Question on SLI matching

[fiberoptik]

I htink I know the answer to this question but do vid cards need to be matched when doing sli? Can you use different cards alltogether.. ie 6800ultra and a 6800gt? Dot eh cards need to be from the same manufacturer? Ie Leadtek 6800 with a leadtek 6800?

 

[Hate_Bot]

They have to be the asme type (6600GT, 6800GT or 6800Ultra) and from the same manufacturer (EVGA, XFX Etc)

 

[Kil4Thril]

They have to be the asme type (6600GT, 6800GT or 6800Ultra) and from the same manufacturer (EVGA, XFX Etc)

From what I've read, no they don't. They will simply run at the performance of the weaker of the 2 cards. I think you can even run a 6600 with a 6800.

 

[Dr. X]

From what I've read, no they don't. They will simply run at the performance of the weaker of the 2 cards. I think you can even run a 6600 with a 6800.

Nope, they have to be the same type (6600gt, 6800gt, 6800ultra). However, if the cards are running at different clock speeds, it will slow the faster of the two.

 

[starfury6]

Actually it's a bit more specific than that. Not only do they need to be the same card, from the same manufacturer, but they also need to have the same bios as well. Several people over at Anandtech forums (I think) had problems until they flashed their second card bios to match that of the first.

 

[texuspete00]

Yeah they say that helps. A bios that works for both cards can also enable two different brands together in SLI. It would be interesting to see if a GT with an ultra bios on it could be paired up with an Ultra. Different kinds dont work though.