# SLI Hacked on Older Intel Chipsets



## btarunr (Aug 6, 2009)

NVIDIA's SLI multi-GPU technology served as the biggest selling point of nForce series chipsets, as it was exclusive to it. With the advent of LGA-1366 processors and the Intel X58 chipset, NVIDIA allowed the Intel chipset to support the technology, as it soon became clear that it isn't going to be easy for NVIDIA to come up with an LGA-1366 chipset. Users of the older LGA-775 however still have the option of buying nForce 700 series based motherboards to use SLI, and hence no real attempt was made to ensure the technology is available to Intel chipsets. Until now. 

A member of Expreview's Chinese enthusiast community has successfully enabled SLI on an Intel chipset based LGA-775 motherboard, the first feat of its kind since much older attempts on i975 platforms using much older GeForce hardware. Firewings_[CCG] successfully ran SLI of GeForce 8600 GT and GeForce GTX 260 cards on his Intel X38+ICH9R chipset based ASUS Maximus Formula motherboard. The feat is headed by software he modified, details of which will surface soon. The mod was validated by Expreview staff, who used the software to run GeForce GTX 260 SLI on a more recent P45+ICH10R based Maximus II Formula motherboard. "By installing the software that Firewings [CCG] provides us, we managed to enable SLI configuration in Directory Services Restore Mode. Due to some 'small problems' according to Firewings [CCG], the SLI configuration can't be realized in normal mode for now, but he says this will be fixed soon," commented Expreview. With SLI enabled, the multi-GPU setup was able offer performance scaling that proves the mod works.



 



*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


----------



## btarunr (Aug 6, 2009)

Full screenshot:


----------



## Assimilator (Aug 6, 2009)

If this is real it's one of the most awesome things to happen to the PC community in years. If I could have SLI on my T-Power I45 there would be no reason for me to upgrade to Nehalem until next year sometime!

Just wondering why those cards aren't recognized by GPU-Z tho...


----------



## Mussels (Aug 6, 2009)

oh this i like - why? cause my x48 is technically the same chipset as x38 


One oddity: x48 and x48 are supposed to have two full 16x slots - so why are they reading as 8x slots?


----------



## btarunr (Aug 6, 2009)

Mussels said:


> oh this i like - why? cause my x48 is technically the same chipset as x38
> 
> 
> One oddity: x48 and x48 are supposed to have two full 16x slots - so why are they reading as 8x slots?



The screenshots are from Expreview staff, they used a Maximus II Fmla to verify the mod, and Maximus II uses P45.



Assimilator said:


> Just wondering why those cards aren't recognized by GPU-Z tho...



They are?


----------



## Mussels (Aug 6, 2009)

right i missed that bit

"Firewings_[CCG] successfully ran *SLI of GeForce 8600 GT and GeForce GTX 260 cards on his Intel X38+ICH9R* chipset based ASUS Maximus Formula motherboard. The feat is headed by software he modified, details of which will surface soon. The mod was validated by *Expreview staff, who used the software to run GeForce GTX 260 SLI on a more recent P45+ICH10R based Maximus II Formula* motherboard"


----------



## Animalpak (Aug 6, 2009)

Wow this is awesome congrats !!


----------



## Papahyooie (Aug 6, 2009)

Sweet! I was just looking around for something like this on the net a few days ago. I had almost decided to switch to the red team and bought a motherboard, then got a awesome deal for a few folding cards from Bogmali that were nvidia. I cant wait for this to come out.


----------



## Easo (Aug 6, 2009)

Mwahahaha, thats why i love hackers. (well, not realy a hacker in this case, but still)


----------



## BradleyKZN (Aug 6, 2009)

I was wondering whether this was possible. P5Q Pro, here I come!


----------



## Mussels (Aug 6, 2009)

just to reign in the excitement - outside these two test groups, none of us have these files.

They also mention "Directory Services Restore Mode" whatever that is.


