Sli disabled how to enable. SLI: Connecting Graphics Cards for Collaboration

Extensiveness and intensity are two key concepts of the development of human progress. Extensive and intensive paths of development of society, technology, and of all mankind as a whole, have replaced each other for many centuries. There are many examples of this in all spheres of economic activity. But today we are not interested in agriculture and cattle breeding, we are interested in information technologies and computers. As an example, let's take a quick look at the development of central processing units.

We will not go deep into the distant 80s and 90s, let's start right away with Pentium 4. After a long intensive development of NetBurst technology, building up "steroid" megahertz, the industry hit the wall - it turned out to be very difficult to "overclock" single-core processors further, and to get more more powerful processor, higher costs are required. And then dual-core processors appeared - an extensive solution to the problem. Soon they also stopped providing the required performance, and a new architecture, Core, appeared, which at lower clock frequencies gives more performance - an intensive solution to the problem. And so it will continue.

But what happens with the development of the second component, which is important for the fan of spectacular PC games - a video card? And the same thing happens as with processors. At this stage of development, single-chip video cards can no longer provide the required performance. Therefore, both leading companies in the video card market (NVIDIA and AMD) are developing and actively introducing their own technologies to increase the performance of a video system by combining two, three, and even four video cards in one PC. In this article, we will consider the first company (since it was she who presented its development first) NVIDIA and its SLI technology.

What is SLI technology?

NVIDIA SLI technology is a revolutionary approach to graphics performance scaling by combining multiple NVIDIA graphics cards into a single system.

Story

In 1998, 3dfx introduced the Voodoo2 graphics processor, among other innovations of which was the SLI technology (English Scan Line Interleave), which involved the joint work of two Voodoo2 chips to form an image. Even cards from different manufacturers, as well as cards with different memory sizes, could work with SLI technology. The SLI system allowed working with resolutions up to 1024x768, which seemed incredible at the time. The disadvantages of 3dfx SLI were the high cost of accelerators ($ 600) and high heat dissipation. However, video cards are soon moving from the PCI bus to the faster dedicated AGP graphics port. Since there was only one port on motherboards, the release of video cards with SLI support was temporarily stopped.

In 2000, with the release of a new VSA-100 3dfx chip, it was possible to implement SLI on AGP, but this time within the framework of one board, which housed two or four such chips.

However, cards based on the SLI system were very power hungry and failed due to power problems. About 200 Voodoo5 6000 boards were sold all over the world, and only 100 of them were actually workers. Such an unsuccessful promotion of a promising accelerator, in which very large investments were made, led to the bankruptcy of the company. In 2001 NVIDIA buys 3dfx for $ 110 million.

In 2004, with the release of the first solutions based on the new PCI Express bus, NVIDIA announced the support in its products for the SLI multichip data processing technology, which stands for Scalable Link Interface (scalable interface).

At first, the advancement of SLI technology did not go very smoothly, primarily due to constantly revealed flaws in the drivers, as well as the need to "sharpen" them for each specific application, otherwise the player would not get any benefit from buying a pair of accelerators. But generations of accelerators changed, drivers were improved, and the list of supported games expanded. And so, at the end of 2007, Triple SLI technology was put into operation, which allows combining 3 NVIDIA video cards in a bundle:

The manufacturer promises a performance boost of up to 250% over a single chip. But this did not become the limit, now the next step is Quad SLI, which makes it possible to force 4 GPUs to work on rendering the game scene, albeit in a pair of dual-GPU video cards.

Imaging algorithms

Split Frame Rendering

Split Frame Rendering Algorithm

This is a commonly used mode when the image is split into several parts, the number of which corresponds to the number of video cards in the bundle. Each part of the image is fully processed by one video card, including the geometric and pixel components. ( Analog in CrossFire - Scissor algorithm)

The Split Frame Rendering algorithm is easily scalable to 3, 4, and possibly more GPUs in the future.

Alternate frame rendering

Alternate Frame Rendering Algorithm Diagram

The frames are processed in turn: one video card processes only even frames, and the second only processes odd frames. However, this algorithm has a drawback. The fact is that one frame can be simple, and another difficult to process. In addition, this algorithm was patented by ATI during the release of a dual-GPU video card.

Quad SLI technology also uses a hybrid mode that combines SFR and AFR.

SLI AA (Anti Aliasing), SLI FSAA (Full Scene Anti Aliasing)

This algorithm aims to improve image quality. The same picture is generated on all video cards with different anti-aliasing patterns. The video card smooths the frame with a certain step relative to the image of another video card. The resulting images are then mixed and output. Thus, the maximum clarity and detail of the image is achieved. The following anti-aliasing modes are available: 8x, 10x, 12x, 14x, 16x and 32x. ( Analog in CrossFire - SuperAA)

Construction principles

To build a computer based on SLI, you must have:

a motherboard with two or more PCI Express slots supporting SLI technology (as a rule, the name of a motherboard contains the word SLI).
Sufficiently powerful power supply unit (usually 550 W or more is recommended);
video cards GeForce 6/7/8/9 / GTX or Quadro FX with PCI Express bus;
a bridge connecting video cards.

At the same time, we note that support for chipsets for working with SLI is implemented in software, not hardware. But video cards must belong to the same class, and the BIOS version of the boards and their manufacturer do not matter.

