SLI question

[wasabi6]

If I want to use two monitors for two separate tasks, both with PCI-e 16x cards, I don't need SLI. But if I try to do that on a MOBO with SLI, will I have a problem, either with getting it to work at all or with speed issues? If there are issues with that setup, are there good MOBOs out there with all the bells and whistles, two PCI-e 16x slots, and no SLI?

 

[wasabi6]

I'm getting mixed messages from another poster on the Home Built Forum. They say that the pipe goes from 16x to 8x when adding a second video card for a separate monitor, not using SLI. Another poster said that it might, but that it wouldn't make any real difference in system performance.

So my question remains: Can SLI really be disabled, and if so, what are the speed penalties, if any. Do certain mobos handle this differently? Any top-line mobo that will do what I need?

 

[ttibbetts]

A8n32sli will give you 16x in or out of sli and its just option in the display settings to turn sli on or off you don't have to reboot every time just every so often . mine about every 5th time I switch to sli I have to reboot but thats better than every time .

 

[mdd1963]

For that matter, he could use the desired 2 (non gaming) displays with only a single card, as most have two DVI outputs anyway, right?

 

[ttibbetts]

This is not a matter of 8x or 16x PCIe limitation. They are all WRONG.
The fact is you can connect two displays in SLI mode. e.g. gaming on one screen, monitoring temperature/voltage on the other.

This is not the facts I have 4 monitors and when i go to SLI three drop out . You are only allowed one monitor in SLI period . When you are not in sli you can have up to 4 .

 

[Crashman]

Don't be confused: SLI does not exist for motherboards, it's a SOFTWARE setting. You'll usually need an SLI OR Crossfire board simply to get two x16 slots, but you can run two cards independantly in those two slots.

Now, don't be confused: SLI does not exist for motherboards, but some boards come with a card that says "SLI mode" and "Normal mode", and that has nothing to do with SLI...its a selector for 2 x8 or 1 x16 pathway. You set it to SLI mode, and you still don't have SLI, you simply have the capability of running two cards at x8, rather than one card at x16.

Running at x8 doesn't hurt performance because the cards simply aren't fast enough to require x16 yet.