[H] users SLi guide

andersondiaz said:
lol sorry again

I write to the shop and maybe can change the order....

what your opinion about that

http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/p...d=115&osCsid=30e0c7c469ea3400e4ec99cda2fc4fdf
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WOW - you must have planted some seed in me with that link because ever since I have been thinking about that psu... I have wanted to go modular for a LONG time... and I wanted to get something which would purrrr like a kitten while driving two of the fastest cards out there + multiple drives and a quad core, etc.. so I just ordered one of those up from Directron.. like $327 shipped. not too shabby! I'm going SLI again very soon. :)

edit: here's a great detailed review of the Galaxy 1000 psu. looks pretty amazing! :D

Yeah, I was either going to get a Westinghouse LVM-37W3 or go SLI in style... not half ass it.. with a nice 24" LCD on my desk right now, and the fact that I think my wife would be a little bent if I kerplunked a 37" LCD down on my desk (which the livingroom would see the back of), I decided to go with faster hardware. weeeee!

Now, bring on the Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6... looks like a nice board.. but the heat plate on the back of the cpu area might be a tab akward for cooler backpate mouning?? hrm..
 
revenant said:
WOW - you must have planted some seed in me with that link because ever since I have been thinking about that psu... I have wanted to go modular for a LONG time... and I wanted to get something which would purrrr like a kitten while driving two of the fastest cards out there + multiple drives and a quad core, etc.. so I just ordered one of those up from Directron.. like $327 shipped. not too shabby! I'm going SLI again very soon. :)

Yeah, I was either going to get a Westinghouse LVM-37W3 or go SLI in style... not half ass it.. with a nice 24" LCD on my desk right now, and the fact that I think my wife would be a little bent if I kerplunked a 37" LCD down on my desk (which the livingroom would see the back of), I decided to go with faster hardware. weeeee!

Now, bring on the Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6... looks like a nice board.. but the heat plate on the back of the cpu area might be a tab akward for cooler backpate mouning?? hrm..
Click to expand...

nice mobo, I read and read and Evga have very problem with the air cooler, have some components behind the board, and you cant put the plate :S, I buy the 775 kit for xp120 and maybe cant use :(....for now I order artic cooler freezer pro ( dont have problem with evga) I hope my credit card pass the test jejejeje 2500$ in 7 days, because in my country have control change $ . is the socialist of 21 century :(
 
haha! well, best of luck to you and your purchasing power! ;) I need to find a 680i mobo which I can use the pci-e 1x slot in SLI... which means the Asus boards are out.. the Abit board has a heat sink in the way.. the MSI boards look really nice, 680 and 650... still wanting to know more about them.. Here are some pics of the p6n diamond! 4x pci-e 8/16x slots!! wow.. crazy.. and an onboard XFi. Still the pci-e 1x slot placement is BAD!! gah.. so it's looking like either the Gigabyte or a reference 680i board.. I was thinking about the Zalman 9700 NT as a cooler.. I am going to gut out my watercooling and go all air cooling for a while..
 
revenant said:
haha! well, best of luck to you and your purchasing power! ;) I need to find a 680i mobo which I can use the pci-e 1x slot in SLI... which means the Asus boards are out.. the Abit board has a heat sink in the way.. the MSI boards look really nice, 680 and 650... still wanting to know more about them.. Here are some pics of the p6n diamond! 4x pci-e 8/16x slots!! wow.. crazy.. and an onboard XFi. Still the pci-e 1x slot placement is BAD!! gah.. so it's looking like either the Gigabyte or a reference 680i board.. I was thinking about the Zalman 9700 NT as a cooler.. I am going to gut out my watercooling and go all air cooling for a while..
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wow see very well, All post said the best to moment is ASUS striker. for now I cant change the PSU, But I read in the forums the rigs and very people have, great OC's.
 
Yeah, I think the toughpower is really pretty good.. I know a few people which post regularly in the Nvidia section who have them driving core2 systems with 8800GTX's in SLI.. so I think you'll be fine!
 
revenant said:
Yeah, I think the toughpower is really pretty good.. I know a few people which post regularly in the Nvidia section who have them driving core2 systems with 8800GTX's in SLI.. so I think you'll be fine!
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do you have bf2142??? xrevenant???
 