----------



## alexp999 (Aug 6, 2009)

The screenshots show that they are running in safe mode, which might mean they have executed the drivers manually.

But even then, surely nothing else capable of running a 3D app is active.

Seems highly suspicious to me.


----------



## Bjorn_Of_Iceland (Aug 6, 2009)

Anything from China is highly suspicious ;P


----------



## W1zzard (Aug 6, 2009)

dont worry.. nvidia will fix this in no time and come after everyone with their big legal stick


----------



## gaximodo (Aug 6, 2009)

Bjorn_Of_Iceland said:


> Anything from China is highly suspicious ;P



let me guess, are you wearing some sort of suspicious clothes?


----------



## Mussels (Aug 6, 2009)

gaximodo said:


> let me guess, are you wearing some sort of suspicious clothes?



my nintendo wiimotes are now suspicious! (chinese parts for a japanese console sold in australia, what has the world come to)


Anyway - lets try and keep this on topic, and wait for news/leaks of this 'driver'.


----------



## btarunr (Aug 6, 2009)

There is no doubt that this mod works..for now. NVIDIA is stupid anyway. It doesn't see the business volume in letting Intel chipsets support SLI. There are tons of P45 users out there, who will potentially buy more GeForce hardware for graphics subsystem updates.



Bjorn_Of_Iceland said:


> Anything from China is highly suspicious ;P



80% of your computer was made in China (PRC and ROC). Don't trust it, it will eat your cat without leaving bones.


----------



## alexp999 (Aug 6, 2009)

btarunr said:


> There is no doubt that this mod works..for now. NVIDIA is stupid anyway. It doesn't see the business volume in letting Intel chipsets support SLI. There are tons of P45 users out there, who will potentially buy more GeForce hardware for graphics subsystem updates.



Im one of them.

P45 and SLI, *drool*


----------



## InnocentCriminal (Aug 6, 2009)

Easo said:


> Mwahahaha, thats why i love hackers. (well, not realy a hacker in this case, but still)



Enthusiast(s) is a better word.


----------



## mrhuggles (Aug 6, 2009)

wonder if itl ever work on a p35


----------



## Papahyooie (Aug 6, 2009)

alexp999 said:


> The screenshots show that they are running in safe mode, which might mean they have executed the drivers manually.
> 
> But even then, surely nothing else capable of running a 3D app is active.
> 
> Seems highly suspicious to me.



Me too... how did they run 3dmark in safe mode?


----------



## mtosev (Aug 6, 2009)

W1zzard said:


> dont worry.. nvidia will fix this in no time and come after everyone with their big legal stick



like blocking this in a newer driver release?


----------



## OnBoard (Aug 6, 2009)

Kewl and it says software. I first though it would be a modded bios, but this would make it work on other than ASUS too. That is until what W1zzard says will happen.

So better leak it soon, so that it's all over the interwebs and here to stay. They can probably block it in future drivers, but in the meantime people can have some fun


----------



## Homeless (Aug 6, 2009)

mrhuggles said:


> wonder if itl ever work on a p35



I actually think they had this working on P35 with specific drivers at one time


----------



## raptori (Aug 6, 2009)

wooow this the best news I've ever heard   ........ Nvidia should look further and start thinking about enabling SLI on LGA775 ......... at least there is a hope.


----------



## KainXS (Aug 6, 2009)

they better lay low, im sure nvidia is coming after them with their ban sticks

and they're gonna smack em right into jail


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Aug 6, 2009)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directory_Services_Restore_Mode


----------



## newtekie1 (Aug 6, 2009)

The only reason nVidia doesn't allow SLi on Intel chipsets is because they want to boost sales for their own chipsets, but it hurts their graphics card sales...it is idiotic.

I've said from the beginning, both nVidia and ATi should unlock SLi/Crossfire on any platform that technically supports the technology(any motherboard with two PCI-E x16 slots).



W1zzard said:


> dont worry.. nvidia will fix this in no time and come after everyone with their big legal stick



I wish this wasn't true, but I know it is.


