They normally recommend you use 1 and 3 when using SLI on a 3 slot motherboard. That's what the manufacturers say anyway. However I don't believe it will make a difference. Just the temperatures will be higher on the top card.
SLI second card in Slot 2 or Slot 3
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Yeah, this is primarily why I was wondering about it.
Originally Posted by Crooksy  They normally recommend you use 1 and 3 when using SLI on a 3 slot motherboard. That's what the manufacturers say anyway. However I don't believe it will make a difference. Just the temperatures will be higher on the top card. |
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I thought it would be to do with card temperatures but I'm nut sure. Maybe some one else can help.
Originally Posted by Open1Your1Eyes0 Yeah, this is primarily why I was wondering about it. |
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Thanks for your input. Anyone else want to back him up?
Originally Posted by Vlasov_581 tried all this on my sli rig.....tried slot 2 and bios told me "joo better put that in the slot 3 or i ain't letting into windows"......tried single in different ways, 2 singles and tri-sli bridge and no difference |
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The temperatures are somewhat a given I guess but the question here is whether it's even possible to do Slot1+Slot2 SLI and if so would that change anything performance-wise.
Originally Posted by Crooksy I thought it would be to do with card temperatures but I'm nut sure. Maybe some one else can help. |
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First, you need to find out the bus width in SLI. For a 780i, I think that it's x16/x8/x8, so using slot 2 or 3 wouldn't matter since they're the same width.
And any/all SLI bridges will work in any config. You can use a 3-way SLI connector on 2-way SLI, et al. You can use ANY configuration of SLI cables, as long as all cards can interact with each other. You could even use two two-way SLI cables to connect three cards if you wanted/needed to.
Originally Posted by Open1Your1Eyes0 Would anyone happen to know if there is a difference between using the second card in Slot 2 or Slot 3 on a 780i motherboard for regular SLI. I was thinking about purchasing a flexible SLI cable to be able to use the second card in Slot 2 to make room for other PCI cards and I was wondering if there will be any notable performance related changes? Also would anyone happen to know if you use the Tri-SLI cable for regular SLI, will that increase performance any due to the fact that it's using both SLI connectors instead of just one or will it still only use one? Reason I pose this question is I recently saw a review where someone ran SLI without the cable and then also with the cable and the cable increased the performance significantly so I was wondering if using both connectors would increase it even more. |
And any/all SLI bridges will work in any config. You can use a 3-way SLI connector on 2-way SLI, et al. You can use ANY configuration of SLI cables, as long as all cards can interact with each other. You could even use two two-way SLI cables to connect three cards if you wanted/needed to.
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I am aware of this however my question is whether bus width is the only thing that will matter in this case or is there another reason why manufacturers point out to use Slot 3 instead of Slot 2 for the second card.
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I am also aware of this but my question here is whether there will be a benefit from using a Tri-SLI cable (dual connector) on an SLI config as opposed to just a regular SLI cable (single connector).
Originally Posted by metallicamaster3 First, you need to find out the bus width in SLI. For a 780i, I think that it's x16/x8/x8, so using slot 2 or 3 wouldn't matter since they're the same width. |
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Originally Posted by metallicamaster3 And any/all SLI bridges will work in any config. You can use a 3-way SLI connector on 2-way SLI, et al. You can use ANY configuration of SLI cables, as long as all cards can interact with each other. You could even use two two-way SLI cables to connect three cards if you wanted/needed to. |
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No benefit, but no loss either.
Originally Posted by Open1Your1Eyes0 I aware of this but my question here is whether there will be a benefit from using a Tri-SLI cable (dual connector) on an SLI config as opposed to just a regular SLI cable (single connector). |
Which 780i?
The 780i uses a NF200 chip... you want the two SLI cards on the PCIe expander for lower latency.
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Nope. The 780i is two x16 PCIe 2.0 via NF200 and a single x16 PCIe 1.1 direct to the 780i/680i chipset.
The 780i uses a NF200 chip... you want the two SLI cards on the PCIe expander for lower latency.
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Originally Posted by metallicamaster3 First, you need to find out the bus width in SLI. For a 780i, I think that it's x16/x8/x8, so using slot 2 or 3 wouldn't matter since they're the same width. |
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No loss makes sense, but for no benefit you wouldn't happen to be able to back this up with some review would you? Just curious.
