Turning a GTX 460 v2 into a GTX 460

[Themastererr]

Hello everyone. Recently I was given a GTX 460 from a friend as the fans broke and the card was useless to him. I replaced the fans with a custom setup and the card works.

I have a GTX 460 v2 from an old build, so I thought I would SLI the two cards in my old rig for fun; Before anyone bashes me for using old cards, this is for my old setup. I have a GTX 980 in my primary build. This is strictly for hobby/interest.

Now....the unfortunate part is the GTX 460 v2 and GTX 460 are based off of different architectures (one is G104 and the other G114)

Getting these two cards to SLI seems like it will be impossible, but what if I could fake the other cards identity? I've tried flashing the v2's bios to an original GTX 460, but the card still registers as a "v2" under device manager. How could I go about changing the v2's hardware I.D so it registers as a original GTX 460? Also, if I do get it to change, will the cards even SLI if they are a different architecture. From what I can see, the only difference is clock speeds and memory bandwidth

I've read up on "hyper SLI" and a program called "differentSLI". I had poor results with different SLI as it seems both cards must be the same architecture. I will try hyper SLI this afternoon.

If anyone has any ideas on what I could do to get these cards working together please let me know.

Thanks.

 

[gillhooley]

I've read of people getting it to "work" but SLI is finnicky enough without trying to "Cheat" the system. I would Ebay one card and buy the same version. Your results will be much better. Otherwise it may "work" but doubtful you will see FPS increase. Good Luck!

 

[Themastererr]

I've read of people getting it to "work" but SLI is finnicky enough without trying to "Cheat" the system. I would Ebay one card and buy the same version. Your results will be much better. Otherwise it may "work" but doubtful you will see FPS increase. Good Luck!

I hear ya. If they were at the very least the same architecture this would be a lot easier. I'll keep trying to cheat the SLI. If it doesn't work out I'll try Ebay/local classifieds.

 

[DSzymborski]

The reality is that it's a bit like covering a couch cushion with icing and passing it off as a cake. You can fake the presentation, but it'll only work until someone tries to cut a slice - the problem of architecture is more than just the names being different. But I wish you luck with your project, given that you have both the GPUs anyway. At the very least, you should gain some knowledge that may help you in a future project.

 

[Themastererr]

The reality is that it's a bit like covering a couch cushion with icing and passing it off as a cake. You can fake the presentation, but it'll only work until someone tries to cut a slice - the problem of architecture is more than just the names being different. But I wish you luck with your project, given that you have both the GPUs anyway. At the very least, you should gain some knowledge that may help you in a future project.

Thanks for your honest answer. You are more than likely correct - even If I do fake the hardware I.D nvidia has put physical measures in place (hardware straps) to stop me from spoofing it. I have my soldering iron ready if that's the case.

I'll let you guys know how it goes!

 

[gillhooley]

This reminds me of the joke post where a guy presumably cut the PCB of a 7800 card to fit in an AGP slot 😛, It was a great picture.

 

[Themastererr]

This reminds me of the joke post where a guy presumably cut the PCB of a 7800 card to fit in an AGP slot 😛, It was a great picture.

Hahaha...Nope I just love tinkering and thought I could squeeze a little more performance out of this 8 year old rig lol..

From what I've been reading this would have been a lot easier 8 years ago. Nvidia has put a lot "straps" in their drivers and hardware to make it harder to "spoof" a card.

 

[jeffredo]

You can't. The "v2" GTX 460's were actually based on a later chip (the one used in the GTX 560 series) and have a 192 bit bus. They're not the same card as the first generation and with SLI they must be.