Twin 8800GTS - Are they SLi'd?

[Talisa]

I have two of the afore mentioned card installed in my machine. How can I ensure that they are running in an SLi configuration. DXDIAG doesn't say there is only one card but it does not say there are two either.

I want to ensure that I am getting the best from my system and I just ran 3DMARK and got a fairly poor result (6,874)

Is there a tool that will tell me that my cards are SLi'd and running at optimum efficiency etc?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Enable the Sli indicators via the Nv control panel > 3D settings.

 

[Talisa]

I can't get the damn control panel to open. Keep getting version mismatch.

Thanks though, I shall persist

 

[Talisa]

mousemonkey, I have managed to get the NV CP up. Had to uninstall the cards and go back to a 2007 version of the drivers. There is no setting under the 3D Settings tab for SLi. The is a SLi performance mode under program settings but not under Global Settings.

Windows display properties > Advanced is pointing towards a 640MB only Video RAM as appose to the 1280 I actually have between the two cards.

 

[Talisa]

The version of NV CP I am using is 1.5.200.00

 

[Mousemonkey]

What driver version did you install?, the latest beta is 191.03 and the WHQL's are 191.62.

This is the option you are looking for.

 

[Talisa]

I only have the first two options, Adjust and 3D settings. I do not have the SLi menu heading at all. I am using 6230 drivers from way back when electricity was invented. I could not get the CP to load on new drivers of 186.18 or 190.62. Kept getting 'The nVidia Display Panel extension cannot be created, blah version mismatch

I shall try again though

 

[Mousemonkey]

What's your OS and PSU?

 

[Talisa]

Vista 32 SP2 and 450W. Both cards show up in Device Manager. I was wondering, they are Gainward cards but did not come with an SLi cable. The only cable I could find at the time that appeared to be the rightsize and format for the cable was an ASUS cable. Could it be that the ASUS ribbon cable is somehow different to the the Gainward ones (if they exist)?

 

[Talisa]

I have just updated the drivers to 190.62 and I still do not have the SLi sub heading. I have a Set Physx Configuration now but still no SLi

 

[Mousemonkey]

An SLi bridge is the same regardless only the length changes just make sure it's not an Xfire ribbon however I think your problem is power related, as in you do not have enough. My 8800GT's don't like anything less than a good 600w with a healthy amperage rating.

 

[Talisa]

Do you need one or two connectors to link the cards? I only have one fittted!

 

[Mousemonkey]

Only one is required for dual card SLi.

 

[Talisa]

Sorry I asked that stupid question. I read on a thread somewhere that you needed two. However, just took the cover off and can see that there is only one space for a cable to go.

 

[wonderingwhatis]

You might have to enable the second card on your motherboard if you haven't done that already.

 

[Talisa]

If device manager is seeing both would that not indicate that the card is enabled? Just curious

 

[Mousemonkey]

No, just that windows can see what is occupying the second PCIe slot.

 

[Talisa]

OK, how would I enable it to a 2nd gpu card. I can see that slot 1 is showing in BIOS as a x16 and others are x8 and x4

 

[Talisa]

I think this maybe my problem. I quote from HP website

"HP xw4400, xw6400, xw8400 and xw9400 Workstations will not currently support the following operating system combinations and hardware.
Microsoft Windows Vista Business (32-bit) will not support ATI graphics, 1394b cards, dual graphics configurations, Scalable Link Interface (SLI) used on NVIDIA graphics cards, or Creative SoundBlaster X-fi"


I am trying to do this on a HP XW4400. I thought that SLI stood for 'Single Line Interleave' not 'Scalable Link Interface'

 

[Mousemonkey]

It did back in the day when the 3DFX Voodoo's were king but the ship has long since sailed for them.
And it was Scan Line Interweave IIRC.

 

[nforce4max]

It did back in the day when the 3DFX Voodoo's were king but the ship has long since sailed for them.
And it was Scan Line Interweave IIRC.

I miss the good old days but at least there has been a few good cards since then. At least my G80, G92, and R580 cards have help up like my voodoo 3500 unlike my G71(s).

 

[Talisa]

Ah yes, the good old days. I remember playing Battlezone in software mode and thiking it looked cool and then when I got my first 3DFX card and put the game into hardware mode it was nothing short of stunning.

Anyway, as for my problem. I have now had it confirmed by HP that the XW4400 will NOT run with SLI NV cards. It only has one slot that is capable of running PCI-E x16.

Good job I did not pay for the cards way back when. I would be very disappointed. Now all I need to do is find a high end card now that will see me thorugh the next 6 - 12 months. Any ideas?

 

[nforce4max]

Ah yes, the good old days. I remember playing Battlezone in software mode and thiking it looked cool and then when I got my first 3DFX card and put the game into hardware mode it was nothing short of stunning.

Anyway, as for my problem. I have now had it confirmed by HP that the XW4400 will NOT run with SLI NV cards. It only has one slot that is capable of running PCI-E x16.

Good job I did not pay for the cards way back when. I would be very disappointed. Now all I need to do is find a high end card now that will see me thorugh the next 6 - 12 months. Any ideas?

A single 5850 will do nicely since it is on par with a gtx285 and cheaper.

 

[Talisa]

That is an ATI card is it not? I am an NV man to be honest

 

[Mousemonkey]

A GTX 275 is the only real choice then, cheaper than a 285 but almost as fast just a bit short in supply at the moment.