I just recently built a new rig. I built it having SLI in mind, I wasn't really sure if I'd ever do it, but I didn't want to have to change out any hardware if I decided to go that route.

Here's my rig:

e6400 @ 3.2GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004
2GB of Gskill ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098
evga 680i mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188010
evga 8800gts superclock http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130080
1 CD/DVD writer
1 150 GB raptor x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012
Seasonic 600watt psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151030

I will eventually add more HDD space, but I really don't use that much anyway.

My boss at work was given a bfg 8800gts for some work he had done, and my boss doesn't really have any plans for it, so we agreed to exchange the card for some extra work. I'm not sure exactly which model it is, but I do know it's a bfg 8800gts.

So here's my concerns:

1. Is that power supply going to be enough for 2 8800gts'? When I built the rig, I thought I would be fine, but looking on nVidia's website, under the 8800gts for Seasonic the list starts with the 650watt.

2. I remember reading when SLI first came out, you had to use 2 identical cards from the same vendor. I heard that this issue has been fixed, but will I have problems using an overclocked evga with a stock bfg? Will I need to turn the clock speeds down on the evga or OC the bfg to the same speed?
 
RAA-Kr1cH said:
I just recently built a new rig. I built it having SLI in mind, I wasn't really sure if I'd ever do it, but I didn't want to have to change out any hardware if I decided to go that route.

Here's my rig:

e6400 @ 3.2GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004
2GB of Gskill ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098
evga 680i mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188010
evga 8800gts superclock http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130080
1 CD/DVD writer
1 150 GB raptor x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012
Seasonic 600watt psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151030

I will eventually add more HDD space, but I really don't use that much anyway.

My boss at work was given a bfg 8800gts for some work he had done, and my boss doesn't really have any plans for it, so we agreed to exchange the card for some extra work. I'm not sure exactly which model it is, but I do know it's a bfg 8800gts.

So here's my concerns:

1. Is that power supply going to be enough for 2 8800gts'? When I built the rig, I thought I would be fine, but looking on nVidia's website, under the 8800gts for Seasonic the list starts with the 650watt.

2. I remember reading when SLI first came out, you had to use 2 identical cards from the same vendor. I heard that this issue has been fixed, but will I have problems using an overclocked evga with a stock bfg? Will I need to turn the clock speeds down on the evga or OC the bfg to the same speed?
Click to expand...

I think you'll have the power you need. You have 4 rails with 18A each and that is an SLI certified PSU...........so you'll probably be fine there.

I looked for an answer to the 8800GTX and different vendors. With the 90 series drivers you could mix and match cards as long as they were the same series. I dont think the OC is going to be a problem, if anything the SLI drivers may down-clock you to the lowest common denominator, but you wont have to do anything yourself.......except maybe try to OC the second card.....hehehehe.
 
Anyone experience lockups with nHancer set to SLI 32Q AA override setting. Playing Prey lastnight and the system started to act up even minutes after booting up cold. Prey would lockup, could still hear music in background, hard drive light would flicker a little, get an nv4-disp driver error. Then I set nhancer to app preference and quit nhancer and for an hour at least no lock ups until nhancer went back on. Hope its not my overclock which is mild compared to others. Had the FSB at 1200 at best and memory at 900 (rated at 8500 - mushkin). My gut is telling me its nHancer screwing with the driver. Either over working the gtxs or other conflict. What do more experienced minds think?

Thanks.

PS: Lock ups would occur at stock speeds as well.
 
davidm71 said:
Anyone experience lockups with nHancer set to SLI 32Q AA override setting. Playing Prey lastnight and the system started to act up even minutes after booting up cold. Prey would lockup, could still hear music in background, hard drive light would flicker a little, get an nv4-disp driver error. Then I set nhancer to app preference and quit nhancer and for an hour at least no lock ups until nhancer went back on. Hope its not my overclock which is mild compared to others. Had the FSB at 1200 at best and memory at 900 (rated at 8500 - mushkin). My gut is telling me its nHancer screwing with the driver. Either over working the gtxs or other conflict. What do more experienced minds think?

