SLI with different cards

[an531]

Hi guys, my setup is as follows:

Windows 7 x64 (Enterprise)
Asus P5Q-E (2 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots available, at max x8 link)
Intel Q9550 @ 2.83 (to be overclocked soon)
4x2GB Kingston HyperX DDR2
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Be Quiet! 750W Power Zone
Asus GTX 770 x2 (plan to buy those two; currently single GTX275)

I'm just starting my adventure with hardware modifications (it's been all stock until now), to improve gaming performance with limited funds, so please bear with me. My motherboard doesn't seem to support SLI, so I jumped from forum to forum (last was the HyperSli thread) to find the most up-to-date/best method to get two GTX 770's to work together. My questions are the following:

(1) Will the GTX 770's in my setup work with DifferentSLIAuto1.6?
(2) Is this the best way to get them to work together?
(3) I understand that I would need to use a patched driver for this (320.18?), while the current driver for those cards is 398.82. In terms of overall gaming performance, would I be better off with the old drivers (320.18?) and two cards on SLI, or (on account of bug fixes) would it be better to have new drivers and just one card?

I can buy one of the GTX 770's very cheaply as it has a damaged monitor port, which I hope won't affect SLI, which is why I'm considering this setup....

Many thanks for all your time and help in advance.

 

[P!nkpanther]

...
Asus GTX 770 x2 (plan to buy those two; currently single GTX275)
...
(1) Will the GTX 770's in my setup work with DifferentSLIAuto1.6?
(2) Is this the best way to get them to work together?
(3) I understand that I would need to use a patched driver for this (320.18?), while the current driver for those cards is 398.82. In terms of overall gaming performance, would I be better off with the old drivers (320.18?) and two cards on SLI, or (on account of bug fixes) would it be better to have new drivers and just one card?

I can buy one of the GTX 770's very cheaply as it has a damaged monitor port, which I hope won't affect SLI, which is why I'm considering this setup....

First of all, I would never rely onto a successful DifferentSLIauto setup for buying cards. Some ppl are successful getting their setup to work, others are not.
This should answer point (1): It may work or it may not. This a a community patch without any official support. Except for some knowledge in this forum, you're on your own. So I would only consider trying this, if I had the cards already in my possession.
(2) Apart from buying an SLI capable MoBo, yes.
(3) On games up to 2017, SLI (where it's supported, which is another story) far outpaces any further driver optimizations. On newer games, that may be different.
BTW the driver version to look for DSLIA 1.7.1 is 388.71.

My recommendation is not to buy any cards only upon relying on this patch. You would still fare a lot better on a single 1060 for example. Which on Ebay is just a bit more expensive than a pair of 770s. The other reason being SLI no longer supported by modern games. Oh, and many ppl don't like the fact, that you have to run DSLIA in test signing mode, which means anti-cheat systems like Battleye refuse to work.

 

[an531]

First of all, I would never rely onto a successful DifferentSLIauto setup for buying cards. Some ppl are successful getting their setup to work, others are not.
...
My recommendation is not to buy any cards only upon relying on this patch. You would still fare a lot better on a single 1060 for example. Which on Ebay is just a bit more expensive than a pair of 770s. The other reason being SLI no longer supported by modern games. Oh, and many ppl don't like the fact, that you have to run DSLIA in test signing mode, which means anti-cheat systems like Battleye refuse to work.

Many thanks for a prompt reply P!nkpanther. It was always my understanding that a newer card is, indeed, better than SLI, but cost is the primary consideration. Where I live, I can buy one, used, fully operational GTX 770 for $105 and another one with damaged monitor ports (which will not be used in an SLI configuration, from what I understand) for $32. I cannot buy a 1060 for less than $230-$250. Other considerations are that my system is so old overall, with PCIe v2.0 and DDR2, that a newer card like 1060 would be unable to reach anywhere near its full potential, I think. Also, again where I live, 1060 are popular bitcoin mining cards and, thus, some of them might be overused, but that's beside the point.

If you have a link to an updated post of the OP handy, perhaps with best/easiest instructions to follow to set this up and links to DSLIA 1.7.1 (388.71), I would be very grateful.