Currently, SLI technology is supported by the following operating systems:

Windows XP 32-bit
Windows XP 64-bit
Windows Vista 32-bit
Windows Vista 64-bit
Linux 32-bit
Linux 64-bit (AMD-64 / EM64T)

An SLI system can be organized in two ways:

With the help of a special bridge;
Programmatically.

In the latter case, the load on the PCIe bus increases, which has a bad effect on performance, so this method has not become widespread. This mode can only be used with relatively weak accelerators.

If the SLI bridge is not installed, then the driver issues a warning that the SLI mode will not work at full capacity.

For example, this is how a special bridge for connecting video cards may look like if it is made on a PCB. In addition, flexible bridges are now widespread as they are cheaper to manufacture. But to activate the 3-Way SLI technology, so far only a rigid special bridge is used, which actually accommodates three conventional ones in a "ring" mode.

As mentioned above, the Quad SLI system is also popularized. It involves combining two dual-chip boards into a single system. Thus, it turns out that 4 chips are involved in the construction of the image, but this is still the lot of inveterate enthusiasts and has no practical value for ordinary users.

For a simple user, something else is important, for the sake of which this technology was actually conceived. Buying an SLI motherboard is a good head start for upgrading your PC in the future, as it provides the option to add another graphics card. No other way of "upgrade", except for a complete change of the system, does not even come close to the increase in gaming performance, which is provided by the second video card.

It looks something like this. You are buying a good PC with a good modern graphics card. You can calmly play modern games, but after a year and a half your system can no longer satisfy you with the image quality and speed in the latest games. Then, instead of replacing the old video card (or even the entire PC), you simply add another one and get almost double the power of the video system.

However, everything sounds so simple in theory. But in practice, the user will have to face many difficulties.

The first is the games and applications themselves. No one has yet come up with a cure for the dreaded word "optimization" - yes, not only drivers, but also games must be optimized for SLI technology in order to work correctly with it. NVIDIA says SLI technology supports “ longest list of games ». If the game you are interested in is not on the list, the company offers to create your own settings profile for it.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of games that are not SLI compliant, and creating a profile does not fix this in any way. There is only one way out - to wait for patches from game developers and new drivers from NVIDIA. However, these games include mostly old ones, which can be handled without problems by a single modern video card, or less popular ones, which are not interesting to the vast majority of players due to poor "playability". But new powerful games already provide for the use of two video cards. For example, in the game Call of Duty 4 there is a very specific switch in the graphics settings section.

You can find out about enabling the SLI function by special indicators right in the game, with the appropriate "test" driver setting.

If you see horizontal or vertical green stripes on the monitor screen, it means that Show SLI Visual Indicators is enabled in the NVIDIA Display Control Panel. When this option is enabled, you can see how the graphics load is distributed to the GPU, and the names of the SLI components in your system will be changed: SLI for two GPUs will be named “SLI”, the name of 3-way NVIDIA SLI will be changed to “SLI x3”, and Quad SLI will be called “Quad SLI”. For games rendered using Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) technology, the vertical green bar will grow or shrink depending on the scale of the expansion. For games rendered using Split-Frame Rendering (SFR) technology, the horizontal green bar will go up and down to show how the load is distributed across all GPUs. If the level of detail on the top and bottom half of the screen is the same, the horizontal bar will be close to the middle. To enable or disable this feature, simply open the NVIDIA Control Panel and select 3D Settings.

The second common problem in computing with multiple graphics chips is the synchronization of the latter. As mentioned above, the AFR rendering method has one peculiarity: one frame can be simple, while the other can be difficult to process. With a large difference in the complexity of frame processing, one video card can process it much faster than the other. This leads to "microlag" - small image delays, like jerks, but the overall FPS looks comfortable. This effect appears quite rarely, but even the developers do not know how to deal with it. There is a simple way out for the user - in games where "microlags" with the AFR method are observed, switch to the SFR method, specifying it in the game profile.

In SFR mode, the display is split into two parts. The first card gives out the top of the picture, and the second - the bottom. With dynamic load balancing, the driver evenly distributes the load between the two cards.

The third problem is the processor. The fact is that when using several video adapters, the load on the processor increases not only due to the use of heavy graphics modes, but also due to synchronization of video chips. Therefore, in order to unleash the full potential of a combination of several video cards, you need a powerful processor. Although today this is not such a pressing issue as a couple of years ago.

Additional features of new technology

The new generation of SLI motherboards and graphics cards provide users with much more functionality than conventional 3D acceleration.

Hybrid SLI provides for more rational use of the shared mode of the graphics core built into the chipset and the discrete graphics card.

The technology consists of two parts: GeForce Boost and HybridPower.

The first will be used in applications intensively working with 3D graphics. With GeForce Boost, the accelerator integrated into the system logic will take over part of the calculations of the three-dimensional scene, which will give a noticeable increase in performance to those systems where not the fastest discrete adapter is installed, for example, the GeForce 8500 GT or the GeForce 8400 GS.

HybridPower, on the other hand, will allow the use of integrated graphics by disabling the external accelerator when the user is browsing the Internet, office applications or watching video. The greatest benefit, according to NVIDIA, from this technology will be the owners of notebooks with a dedicated graphics card, the battery life of which will noticeably increase.