Thanks.

PS: Lock ups would occur at stock speeds as well.
Click to expand...

Did it work before nhancer? I thought SLI32Q AA was meant for quad-SLI!?
 
Yes it worked fine before nHancer. Havent had the time to test it again. We will see...

David.
 
davidm71 said:
Anyone experience lockups with nHancer set to SLI 32Q AA override setting. Playing Prey lastnight and the system started to act up even minutes after booting up cold. Prey would lockup, could still hear music in background, hard drive light would flicker a little, get an nv4-disp driver error. Then I set nhancer to app preference and quit nhancer and for an hour at least no lock ups until nhancer went back on. Hope its not my overclock which is mild compared to others. Had the FSB at 1200 at best and memory at 900 (rated at 8500 - mushkin). My gut is telling me its nHancer screwing with the driver. Either over working the gtxs or other conflict. What do more experienced minds think?

Thanks.

PS: Lock ups would occur at stock speeds as well.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a driver issue for sure and seems also like Nhancer was not playing well with others also.. I actually got that same error last night for the first time ever I think... well, first time in a long while.. anyways, it was when I fired up STALKER for the first time after the install, got the video settings all dialed in, then when to start a game.. blam!.. looked like a lock, but I was able to ALT F4 out and got that nv4-disp.drv was not responding or something.. after a reboot it worked perfectly.. I think something about adjusting the AA and IQ settings in the game might have clashed with the SLI profile somehow? or maybe the game hosed the drivers while try to set the SLI rendering method? anyways.. whatever is was did NOT seem to be system related to anything other than the video cards or driver.. I was releaved because I have been trying to chase a minor amount of (what I thought was) system level instability out of my system.. something chipset voltage related I think.. when the screen froze my heart fell into my shoe.. I was bummed until I saw that display driver was the problem.. whew.
 
Rev my brutha.. Tell me it isn't sooooo..

Are you getting rid of your water setup? Going with a different 680i motherboard? Going on air only?

I just bought Windows Vista Ultimate x64 bit version and (2) more gigs of the Dominator 8500C5D ram and it should arrive sometime around this upcoming Wednesday.. I was eyeing the DFI 680LT board.. I need the 680 layout because I have no plans on doing away with my SLi setup.. What are your thoughts? I guess you need a free PCI-E x1 slot.. What for? The upcoming X-FI PCI-E x1 sound card?
 
Yes - it does matter! :) plug it into GPU0 (the one closest to the cpu / top pci-e slot in ATX orientation) on the DVI connector (primary port) closest to the card's pci-e connector (not SLI bridge conector)... I think technically both ports on GPU0 should be work, but I like using the primary port.
 
I'm a little baffled on how SLI is handled by games/apps and the default settings of nvidia's drivers with SLI enabled.

I just noticed in my 3d settings WITH sli enabled that the sli-performance is set to single gpu and multiple display performace. I only have one display connected and have not changed the card or slot it was plugged into. Just now discovering this (i'm using vista now, since jan) my video cards have been set to single gpu since november when I installed them! Unless this is a vista only issue. Why would the drivers default single gpu performace when I click "enable sli".

After doing so I saw a 40-50 avg fps increase in source engine games (cs:s, dod:s) yet games like stalker and F.E.A.R. I saw no performance increase at all?

I'm currently using (in global settings) split-frame rendering and single display performace, everything else is application control.

Can anyone explain why I would see such an increase in a source game but not any others?

**I checked the individual profiles for each game mention in the nv control panel and the are all set to use global settings**
 
first off, the global setting is always single gpu rendering.. I think because in 2d mode so save power and resources the system defaults to using one video card.. but the game profiles in the drivers should always over-ride the global settings...AND also lots of modern 3d apps which are SLI capable have their own SLI config profiles built in! So even if you set SLI to not work in the driver profiles (global and app) SLI will still work.. dep on the app.

