Please help with configuring SLI 8800 GT's

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guitarguy6

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 29, 2007
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I'm hoping someone out there can help me with my SLI problem. I recently picked up 2 evga 8800 GT's superclocked. I'm running them on an Asus P5N-E SLI mo-bo. I have an enermax 535watt psu, an E6750 @ 3.2GHz and 4GB's of OCZ ddr-2 800mhz and vista ultimate 32bit on raid 0 array. I went into the bios and set the SLI broadcast aperure to AUTO (only other option is disabled). I also have the SLI bridge connecting the two cards together.

Next I downloaded the newest WHQL nvidia drivers. After rebooting I went into the nvidia control panel and enabled sli. I also selected single display performance mode. I tried the following games: Lord of the rings online, crysis, and gears of war. I couldn't notice any performance increase (using fraps) on any of these games. I disabled sli and ran 3dmark06. I scored 11,537. I turned SLI back on and re-ran 3dmark. I scored 14,412 which seems pretty low for dual 8800's.

I have built many PC's but this is my first experience with SLI. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
I experienced pretty much the same exact thing as you, with the same motherboard and two GT's. My res was 1680x1050. Didnt notice any difference at all really.
 
Forgot to mention that I game at 1680X1050 as well. Is vista the problem? Should I switch back to XP?
 
First, you have a really pitiful power supply for SLi and your setup. I'd say 700 minimum but if it's running then I guess you're alright. You said you didnt notice a significant speed increase with two cards but you also didnt mention ever testing it with a single card. Lastly, you may think that a 3-4k increase in 3dmark score is low but i'm pretty sure that's about the norm. Crysis isn't ready quite yet for SLi, the developers have indicated their performance patch (1-2 weeks) will improve multi gpu performance.
 
I was a bit concerned on my 535watt psu, I think I'll try an OCZ 700watt and see if that helps. I also forgot to mention that I tested out all the games with sli disabled as well as enabled. I basically would find a point in the game where my fps would drop (with sli disabled) then quit the game, enable sli and go back in. I noticed about a 2-5 fps increase with sli enabled.
 
I was using XP, and i doubt the problem is your PSU, but it cant hurt to try a more powerful one. Let us know your results if you do. My psu was an OCZ 520, and SLI "worked", but never saw in game performance increases.
 
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