Hybrid SLI is currently supported by: GeForce 8500 GT and GeForce 8400 GS desktop GPUs for GeForce Boost; powerful GeForce GTX 280, GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce GTX 260, GeForce 9800 GTX +, GeForce 9800 GTX and GeForce 9800 GT in HybridPower mode; as well as motherboards for AMD processors on nForce 780a, nForce 750a, nForce 730a (GeForce Boost only) with integrated GeForce 8200 graphics accelerator.

As you can see, energy savings can reach impressive values.

This is a very useful function for overclockers, since, in addition to saving energy, it allows the main video card to "rest" at the time of inactivity and extend its service life, especially if extreme overclocking is used.

Another useful additional feature of the SLI link is the ability to use up to 4 monitors simultaneously.

Practical use

We have already tested various video cards in SLI mode many times. Let's try to summarize the information received a little.

In preparing the article, information was used from the official site NVIDIA and the free encyclopedia Wikipedia.

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If you have a desire to combine two nVidia GeForce video cards to improve performance in games and it turned out that although there are two (or more) connectors for video cards in the system unit on the motherboard, it does not support nVidia SLI technology, then you should not despair right away.

Thanks to the developer Ember Vulpix, we now have the ability to run GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode on motherboards with only ATi / AMD CrossFireX support, or no official ability to combine graphics cards to improve 3D performance at all. Moreover, in the SLI tandem it will be possible to combine two different video cards from nVidia (from the same or close generations), such functionality is not provided even on motherboards with official SLI support. In general, download the DifferentSLIAuto 1.4 patch from the github (or from our site), unpack it and strictly follow the detailed instructions from the README.md file.

Let's try it out in combat conditions on a system from the hardware that found itself in the "bins": let's take an old ECS P965T-A motherboard on an Intel P965 chipset with two PCI-Ex16 slots (the second one operates in x4 mode), in the specifications of which there is no mention of configuration support SLI or CrossFireX, it says only "Unique architecture ECS SDGE (Scalable Dual Graphic Engines)", whatever that means. Add an Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 processor overclocked to 2.93GHz and 6GB of DDR2 PC6400 RAM. All this will be running the windows 7 HP x64 SP1 operating system.

In the same "bins" :) I found several video cards from nVidia:

GeForce 9800GT Green 512MB GDDR3 256bit (Palit)
GeForce 9800GT 1024MB GDDR3 256bit (Galaxy)
GeForce GT240 1024MB GDDR3 128bit (Gigabyte)
GeForce GT440 1024MB GDDR5 128bit (PNY, G108 chip)
GeForce GT630 2048MB GDDR3 128bit (Palit, G108 chip)
GeForce GT630 1024MB GDDR3 64bit (Palit, Kepler chip)
GeForce GT730 2048MB GDDR3 64bit (Palit, Kepler chip)

For the first five video cards the driver version 331.82 was used, for the last two - 364.51.

9800GT Green 512MB and 9800GT 1024MB, GT440 1024MB (G108) and GT630 2048MB (G108) made friends without problems, they also earned a pair of GT630 1024MB (Kepler) and GT730 2048MB (Kepler).

To check the operability, the benchmarks Unigine Tropics 1.3 and Unigine Heaven 4.0 were launched with the "thermometer" of SLI activity activated in the driver settings.

But 9800GT + GT240, GT240 + GT440 / GT630 and GT630 (G108) + GT630 (Kepler) refused to work - when trying to use SLI in the driver settings, the computer hung or was thrown into a BSOD.

Another nuance - a video card with less memory must be installed in the main PCI-E slot. It is also worth remembering that only the overlapping amount of RAM on 3D accelerators will be used - at 1024MB and 2048MB, only 1024MB will be available for games on cards.

dxpc.ru

How to enable SLI anti-aliasing

How to enable SLI anti-aliasing mode:

Step 1. Open NVIDIA Control Panel by right clicking on the desktop and selecting "NVIDIA Control Panel"

Step 2. Select "3D Preferences"

Step 3. Select "Manage 3D Presets"

Step 4. Click on "Anti-aliasing settings" and select the mode you need.

Step 5. Click "Apply". SLI anti-aliasing is enabled!

Remember, SLI performance will not be active when using one of the anti-aliasing modes. You cannot use both modes at the same time.

www.nvidia.ru

SLI mode from two GeForce GTX 260 video cards ... tuning, performance testing.

Introduction. In view of the fact that NVIDIA allowed Intel to organize SLI mode on motherboards with the Intel X58 chipset, the popularity of video cards from this manufacturer increased. Let me remind you that earlier you had to resort to modifying the drivers in order to activate the SLI mode on motherboards with Intel chipsets, which are quite popular lately.

In this review, I decided to present you the level of performance achieved when installing two video cards GeForce GTX 260. At the moment, this series is the best choice for organizing SLI mode.

Test participants.

The test participants are two XFX GeForce GTX 260 XXX video cards, which we reviewed for quite a long time and you can get acquainted with a detailed review on our portal. Here I think to remind you of the specifications of the video card: -GPU: GeForce GTX 260 -Interface: PCI-Express x16 -ROPs / Shaders frequencies: 576/1242 MHz -Memory frequencies (physical (effective)): 1000 (2000) MHz - Bus width memory exchange: 448bit -Number of universal processors: 192 -Number of texture processors: 80 (BLF / TLF) -Number of ROPs: 32 -Dimensions: 270x100x33 mm (the last value is the maximum thickness of a video card). - Output jacks: 2xDVI (Dual-Link / HDMI), TV-out.

