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

Mussels · Apr 21, 2010

ken2cky said:
Ok thank you very much!
Still have one question. Can I patch my drivers right now even if I'm still waiting for my other card? Just to see if the patch works for me and if a have the SLI option in the Nvidia Control Panel.
Thanks

the option wont appear with just one card.

ken2cky · Apr 21, 2010

HHmmm... Is there any other way I can know for sure if the patch failed or not with my only card?

Mussels · Apr 21, 2010

ken2cky said:
HHmmm... Is there any other way I can know for sure if the patch failed or not with my only card?

no. you need two cards.

Antineutrino · Apr 21, 2010

First of all, I would to thank anatolymik, sveetsnelda and all the people who supported this great project...After that I can say that all It's working flawlessly for my with XP32 and Asus Rampage Formula and 2 x Asus 8800 GTS 512 G92

. By the way I noticed that the patched ntoskrnl is an older version than the one I have without SLI. Will it bring any problem? Is ther any security issue? :confused:

johnspack · Apr 21, 2010

Well, no joy for xp64, will not enable sli. I disconnected a few things to lessen the load on my psu until I get a new one. Decided to try under win7 x64, success! :

ken2cky · Apr 22, 2010

Nice! But I tought you tried with drivers 197.45. Does it work for 197.45??

jiggydancer · Apr 22, 2010

I read all 126 pages of this thread trying to figure out why I couldn't get the SLIPatch working last night. I'm gonna try a few more tricks tonight when I get home (run as admin, different drivers, rebooting multiple times).

Just wanted to say... Thanks for all the hard work guys!

johnspack · Apr 23, 2010

Sorry, didn't have enough time to test the new drivers, my psu is failing and I had to get them back out. I sure would like to know what driver was tested under xp64, I may have to try an older driver or something....

jiggydancer · Apr 23, 2010

Okay... my results after a long night.
:banghead:

Not so proud owner of:

Windows 7 Ultimate x64
ECS P55H-A motherboard
55mm MSI GTX 260 (216)
65mm XFX GTX 260 (216)

I tried SLIPatch 0.7 Win7 x64 alpha. Was able to boot successfully into "SLI Enabled" mode, but neither GPU-z nor Everest noted any changes to SLI status. I tried installing every single driver available on the nVidia website from 190.62 through 197.45, and none of them were able to activate SLI.

After uninstalling SLIPatch, I swapped over to the other method of using SLIStringInstaller v2.0. This reveals a SLI Certification in Everest. Following the rest of the steps I was able to activate SLI with up to 191.07 drivers. 195.XX+ drivers does not allow me to activate SLI in the Control Panel.

But that doesn't really matter to me because I need 196.XX+ drivers to play Bad Company 2. Which is the only thing my computer is having any trouble running these days.

If anyone can help me SLI these GTX260's I have lying around, I'd really appreciate it. But then again, I'm impressed that you guys have already gotten this far! Thanks in advance.

ken2cky · Apr 23, 2010

I really hope you can solve the prob 'cause I'll be using same VGAs and OS... My 2nd card arrives monday

jiggydancer · Apr 23, 2010

I'd feel better if someone w/ the same motherboard as me is able to replicate my results.

jiggydancer · Apr 23, 2010

As a last ditch effort, I did a clean Win7x64 install.

SLIPatch 0.7a R2 did not work on my ECS P55H-A with nVidia drivers 197.45.

It did however, work with X-treme G drivers 187.66, which reportedly allows effective SLI in Bad Company 2.

ken2cky · Apr 24, 2010

jiggydancer said:
As a last ditch effort, I did a clean Win7x64 install.

SLIPatch 0.7a R2 did not work on my ECS P55H-A with nVidia drivers 197.45.

It did however, work with X-treme G drivers 187.66, which reportedly allows effective SLI in Bad Company 2.

What's the difference between WHQL and X-treme G drivers :confused:

jiggydancer · Apr 24, 2010

No idea. But I just tested them out tonight. I didn't notice any performance increase over non-SLI mode.

Gonna revert back to 197.45 drivers because it's the best i can do to play Bad Company 2.

Guess SLI was not meant to be for me.

ken2cky · Apr 24, 2010

Does SLIPatch 0.7a even meant to work with 197.45 drivers?

EDIT: I can get an HD5850 (2nd hand) for 130€ (173,77$) if I sell my GTX 260 for 100€ (133,67$)... Where should I go? 2x GTX 260 (need to buy another card for 100€) OR 1x HD5850?

jiggydancer · Apr 26, 2010

I've tried with every driver from 196.XX up. None of them work for me.

The 5850 is probably the best deal on the market right now if you're looking to upgrade.

GTX260 SLI will probably run very similar to it if not a little better in certain applications.

However, you would have to deal with all the rendering issues that come with SLI.

