How To: Enable SLI on pre-i7/i5 hardware

[listen to remix]

What build did you use?

All the latest builds but it's working now. I had to uninstall EVERY thing and reinstall it.


Thank you!


EDIT: Someone else on Overclock.net had the same problem too
http://www.overclock.net/10776204-post354.html

 

[anatolymik]

Today after work i will work on the patch. I think it's a best way instead of patching driver

 

[Velvet Wafer]

hmmm i dont have an sli connector but my brother have 8800gt too so if i can run it on my p45 it will be great ,

you can probably sli without a bridge, you will just loose a few FPS... i would try to get me a unused bridge tho, their benefit is surely noticeable

 

[qu4k3r]

Maybe this is a silly question but... If I want to enable SLI on my X48 MB can I use any SLI bridge?

I asked because somebody told me that each SLI brigde is specific for each MB brand or something like that.

 

[papatsonis]

if it fits (e.g. is not shorter than the gap between the pci-e slots, ) then no problem

 

[Mussels]

Maybe this is a silly question but... If I want to enable SLI on my X48 MB can I use any SLI bridge?

I asked because somebody told me that each SLI brigde is specific for each MB brand or something like that.

the only 'specific' part of them is the cable length, some of them are solid plastic/PCB, and therefore wont fit on other boards.

 

[Triton.se]

Maybe this is a silly question but... If I want to enable SLI on my X48 MB can I use any SLI bridge?

I asked because somebody told me that each SLI brigde is specific for each MB brand or something like that.

We're all running non SLI mobos, lacking SLI bridges so, any SLI bridge would do.

I've read ppl having success with different SLI bridges, but don't get why.

 

[qu4k3r]

I understand now, I didn't know there were so many kind of bridges.
It must be the same lenght between pci-e x16 slots I wanna use in my MB, so get one flexible is best.

 

[jozza]

Does this thing work for 8500 GT cards? They don't have the external bridge, but their bandwidth should not be a problem for pcie transfer.
So my problem is, SLi is not detected or enabled in any way on XP32. The system recognizes both cards, they are on a crossfire board, Asrock 4core1600twins-P35 and both cards are installed by the driver. The sli just doesnt appear. I tried both options ntoskrnl and the acpi,dsdt (which is shown in the everest) option. Niether works. I also saw somewhere in the thread that in everest, under Display/GPU the third option (SLI) should appear. It doesn't?
Help!

 

[Supel]

At least I got new MB, Asus Stricker II Extreme but I have done last test on my Asus P5Q-Pro:

Heaven Benchmark without SLI bridge:
scores 1817
min fps 17.7
avg fps 72.1
max fps 154.4

Heaven Benchmark with SLI bridge:
scores 2153
min fps 16.2
avg fps 85.5
max fps 192.6


Yyy...I can only say WOW!

 

[TiN]

Hi mates!

I want to say congratulations to our developers, in person sveetsnelda and anatolymik. We did SLI AGAIN.

Bit more details:

We have SLI working okay with very latest drivers, including 258 and 260 branch. Most of latest testers know, that something was screwed since 257 drivers when you tried to run SLI patched rig with non-supported mobo.

Now we glad to confirm new version of SLI patch working flawlessly for hours and days without any problems no, even with 260 driver.

NVIDIA included special routine to detect OUR patch! And that was done in very lame way So when driver detects patch - it calls special function to crash you system. Yes, you understood that correct - special function that only crash when finded our code in windows kernel. We already know everything about that, and easily can bypass that check.

New patch version will be released soon, better than ever. As usual all chipsets and all videocards are supported, as usual you dont need to get special modifications for drivers or anything manual. Stay tuned!


For newbies i recall to go thru our current Official SLI Patch HOW-TO
here:
http://www.xdevs.com/eplugins/content/content.php?content.30

Btw, we are in need of volunteers to translate HOWTO to their native language. Now we have articles in english and russian.

 

[Triton.se]

Great, absolutely great !

Now hopefully nvidia put their effort on new cards and proper drivers !