 

[P!nkpanther]

...
Where I live, I can buy one, used, fully operational GTX 770 for $105 and another one with damaged monitor ports (which will not be used in an SLI configuration, from what I understand) for $32. I cannot buy a 1060 for less than $230-$250.

So you would spend $137 for an SLI configuration which has a significant risk of not working, instead of spending ~$90 more for a much better solution, which is almost certainly going to work?
BTW, prices have come down recently a lot; the miners all seem to have already bought their cards they need.
While I would not recommend the 3 GB 1060 normally, it's the card which sits next above the specs of two 770s, so you'd need to look for the prices of that one.

...that a newer card like 1060 would be unable to reach anywhere near its full potential, I think.

What makes you think your system could cope with two 770s any better than with a 1060?

 

[an531]

What makes you think your system could cope with two 770s any better?

The thing is that I initially wanted to buy one GTX 770, which (1) seemed to be a decent upgrade from my current GTX 275, (2) wasn't overly expensive at $105 and (3) wouldn't make the rest of my hardware seem unacceptably obsolete performance-wise in comparison (if I manage to overclock my Q9550 with Thermalright ultra 120 extreme to, at least, 3.5GHz). Then I noticed another GTX 770 with damaged monitor ports for $32 and, considering my 750W PSU, I naturally thought about SLI.

There is a new auction for GTX 690 4GB now, but those second-hand cards are really rare here, so I'm not certain about the final price. We'll see.

 

[P!nkpanther]

You probably didn't understand my last question (I edited it to be more clear): If you're not going to buy a single card with twice the performance of the 770s, because of thinking the rest of the system is obsolete, why do you think two 770 would be any easier to feed than a single 1060? It's exactly the same performance requirements in both cases.

There is a new auction for GTX 690 4GB now, but those second-hand cards are really rare here, so I'm not certain about the final price. We'll see.

I hope you are aware of the significant risk, that SLIing that card is not going to work, are you? You might be stuck with a single 690/770 if you can't manage to get it working.
That's what I'm trying to warn you about the whole time.
If that single card scenario is OK for you as well, then it might be worth the risk though.

 

[an531]

You probably didn't understand my last question (I edited it to be more clear): If you're not going to buy a single card with twice the performance of the 770s, because of thinking the rest of the system is obsolete, why do you think two 770 would be any easier to feed than a single 1060? It's exactly the same performance requirements in both cases.

I'm afraid that even after your edit, I still don't understand your question. I never said that I have any concerns with regard to whether my PC can handle two GTX 770s or a GTX 1060 for that matter. I don't see why it wouldn't. It's just that GTX 1060 is 2 generations newer than GTX 770 and, under my circumstances, costs roughly twice as much as two GTX 770. Given my system's age, the Kepler generation of NVIDIA cards is already a stretch, so why spend twice as much on a newer card if I'm still on PCIe v2.0.

Also, saying that 2x GTX 770 equal 1x GTX 1060 seems kindda like saying that 2x DDR2 RAMs = 1x DDR4 RAM.

 

[P!nkpanther]

...my system is so old overall, with PCIe v2.0 and DDR2, that a newer card like 1060 would be unable to reach anywhere near its full potential, I think.

But so wouldn't two 770 considering your logic. If PCIe 2.0 speed would limit performance on a 1060, so would it on two 770s.
BTW, PCIe speed is a non-issue in most games.

Also, saying that 2x GTX 770 equal 1x GTX 1060 seems kindda like saying that 2x DDR2 RAMs = 1x DDR4 RAM.

This comparison is BS, since you can't speed up RAM performance by just adding more, but you easily can multiply GPU performance using parallel multi GPU technologies; SLI/CF being the pre-DX12 variant of it.
I'm not just comparing different generations of cards but primarily their performance values, like Pixel rate, Single precision performance, Memory bandwidth, etc.
Also there are lots of benchmark data available in different game scenarios.
So one can very well say that the performance of a 1060 3GB is just above that of two 770s in perfect SLI.

But I understand your considerations regarding costs, of course.
I'm just afraid that you're expecting too much of SLIing the cards and seem not aware of the severe risk of failing using DSLIA.