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Motherboard is EVGA 780i Regular Edition (not FTW). Also, PCIe expander?
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Originally Posted by metallicamaster3 No benefit, but no loss either. |
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Originally Posted by DuckieHo Which 780i? The 780i uses a NF200 chip... you want the two SLI cards on the PCIe expander for lower latency. |
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Use the top and bottom x16 PCIe slots then. They are PCIe 2.0 and connect to the NF200.
Originally Posted by Open1Your1Eyes0 Motherboard is EVGA 780i Regular Edition (not FTW). Also, PCIe expander?
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That, I think that he's saying that both cards should be on the opposite sides of that little bugger there?
EDIT: lol, yeah. I was beaten to the reply
The 780i's chipset doesn't have native PCIe 2.0, whereas the 790i does. If I remember correctly anyway.
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I know. That's what they recommend but my question is whether it's possible to use Slot 2 instead and will there be a performance difference (bus-width unrelated)?
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Oh I don't think that matters whereever the chip is placed. Each slot is connected to it anyways so I doubt it will make a difference. Also if this was true it wouldn't make sense that they recommended using Slot1+Slot3 since they are further away from each other.
I am actually aware of the nForce 200 chip on the 780i as opposed to native support on the 790i however I never heard the term PCIe expander before which is why I was wondering what it was.
Originally Posted by DuckieHo Use the top and bottom x16 PCIe slots then. They are PCIe 2.0 and connect to the NF200. |
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Originally Posted by metallicamaster3 That, I think that he's saying that both cards should be on the opposite sides of that little bugger there? EDIT: lol, yeah. I was beaten to the reply
The 780i's chipset doesn't have native PCIe 2.0, whereas the 790i does. If I remember correctly anyway. |
I am actually aware of the nForce 200 chip on the 780i as opposed to native support on the 790i however I never heard the term PCIe expander before which is why I was wondering what it was.
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Yeah I kinda figured that, hence the question mark at the end of that post. Haha. I don't own a 780i, I own it's little brother, the 750i -- which is the same board just sans one PCIe connector.
Originally Posted by Open1Your1Eyes0 I know. That's what they recommend but my question is whether it's possible to use Slot 2 instead and will there be a performance difference (bus-width unrelated)? Oh I don't think that matters whereever the chip is placed. Each slot is connected to it anyways so I doubt it will make a difference. Also if this was true it wouldn't make sense that they recommended using Slot1+Slot3 since they are further away from each other. |
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Great board. XFX FTW!!
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Originally Posted by metallicamaster3 Yeah I kinda figured that, hence the question mark at the end of that post. Haha. I don't own a 780i, I own it's little brother, the 750i -- which is the same board just sans one PCIe connector. |
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Heh. XFX for the win yeah,
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but this particular board no :\\. I've never had luck OCing with this thing, haha.
But that's just this one board. XFX is still win.
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Originally Posted by Open1Your1Eyes0 Great board. XFX FTW!!
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But that's just this one board. XFX is still win.
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Yes, you want to use the Slot 3 for SLI to reduce latency and some performance enhancements (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/mot...rce_780i_sli/1). There are reviews about the NF200 out there.
The NF200 sits on a x16 PCIe connection and splits into 4 x8 PCIe 2.0 connections. It can't actually add PCIe lanes but "expands" an existing one.
Originally Posted by Open1Your1Eyes0 I know. That's what they recommend but my question is whether it's possible to use Slot 2 instead and will there be a performance difference (bus-width unrelated)? I am actually aware of the nForce 200 chip on the 780i as opposed to native support on the 790i however I never heard the term PCIe expander before which is why I was wondering what it was. |
The NF200 sits on a x16 PCIe connection and splits into 4 x8 PCIe 2.0 connections. It can't actually add PCIe lanes but "expands" an existing one.
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NVIDIA chipsets are horrendous with 45nm Quad Core overclocks. This is primarily the reason why I'm not using my 780i as my main system's board. Other than that I would have totally used it.
Originally Posted by metallicamaster3 Heh. XFX for the win yeah,
But that's just this one board. XFX is still win.
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