Are both video cards used by PSU in an SLI config?

[BahnKnakyu]

Hey everyone. I have a couple of 8800 GT's paired up in an SLI configuration. PSU ran fine and I was able to run with max settings, but what I'm wondering is if PSU is properly taking advantage of my SLI configuration. Does PSU properly utilize both cards or is it just running off of one card?

Anyone know?

[SabZero]

Hm. Since SLI is controlled by the BIOS, I would say the OS and a game running on it don't have any choice :P So yes.

[SonicTMP]

Despite problems on the ps2 or xbox, PC version isn't that bad graphics wise. I'm running a nvidia 7900 and on max settings no problems at.

As pretty as PSU they optimized it pretty good for PC. So I don't think you'd getting any use out of the SLI. It doesn't push it that high. Try crysis or AoC if you really wanna push your card to the limits.

[Ahkaskar]

A game's gotta be set up to make use of SLI. I kind of doubt PSU is set up to do that automatically. You can probably get a profile to enable it, but whether or not it's active is ultimately determined by software.

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#s2



What applications are supported with SLI technology?
SLI technology can be enabled for every gaming application, including both OpenGL and Direct3D gaming applications. SLI technology provides either 3D performance scaling using alternate frame rendering (AFR) or split-frame rendering (SFR) or increased visual quality using the SLI Antialiasing mode. In order to provide the optimal 'out-of-box' experience for its customers, NVIDIA has created an extensive set of optimized game profiles which enable SLI scaling automatically. The full list of these SLI-optimized games can be found here. For applications not found in this list, simply follow these quick instructions to set up a new game profile to enable SLI technology. Information about professional application support can be found here.


To me, that sounds like, "You gotta turn it on first."

[Aewyn]

As pretty as PSU they optimized it pretty good for PC.Errr, no? I can run much better games than PSU and never get any form of slowdown-- yet somehow, PSU manages to slow down slightly when there's a lot of action. It's a shame that my 8800GTS 640 should bow before three people spamming Majarra. I prefer my frame rates to be tidally-locked at 60, thank you.

[lostinseganet]

Despite problems on the ps2 or xbox, PC version isn't that bad graphics wise. I'm running a nvidia 7900 and on max settings no problems at.

As pretty as PSU they optimized it pretty good for PC. So I don't think you'd getting any use out of the SLI. It doesn't push it that high. Try crysis or AoC if you really wanna push your card to the limits.
Whaaa I have an 8600gts 256mb overclocked and i can not go max. How about those LOD setings?
I bet you did not max those. Coop games are RAM intensive. I bet the thread maker has small ram amounts on that 8800.

[SabZero]

A game's gotta be set up to make use of SLI. I kind of doubt PSU is set up to do that automatically. You can probably get a profile to enable it, but whether or not it's active is ultimately determined by software.

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#s2

To me, that sounds like, "You gotta turn it on first."

Hey, learned something. Anyway, maybe there's a way through DirectX, so it's on by default? :-?

[Tekershee]

Don't SLI games have to have a SLI profile? So if you don't have one for that game, then I wouldn't expect a dedicated improvement of the two cards. You might get improvement solely because it is two cards but not because of the SLInesslessness.

[Realmz]

Whaaa I have an 8600gts 256mb overclocked and i can not go max. How about those LOD setings?
I bet you did not max those. Coop games are RAM intensive. I bet the thread maker has small ram amounts on that 8800.

only 256mb? eww

the only thing i can't max on my computer is the frame rate. I'm stuck at frame skip 1 for now. changing it to 0 gives me slow down when the effects start flying

oh and i'm using a nvidia 6800 512mb

[Inazuma]

ive run psu on 4 cards and 2 cards in the past, and it never seemed to make ANY difference. right now im using a single 8800GT and it runs perfect. if its true that the game needs to support SLI, i would bet that psu does not take advantage of it -_-

[Aewyn]

Well if you created an alternate-frame SLI profile, I'm sure that would work fine.

[BahnKnakyu]

Update:

It's possible to force SLI on games that don't have a profile for it. You make the modifications in the NVidia Control Panel.

I told the control panel to use forced SLI for PSU, but judging from how hot GPU 1 is running and how hot GPU 2 is NOT running, I'd say it's not being utilized, even with forced SLI.

At least nothing broke.

BTW, both cards have 512 MB RAM.