 

[an531]

This comparison is BS, since you can't speed up RAM performance by just adding more, but you easily can multiply GPU performance using parallel multi GPU technologies; SLI/CF being the pre-DX12 variant of it.
I'm not just comparing different generations of cards but primarily their performance values, like Pixel rate, Single precision performance, Memory bandwidth, etc.
Also there are lots of benchmark data available in different game scenarios.
So one can very well say that the performance of a 1060 3GB is just above that of two 770s in SLI.

But you cannot as easily add OpenGL 4.5 support or DX12 support, for example. I'm not sure if the 770's differ from 1060's in terms of support now, but sooner or later they most likely will. And again, the 1060 is twice the price of two 770's, and the second 770 would only cost me $32, so worst case scenario I'm stuck with the one 770 and a pretty awesome $32 paperweight.

I have to say, however, that you managed to greatly diminish my enthusiasm for trying the SLI configuration and, if I can get it at a reasonable price, I'll just get a used GTX 690.

In any case, thanks for your help. Take care.

 

[P!nkpanther]

Thank you.
I want to just let you know, that I'm not stubbornly insisting on things, just to make people feel bad.
But sometimes I feel that expectations run a bit too high, when people read about this patch.
Then I try to bring these a bit closer to earth, since maybe only ~60% of people actually get it running and many of them want to play things like PUBG, which refuses to work in test signing mode.

Also I happen to know how well two 770s in SLI run, since I also had this exact setup until a year ago.
You're perfectly able to run SLI in all these older games, which don't need SLI performance in the first place.
But as soon as you want to run newer engines, which use temporal AA (read: UT4 engine and the like) or are for DX12, you're out of luck most of the times.
When you really could use your SLI power...

That's why I recommend this patch only to somebody, who already has the hardware sitting around and likes to experiment a bit, and doesn't care about the install to fail.

 

[bimapetala]

i cannot find the nvlddmkm.sys only the nvdimmn.sys....... in this location C:\Windows\System32\drivers

so far i can only find the nvlddmkm.sys in system32\ driverstore\filerepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_d37ca5c2cde53609 i can copy the nvlddmkm.sys and successfully patch it but i cannot copy and paste it back to the nv_dispi.inf_amd64_d37ca5c2cde53609 cause the explorere.exe is using it .......i'm using the officially 388.71 from nvidia and the different auto sli version is 1.71.
I'm trying to SLI my 2 gtx 1060 6gb

so are u success now to SLI 2 GTX 1060 ?

I don't understand what should have changed, since these cards always could be SLIed using DifferentSLIauto, as shown in that video.
He basically explains it all, including the hint that SLI is on its way out, that there's no guarantee of success and that cards without a SLI bridge sometimes don't scale well.
You'd have to use version 1.7.1 (Win 10 x64) together with 388.71, still the same combination as in the beginning of 2018.

if it's run properly in win 8.1 ?.. now im run win 8.1, it's must a win 10 or something ?

@P!nkpanther
@Testifier
@gasolina

hello everyone..
im kinda try to sli gtx 1060
any could help ?

my spec
i7 4790K
asus z97
ram corsair vengeance 24gb
win 10

 

[Tatty_Two]

I was under the impression that 1060's were hardware limited?

 

[P!nkpanther]

1060s are possible to SLI, but lacking an SLI bridge, PCIe bus load is much higher than normal.

Installing DifferentSLIauto on Win 10:

1. You have to use DifferentSLIauto version 1.7.1 and nVidia driver 388.71
   https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/sli-with-different-cards.158907/post-3740425
2. Install it using the following procedure: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/sli-with-different-cards.158907/page-88#post-3644795
3. The last step I added to the instructions (manually copying of nvlddmkm.sys) can be skipped by finding out the actual location of the active nvlddmkm.sys and setting the path in the install.cmd accordingly:
   Device Manager → Double click your main display adapter → Tab: Driver → Driver Details
4. Editing the install.cmd can be seen here:
   
5. You have to follow these instructions closely. If you don't understand them, then I'm afraid this patch is not for you...

 

[bimapetala]

@P!nkpanther


it works.!
thx for ur help.

