Never done SLI. Tips?

[Deemo13]

Hey community,

So, even though I am an "Expert" level on the forums, there are still things I do not know how to do. Such as an SLI setup. I made a mad deal on 2 570's (I'd rather this not be questioned) and was wondering if there were some special drivers I would need to run the cards or something. I am pretty sure my power supply will be able to handle it nicely and have no doubts about that.

Any tips? The cards are Zotac models.

EDIT: I am also pretty sure that my motherboard supports SLI. If not, I may have to invest in a new motherboard:

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z68MA-G45--B3-.html

Both of the slots support X8 speed, which is fine.

Thanks!
-Gunner

 

[omaroma11]

yes your mobo supports sli go here


http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/sli

 

[ilysaml]

So, even though I am an "Expert" level on the forums, there are still things I do not know how to do. Such as an SLI setup.

 

[bigcyco1]

give him a break.

 

[bigcyco1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLvnuA1uhoE

 

[Sunius]

You will not need any special drivers. Though, I'd still reinstall them because you're switching from GTX 460 to 570. Do that in the end, after both cards sit tightly inside of your PC.

Next, you'll need to insert both cards in your PC. Make sure there aren't cables blocking the airflow in your case: cards in SLI (especially fermi) tend to get pretty hot. Don't forgot to hook up all 4 power connectors from the PSU.

Following that, you'll need to mount an SLI bridge on both cards (to link them). It should have come with your motherboard, check the box.

Lastly, boot up the PC, reinstall drivers, go to SLI settings and enable it. Boom, you're done .

 

[mmaatt747]

Hey community,

So, even though I am an "Expert" level on the forums, there are still things I do not know how to do. Such as an SLI setup. I made a mad deal on 2 570's (I'd rather this not be questioned) and was wondering if there were some special drivers I would need to run the cards or something. I am pretty sure my power supply will be able to handle it nicely and have no doubts about that.

Any tips? The cards are Zotac models.

EDIT: I am also pretty sure that my motherboard supports SLI. If not, I may have to invest in a new motherboard:

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z68MA-G45--B3-.html

Both of the slots support X8 speed, which is fine.

Thanks!
-Gunner

I don't question that at all. In fact I have 2 zotac 570 Amp editions in SLI myself I have been very happy with the performance. I actually just wanted to add that although many games work better in SLI, some may not. For instance, when I added my second card my # of frames drastically increased in BF3 and it runs much smoother in Skyrim as well. Assassin's Creed III however actually performs worse in SLI for me (and most others I have heard, including Crossfire). Hopefully they will come out with a new patch for this.

Good luck with your setup and as Sunius said watch your temps. Mine do fine because I have a large gap between the 2 PCI slots and 2 case fans blowing air right between the two.

 

[ilysaml]

[url]http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-laughing025.gif[/url] give him a break.

No really this is shame, it takes 3 seconds to hit google for an answer.

@Deemo
I remember replying you on many threads in the past, more complicated questions. But tell me, you never got a "best answer" from those 150 regarding how to setup a SLI?

 

[Deemo13]

Well, I'm pretty sure I have gotten best answer for saying something like "I'm pretty sure you just connect the bridge and go for it" but that was awhile ago. I always thought it was similar to the AMD thing, where you have to download the special Catalyst profile things.

There will be a one slot gap between the cards, and my case cools well, so I think it should be alright.

I just wanted to be sure I am doing it correctly, because as I have had personal experience with Crossfire, I wanted to know if it was really any different from the SLI way to do it.

 

[bigcyco1]

No really this is shame, it takes 3 seconds to hit google for an answer.

@Deemo
I remember replying you on many threads in the past, more complicated questions. But tell me, you never got a "best answer" from those 150 regarding how to setup a SLI?

Yeah i know where your coming from and i agree.

 

[Deemo13]

No really this is shame, it takes 3 seconds to hit google for an answer.

@Deemo
I remember replying you on many threads in the past, more complicated questions. But tell me, you never got a "best answer" from those 150 regarding how to setup a SLI?

I see this as well, but I figured I would rather give a best answer than lazily look it up on Google.