FYI, AFR is the typical rendering method of choice these days.. for best performance and stability.. dep on the app tho..
 
revenant said:
Yes - it does matter! :) plug it into GPU0 (the one closest to the cpu / top pci-e slot in ATX orientation) on the DVI connector (primary port) closest to the card's pci-e connector (not SLI bridge conector)... I think technically both ports on GPU0 should be work, but I like using the primary port.
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thanks for the advise
 
I'm waiting to upgrade until Nov.

with my current rig--12 to 20 FPS on high settings with 16XSLIAA

eh, barely playable. But looks really good for DX9.
Z

Edit: this was supposed to get posted in a Bioshock forum and I wasn't paying attention. (Besides, it's irrelevant now that I've upgraded!)
 
what is the best mode SLI in global mode profile? for default Nvidia put single GPU, I change this all time to Alternate frame rendering 1, is necesary???
 
andersondiaz said:
what is the best mode SLI in global mode profile? for default Nvidia put single GPU, I change this all time to Alternate frame rendering 1, is necesary???
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No. The nvidia game specific profile will select the proper rendering for you. Just leave the thing set on global,at default (single GPU).
About all I have reset in the global profile is: AA: enhance the application
AA: 4x
AF: enhance the application, AF 16x

The rest I leave alone.
 
^^ yep. the driver profiles dictate the modes, the global mode ~~rarely~~ gets used for anything 3d.
 
Hello

I have a major problem concerning my SLI setup. I just bought Abit KN8 SLI motherboard and XFX 6600GT to accompany my Club 3D 6600GT. The problem is that whenever I use 3d apps@SLI mode they run at very low fps (1-10max).

I have tried 3dmark03, 3dmark05 and Far Cry. I have also tried several different Forceware drivers, 93.71 and 162.18 for example. I also have latest chipset drivers installed. Both cards work fine@SINGLE-GPU mode. I have also reinstalled Windows several times.

I have also flashed both cards with Club 3Ds newer bios (05.43.02.80.CE).

SLI load balancing bar (which can be enabled from Forceware drivers) show that neither card has load during 3D apps, or just has minimal load.

I have also noticed a bug within my Windows regarding CPU load. I have snapped a screenshot (check the link below). Could that relate to my low fps problem?


Can you please help me, for I have struggled with this problem over a week now without any progress.
 
Did you build the computer from scratch when you got the new motherboard?

When you replace the motherboard, you must wipe the drive and reinstall Windows from scratch (backup up your user data first - docs, email, etc.!). From your description, I'm not sure if you just reinstalled Windows over itself or from scratch. Then make sure that you intsall your motherboard chipset drivers first. Followed by nvidia drivers.

The CPU load you show in the image is totally normal. The "idle process" is what the CPU does when it has nothing else to do. It's normal for it to be at 99% when the system is idle.

Good Luck!
 
Yes I formatted my hard drive and then installed Windows.

And that CPU load thing is that Task Manager shows CPU Usage as 86% while it shows System Idle process as 99% At the same time. So it should show CPU Usage as 1%.

I'll try installing Windows yet again tomorrow, but I doubt it will work
 
revenant said:
Hi - try using a driver cleaner (clean with key word "Nvidia") and then like try this 80.xx series driver. Just for grins. Also, do you have the SLI bridge connecting the cards?
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Hello

I have tried Driver Cleaner Pro with nvidia. Today I'll reinstall my Windows then I'll test those drivers you suggested. And yes I have SLI bridge connecting all the time I just tested without it and result was the same
 
hi guys, I installed vista and play bf2142, the game have constant stutering, lower freezes etc, anybody know about this problem on bf2142 with sli???
thx
 
Before I begin, please keep in mind that I am not trying to flame SLI users (I have a dual 7900GTX SLI setup myself), but here is something against Nvidia's largely preferred SLI method---

AVOID AFR (Alternate Frame Rendering) mode if you want the least amount of lag (that is, input lag) for fast-paced gaming, especially online FPS games.

