Going from 8800GTX to SLi'd GTXs, anything needed?

[LukeBird]

Just a quick question (I've had a quick google for it, but didn't seem to find anything).
I'm getting another GTX tomorrow, and just wondered if there is anything driver related or XP related I need to do when I install the other card?
I've never had or set-up SLi so don't really know about anything like that!
I assume there are no dedicated Nvidia drivers, but is there anything else I need to think about?
Thanks in advance

 

[LukeBird]

Anyone??

 

[dev1se]

An SLi motherboard and a big T-shirt with the words

I PWNED THE 3870X2 on the back

 

[ryanthesav]

It seems like u have everything u need hardware-wise. Just remember not all games allow u to run sli.

 

[LukeBird]

Ha ha, thanks dev1se! :lol:
So just drop the card in, put the bridge on and you're good to go?
So nothing in BIOS or the nvidia control panel that needs changing/enabling etc.?
Thanks!

 

[dev1se]

If nTune is installed it'll ask if you want to enable SLi the first time you boot up windows.

The BIOS sometimes needs changing, and some SLi mobo's have a 'SINGLE / DUAL GPU' chip actually on the motherboard that need's to be swapped around (Looks like Laptop Ram)... but other than this, you should have no problems since SLi is really great and your PC will now be eat benchmarks for breakfast, and small children if they get close enough.

 

[LukeBird]

If nTune is installed it'll ask if you want to enable SLi the first time you boot up windows.

The BIOS sometimes needs changing, and some SLi mobo's have a 'SINGLE / DUAL GPU' chip actually on the motherboard that need's to be swapped around (Looks like Laptop Ram)... but other than this, you should have no problems since SLi is really great and your PC will now be eat benchmarks for breakfast, and small children if they get close enough.

Thanks, I particularly liked the last point! :lol:
I'll double check the BIOS when I boot after inserting the extra card. I don't have nTune installed (and I haven't since I messed around OCing my old 6800GS)is there any other benefit to having it?
Thanks for the help, I just don't want to piss anything up!

 

[dev1se]

I find nTune essential... so best to install it before you add the SLi setup. Whilst I dont rate nTune too highly for its O.C settings (doesnt really test it), it's good for all the other settings.
I think I prefer ATi's catalyst though because it shows you the actual real-time 3D Image differences.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I find nTune essential... so best to install it before you add the SLi setup. Whilst I dont rate nTune too highly for its O.C settings (doesnt really test it), it's good for all the other settings.
I think I prefer ATi's catalyst though because it shows you the actual real-time 3D Image differences.

IMHO nTune = poo, I just go with Rivatuner.

 

[LukeBird]

I don't have any desire to OC though, so is there any point in having such a tool?
At best I would probably just OC them to see what sort of increase they gave in 3Dmark or something. Other than that, I wouldn't have any desire, because they're going to be quick enough anyway!

 

[systemlord]

I don't have any desire to OC though, so is there any point in having such a tool?
At best I would probably just OC them to see what sort of increase they gave in 3Dmark or something. Other than that, I wouldn't have any desire, because they're going to be quick enough anyway!

I would love to see some stock (8800GTX) 3DMark06 scores on two 8800GTX's, don't believe I have ever seen scores for two before. Here is one 3DMark06 score for one 9800GTX though.

By Systemlord at 2008-03-02

 

[Mousemonkey]

I don't have any desire to OC though, so is there any point in having such a tool?
At best I would probably just OC them to see what sort of increase they gave in 3Dmark or something. Other than that, I wouldn't have any desire, because they're going to be quick enough anyway!

OC'ing is not compulsory but there may be times when you might wish for an on screen display showing the FPS's, CPU temps, GPU temps and various fan speeds.

 

[dev1se]

I don't have any desire to OC though, so is there any point in having such a tool?
At best I would probably just OC them to see what sort of increase they gave in 3Dmark or something. Other than that, I wouldn't have any desire, because they're going to be quick enough anyway!

Its there for the AA & AF settings, aswell as being the tool used for turning on SLi .

Rivatuner is for O.C, nTune is for nVidia based motherboards / GPUs etc...

