Does SLI Bridge,,,

[gotrice]

Hey, I was just wondering does SLI bridge really matters? Because currently I'm running SLI without the bridge on and it works fine. But out of curiosity I was wondering if it matters if I put the bridge on.

 

[Crashman]

Hey, I was just wondering does SLI bridge really matters? Because currently I'm running SLI without the bridge on and it works fine. But out of curiosity I was wondering if it matters if I put the bridge on.

Adding the bridge gives you a big performance gain in DirectX, but doesn't do much for OpenGL. If you're gaming, put the thing on already!

 

[daft]

agreed, even if it doesn't allow for noticible performance gains (hehe, yeah right), it will unload a lot from the PCIe bus

 

[gotrice]

The problem is that I have one 9800GTX and the other is the 9800GTX+ and the 9800GTX+ card is smaller than the other one, so the SLI bridge connectors don't line up. Is there a way I can find a aftermarket SLI bridge that bends like ATI crossfire ones. Or can I just use ATI crossfire bridge connector for SLI, would that work?

P.S. Though the ATI crossfire connector only have one slot connection, while each card got two connections, would putting in one connection on each card would work?

 

[Bluescreendeath]

I have a 9800GTX and a 9800GTX+ as well, and they're the same size. Is your PCI-e slot out of alignment?

 

[gotrice]

No its not out of alignment and the thing is I actually took out the cards and put one on top of the other, and the 9800GTX+ was smaller than the 9800GTX. The reason I think my 9800GTX+ is smaller than my regular 9800GTX is because the 9800GTX is from Zotac, while the 9800GTX+ is from EVGA.

 

[gotrice]

I'm guessing I would have to get a different kind of SLI bridge to work for my SLI setup.

 

[Crashman]

I'm guessing I would have to get a different kind of SLI bridge to work for my SLI setup.

nVidia only has 1 or 2 manufacturers for each card, and various brands simply add their labels and custom BIOS.

There are only 2 positions for SLI bridges. One of these two positions applies to ALL cards, the second position is for a second bridge. What I'm saying is that all cards have one connector in exactly the same place.

If your SLI bridge connectors aren't alligned, then one of your cards isn't shoved into the slot all the way.

But hey, if it still works like that, you COULD find a flexible bridge. Asus and a few other companies use flexible SLI bridges.

 

[gotrice]

No, they are both shoved in tight its just one is Zotac and that card is bigger a monster card and while EVGA's 9800GTX+ is a tiny small card and only requires one power connector while the Zotac's 9800GTX requires two of them. Also with my rampage extreme II I got a flexible SLI connector. Now my only question is this, first take a look at this picture:

Now you see how that flexible connector is connected to the second pins, my question is does the first pins matter? Should I get two flexible connectors and connect both pins, or the way its done on the picture above works fine. And if the answer is yes than why the first connecting pins don't matter?

P.S. I'll try to take a picture of my computer case from inside just to show that the cards don't align because of their size. Also I have read on some other site that cards don't always align up and that's one of the reasons why they have flexible connectors in the market.

 

[Crashman]

No, they are both shoved in tight its just one is Zotac and that card is bigger a monster card and while EVGA's 9800GTX+ is a tiny small card and only requires one power connector while the Zotac's 9800GTX requires two of them. Also with my rampage extreme II I got a flexible SLI connector. Now my only question is this, first take a look at this picture:
http://www.ozone3d.net/public/news/200805/nvidia-9800-gtx-sli.jpg

Now you see how that flexible connector is connected to the second pins, my question is does the first pins matter? Should I get two flexible connectors and connect both pins, or the way its done on the picture above works fine. And if the answer is yes than why the first connecting pins don't matter?

P.S. I'll try to take a picture of my computer case from inside just to show that the cards don't align because of their size. Also I have read on some other site that cards don't always align up and that's one of the reasons why they have flexible connectors in the market.

It doesn't matter which set of connectors you use, and you don't have to use the second set. The reason some cards have two connectors is that those cards support 3-way SLI: The first set connects the top and middle card, the second set connects the middle and bottom card, and the two empty connectors have a bridge going from the bottom to the top card.

You're not doing 3-way SLI.

 

[gotrice]

Then, if I connect my flexible SLI connector like in the picture above in the second pins, I should be fine, and don't have to worry about the first connecting pins right?

 

[Crashman]

Then, if I connect my flexible SLI connector like in the picture above in the second pins, I should be fine, and don't have to worry about the first connecting pins right?

Right. Or, you can connect the first set of pins and not worry about the second set. It's your choice.

 

[gotrice]

Alright, thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it . There is only one thing that confuses me, is that some people have the connectors connected to the first pins of each card, and some people have it connected on the seconds pins of each card.