Scalable Link Interface (SLI)
SLI Technology is a brand name for a multi-GPU solution developed by Nvidia for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output. SLI is an application of parallel processing for computer graphics, meant to increase the processing power available for graphics.
SLI is to allow more than one graphics processing units (GPUs) to share the workload when rendering a 3D scene. Ideally, two identical graphics cards are installed in a motherboard that contains two PCI-Express x16 slots, set up in a master-slave configuration. Both cards are given the same part of the 3D scene to render, but effectively half of the work load is sent to the slave card through a connector called the SLI Bridge. As an example, the master card works on the top half of the scene while the slave card works on the bottom half. When the slave card is done, it sends its output to the master card, which combines the two images to form one and then outputs the final render to the monitor.
TYPE OF SLI SET UP:
1. 2 way SLI - using two video cards
2. 3 way SLI - using three video cards
3. Hybrid SLI- using onboard video and an external video card
4. 4-way SLI - using two dual-GPU video cards (I.E. 9800GX2/GTX 295)
Hybrid SLI
- Only operates in Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)
- NVIDIA Driver 190.38 or newer
- Attached is a user manual
2 TYPES OF SLI Ready Video Card
Software Enabled SLI:
This type of video card does not have a SLI bridge slot on the video card PCB therefore, not requiring any SLI bridge to be attached. SLI feature can be enabled in the NVIDIA control panel, under 3d settings.
Hardware Enabled SLI:
This type of video card has SLI bridge slot (1-2 slot depending on the type). It requires and SLI bridge connected to the two cards in order to set up SLI. SLI bridge are provided by the motherboard manufacturer and not the video card manufacturer.
HOW TO SET UP SLI
Software Enabled:
1. Install the first video card on the first PCI-E x16 slot.
2. Install the driver and set the proper resolution based on the size of your monitor.
15-inch monitor:
1024 × 768
17- to 19-inch monitor:
1280 × 1024
20-inch and larger monitor:
1600 × 1200
3. Turn off your computer.
4. Install the second card into the second PCI-E x16 slot..
5. Turn your computer on. Right click on Desktop > Nvidia Control Panel > 3D Settings > SLI > Enable
Hardware Enabled:
1. Install the first video card on the first PCI-E x16 slot.
2. Install the driver and set the proper resolution based on the size of your monitor.
3. Turn off your computer.
4. Install the second card into the second PCI-E x16 slot..
5. Connect the SLI Bridge.
6. Turn your computer on. Right click on Desktop > Nvidia Control Panel > 3D Settings > SLI > Enable