I have a small tip, giving the mod clear name when we enter Windows with SLI, like:

bcdedit /set {current} description "Windows 7 (SLI Mod 0.8b 64-bit)"

 

[soundood]

excelent news Tin

i just wish nvidia would stop this already,

maybe we should make an open letter to nvidia to ask them to make this legit.

i am Nvidias biggest fan, but i run AMD, since the crosshair dropped native SLI support i have been in limbo, without this hack i would have no sli, and that would mean no second card purchase for nvidia.

cmon nvidia, stop this cat and mouse game, and leave us be

 

[largon]

NVIDIA included special routine to detect OUR patch! And that was done in very lame way So when driver detects patch - it calls special function to crash you system. Yes, you understood that correct - special function that only crash when finded our code in windows kernel. We already know everything about that, and easily can bypass that check.

nVIDIA just lost a boatload of credibility.
They've crossed the line, previously the excuse to disallow SLI on non-certified mobos was they don't want to deal with customers complaining about problems with such configs. Now it's totally something else. They are actually ACTIVELY causing harm and trouble to THEIR OWN F***ING CUSTOMERS!
Forceware can now be described as malware.

 

[Arisu]

This is great news. Props to anyone who worked and works on this, especially anatolymik

I hope NVIDIA will stop this madness when they see that their attempt to stop us has failed again. After all, it's impossible to prevent this; it's just a cat and mouse game as soundood already said.

 

[anatolymik]

Sveetsnelda where are you? There are congratulations for you here. We missed you.

 

[anatolymik]

I can't wait. I' making new patch now. I'll not go to bed today

 

[jozza]

Does this thing work for 8500 GT cards? They don't have the external bridge, but their bandwidth should not be a problem for pcie transfer.
So my problem is, SLi is not detected or enabled in any way on XP32. The system recognizes both cards, they are on a crossfire board, Asrock 4core1600twins-P35 and both cards are installed by the driver. The sli just doesnt appear. I tried both options ntoskrnl and the acpi,dsdt (which is shown in the everest) option. Niether works. I also saw somewhere in the thread that in everest, under Display/GPU the third option (SLI) should appear. It doesn't?
Help!

I don't want to be a drag, but can someone give me a definite possible or impossible for my system?
I'll be up with you anatolymik

 

[Arisu]

I don't want to be a drag, but can someone give me a definite possible or impossible for my system?
I'll be up with you anatolymik

It's definitely possible, but since I don't have a XP32 system to try it myself, I can't tell if it works with the current XP32 SLIPatch 0.7a right now.

Check for errors first:
Do halsli.dll and ntoskrnp.exe exist in C:\Windows\system32?
Does your C:\boot.ini contain an entry with /KERNEL=ntoskrnp.exe and /HAL=halsli.dll and are you booting with this entry?

If everything seems to be right, then maybe someone needs to look into this issue. But Windows 7/Vista are the primary targets now, so it might take a while.
Maybe someone else runs this under XP32 and can confirm whether or not it works?

 

[jozza]

patched kernel is definitely loaded, because i see the cyrilic "ms windows" sign on boot. I was more wondering if my system in overall should be viable for the whole sli thing

 

[Arisu]

patched kernel is definitely loaded, because i see the cyrilic "ms windows" sign on boot. I was more wondering if my system in overall should be viable for the whole sli thing

This is from the SLIPatch FAQ:
"If you have old motherboard, based on mainstream chipsets like P965, P35, P45, P55 with lack of PCI-express lanes, you should check, which host feed PCI-Express slots for GPU's. For example if you have first PCI-E connected to northbridge PCI-E link, and second one connected to PCI-E from southbridge, then SLI can't be used."

Since you're using a P35 mainboard, this is the only idea I've got at the moment. Check in Everest under Motherboard -> Chipset to see which PCIe slots / devices are connected to which bridge.

 

[jozza]

This is it. The slots are on the different bridge. man...
I guess i'll be doing some shopping tomorrow
Thx for good help

 

[johnspack]

3rd patch tested with 258.96 under win7 x64, confirmed! More testing to follow. I need a version that works with xp64, this one doesn't.
More games tested, still working. I really need a version to test under xp64 though....

 

[Velvet Wafer]

no strange BSODS till now anymore, with 258.96, win7 x64.... also, game performance in a few games seems to have significantly improved. before the new patch, there was something like microstutter, now everything is heavily fluid

 

[johnspack]

Yes, much better now. Just had a 1/2hr run of dirt2, smooth as butter!
Just so everyone knows, my stupid 280 is only stable for folding, so I'm back to
sli 260s. I'm throwing every game I have at this new patch (50+ installed)...