GENERAL SECTION
 What is NVIDIA SLI? How does it work?
How is SLI different from competitive product offerings?
Do you have dedicated hardware for NVIDIA SLI or is it just software?
How much of a performance increase will I see with SLI technology?
How does this technology differ from 3dfx's SLI?
Does SLI work on AGP?
How does SLI work on PCI Express?
What cards can work together in an SLI configuration?
What is the function of the SLI connector?
SLI FEATURE SUPPORT
What operating systems are supported with SLI Technology?
What applications are supported with SLI Technology?
Which driver should I use?
I play a game that is not listed on the supported applications page. How do I create a custom profile for my game to enable SLI support?
Why don't all games scale?
Is NVIDIA working with Developers on SLI application support?
How many monitors are supported with SLI in Multi-GPU mode?
CONFIGURATION SECTION
What motherboards will work with SLI Technology?
What graphics cards will work with SLI Technology?
Can I mix and match graphics cards?
Can SLI work with one PCI Express board and one AGP 8X board or with PCI Express and PCI?
Can I install just one SLI-Ready graphics card with an NVIDIA nForce4 SLI based motherboard? Or do I need two?
Where can I purchase an SLI connector?
What power supply does NVIDIA recommend for an SLI system?
Can you use more than two graphics cards with SLI?
GENERAL SECTION
|
 |
|
|
What is NVIDIA SLI? How does it work?
NVIDIA® SLI™ (Scalable Link Interface) is a high-performance technology that intelligently combines and scales graphics performance by having multiple NVIDIA GPUs in a single system. SLI Technology can scale both geometry and fill rate performance for two GPUs.
|
|
 |
 back to top
|
|
|
How is SLI different from competitive product offerings?
SLI takes the PCI Express multi NVIDIA GPU configuration to the next level by designing a family of GPUs that feature intelligent patent-pending hardware and software technology. The result is never-before-seen performance on PCs and workstations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do you have dedicated hardware for NVIDIA SLI or is it just software?
We have dedicated scalability logic in each GPU and a digital interface between GPUs to help enable this logic. In addition, we have a full software suite of advanced rendering algorithms that provide the best image quality.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
How much of a performance increase will I see with SLI technology?
The amount of performance improvement will depend on the application and its ability to scale. Several of today's hottest games see a full 2X increase in performance. In general, applications running at higher resolutions with higher image quality settings will benefit most.
|
|
|
|
|
How does this technology differ from 3dfx's SLI?
NVIDIA SLI differs in many ways. First, 3dfx SLI was implemented on a shared bus using PCI. The PCI bus delivered ~100MB/sec. of bus throughput, while PCI Express is a point-to-point interface that can deliver ~60x the total bandwidth of PCI. Second, 3dfx SLI performed interleaving of scan lines, and combined in the analog domain, which could result in image quality issues due to DAC differences and other factors. 3dfx Voodoo technology also only performed triangle setup, leaving the geometry workload for the CPU, hence 3dfx SLI only scaled simple texture fill rate, and then used inter-frame scalability. NVIDIA SLI technology is PCI Express based, uses a completely digital frame combining method that has no impact on image quality, can scale geometry performance, and supports a variety of scalability algorithms to best match the scalability method with application demands.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
Does SLI work on AGP?
No. SLI is designed for PCI Express.
|
|
|
|
|
How does SLI work on PCI Express?
SLI is designed for PCI Express. This new bus has superior bandwidth (two to four times AGP 8X), support for isochronous data transport, and the capability to drive multiple high-speed graphics devices. AGP 8X was limited to one high-speed graphics device and was not a good candidate for SLI.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
What cards can work together in an SLI configuration?
All PCI Express based GeForce 6800 Ultra, GeForce 6800 GT, GeForce 6800, GeForce 6800 LE, and GeForce 6600 GT boards support SLI technology.
SLI driver support for NVIDIA Quadro FX 4400, NVIDIA Quadro FX 3400, NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400 boards is coming soon. More information about SLI for NVIDIA Quadro can be found here.
|
|
|
|
|
What is the function of the SLI connector?
The SLI connector is a proprietary link between GPUs that transmits synchronization, display, and pixel data. The SLI connector enables inter-GPU communication of up to 1GB/s, improving performance by consuming no bandwidth over the PCI Express bus.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
| SLI FEATURE SUPPORT
|
|
|
|
What operating systems are supported with SLI Technology?
32-bit Windows XP is supported now. 64-bit Windows XP and Linux support will be coming in future driver releases.
|
|
|
|
|
What applications are supported with SLI Technology?
There are currently over 60 top titles that are supported by NVIDIA SLI technology in ForceWare Driver Version 71.89. The full list of applications can be found here.
Information about Workstation application support can be found here.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
Which driver should I use?
NVIDIA's ForceWare Unified Driver Architecture supports SLI. NVIDIA continually adds new SLI applications profiles to upcoming drivers. For the best SLI application support, always use the latest driver posted on www.slizone.com.
