Nvidia Motherboard Help

The Munster · 12-26-06, 11:00 AM

Hi, hope somebody here can help me with this, how do I find out if my Nvidia Motherboard is SLI ready, supports a PCI Express chipset and dual x16 connectors for two NVIDIA PCI Express graphics cards. I have a Nvidia Graphics Card and the Nvidia Control Panel but I can only get basic information from it. I don't really want to open my 'can of worms' and stick a torch in to find out. Cheers.

AVGWarhawk · 12-26-06, 11:38 AM

I'm not sure if the mb matters. I believe the cards need to be SLI ready. Don't quote me on that! I have an Nvida mb and 6200 card. The card is SLI ready and said so when I installed it.

Perilscope · 12-26-06, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kpt. Munson

...how do I find out if my Nvidia Motherboard is SLI ready,

If you have two video slots on the MB, you can have two video cards.

However, you need to have two video cards ready for working together (SLI, Crossfire), you can't just shove two video cards in there...
All these can be answered if you search a bit on the companies respective websites.

Iceman · 12-26-06, 02:08 PM

Yea the mb needs to support SLI...goto nvidia and read up and google about SLI....it has to be setup properly or it won't work....I bought a computer with it from pcclub.com....and read up some on the whole thing...I think I just googled about SLI before I bought so not sure exactly where I read,I just read all over and went with it....it played DOOM 3 on it's ultra High setting that they did not recemond setting it to...the whole game thru flawlessly....and the expansion pack.

...just got Oblivion for Christmas and set it to highest setting and so far so good.

JU_88 · 12-26-06, 02:47 PM

if its an nforce 4 chips set and you have two 16x PCI E slots then YES!
To be honest you should punch your mobos model number in to google to get more info.

But as Perilscope rightly pointed out, your cards must be SLI compatible, to check this look to see if they have contacts on the outermost side for the SLI bridge (which you will also need - and should have been supplied with your Mobo)

tycho102 · 12-27-06, 02:19 PM

Crossfires take a very limited number of boards. There's like 3 to choose from, both mainboard and video card.

SLI is supported by NF4 and above, but the mainboard has to have the slots. And you've got to have cards with the little SLI connection on top. If you look at your mainboard, you might see a small "card" insert between two of the long slots. Newer boards have the ability to forgo the physical switch for a BIOS switch.

The two long slots with a locking-tab at the end are PCIe 16x slots (although they are probably really 8x slots in SLI mode).

12-26-06, 11:00 AM	#1
The Munster Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Deepest Dumbria Posts: 1,243 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Nvidia Motherboard Help Hi, hope somebody here can help me with this, how do I find out if my Nvidia Motherboard is SLI ready, supports a PCI Express chipset and dual x16 connectors for two NVIDIA PCI Express graphics cards. I have a Nvidia Graphics Card and the Nvidia Control Panel but I can only get basic information from it. I don't really want to open my 'can of worms' and stick a torch in to find out. Cheers. __________________ *GWX Team Member; Retired* GWX Home Page

12-26-06, 11:38 AM	#2
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,253 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	I'm not sure if the mb matters. I believe the cards need to be SLI ready. Don't quote me on that! I have an Nvida mb and 6200 card. The card is SLI ready and said so when I installed it. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

12-27-06, 02:19 PM	#6
tycho102 Ace of the Deep Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,100 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Crossfires take a very limited number of boards. There's like 3 to choose from, both mainboard and video card. SLI is supported by NF4 and above, but the mainboard has to have the slots. And you've got to have cards with the little SLI connection on top. If you look at your mainboard, you might see a small "card" insert between two of the long slots. Newer boards have the ability to forgo the physical switch for a BIOS switch. The two long slots with a locking-tab at the end are PCIe 16x slots (although they are probably really 8x slots in SLI mode). __________________ My little Silent Hunter 4 repository

12-26-06, 02:08 PM	#4
Iceman Ace of the Deep Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Mesa AZ, Arizona, USA Posts: 1,253 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Yea the mb needs to support SLI...goto nvidia and read up and google about SLI....it has to be setup properly or it won't work....I bought a computer with it from pcclub.com....and read up some on the whole thing...I think I just googled about SLI before I bought so not sure exactly where I read,I just read all over and went with it....it played DOOM 3 on it's ultra High setting that they did not recemond setting it to...the whole game thru flawlessly....and the expansion pack. ...just got Oblivion for Christmas and set it to highest setting and so far so good.

12-26-06, 02:47 PM	#5
JU_88 Silent Hunter Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK Posts: 3,803 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	if its an nforce 4 chips set and you have two 16x PCI E slots then YES! To be honest you should punch your mobos model number in to google to get more info. But as Perilscope rightly pointed out, your cards must be SLI compatible, to check this look to see if they have contacts on the outermost side for the SLI bridge (which you will also need - and should have been supplied with your Mobo)