----------



## Mussels (Aug 6, 2009)

i agree with you newtekie. Nvidia should allow SLI on all motherboards (for a small fee to the maker) - they'd make more profit than they would have from selling their chipsets.

Hell, they could do it via an unlock - pay $20 more, get an unlock serial key, get SLI.


----------



## newtekie1 (Aug 6, 2009)

Not just nVidia, ATi should do so also.


----------



## Mussels (Aug 6, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> Not just nVidia, ATi should do so also.



they kinda have - works on intel and AMD chipsets - who's left with dual PCI-E boards? nvidia? fat chance of them letting ATI cards work there.


----------



## p_o_s_pc (Aug 6, 2009)

It would be nice if they did this for AMD chipsets(790GX ,790X,790FX)


----------



## newtekie1 (Aug 6, 2009)

Mussels said:


> they kinda have - works on intel and AMD chipsets - who's left with dual PCI-E boards? nvidia? fat chance of them letting ATI cards work there.



That is my point, they should.  The only reason they don't is because of stupid competition BS.  Just like how nVidia will never allow SLi on AMD chipsets.  I'm saying they should.  If you have a motherboard with two PCI-E slots, you should be able to run SLi and Crossfire, regardless of the chipset.  It would save me so much trouble trying to explain to people why they can't run a second GPU...and eliminate a lot of confusion for the consumer...


----------



## steelkane (Aug 6, 2009)

Glad to hear,, I always thought it should be about two video card,, no matter who there made by. Proprietary is lame


----------



## AddSub (Aug 6, 2009)

Wow, somebody finally did it. Something tells me there is going to be a decent bump in sales in the coming weeks/months when it comes to nVidia based cards.


----------



## mdm-adph (Aug 6, 2009)

Easo said:


> Mwahahaha, thats why i love hackers. (well, not realy a hacker in this case, but still)



No, "hacker" is the right term, if you ask me.  Nothing wrong with being a hacker.

"Crackers" are the bad guys (malicious hackers).


----------



## JrRacinFan (Aug 6, 2009)

p_o_s_pc said:


> It would be nice if they did this for AMD chipsets(790GX ,790X,790FX)



I'm almost certain that they would be hacked the same way.


----------



## BrooksyX (Aug 6, 2009)

Awesome news! Hopefully this will pan out before Nvidia takes over (which I highly doubt )


----------



## phanbuey (Aug 6, 2009)

its funny... dell hacks their XPS systems to run Crossfire on a nvidia 650i chipset.


----------



## 1Kurgan1 (Aug 6, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> That is my point, they should.  The only reason they don't is because of stupid competition BS.  Just like how nVidia will never allow SLi on AMD chipsets.  I'm saying they should.  If you have a motherboard with two PCI-E slots, you should be able to run SLi and Crossfire, regardless of the chipset.  It would save me so much trouble trying to explain to people why they can't run a second GPU...and eliminate a lot of confusion for the consumer...



I don't think ATi would turn down the option to put SLI capability on their chipsets, it would just help their sales. I'm pretty sure you can look to Nvidia saying no, reason I say this is because Intel platforms can use either setup, and AMD platforms can use one. All AMD would have to do is say "no CF on Intel" to try and level the playing field. It would be awesome if Nvidia allowed SLI on AMD chipsets, then wouldn't have to choose between SLI and CF then get stuck there.


----------



## W1zzard (Aug 6, 2009)

AddSub said:


> Wow, somebody finally did it. Something tells me there is going to be a decent bump in sales in the coming weeks/months when it comes to nVidia based cards.



it makes no significant difference .. multi gpu is a tiny market segment, even less people who are interested in it and even less who have money to spend on it. all that is known so far is a claim that it might work and a screenshot that doesnt look like "normal" mode windows.


