded Hal.dll to make sure its is installed correct/correct date/time.

 

[soundood]

Thank you for the prompt reply.



I am not sure what "Install System" means in #2, obviously not the OS that was done in #1
Other than the "Install System" I have done those exact steps many times. Even running String installer and Hal Mod from a admin command prompt.

Additional info
Both cards installed and connected by sli bridge. Only 1 monitor nothing connected to second card.
Both cards show in device manager and GPUZ as working properly and work fine on another sli board.

CPUZ always shows a P35 chipset

Thanks again

Scott

system means system drivers, sound and chipset and so on,

as for your SLI string trouble, what version of the SLIstring Instaler are you using?

and Hi, anatolymik, asabaraba, Nick [D]vB and SoLoR (users online as i post)

 

[Scott_M]

Hi guys, and thanks for your replies !!

Just to be sure..I deleted hal.dll and renamed hal.dll.bck to hall.dll then re-ran halmod install.exe and restarted, checked system 32 and the new hal.dll was dated today with the proper time.

I am using Hal mod 0.9alpha
and string installer v1.81

And yes I have tried the modded driver with and without hal mod , same results.


Many thanks


Scott

 

[Scott_M]

More info

I just flashed my bios from P7 to P9....no change

for the record
I have tried both methods ( Hal mod ) and (driver method )
on clean installs of build 7100 RC and final 7600 and an upgrade from 7100 to 7600 with modded cversion.ini file all with the same results.

I am beginning to think that I have found a platform that it does not work on. ( Just my luck ! )

I am willing to help in anyway to get it to work. Please let me know if there is anything else I should try or do.

Many thanks to all.

Scott

 

[TheWolf]

Scott, could you post a screen shot of GPU-Z for each 8800GS?
I'd like to look at the info for each.

 

[Scott_M]

Thanks again for your help ! It is appreciated.

As you can see both cards are identical. One is running at 16x and the other 2x.
According to the Product Page and manual the board supports dual 16x. I have looked all through the manual and bios and all over the board for something to "turn on" but can find nothing.
A screenshot for your viewing pleasure

Scott

 

[Schlingel]

The DSDT looks fine. At least I would have inserted it the same way.

@€dit: hehehe I guess I know the problem Look at the second GPUz-Sceenshot: x16@x2

 

[Nick [D]vB]

Scott try this special HALmod: http://depositfiles.com/en/files/amiue6l3m

it works for SLI at PCIEx2 (on my nforce4) use the ASUS cert with it.

Also make sure you make a restore point / back-up first.

If that doesn't work you will need to get both cards running at x8,

or ask anatolymik to make you a custom HALmod for your board...