NVIDIA's GeForce 6 SLI: Demolishing Performance Barriers
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 23, 2004 10:23 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Enabling SLI
We’ve already described the SLI setup process in our Preview of NVIDIA SLI Performance, but we will revisit it here today using the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe board as there are some differences.
The first step in enabling SLI is to reconfigure the PCI Express x16 lanes from the nForce4 SLI chipset into two x8 lanes, this is done by inserting the SLI card in the appropriate direction:
Next, you plug in both PCI Express graphics cards. They must be the same GPU type, but you can use cards from different manufacturers if you would like (although it is recommended to have the same BIOS revisions, etc…).
Third, connect the two PCI Express graphics cards using the ASUS supplied bridge PCB.
Fourth, connect the appropriate power connectors to both PCI Express graphics cards.
Fifth, connect power to ASUS’ on-board 4-pin power connector.
Finally, connect your monitor to either one of the outputs on the first PCI Express card and power up your system.
Once in Windows, using the 66.93 drivers, you simply enable SLI mode from NVIDIA’s control panel and reboot your system to enable SLI. Note that only your primary graphics card’s display outputs will be active in SLI mode.
Clicking the check box requires a restart to enable (or disable) SLI, but after you've rebooted everything is good to go.
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glennpratt - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
51 - Yeah, and the Voodoo 2 used analog to pass the signal from one card to the other externally. What would you suggest, nVidia make a card that is PCI and combines the signal using analog cables degrading your video quality? Idiocy.How many people owned V2 SLI setup and ran it on a crappy computer anyway?
bob661 - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
You guys could buy a cheaper CPU and do a mild overclock to get the performance needed. I have a 3500 and I still plan on getting SLI. There's ways to get around the price issue. If I was buying a new system right now I would've gotten a 3200 "winnie" and OC'd it to 2.6GHz. That would put you at FX-55 speeds. If you're lucky you could hit 2.8 to 2.9GHz.bob661 - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
#49You don't need an extravagent budget to afford a monitor that can handle 1600x1200. The Samsung SyncMaster 997DF-T/T 19" CRT can do that for $209 on Newegg.com. I have the older 955DF version which does it too.
nserra - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
VOODOO2 didnt NEED any of this, it worked on any MOBO, any monitor, any CARD, any ......nserra - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
Buy Monitor.Buy PSU.
Buy MOBO.
Buy 2 graphics cards.
Buy good CASE.
Buy the top of the line processor.
Too much buys, And all of these itens ALL HAVE TO BE TOP ($$$) OF THE LINE!!!
I dont have the money, sorry not for me.
Gundamit - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
It sounds like if you don't already have a monitor that supports at 1600x1200 you'll have a hard time justifying the SLI expense since you won't see nearly as much performance gain over the single card set-ups at lower resolutions. Just one more expense to consider. Thank goodness LCD panel prices seem to be dropping. I'm onboard for SLI with 6800GTs late Q1 '05. Should be plenty of info and mobo selections out by then.AtaStrumf - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
I said it before and it looks like I need to say it again:SLI like performance improvement (40 - 70% where it counts) in a single GPU over the previous generation single GPU isn't going to happen for AT LEAST 2 years! Example 9700 Pro (2002)/X800XT (2004)
The other benefit is obviously MUCH lower upgrade cost. Theoretical example: an new $200 9800 Pro or $400 GF 6800 GT and this is really the worst case scenario for SLI -- it would have a lot of performance to make up; but I think that won't happen for a long time.
And don't forget that we are hitting walls with current technologies, so future generation cards may take much longer than 2 years to bring the 9700/X800 like performance improvement.
Just look at what ATi is doing. They're going for SLI as well, because there is no way in hell they can compete with it with a single GPU or any kind of single card design that woudn't require it's own power supply and air conditioning unit.
SLI and dual core is the future; just not for me :-( TOO EXPENSIVE!
SignalPST - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
Thank you for the article, Anand. It was very informative and exciting.I would like to make a suggestion. Since SLI configurations, as everyone knows, is targeted towards the very top notch enthusiasts, I think it would make a lot of sense to include benchmarks using HDTV(1920x1080) resolutions and the 2048x1536 resolution. A lot of high end 22" CRT monitors as well as high end 23" widescreen LCD's support these resolutions. I imagine these enthusiasts looking for SLI solutions would also be using those types of displays and wondering what kind of performance they would get with their dual video card setup.
-SignalPST
SuperStrokey - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
I wish this would work with 2 agp cards too, would be nice if i could upgrade my bfg6800 gt to a secong one on teh cheap when the new cards come out rather than having to buy a new card.kongming - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - link
Nevermind, the V9999 is still just AGP for the time being. Hopefully, they will offer this card in PCI-e in the future.