Multiprocessor support: SLI (Hardware), 3-Way SLI

"XXX" in the name of the video card means increased frequencies relative to the nominal ones and are: 1. The core frequency is 640 Mhz.

2. Memory frequency 2300 Mhz.

Overclocking results.

It was decided to overclock the video cards and evaluate the performance gain from overclocking when using two video cards. These video cards agreed to work at the following frequency: 1. 732 Mhz core. 2. From memory 1233 Mhz. 3. For the shader unit 1560 Mhz.

It was decided to set the same stable frequencies for each video card, otherwise it increases the risk of freezes during the game.

Configuring SLI mode.

First of all, we find the ports for the SLI mode on video cards.

We open them and try on the cables, so that after the installation of the video card it does not "fumble" there for a long time.

After assembling the system, install the drivers. Then, through the control panel, go to the video card driver settings and turn on the SLI mode, as shown in the screenshot. That's it - you can enjoy all the advantages of SLI mode.

Test configuration. 1. Core I7 920. 2. GA-X58-DQ6. 3.2x2 Gb Samsung DDR-800 Original. Tests in which the system participated: 1. Crysis. 2. Call of Duty 4. 3. 3Dmark 06.

Evaluation of the results: 1. As you can see, this version of the SLI mode provides the highest performance. 2. Overclocking adds 20% performance gain.

2. Call of Duty 4.

Evaluation of results: 1. In this game, the performance is also the highest. 2. The performance gain from overclocking decreased to 11%.

Evaluation of the results: 1. In the synthetic test, AMD's dual-core video cards HD4850X2 and HD4870X2 are chosen ahead.

2. The increase in performance from overclocking is 16%.

Conclusion. Of course, the SLI mode of two GeForce GTX260 video cards looks very tempting. But do not forget in testing I used video cards already with factory overclocking, and in order to achieve a confident leadership, even they had to be overclocked to the frequencies indicated above. The cost of a set of two video cards is: 260 * 2 \u003d $ 520.

Considering the cost, we shouldn't ignore the dual-GPU video cards from AMD, which show good results.

This article was prepared by FireAiD especially for Mega Obzor.

megaobzor.com

SLI, windows 7

In multiprocessor video cards such as GeForce 7950 GX2, 9800 GX2, GTX 295, each of the GPUs has its own amount of video memory and is not combined with the memory of another processor. Only half of the volume declared for the entire card is available for 3D applications - the memory of the second GPU duplicates data for multiprocessor SLI rendering. A certain exception to the rule are some CUDA applications (OpenCL, DirectCompute), which, when MultiGPU mode is disabled in the driver panel, can use the video memory of each GPU independently of the memory of the other, thus loading the full amount of memory on the video card.
In Windows Vista and newer operating systems, the mechanism for determining the amount of video memory has been changed. Instead of a video card driver / BIOS report, the operating system calculates the video memory by itself when using a video card driver that is compatible with the WDDM architecture. Regardless of the amount of video memory on the video card, a certain amount of RAM is added to it according to the formula:
(RAM - 512) / 2, MB
"Excess" video memory is allocated from the main memory only for the period of immediate need for it. All applications, including many system applications, are reported as the amount of video memory on the video card, fixed for the video card of RAM (for integrated / mobile solutions) and added according to the formula above the RAM. To determine the amount of memory on the video card, the application must use new calls to DirectX 10 (the "Performance Information and Tools" control panel applet) or direct access to the hardware (RivaTuner). For applications using older versions of DirectX, there is no programmatic way to determine the physical amount of video memory in a given operating system.
On windows Vista and 7 operating systems, the NVIDIA driver limits the total video memory reported to applications through legacy DirectX interfaces to avoid large value handling errors. When using video cards with a large buffer size (such as Quadro), this behavior can also limit the amount of physical video memory available to applications. To disable this driver behavior in the TAG Memory Tool, enable the "Maximum memory" option, however, some programs may stop working.
For integrated graphics processors and graphics cards with Turbo Cache technology with 64 MB of local video memory or less, the driver always reports the maximum possible amount of memory, taking into account the use of system memory. Determining the actually installed video memory capacity on a video card with Turbo Cache technology with 64 MB of local video memory or less is possible only with the help of low-level utilities such as RivaTuner.
When determining the available video memory through DirectX calls, it is rather difficult to allocate the local video card memory from the total amount together with the AGP aperture or the system memory added using Turbo Cache technology. Such errors in determining the amount of video memory are typical for most games.
The algorithm for determining the amount of video memory in the computer performance display dialog in windows Vista and 7 does not work correctly for video cards with a non-standard amount of video memory. Thus, the GeForce 8800 GTS with 640 MB of video memory will be defined as having 512 MB of video memory, and the 8800 GTS with 320 MB of video memory - as having 256 or 384 MB. This is an officially recognized mistake.
If you bought a video card from your hands, then you could become a victim of scammers. The memory line displayed by the BIOS video when the computer is turned on can easily be tampered with by editing the BIOS while the driver detects the true size.
There were cases when this was observed with video cards that physically (chips) had the declared volume. In addition to cases of defects in the layout of the board, a number of victims noted that the full volume was recognized with another version of the driver. Presumably, the driver reinitializes the video card when the system boots, performing some kind of memory test. Try lowering the operating frequencies of the video memory using RivaTuner or installing additional cooling for the video card memory (heatsinks on chips). Try other driver versions. Update the BIOS of the video card if possible.
Insufficient power supply to the card can also lead to this problem. This is especially true for cards based on GeForce 2, GeForce 2 MX and GeForce 4 MX chips, which use video memory with + 3.3V internal circuits. In many of these cards, the memory is powered directly from the power lines in the AGP connector. If the power supply or stabilizer on the motherboard "sags" by + 3.3V, the memory may stop being detected.