 

[Edwired]

Hey pinkpanther. I have a question about the different sli auto 1.7.1. I can remember something about the install.cmd when i did try gtx 660 with gtx 750 it and the drivers didnt work but according to the log it said something about an certicate file, private key not found and no decryption of some kind. Or is it a competely random behaviour because of 2 different graphic card? Just wondering have anyone tried sli on asus gtx 750 ti oc or does it not work?

 

[P!nkpanther]

install.cmd knows nothing about the installed cards; it blindly installs the patched driver and a matching certificate.
It's no problem that some key may not be found during install etc., as long as you get a message like "1 certificate successfully installed".

750ti seems to be working in SLI, according to this: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/sli-with-different-cards.158907/post-3461876

 

[Edwired]

Also it have to be connected to the internet for time stamp otherwise it failed on me. But funny enough when i did try clean install with no patched driver nvidia control panel see both of gtx 660 and 750 ti no problem as it put the physx to gtx 660. But testing games the gtx 660 just idling doing nothing while the gtx 750 ti doing all the work

 

[İsmailTPC_Hastanesi]

Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS EXTREME
CPU: E8400 1333FSB 3.0GHz. (OVERCLOCK+@4.50GHz.)
Graphics Card: X2 PALIT NVIDIA GTX460 2GB 256BIT DX11.
Ram: 4+4+4+4=16GB DDR3 1333Mhz Micron/G.skill
ismailTPC_Hastanesi

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/ba8uq
Benchmark Test:
https://valid.x86.fr/lqf8w0
https://valid.x86.fr/k8xuil
https://valid.x86.fr/ek0cch
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/10357031
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/10356437
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/10375562
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/9511187
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/9494964
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/9489914
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/9489766
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/9489693

 

[Parrhesia]

Hi,
need some help pls. I can"t patch my nvlddmkm.sys file.

NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (NVIDIA_DEV.11B4) with a NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (NVIDIA_DEV.11FA) on 2xpcie x16.

 

[P!nkpanther]

Hi,
need some help pls. I can"t patch my nvlddmkm.sys file.

NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (NVIDIA_DEV.11B4) with a NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (NVIDIA_DEV.11FA) on 2xpcie x16.

Just do the things listed in this post (which could have been found on this very page):
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/sli-with-different-cards.158907/post-3886651

 

[Parrhesia]

Just do the things listed in this post (which could have been found on this very page):
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/sli-with-different-cards.158907/post-3886651

Hi,
thanks for the quick response.
I ask for the security, I have to insall gforce drive for my quadro GPU's? If yes they are 2 diff. driver on your post: Vidia driver 388.71 and driver 376.60?

 

[P!nkpanther]

The latest post clearly says 388.71 and DSLIA 1.7.1
Of course in the old post I refer to for the install instructions there are older versions mentioned. Should be clear that you can use the newest versions known to work.
And of course you should use the Quadro drivers, as long as you use version 388.71. If you can't find this exact version, you need to try to patch different versions just before that version number. There's a good chance 388.16 might work too.

 

[Parrhesia]

The latest post clearly says 388.71 and DSLIA 1.7.1
Of course in the old post I refer to for the install instructions there are older versions mentioned. Should be clear that you can use the newest versions known to work.
And of course you should use the Quadro drivers, as long as you use version 388.71. If you can't find this exact version, you need to try to patch different versions just before that version number. There's a good chance 388.16 might work too.

Hi,
388.16 didnt work.. and there is no 388.71 or 376...

 

[P!nkpanther]

You're using the latest version of DSLIA, right?
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/sli-with-different-cards.158907/post-3740425

You might wanna try patching earlier versions, from 388.16 on backwards.

If everything fails, you can try to patch the nvlddmkm.sys of the GeForce driver 388.71, then install the Quadro driver 388.16 and finally doing the DSLIA install procedure, which then replaces the Quadro driver file with the GeForce one.
AFAIK, the driver file itself (nvlddmkm.sys) is the same for GeForce and Quadro. Only the rest of the files are different.

 

[Edwired]

I have ordered another asus gtx 750 ti oc graphic card so hopely i have it by next week to see how it performs with some games and benchtests