SLI -> evga gtx 280 + zotac gtx 280

M

mito

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I know it's possible, the drivers are the same, the hardware is identical, etc...

But would I be susceptible to games crashing?

pcie 16x slot 1 = evga gtx 280 scc (648Mhz)
pcie 16x slot 2 = zotac gtx 280 amp (700Mhz)

I'm thinking of using EVGA precision to overclock the evga card to 700Mhz, would that be possible?

What is nVidia's official position regarding the use of two 280 gtx in SLI from different companies?

Cheers...
 
you can use both but both cards will downclock to the slowest card. Crashing more or less is not an issue.
 
You'll be fine, the second card will auto-down clock. If you wanted to try to upclock the first card you could. You might do it outside of SLI to ensure it is stable first though.
 
In SLI the cards no longer "downclock".
As long as you run two cards of the same type.....ie GTX 280s or 260s manufacturer doesnt matter AND each card will run irrespective of the other's clock speeds.

In days gone by the SLI software would "force" both cards to run at the same speed, that IS NOT the case now.

I had three different 8800 GTX cards at three different clock speeds and they all ran at their respective speeds in Triple SLI.:D The same was true in double SLI.

That "downclock" stuff just won't go away and is not correct AND it has no effect on stability or function.

Some info:http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...TEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1zbGk*&p_li=&p_topview=1
 
magoo said:
In SLI the cards no longer "downclock".
As long as you run two cards of the same type.....ie GTX 280s or 260s manufacturer doesnt matter AND each card will run irrespective of the other's clock speeds.

In days gone by the SLI software would "force" both cards to run at the same speed, that IS NOT the case now.

I had three different 8800 GTX cards at three different clock speeds and they all ran at their respective speeds in Triple SLI.:D The same was true in double SLI.

That "downclock" stuff just won't go away and is not correct AND it has no effect on stability or function.

Some info:http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...TEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1zbGk*&p_li=&p_topview=1
Click to expand...

That is strange because when i had one 280 SC in slot 1 and one vanilla 280 in slot 2 both card was running at SC speed as the master/slot 1 sets the speed, at least that still applies for 790i. Or did i miss something here.
 
E.R said:
That is strange because when i had one 280 SC in slot 1 and one vanilla 280 in slot 2 both card was running at SC speed as the master/slot 1 sets the speed, at least that still applies for 790i. Or did i miss something here.
Click to expand...

I use RivaTuner to check my clocks, and GPU-z.
I had my "master" card in my Triple SLI as the fastest card, and all three ran independantly.....at the time I had a BFG OCX, a BFG OC and a release day EVGA card at reference speed.........I had a 680i board at the time.

The master card cannot overclock a second card, so I don't know what happened in your case.
Again, in the early days of SLI the clocks would equalize, if one WAS faster it would downclock to the lowest common denominator. That is not true now.
 
I did not know the cards run independant of one another in sli. Good to know.
 
magoo said:
I use RivaTuner to check my clocks, and GPU-z.
I had my "master" card in my Triple SLI as the fastest card, and all three ran independantly.....at the time I had a BFG OCX, a BFG OC and a release day EVGA card at reference speed.........I had a 680i board at the time.

The master card cannot overclock a second card, so I don't know what happened in your case.
Again, in the early days of SLI the clocks would equalize, if one WAS faster it would downclock to the lowest common denominator. That is not true now.
Click to expand...
I trust those to and they said my vanilla run at SC speed so i guess that "masterslot" sets the speed in 790i as when i putted the vanilla as "master" the SC downclocked to vanilla speed.
I have no compatible 65nm or 45nm CPU for my old ABIT IN9 680i to test the theory that this is a "790i thing" that the masterslot set the speed of all cards so i guess it must be so since it was not so in your case.
 
Well the last time I personally had experience with SLI it was when I first built this machine 3 years ago. I had 2 7800gtx's SLI'd and so my knowledge is from back then. I left SLi nov 06 when I replaced both 7800's with this 8800gtx and havent revisited SLI since.

I plan to go SLI again when I build a Nehalem rig in a few weeks.
 
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