 

[LukeBird]

I would love to see some stock (8800GTX) 3DMark06 scores on two 8800GTX's, don't believe I have ever seen scores for two before. Here is one 3DMark06 score for one 9800GTX though.

Well I have benched my current set-up in 3DMark06 and it gave me 10.5k so I can bench with stock GTX's after, if you like
I really have no idea what sort of score I'm going to get, as I'm obviously CPU bottlenecked!

 

[LukeBird]

Oh and dev1se & mousemonkey, thanks, I'll have a look into those later.
I just popped hom from work and it's here, so I'll see what sort of score I get in a few hours!

 

[Flakes]

have you checked your PSU to make sure that it has 2 6 pin connectors available for the other 8800GTX???? < thats the only thing stopping me going to SLI, my PSU only has 2 6 pin connectors which my first 8800gtx is using.

 

[LukeBird]

Yeah, that was one of the first things I checked (and part of the reason why I bought the PSU) it has 4 6-pin connectors and 2 8-pin PCI-E connectors.
I know it's not as highly rated as some of the PSUs, but has been utterly reliable.
A fantastic set of cables, 6 12V rails and 1000W peak load with 850W continuous!
It's a CoolerMaster Real Power Pro 850W, btw
I can't wait to see what they'll do in SLi.
Just need an enormous monitor now!

 

[gwolfman]

Just install it, plug in the power and the bridge, make sure you have the latest drivers and chekc to make sure SLI is enabled in the nVidia control panel.

 

[LukeBird]

Thanks for the help everyone!
I'm running 3DMark06 Pro Edition 1.0.2 now with the current set-up (as in my sig, except using 2Gb RAM not 4Gb)
I'm running default settings at 1280x1024, I'll report back later with the results
Once again, thanks for the help!

 

[pauldh]

I'd suggest going with the 171.23 beta drivers off guru3d as the game profiles work forcing fsaa and the sli mode is correctly displayed. edit: I use them and like them but see there is even a newer Win XP 32 bit one now. 174.20 -
http://downloads.guru3d.com/ForceWare-174.20-XP-(32-bit)-download-1866.html

Either way, The drivers will sense both cards and ask you if you want to enable sli. It's very simple. You can also enable and disable it yourself in NV control panel.

Things to check is (obviously) powering the cards, installing the SLI bridge, and also whether your motherboard needs to be set for SLI. My MSI P6N SLI platinum needs a SLI selector card flipped around for 8x/8x rather than 16x/1x for the speeds of the two 16x pci-e slots. I'm not familiar with your mobo off hand (whether it's 16x/16x and you don't have to change anything) so just wanted to mention this as a precaution.

 

[LukeBird]

Right, done and done! I have some pics I'll post later, it was a little cramped! :lol:
Here is the 3DMark06 run (Pro edition 1.0.2) with one GTX as per specs in sig, but with 2Gb RAM, not 4Gb-

Not bad
Here is the run with SLi'd GTXs now. These are stock XFX 8800's

Interestingly, in the box on the LHS where it shows bus interface, I get a different lane speed between each card and the cards have a slightly different BIOS version, here is the other card -

Do you think that's ok?
I have enabled SLi and had the message in Windows, so everything looks ok (the 3DMark score is a little lower than I thought it would be!) but it seems odd there is a different lane speed....

 

[Flakes]

so your getting a score from one card? if i were you go into the bios and make sure you have SLI on, also you may have a board with a hardware switch(normally located between the PCI-Ex slots.

 

[Mousemonkey]

That's the 570 chipset for you

http://asia.giga-byte.com/FileList/Manual/motherboard_manual_ga-m57sli-s4_e.pdf

 

[grieve]

I don’t know how much you should gain...

You only gain 1,100 points with an extra $400 card???? WTF, I was thinken more like 2-3k. That is what came to my mind because I have been considering getting my second GTX also...

 

[Mousemonkey]

I don’t know how much you should gain...

You only gain 1,100 points with an extra $400 card???? WTF, I was thinken more like 2-3k. That is what came to my mind because I have been considering getting my second GTX also...

[:mousemonkey:2] Chipset could be the limiting factor, 16x + 16x could be the way to go.