For those who play without Vsync due to input lag reasons, it would make no sense to play in AFR mode just to enjoy a higher frame rate with slightly more eye candy. AFR is great for single player games that are not too heavily dependent on quick response times like racing games, besides from online fps games.

Nvidia and ATI have been hiding this fact from us while advertising their benchmarks.

Using a special program like nHancer, we can change SLI profiles so that SFR mode is used in place of AFR. In some cases, the frame rates can be lowered somewhat, like 20% or so, but it is still better than single card. The additional input lag is not there, and it is as fast as you can have it without Vsync at a high refresh rate (say, 90Hz or 120Hz on a CRT monitor like my 24" Sony GDM-FW900). Some LCD monitors like my wife's 24" Dell 2405FPW already comes with at least 55ms default input lag that is only worsened with Vsync, not to mention triple buffering to eliminate horrible tearing at a max. of 60 Hz--the ghosting (response time) makes the motion look too blurred and horrible compared to my beloved CRT.

If you're a multi-GPU gamer who's interested in championing quick-paced stuff and did not know about the response time caused by AFR rendering or by enabling Vsync, may you enjoy your new-found advantage!
 
I have never noticed too much of an issue with mouse/input lag when using SLI.. and I pretty much use afr 1 or 2 all the time... anyways, interesting read none the less.. I should play around with sfr again and see if I notice that..
 
Another thing to mention is triple buffering. After searching this thread, I did not find anything on TB.

Triple Buffering cannot be enabled when using AFR mode with Vsync on at the same time. Nvidia has built it into their drivers that pretty much disables Vsync if trying to force triple buffering.

Half Life 2 games, last verified in Episode Two, "stimulate" triple buffering whenever Vsync is enabled but does so at weird intervals (sticking at 60fps, 85fps, etc whenever the rate dips below the monitor refresh). It is also much more noticeably choppy than in other games using TB + Vsync. Since AFR is the mode used for Half Life 2 SLI profiles, it is impossible for me to force Triple Buffering + Vsync under AFR. Apparently, AFR already calls for a buffer that cannot be used with triple buffering since DirectX games can only use up to 3 back buffers in DX9 and WinXP (Vista+DX10 will allow games to call for 4 or more).

In SFR mode (which does not work for HL2 games), it is quite a relief to enjoy single-player games at a maximum frame rate even if it dips below the monitor's refresh--all without screen tearing.

In the future, image quality will continue to become more of an important issue. So will input/output response time. So next time you try to force triple buffering with Vsync on in AFR mode, you will know why Vsync is automatically disabled by Nvidia's drivers.
 
Yeah - I usually do no use TB because I heard it wouldn't fly with AFR modes, which I typically use... but didn't know it was the AFR + vsync combo though... I will have to try TB in place of vsync and see which I prefer.. It's possible that's why timeshift looks so stuttery.. hrm.. something is up with that game.. I can barely play it.. too herky-jerky.. I am planning on picking up GoW PC this weekend and will be putting that through the SLI paces.. should be interesting to see how it performs.. I'll try different rendering modes and TB vs vsync also..
 
Bumping this for Crysis. If nhancer's used to add the crysis64.exe like nzone/nvnews, etc...it does seem to be working according to the r_displayinfo 1 command, but it feels incredibly choppy. Does anyone have this running smooth @ Very High 1600ish res in Vista x64?
 
try turning the in game shaders setting down to med.. that was killing my rig in the demo.. which was SLI disabled, but still and all, that setting is a crusher to performance..
 
XP FTW!!

"pushing it" playable settings
1680x1050
Tweaked Very High
CPU - 3200
GPU - 700/1000

Hopefully the patch will give a boost to comfortable levels when using SLI. I've noticed changing fan speeds w/ riva only affects the top card. Now I'm curious if the second card doesn't get oced...
 
Let's see some numbers with the latest Nvidia beta driver, it apparently includes a new mode called AFR 3.

Also no you can't use Rivatuner to overclock both cards. You need to flash the BIOS with the clock speeds using Nbitor and Nvflash.
 
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