CUDA, DirectX, GeForce 2, GeForce 2 MX, GeForce 4 MX, GeForce 7950 GX2, GeForce 8800 GTS, GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce GTX 295, RivaTuner, SLI, TAG Memory Tool, Turbo Cache, VRAM, windows 7, windows Vista, video memory, driver, power supply

Make sure the graphics card is firmly seated in the bus slot and that the connector is fully seated in the slot. Check the graphics card connector and motherboard bus slot for mechanical damage.
You should pay attention to the number of PCI Express lines supported by the motherboard chipset and to the configuration of PCIE x16 slots on a particular motherboard instance. First of all, most chipsets do not support a sufficient number of channels to implement two, let alone three or four full-fledged x16 slots. 16 bus lines (channels) are usually allocated only to the first slot, the rest gets a smaller number (x8 or x4). Therefore, you should install the video card in the x16 bus slot closest to the central processor. Or, when the second video card is installed, the lines are redistributed from the first bus slot to the second, and both begin to work in x8 mode (this mode is typical for SLI configurations). A number of entry-level chipsets, such as Intel 910 / 915GL, 945 / 946GZ and NVIDIA nForce 405/400, in principle, do not support a sufficient number of lanes for the PCI Express x16 slot, however, motherboard manufacturers on these chipsets sometimes implement such a slot, but physically it has a small number of lines.
Another reason for reducing the bus width may be an erroneous inclusion in the BIOS Setup of the motherboard of the options that control the number of lines (channels) in the bus slots. These options are usually in the form of "PEG Force X1" or "PCI-E Lanes". See your motherboard documentation for information on meaning and disabling these options.
In notebooks, PowerMizer technology can change the number of active PCI Express lanes as a measure to reduce the power consumption of the video card. For information on PowerMizer, see the dedicated FAQ.
One of the possible reasons for the reduction in bus width can be the PCI Express bus power management system that appeared in windows Vista and windows 7. In the windows control panel, go to power management and edit the advanced settings of the selected power plan by setting the Link State Power Management option to off.

In general, reducing the number of lines to x8 has a negligible effect on the performance of video cards, excluding dual-processor solutions, but at x2 or x1 bus width, even cards in the lower price range work very slowly.

BIOS, Intel, nForce 400, nForce 405, PCI Express, PowerMizer, SLI, windows 7, windows Vista, laptops

If the game crashes with a blue screen with an error in nv4_disp.dll, update the NVIDIA driver to the latest official version. Do not force FSAA and AF from the driver panel or RivaTuner, enable these functions only from the game settings. When using a video card based on GeForce 8X00 and newer, do not use full-screen anti-aliasing above 2x. If all else fails, try setting your game to use OpenGL. To do this, either run the Launcher.exe application with the -opengl switch, or in the config.wtf file in the WTF subfolder of the game folder, in the SET gxApi line, replace the direct3d value with opengl
Systems with video cards based on GeForce 4 MX may experience severe graphics distortion caused by poor performance of the geometry block of this GPU. You can turn off some of the acceleration features by creating or modifying the SET M2UseShaders line in config.wtf with a value of 0. If this is not enough, you can force the game to do all geometric calculations programmatically. To do this, run the Launcher.exe application with the -swtnl switch. Forum participants report that such actions can also help in case of problems with video cards based on GeForce FX 5200 and GeForce 2. On systems with other video cards, try setting the game to use OpenGL, as described above. You can also try to launch the game in a window, for this run the Launcher.exe application with the -windowed key
Poor performance on SLI systems may be due to game interface issues. It is recommended to disable V-sync in the game settings, enable hardware acceleration of the mouse cursor and disable smoothing of mouse movements (smooth). An additional effect can be obtained by disabling the acceleration of the interface (panels and menus). To do this, create or modify the Set UIFaster line in the config.wtf file. Try line 2 or 0 values. In Windows Vista, performance drops dramatically when you launch a game in a window.
If character portraits disappear in SLI mode, update the NVIDIA driver to version 93.71 or later.
Enabling the Glow effect in the game settings prevents the game from using high FSAA levels.
Poor performance with modern versions of the NVIDIA driver is often caused by the game UI scaling feature enabled. Try turning off the "Use UI Scale" option in the game settings.
On a system with DirectX 11 support (windows 7 or Vista with an update and a video card based on NVIDIA GTX 400 or newer) and the Cataclysm add-on installed, you can increase the FPS in the game by enabling Direct3D 11 rendering, for which the config.wtf file in the WTF subfolder of the game folder in line SET gxApi replace the value of direct3d with d3d11

BSOD, DirectX, FPS, FSAA, GeForce 2, GeForce 4 MX, GeForce FX 5200, OpenGL, SLI, Vsync, windows 7, windows Vista, World of Warcraft, artifacts, driver, games, anti-aliasing

Not. SLI support is available in NVIDIA drivers for windows XP, Vista, 7 (32- and 64-bit versions), 2003/2008 Server (32- and 64-bit versions, except for Itanium platform), Linux with kernel version 2.4.7 and higher, Solaris x86. In other systems or when using non-NVIDIA drivers (nv, nouveau, snap), the SLI bundle will work as two separate video cards.

