Dual Gigabyte GTX 970s not working in SLI (SLI does't show up in Nvidia Control Panel)

[Ethan McArthur]

CPU: Intel 3.3ghz i5-2500k (OC to 4.2ghz)
MOBO: GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 - Gigabyte
GPU(s): Dual GV-N970IXOC-4GD - Gigabyte
SLI Bridge (Asus 80mm)

Everything works well on its own - but I'm not getting any SLI action in the control panel under the 3D header (or anywhere for that matter). I've tried a slew of things to fix it:

1. Reinstalled Nvidia drivers (more than once)
2. Updated BIOS
3. Changed position of cards
4. Verified I'm using the correct PCI slots
5. Tried the SLI bridge on both sets of connectors
6. Tested all cards independently
7. Turned off all overclocking
8. Bought an EVGA card and tried it in SLI with both of the other cards (two way only)
9. Read the internet - darn near all of it.
10. Looked for a way to "activate" sli in the BIOS and on the actual board (aka switches).

Nothing. Again, each card is recognized but won't let me link them into SLI mode. I'm at a loss here.

 

[TechyInAZ]

Update your bios.

 

[Imacflier]

Ethan,
I had the same problem trying to get two GTX 660's to work in SLI. The problem turned out to be that the cards were operating at two different frequencies. Check the slots you are putting them in and the bios setting to ensure that they are both at x4 or x8. Then the option to activate will appear in the NVIDIA control panel....when operating at different speeds the option does not appear.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Ethan,
I had the same problem trying to get two GTX 660's to work in SLI. The problem turned out to be that the cards were operating at two different frequencies. Check the slots you are putting them in and the bios setting to ensure that they are both at x4 or x8. Then the option to activate will appear in the NVIDIA control panel....when operating at different speeds the option does not appear.

SLi shouldn't work at x4, X8 + x8 or x16 + x16 will work though. The OP doesn't mention PSU though so I shall assume it's up to task as SLi'd 970's don't take that much to run.

 

[Imacflier]

Mousemonkey,

I am certainly no expert on the subject, but according to the NVIDIA tech who solved my problem, not only will SLI work at x4 + x4 but it is very nearly as effective as running the ideal x16 + x16. I was quite surprised by that and found a few test results on the web which seemed to confirm what he said.

YMMV, of course.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Mousemonkey,

I am certainly no expert on the subject, but according to the NVIDIA tech who solved my problem, not only will SLI work at x4 + x4 but it is very nearly as effective as running the ideal x16 + x16. I was quite surprised by that and found a few test results on the web which seemed to confirm what he said.

YMMV, of course.

It may be if the first slot is at X8 or X16 and the second is at x4 then but there is definitely an x4 that SLi will not work at.

 

[doctorgiggles]

i had a motherboard that wasn't SLI ready i could use 1 gpu and the other as physx but i couldn't SLI you might want to make sure its SLI ready.

 

[ShadyHamster]

The board does support SLI.
You need to use the top 2 pci-e slots for SLI to work.
Pic of the highlighted slots:

Try using 2 SLI bridge cables, may sound weird but i had a similar issue with my HD5870 xfire setup, yes i know it's different but try anyway.