----------



## newtekie1 (Aug 6, 2009)

1Kurgan1 said:


> I don't think ATi would turn down the option to put SLI capability on their chipsets, it would just help their sales. I'm pretty sure you can look to Nvidia saying no, reason I say this is because Intel platforms can use either setup, and AMD platforms can use one. All AMD would have to do is say "no CF on Intel" to try and level the playing field. It would be awesome if Nvidia allowed SLI on AMD chipsets, then wouldn't have to choose between SLI and CF then get stuck there.



You seem to be misunderstanding what I am saying.

It is not the chipset manufacturers that are saying no, it is the graphics card manufacturers.(this we agree on)

nVidia is saying no to SLi on Intel Chipsets(except x58) and AMD chipsets.
ATi is saying no to Crossfire on nVidia chipsets.

It would be so much easier if both would just cut the bullshit and allow SLi/Crossfire on any capable motherboard.  It isn't just nVidia's fault, ATi does the same thing to cut out nVidia chipsets.  The only reason ATi allows crossfire on Intel chipsets is because, if they didn't, there would be no Crossfire on Intel platforms.  Which would seriously hurt their sales.


----------



## Meecrob (Aug 6, 2009)

some guys on mydigitallife are working on a way to use grub to inject an SLI cert into bios like they do with SLIC tables, IF they can ever get it worked out it could force nvidia to do a chipset check or worse every time the drivers are loaded, that could cause some slowdowns for SLI and even non-sli users, god nvidia fail at logic...


----------



## PP Mguire (Aug 6, 2009)

AddSub said:


> Wow, somebody finally did it. Something tells me there is going to be a decent bump in sales in the coming weeks/months when it comes to nVidia based cards.



Not exactly considering this isnt final, nor is it leaked.


----------



## Wrigleyvillain (Aug 6, 2009)

Easo said:


> Mwahahaha, thats why i love hackers. (well, not realy a hacker in this case, but still)



Actually you are spot on correct but think you have it "wrong" because the mainstream has confused and misused the term cracker (malicious software engineering)with hacker .


----------



## Meecrob (Aug 6, 2009)

mdm-adph said:


> No, "hacker" is the right term, if you ask me.  Nothing wrong with being a hacker.
> 
> "Crackers" are the bad guys (malicious hackers).



not really, crackers are no worse then hackers, some are good others bad, sometimes "Crackers" save people like me alot of trouble by cracking a game to remove securom allowing the game to work or work properly(decent perf boost from lack of securom on nwn2 for example) when games like NWN2 that i PAYED FOR dont run as they should or are bugged to hell thanks to DRM that has ZERO negitive effect on pirates but screws people who like myself paid for the damn game crackers are the only real fix 



newtekie1 said:


> Not just nVidia, ATi should do so also.



ATI/AMD would happly support CF on Nvidia chipsets, problem is that nvidia blocks it, just like they block SLI on non-nvidia/x58 chipsets, nvidia dosnt want anybody to beable to use 2 non-nvidia cards on their boards/chipsets.

Oh and about the main topic post, nVidia has an i3/i5/i7 chipset, but intel wont let them market it, its nothing to do with nVidia not being able to make one or having trouble making the chipset, Intel just dosnt want the competition in the chipset market and used bully tactics to get nvidia to give in and let them have an SLI license...... 

If nVidia where smart, they would just unlock SLI on all chipsets and allow CF on their own chipsets, it would make them more money, even if the sale market for sli/cf is pretty small, it would also piss intel off.

Humm, could it be that the deal they made with intel dosnt allow them to unlock SLI on all platforms?  wouldnt put it past intel to make that a stipulation.


----------



## KainXS (Aug 6, 2009)

Meecrob said:


> not really, crackers are no worse then hackers, some are good others bad, sometimes "Crackers" save people like me alot of trouble by cracking a game to remove securom allowing the game to work or work properly(decent perf boost from lack of securom on nwn2 for example) when games like NWN2 that i PAYED FOR dont run as they should or are bugged to hell thanks to DRM that has ZERO negitive effect on pirates but screws people who like myself paid for the damn game crackers are the only real fix
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I don't see why nvidia and intel don't get along, nvidia is to the gpu market what intel is to the cpu market


----------



## PP Mguire (Aug 6, 2009)

Funny thing is, SLI can be activated through drivers. Its been done before.