Linux, MacOS, SLI, windows 7, windows 9x, windows NT4, windows Server, windows Vista, windows XP, driver

nvworld.ru

SLI mode and solutions to problems associated with this mode

Hello, today we will talk about Nvidia video cards operating in SLI mode, namely about their problems and how to solve them, but first, let's figure out what SLI mode is. Nvidia SLI is a technology that allows you to use multiple graphics cards at the same time while significantly improving system performance. One of the basic requirements is to use the same GPU on the video cards used. Below are listed more detailed requirements for building a computer that will work with this technology.

The motherboard must have two or more connectors that support this technology;
A good PSU that can power our system (SLI-Ready PSUs are recommended);
Video cards that support this technology;
A bridge that can be used to connect video cards;
A processor with a high clock speed, which can unleash the potential of video cards, so that there is no drop in frame rate and performance in general.

From the above, it turns out that the construction of NVIDIA SLI is not something unattainable, but on the contrary practically does not differ from the assembly of a regular home computer.

Problems

Well, the above was the information about why you need SLI, its advantages, and now let's move on to the problems and their solutions.

The first problem is the dependence on drivers, drivers need to be updated very often, since major changes are made and optimizations for specific games or applications come out;
The second problem is that not all games / applications support this technology and in some games / applications it is necessary to make several of your video cards work;
The third problem of this technology is in the same updates, because with each driver update, some manipulations need to be done to make all video cards work, which is not always convenient and not all owners of this technology are ready to rummage through the settings and deal with their problems.

Solution of problems:

The first problem can be solved quite simply. Download the utility from the official NVIDIA GeForce Experience website, register to use this program, go to your account, and click the "Check for Updates" button. If a more recent driver is found, it will be downloaded and you will be prompted to install it.
The second problem is not always solvable, since not all application manufacturers optimize their applications for this technology, but you can still try to fix performance problems with some simple manipulations in the driver settings for your SLI system.

Below is an example of setting up The Sims 2 game, which is not optimized for SLI mode by default.

Open the "Nvidia Control Panel" - manage 3D parameters - software settings and click on the "Add" button - specify the path to the file that launches our game - look at the second section "Specify settings for this program" - SLI rendering mode, if any " Nvidia recommends (SLI) ", then select this item, if not, then select" Perform alternative framing 2 ".

We also need to configure power management, and for this we go to "Power management mode" and select the item "Preferred mode of maximum performance".

The last item will be the setting "CUDA - graphics processors" in this setting, absolutely all your video cards that you want to use in this application should be ticked.

The third problem is solved quite simply, but it appears every time we update the driver and it takes a few clicks to fix it. Since we have not left the Nvidia control panel yet, we need to click on the “SLI, Surround, PhysX Settings” tab and click on “Update Settings” then click on the “Apply” button and this problem will be solved.

The motherboard must have two or more connectors that support this technology;
A good PSU that can power our system (SLI-Ready PSUs are recommended);
Video cards that support this technology;
A bridge that can be used to connect video cards;
A processor with a high clock speed, which can unleash the potential of video cards, so that there is no drop in frame rate and performance in general.

From the above, it turns out that the construction of NVIDIA SLI is not something unattainable, but on the contrary practically does not differ from the assembly of a regular home computer.

Problems

Well, the above was the information about why you need SLI, its advantages, and now let's move on to the problems and their solutions.

The first problem is the dependence on drivers, drivers need to be updated very often, since major changes are made and optimizations for specific games or applications come out;
The second problem is that not all games / applications support this technology and in some games / applications it is necessary to make several of your video cards work;
The third problem of this technology is in the same updates, because with each driver update, some manipulations need to be done to make all video cards work, which is not always convenient and not all owners of this technology are ready to rummage through the settings and deal with their problems.

Solution of problems:

The first problem can be solved quite simply. Download the utility from the official NVIDIA GeForce Experience website, register to use this program, go to your account, and click the "Check for Updates" button. If a more recent driver is found, it will be downloaded and you will be prompted to install it.
The second problem is not always solvable, since not all application manufacturers optimize their applications for this technology, but you can still try to fix performance problems with some simple manipulations in the driver settings for your SLI system.

Below is an example of setting up The Sims 2 game, which is not optimized for SLI mode by default.

We also need to configure power management, and for this we go to "Power management mode" and select the item "Preferred mode of maximum performance".

Many experienced computer users, and especially gamers, sooner or later come across technologies to improve the graphics capabilities of the device. In various manufacturing variations, it can be SLI or Crossfire, the only difference is in the manufacturer.

Often, such methods of changing graphic indicators are used in stationary computers, but their use in laptops is also possible. Next, each of the options for using such technology and the possibility of turning it off, if necessary, will be considered in detail.

