Sli mode, not happening.

Hi guys, id just like to ask a quick question about my system
I recently brought a high end system and put it together last night. Now after i installed all hardware and O/S and drivers, i went to click the option in the graphics driver settings that allows you to enable SLI mode. but the option wasnt there it just says " you can install a secnd GPU which will enable SLI mode" WTF theres 2 GPU already in there.

Now ive chnaged the Selector option on the M/B that allows you to have 2 GPU, but its still says the above text.

Can any1 help if so id be very gratefull, plz reply to my e-mail adress at cartdog2003@hotmail.com

Best Regards,
Cartdog.

Have you checked that both cards are being detected? The other card may not be seen by Winblows, which means it will do squat.

The old 3DFX (ahh the memories) cards required a cable linking the cards together to work, have you checked if it is needed/installed correctly?

how will i check?

well the cable... read the manual

as far as the cards, it's been a long time since I SLI'd (win95 days) Look in the device manager and make sure that there is no unknown devices listed. have you installed MB drivers as well?

Failing that RTBM

um i think so, im sorta a noob when it come sot PC's

k, thats fine, we were all n00bs once.

Are the cards identical? do the cards support SLI? What type of cards?

Supposedly they don't need to be identical, but it makes things easier.

You do need to bridge nVidia cards from what I read, did you piece the hardware together yourself? you need to determine if the 'bridge' has been installed.

Other than that check that drivers are installed, you should see two video cards in the Device Manager (i think - Beefy you have any idea?)

your just a moutain of knowlegde and help aint you gemdog


afaik the cards have to be EXACTLY the same.

U need also to disable the 16 line pipe to the primery PCIe slot and enable it to 2x8 (which will enable the second card to be detected) U will also need to make sure that the 2 cards are IDENTICAL. Same BIOS CLOCKSPEED and MEMORY Then connect the 2 cards with the bridge.

your just a moutain of knowlegde and help aint you gemdog


afaik the cards have to be EXACTLY the same.

Mountain of knowledge? See what happens while you're single.

You're not entirely correct with the SLI, it has been done before with 2 different cards http://forums.overclockersclub.com/Need_Sli_Help-t50868.html

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=22485

Bit more for ya Delta

The only other issue is regarding Bios differences. NVIDIA's newer SLI drivers should support 2 cards with different bios revisions. However, if there is still an issue with running in SLI mode the user can install NVIDIA's latest reference drivers on both cards without problems. Faheem Karim from ASUS UK

your just a moutain of knowlegde and help aint you gemdog

Delta, your amount of PC knowledge would be hardly enough to build a sand castle, let alone a mountain. go drown a HSF in thermal paste or something. :P

delta = owned. :)

Umm, I think most of the suggestions have been covered already.

- Make sure both cards are installed properly
- See if they both show up in Windows Device Manager
- Double check the motherboard jumper settings to make sure it has been SLI enabled
- Put the bridge on top of the cards
- Make sure you've got the proper drivers you need for SLI.


See how all that goes. If it's still not working properly, then I'm not sure.

Hey Dan!!!!

How goes it matey?

If ur still havin probs, give me a call on mobile & il come round on the weekend & give u a hand with it dude. Can't wait to c ur new beastie

Btw cycophill, gemdog & beefy - LOL!!!!

I gota get more cynical hehe

i was complimenting the guy and you cunts shoot ME down?! HOW DOES THAT WORK....

Quite well it would seem

Like a well oiled machine...

Your tone just seemed a little too sarcastic, don't worry no grudge held, we'll still play/stir with you.

your just a moutain of knowlegde and help aint you gemdog


afaik the cards have to be EXACTLY the same.

Mountain of knowledge? See what happens while you're single.

You're not entirely correct with the SLI, it has been done before with 2 different cards http://forums.overclockersclub.com/Need_Sli_Help-t50868.html

True they are 2 different cards but if you read closly the BFG card was reflashed with the MSI Bios effectively makeing the two cards idenical.

In reality two cards cannot be identical, the idea was designed around the idea that one could buy a SLI compatable card now, and a second 6 months later, now it's almost guaranteed that there has been a reference design update since then improving cards, therefore no longer being identical.
And the fact stands they were not identical when they started, bios upgrades are 'software', (well, firmware, which is only data) therefore literally not being identical.

You may also notice that there was no hardware types listed in the original message, he could have the ati one, which don't need to be identical. We all just assumed nVidia by his GPU comment (ATI use VPU) Remeber some n00bs (no I'm not having a dig at him) call 3 1/4 floppies HardDisks because they are hard, not floppy, or someone saying they have a panasonic discman - discman is a sony trademark but the point gets passed accross still.

Now, can we all get back on-topic and help this guy?

sorry, delta. i though you were being a smartass.
plus i just really enjoy putting you down. :P

U need also to disable the 16 line pipe to the primery PCIe slot and enable it to 2x8 (which will enable the second card to be detected) U will also need to make sure that the 2 cards are IDENTICAL. Same BIOS CLOCKSPEED and MEMORY Then connect the 2 cards with the bridge.

Flashing the Bios does make them identical as far as the Computer is concerned.

By identical I mean as above "BIOS CLOCKSPEED and MEMORY" This is as identical as windows (and the PC BIOS) can detect.

ATI's SLI offering is different as it does not need to "sync" the two cards allowing u to use different cards. This is because the "crossfire" cards contains a controler that can manage 2 different cards, this is far more complicated and explains why ATI is using so many different methods to mesh the output of the cards.

Flashing the Bios does make them identical as far as the Computer is concerned.


But the point is they were not identical when they were purchased,no different than if i bought a red falcon and a blue falcon, (except i wouldn't buy one...) and painted the blue one red. They are identical (for all intensive purposes) now, but were not at the original purchase.
(I see this getting nowhere fast...)

Yes, you are right about the clockspeed etc... but same specs do not make cards 'identical'. Most cards are 'almost identical' as they are from the refrence board, making the bios cross-compat. If you had of said 'same-specs' then this whole debate would be non-existant.