I would go with the 5850 just to simplify my life. It runs cool, it performs great, and you don't have to deal with this SLIPatch drama.

johnspack · Apr 26, 2010

From all I've been reading, sli core 216s will about match a 5870 if you tweak them. And will match a gtx295. 2 days until I get my new psu to test all this. Also found out the driver I tried under xp64 doesn't support dual monitors under sli, need the .45, so I'll be trying that again!

johnspack · Apr 26, 2010

Okay, will be testing properly soon, just unpacked my new psu. Let the games begin!!

johnspack · Apr 27, 2010

Well, got it working under xp64! So far they do beat my gtx280, my sli gtx260s..:

Note on xp64, 197.45 was supposed to enable dual monitor support, it does not on my system.

johnspack · Apr 27, 2010

Interesting, using the slipatch doesn't work on all games, I have run into several that just crash, like prey ect. When I switch back to my single 280, no problems. Guess it isn't perfect yet. Games like warhead however scale like crazy! Much faster. Guess some bugs still need to be ironed out with this patch. I'll be trying the same stuff under win7 shortly when I reinstall it again.

ken2cky · Apr 27, 2010

johnspack said:
Interesting, using the slipatch doesn't work on all games, I have run into several that just crash, like prey ect. When I switch back to my single 280, no problems. Guess it isn't perfect yet. Games like warhead however scale like crazy! Much faster. Guess some bugs still need to be ironed out with this patch. I'll be trying the same stuff under win7 shortly when I reinstall it again.

Hmm... After reading this, I really am considering buying that 5850...

johnspack · Apr 27, 2010

I'm thinking it will work better under win7, and closer to a 5870. Go for a 5870 if your going to do ati....

ken2cky · Apr 27, 2010

I can't buy a 5870 =P the 5850 I saw is a 2nd hand (3 weeks used). Please inform me if the games that crashes on XP64 do the same on win7.

johnspack · Apr 27, 2010

Yep, will be testing games under win7 shortly, I blew up my win7 install when my psu got sick... should be within a day or 2.

ken2cky · Apr 27, 2010

Maybe the games you tried are too old (Prey) and have no SLI support... What recent games did you tried?

johnspack said:
Games like warhead however scale like crazy!

Did you mean Crysis Warhead?

EDIT: I DID IT!! GTX 260 in SLI on a P5Q Pro with 197.45 and Win7 64.
System specs:
P5Q Pro
E8500 @ 4Ghz
Corsair HX620
2x GTX 260 (192 and 216sp, both 65nm) BUT NO SLI BRIDGE so result is lower than expected.

With one card:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

2 cards but no SLI Bridge

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Thanks :respect:

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Processor	E8500 @ 4,3Ghz
Motherboard	P5Q Pro
Cooling	NH-U12P
Memory	2*2 Gb G.Skill PK PC8500
Video Card(s)	Gainward + Zotac: GTX 260 SLI
Storage	Samsung Spinpoint F1 1Tb
Display(s)	Dell 17" T_T => waiting for my Sony 52" TV ^_^
Case	Thermaltake Amor+ MX => Very good cable management
Power Supply	Corsair HX620
Software	Win7 Pro 64bits
Benchmark Scores	3DVantage: 21946

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	System2 Blacknet , System1 Blacknet2
Processor	System2 Threadripper 1920x, System1 2699 v3
Motherboard	System2 Asrock Fatality x399 Professional Gaming, System1 Asus X99-A
Cooling	System2 Noctua NH-U14 TR4-SP3 Dual 140mm fans, System1 AIO
Memory	System2 64GBS DDR4 3000, System1 32gbs DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	System2 GTX 980Ti System1 GTX 970
Storage	System2 4x SSDs + NVme= 2.250TB 2xStorage Drives=8TB System1 3x SSDs=2TB
Display(s)	1x27" 1440 display 1x 24" 1080 display
Case	System2 Some Nzxt case with soundproofing...
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar U7 MKII
Power Supply	System2 EVGA 750 Watt, System1 XFX XTR 750 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum
Keyboard	Ducky
Software	Archlinux, Manjaro, Win11 Ent 24h2
Benchmark Scores	It's linux baby!

Processor	E8500 @ 4,3Ghz
Motherboard	P5Q Pro
Cooling	NH-U12P
Memory	2*2 Gb G.Skill PK PC8500
Video Card(s)	Gainward + Zotac: GTX 260 SLI
Storage	Samsung Spinpoint F1 1Tb
Display(s)	Dell 17" T_T => waiting for my Sony 52" TV ^_^
Case	Thermaltake Amor+ MX => Very good cable management
Power Supply	Corsair HX620
Software	Win7 Pro 64bits
Benchmark Scores	3DVantage: 21946

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

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