What is SLI and Crossfire

The entire process of considering the current problem should start with a general understanding of SLI and Crossfire technologies. They represent the modes of operation of personal computers, which make it possible to install and operate several video cards in the device simultaneously. To activate this mode in a stationary computer, it is enough to simply insert two video cards into the motherboard, but there are times when a graphics chipset is already built into the main board. Then you just need to add another one to it, using a special slot. Each of the possible options for activating the technology should be analyzed in more detail, and then the issue of disabling functions should be resolved.

SLI concept

This technology was developed by the nVidia campaign only for their video cards. It implies the simultaneous use of the resources of several video cards, allowing the user to combine them into one whole. In fact, the technology in question is a kind of adapter connecting several graphics adapters.

Crossfire concept

This technology, in principle, is absolutely similar to the previous one, the only difference is in the developers. The Crossfire technology was presented to the world by representatives of the AMD campaign. Users will be interested in information about the material benefits of this technology. After all, the purchase and bundle of two video adapters from this campaign will cost significantly less than the purchase of several video cards from the manufacturer nVidia. Plus, the more expensive graphics card bundle doesn't have the ability to be active on any motherboard. Although the process of decontamination of any variant of such a bridge will be the same. First, let's consider the features of the technology.

Technology connection specifics

The main thing in the implementation of this process is the motherboard suitable for it. Not all models support this feature, so you should familiarize yourself with the system's capabilities first. On the "motherboard" there must be a corresponding marking, otherwise, even if there are several slots, the video cards will not work in pairs. The same system applies to the installation of discrete and integrated adapters, there is the option of using only one of them.

It should also be noted that the technology provided by the nVidia corporation enables the combined operation only for video cards released on the same chips. That is, it can be two completely identical models or at least representatives of the same series. Other bundles simply won't work. But when using Radeon video cards, the situation changes radically. It doesn't matter at all in what configurations the graphics adapters are made. Representatives of the R9 series, for example, work in pairs, giving the computer the opportunity to get the most from games. Many users of such links increase the frequency of storyboards, achieving high rates.

In addition, to use an SLI bridge, a special adapter must be attached. It can come with a graphics card that supports this feature, or bundled with the graphics adapter itself. Without installing it, the technology will not work.

Misconceptions about Dual Graphics

Many beginners, not fully understanding all the intricacies of increasing productivity, thus make hasty conclusions. For some reason, users believe that if you install a bridge with two identical video cards, then the indicators will double, and the same, respectively, with the rest of the combination options. But in fact, the increase occurs by only twenty to thirty percent, and then, starting from the indicators of the weakest adapter. Here is a vivid example: if you install two video cards with a memory capacity of one eight gigabytes, and the other two gigabytes, then in the end the user will not receive more than two gigabytes at the output. A similar situation occurs with cards with the same memory size. The output will be an indicator of only one of them. The same feature applies not only to memory. For example, if both MSI and EVGA cards are installed at the same time, the overall output frequency will be calculated as the lowest. In general, one should not place high hopes on such technology.

Deactivation of technologies

After a detailed review of the main functions and capabilities of SLI and Crossfire, it's time to move directly to the question of the article. It is clear that the whole point of disabling these modes comes down to removing one of the video cards. When working with a stationary computer, this will not be a problem. You just need to remove one graphics adapter from the slot and the problem will be solved. This method can be called mechanical and at the same time the simplest, but the question remains open if this mode of operation is active on a laptop. Modern laptop models also have the ability to install additional video adapters and, in particular, Crossfire technology. Thus, mechanical removal of the video card will not work here, you need to use a different method. Next, we will consider software options for solving the problem.

Disabling technology via BIOS

This method works for both variants of the function. There is a basic data input / output system on any device and with its help many problems can be solved. First you need to log into the system, this is done by pressing the button when starting the computer. Which one depends on the version of the base system, most often it is Del. After entering, you need to go to the menu to the Advanced tab, when using a discrete adapter, and set the necessary settings opposite the graphics adapter. When using an integrated system, you need to find the Onboard or Integrated Devices tab and specify Disabled or just Off in the parameters, it all depends, again, on the version. Of course, this option is not difficult, but if the user has problems understanding English, then he may not be able to find the necessary parameters on his own. In this case, you will have to consider another method.

Device Manager

To solve the problem, you can use the standard tools of the installed operating system. Windows allows the user to customize the use of all installed devices through the "Device Manager". You can find it using the "control panel" or "administration". For advanced users, you can suggest entering devmgmt.msc into the command line. After opening the required window, in it you need to find a section indicating the installed video cards. Now the adapter that needs to be disabled is simply selected and the properties menu is called up by right-clicking on it. It has a button to turn off the device. That, in fact, is all. This way of disabling the SLI-Crossfire mode does not even require a subsequent system reboot to activate the new settings. In addition, this command can be executed directly from the context menu.

Deactivation via standard programs

With all the simplicity of using the above methods, the safest is still to use the "native" programs that are installed on the computer along with the drivers for the graphics adapter. Also, such utilities can be added to the system additionally. Such programs are very easy to use and the user does not have to perform any additional actions to change the parameters. The use of this method is more effective, in particular, it excludes the occurrence of possible conflicts between equipment.