----------



## Meecrob (Aug 6, 2009)

KainXS said:


> I don't see why nvidia and intel don't get along, nvidia is to the gpu market what intel is to the cpu market



because they both have ego's that if given gravitational pull would be able to suck up blackholes and whole star systems.

its childish and stupid, but its how they have done business since the beginning, and its how they will keep doing business till the market forces them to change.


----------



## mdm-adph (Aug 6, 2009)

Meecrob said:


> not really, crackers are no worse then hackers, some are good others bad, sometimes "Crackers" save people like me alot of trouble by cracking a game to remove securom allowing the game to work or work properly(decent perf boost from lack of securom on nwn2 for example) when games like NWN2 that i PAYED FOR dont run as they should or are bugged to hell thanks to DRM that has ZERO negitive effect on pirates but screws people who like myself paid for the damn game crackers are the only real fix



You're thinking of hackers.  Hackers help you do stuff like that.

Crackers are people who would additionally modify the code of the game to steal all your web browser passwords and upload them to a server in Latvia.


----------



## AltecV1 (Aug 6, 2009)

that should please intel/nvidia fans!


----------



## hrvoje (Aug 6, 2009)

nVidia chipsets shold do SLI as they do, AMD Crosfire and Intel chipsets should do bought


----------



## newtekie1 (Aug 6, 2009)

Meecrob said:


> ATI/AMD would happly support CF on Nvidia chipsets, problem is that nvidia blocks it, just like they block SLI on non-nvidia/x58 chipsets, nvidia dosnt want anybody to beable to use 2 non-nvidia cards on their boards/chipsets.



No, nVidia doesn't block anything relating to crossfire, AMD blocks Crossfire from being activated on nVidia chipsets just like nVidia blocks SLi from being activated on Intel and AMD chipsets.  It has become obvious that you are an AMD/ATi fanboy, which is why you want to try and make it seem like everything is nVidia's fault.  Sorry, that isn't the case, ATi is just as much to blame here as nVidia.  ATi claimed that Crossfire couldn't work on nVidia chipsets because it didn't support a certain feature(I think it was PCI-E writeback or soemthing like that), they made the same claim about certain Intel chipsets.  Surprisingly...they managed to work the problem out on Intel chipsets...but still block Crossfire on nVidia chipsets...



Meecrob said:


> Oh and about the main topic post, nVidia has an i3/i5/i7 chipset, but intel wont let them market it, its nothing to do with nVidia not being able to make one or having trouble making the chipset, Intel just dosnt want the competition in the chipset market and used bully tactics to get nvidia to give in and let them have an SLI license......



Intel isn't stopping nVidia from marketting any chipset.  They will have chipsets available for 1156.  Intel didn't stop them from marketting 1336 chipsets either, nVidia caused their own demise there...



Meecrob said:


> If nVidia where smart, they would just unlock SLI on all chipsets and allow CF on their own chipsets, it would make them more money, even if the sale market for sli/cf is pretty small, it would also piss intel off.



Allowing Crossfire on nVidia chipsets is up to ATi/AMD, not nVidia, nVidia has nothing to do with the decision.



Meecrob said:


> Humm, could it be that the deal they made with intel dosnt allow them to unlock SLI on all platforms?  wouldnt put it past intel to make that a stipulation.



What deal with Intel?  The deal to make i7/i5/i3 chipsets?  That deal just recently existed, it wouldn't explain why they haven't unlocked SLi in the past.  Or the deal to make Intel chipsets in general, I doubt Intel would force nVidia to not unlock SLi on their chipsets.  It just doesn't make any sense from Intel's standpoint.  It would only serve to improve their chipset sales.  The only reason nVidia doesn't allow SLi on Intel chipsets is because if they did, no one would buy nVidia based motherboards.