Before installing new drivers, make sure you uninstall all NVIDIA display drivers from the Windows Control Panel. Browse to the Start Menu > Windows Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, and search for "NVIDIA Drivers" or "NVIDIA Display Drivers," and select remove NVIDIA Display driver only. Reboot and install the new drivers.
|
|
|
|
|
I play a game that is not listed on the supported applications page. How do I create a custom profile for my game to enable SLI support?
If an application is not in the list of SLI supported applications and games, you can create a custom SLI profile by following these quick instructions.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
Why don't all games scale?
Applications which tax the GPU will see tremendous performance improvements of up to 2X with SLI technology. Most of today's hottest games and as well as next generation games fall into this category. However, some applications, typically older generation applications, are limited by factors other than the GPU's processing power.
The most common limitation is an application that is CPU bound. If an application becomes CPU bound, no additional graphics power can improve performance. This situation is most common at low screen resolutions like 1024x786 with no additional functionality turned on. Turning on Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering, or switching to higher resolutions, can often move the bottleneck back to the GPU.
The ability to run applications at resolutions like 1600x1200 with 4x Antialiasing and 8x Anisotropic Filtering enabled makes NVIDIA SLI today's Standard for Ultra High Resolution Gaming.
|
|
|
|
|
Is NVIDIA working with Developers on SLI application support?
Yes. NVIDIA is actively working with developers and educating them so that their titles can benefit from SLI as much as possible. By developing future titles on SLI technology, game developers are able to optimize their titles for SLI configurations. Additionally, the performance of SLI today gives developers a glimpse of how tomorrow's single GPU systems will perform. This allows them to tune for all elements of the system including CPU utilization.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
How many monitors are supported with SLI in Multi-GPU mode?
When in Multi-GPU mode, SLI currently supports one monitor. When in Single-GPU mode, users have the ability to use up to 4 monitors using nView Multi-Display Technology and Windows XP Dualview.
Note: The GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB works in single card mode with Apple 30 inch HD Cinema panel. However, an issue has been discovered when running the GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB card in SLI mode with an Apple 30 inch HD Cinema display. This is due to an interaction between the GPU, the application, and the ability to scale to nonnative panel resolutions of the Apple display. All GeForce 6 series GPUs will work with Apple 23 and 20 inch HD Cinema displays in single GPU mode.
NVIDIA recommends using the GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB with the Apple
30 inch HD Cinema Display line only in non-SLI modes.
|
|
|
|
| CONFIGURATION SECTION
|
|
|
|
|
What motherboards will work with SLI Technology?
The full list of SLI-Ready motherboards can be found here. This list is updated frequently with new SLI-Ready partners.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
What graphics cards will work with SLI Technology?
SLI is designed for PCI Express and not AGP. This new bus has superior bandwidth (two to four times AGP 8X), support for isochronous data transport, and the capability to drive multiple high-speed graphics devices. The full list of SLI-Ready graphics cards can be found here. This list is updated frequently with new SLI-Ready partners.
|
|
|
|
|
Can I mix and match graphics cards?
No. NVIDIA currently doesn't support SLI on two different models or from different vendors. SLI supports configurations with the same model (i.e. 6800 Ultra) from the same vendor (Vendor XYZ). A common misconception about SLI is that the BIOS revision has to be identical between the cards. This is not true. A manufacturer can revise the BIOS without affecting SLI. NVIDIA does however recommend that customers confirm SLI compatibility with the manufacturer before making a purchase.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
Can SLI work with one PCI Express board and one AGP 8X board or with PCI Express and PCI?
No. SLI is designed solely for PCI Express.
|
|
|
|
|
Can I install just one SLI-Ready graphics card with an NVIDIA nForce4 SLI based motherboard? Or do I need two?
Yes, NVIDIA nForce4 SLI based motherboards can support any single PCI-Express x16 based graphics card. Two graphics cards are not required but recommended. For the best experience and upgrade potential, make sure to use an SLI-Ready PCI-Express graphics card. Always look for the SLI-Ready logo.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
Where can I purchase an SLI connector?
The SLI connector is included with all NVIDIA SLI-Ready motherboards and with all SLI-Ready PCs. If your motherboard supports SLI and did not come with this connector, please contact the manufacturer of your motherboard to obtain a replacement connector.
|
|
|
|
|
What power supply does NVIDIA recommend for an SLI system?
NVIDIA has extended its SLI-Ready certification program to include power supplies. The full list of SLI-Ready power supplies can be found here.
In general, power supply recommendations vary widely depending upon the configuration and the desire for future upgradeability. More information about power supply selection can be found here.
|
|
|
| back to top
|
|
|
Can you use more than two graphics cards with SLI?
NVIDIA currently supports only dual GPU scaling at this time. |
|
|
|
|
|