Output

In general, all possible options for disabling the SLI-Crossfire modes were discussed above. But after considering all the details of the operation of such a technology, the question becomes urgent: is such a system needed at all? There are many different opinions both in support of these regimes and against them. The fact is that you should not expect a special increase in productivity, moreover, a hardware conflict may arise. The simultaneous operation of several video cards raises the temperature in the system unit too much, overheating it. The overstated power consumption during the operation of this mode can be called a minus, because two cards, whatever one may say, "eat" more than one. In addition, not all games support this technology and may simply not run on a system with SLI-Crossfire.

Considering the fact that the output indicators are equal to the worst video card, the best option would be to purchase one powerful one, for the same money that two weaker ones were bought. Thus, the efficiency of the system will definitely be increased and unnecessary problems will not arise. Of course, in some cases, bridging between several video cards is necessary. The main thing is that if they are not used, turn off the extra video adapter in time to avoid overheating the system and increased power consumption. In this case, it is desirable to use specialized software, although in the absence of it, you can use other methods. Which ones have already been described in detail today.

AMD Radeon has come to Nvidia. Its GeForce GPUs are as popular among gamers as their competitors. Both companies are marching in step with the market, offering customers solutions that are similar in performance and price. Therefore, it would be unfair to devote material to the construction of the CrossFire configuration, but to bypass the similar capabilities of Nvidia products.

A bit of history

The year 1998 can be considered the beginning of the SLI era. Then the 3dfx company for the first time managed to realize the possibility of combining several video cards to solve one problem. However, the development of the AGP interface slowed down development in this direction, since all motherboards of that time were equipped with only one slot for a video card.

SLI from 3DFX is the grandfather of modern technology

After 3dfx was bought by Nvidia in 2001, all developments in this direction were waiting in the wings, which came only in 2004. It was then, in the 6000th GeForce series (the first video cards designed specifically for the latest PCI-Express interface at that time), the existing developments were improved and introduced into consumer products.

SLI of two GeForce 6600GT

At first, it was possible to combine two GeForce 6600 or 6800 video cards, with the release of the 7000 series (in which the first full-fledged dual-processor motherboard from Nvidia, 7900GX2 was presented), it became possible to build a four-processor configuration (of 2 cards), and later it became possible to combine 3 or 4 separate GPUs.

How to combine video cards in SLI: requirements

As with CrossFire, it's not enough to buy two Nvidia graphics cards to configure them in SLI. There are a number of computer requirements that must be met to ensure the normal functioning of the bundle.

What video cards can be combined in SLI

Connecting two SLI video cards-bridge is possible only if the interface on the board is provided for this bridge. You can also try to combine them with software, but in this case you cannot do without "dancing with a tambourine". And it makes no sense to build a tandem of two GT610 or GT720. One card, the speed of which will be 2 or 3 times higher than that of a similar bundle, will cost less than a set of a pair of office cards and a compatible motherboard. That is, the absence of an SLI interface on the junior representatives of graphics accelerators is not caused by the manufacturer's greed. Nobody puts bridges, because it will make the card more expensive, but there will be no sense from them. Thus,connection of two SL video cardsI is possible for mid and high end models. These include GPUs, the second digit of the name of which is 5 and higher (GTX55 0Ti, GTX96 , GTX6 7 0, GTX7 8 0, etc.).

GeForce GT 720 has no SLI bridge

Before how to connect SLI two video cardsit is worth making sure they are built on the same GPU version. For example, GeForce GTX650 and GTX650Ti, despite the similarity of names, operate on the basis of completely different GPUs and therefore cannot work in tandem.

Is there any practical benefit from SLI?

Before, how to combine video cards in SLI, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the experience of using such configurations by other gamers and study the specifications of their cards, as well as the characteristics of more productive solutions in the line. Quite often the two-card configuration does not give any advantage in terms of economy or performance. For example, two GTX950s in SLI show results comparable to one GTX970. The difference in price (about 200 and 400 dollars, respectively) of the cards themselves is justified, but if you take into account the additional costs for a powerful power supply unit, a dual-slot motherboard, a high-quality and well-ventilated case, it looks doubtful.

The situation is quite different if - part of the upgrade procedure for an existing PC purchased a couple of years ago. Cards of the GTX650Ti or GTX750 level can still be found on sale at a reasonable price (the difference with new models is roughly equivalent to the differences in performance), and technical progress in 3 years has not brought anything revolutionary for video cards (except for HBM memory presented by AMD, but Nvidia is not yet concerned). Therefore, adding another GPU is quite a rational step for such players.

SLI: connecting video cards

If the computer meets the requirements for creating an SLI configuration, a suitable second video card is purchased, you can proceed to the assembly. After turning off the PC, remove the cover of the system unit, install the second board in the corresponding slot, connect an additional power cable to it (if required) and connect the two cards with the bridge included in the kit. Hardwareconnection of two video cards in SLI This completes and you can proceed to the software setting.

Power Cables Connected to SLI Bundle

Connecting two SLI video cards in Windows

In order for a bunch of two GPUs to function normally, you need to install Windows Vista or newer (7, 8, 8.1 or 10) on your PC. It is also recommended to download the latest graphics driver from Nvidia's website. After that, you can proceed to setting up.

After applying the settings, the bundle is ready to work. You may need to set special parameters in the "Program Settings" submenu to correctly configure SLI operation in some games. But, as a rule, most modern software does not need this.

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