----------



## goldfries (Aug 6, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> *No, nVidia doesn't block anything*, AMD blocks Crossfire from being activated on nVidia chipsets *just like nVidia blocks SLi from being activated on Intel and AMD chipsets*.



so does nVidia block or not?


----------



## AltecV1 (Aug 6, 2009)

goldfries said:


> so does nVidia block or not?



nice


----------



## newtekie1 (Aug 6, 2009)

goldfries said:


> so does nVidia block or not?



nVidia doesn't block anything relating to Crossfire.  I figured most intellegent people could figure out that I was commenting relating to crossfire since I was responding to a comment about crossfire...I guess I overestimated people's comprehension skills...


----------



## goldfries (Aug 6, 2009)

Dude, I'm just highlighting the inconsistency of your post within the same line. You didn't have to get all worked up for something that's rooted from your own words, do you?

Perhaps I do lack in comprehension skills or intellect, but there's no reason for treating anyone like that. 

Not only am I being accused of being a troll but also accused being a duplicate of someone who just got banned?  amusing........


----------



## PP Mguire (Aug 6, 2009)

DOsent matter, it can still be activated through drivers no matter what chipset.


----------



## method526 (Aug 6, 2009)

i hope nvidia doesnt get on their a$$e$


----------



## KainXS (Aug 7, 2009)

on the original forum its posted this guy makes an even bigger claim

he says he is able to run the 8600 and GTX in sli somehow and it works


. . . . . I don't believe it


----------



## btarunr (Aug 7, 2009)

KainXS said:


> on the original forum its posted this guy makes an even bigger claim
> 
> he says he is able to run the 8600 and GTX in sli somehow and it works
> 
> ...



I think he meant he tried this on 2x 8600 GT and 2x GTX 260 so far. Not everyone has a boxful of cards. Here's the thread: http://bbs.expreview.com/thread-22862-1-1.html






















So that's 2x GTX 260, and 2x 8600 GT. Not GTX 260 + 8600 GT.

His GTX 260 cards are the old 192-SP models btw.


----------



## steelkane (Aug 7, 2009)

Oh, so that's what a Hacker looks like


----------



## Wile E (Aug 7, 2009)

So, if he gets this running normally, anyone want to trade a 4870X2 and 4870 1GB for a couple of 285's or a couple 1792MB 275's?


----------



## KainXS (Aug 7, 2009)

btarunr said:


> I think he meant he tried this on 2x 8600 GT and 2x GTX 260 so far. Not everyone has a boxful of cards. Here's the thread: http://bbs.expreview.com/thread-22862-1-1.html
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/090806/Capture071.png
> 
> ...



OK that had me a little confused


----------



## PP Mguire (Aug 7, 2009)

Wile E said:


> So, if he gets this running normally, anyone want to trade a 4870X2 and 4870 1GB for a couple of 285's or a couple 1792MB 275's?



How bout a couple 280s?























































jk


----------



## TheWolf (Aug 11, 2009)

btarunr said:


> Full screenshot:
> 
> [url]http://www.techpowerup.com/img/09-08-06/35c_thm.jpg[/URL]



I would like very much to test this.
Any news on a release of the modded software?
Please PM or e-mail me with all info & modded software/drivers.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## Hayder_Master (Aug 11, 2009)

it should be do this before year ago


----------



## TheWolf (Sep 11, 2009)

Read & watching closely, this was only allowed to a few for testing, mostly mods & admin at Exp.
So much time has passed I do not think the mod will ever see the light of day.
I hope that it would as I have up to 3x 260GTX & a Abit IX38 that I would like to test this on.
Looks like by the time it is leaked out "if ever" we will have drivers & hardware that will be beyond the need.


----------



## dolf (Nov 24, 2009)

Then probably this will help you :
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php?p=151297

http://xdevs.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.30


----------



## erocker (Nov 24, 2009)

So should this: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=60844


----------

