Tri-SLI Woes - 3x970 in Surround

R

Reanimation_LP

Gawd
Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
786
Well, I've spent over 10 hours now fighting with this.

I got another GTX970, an eVGA model, dropped it in, figuring hey, tri-SLI will be fun to have.

Spent hours fighting with it, only could get it to do two of the cards in SLI. It constantly says "For optimal 3D performance, connect the SLI-ready graphics cards with an SLI connector."

I was using a 3 way hard bridge, I then ordered 2 120mm flex bridges from Amazon with same day shipping, figuring okay, maybe the bridge is bad.

Today, tried setting all 3 up via the steps on the net for using 3 GPUs with flex bridges. No dice. Still will only allow SLI between the top and bottom GPU, which is the two Gigabyte G1s.

I then installed DifferentSLI, which is allowing it to put all 3 into SLI, yay!

However, it constantly always flags one monitor as "not configured correctly" and tells me to see the configuration guide.

It seems, no matter what way I shuffle these 3 GPUs around and whatever way I connect my displays, nothing will fucking work. It's absolutely mind-boggling to me.

I'm at my wit's end and am tired of smashing my head against the desk, so I'm hoping maybe someone else has experienced these kind of issues. TBH I've been pretty disappointed with how much issues I've had with nVIdia's drivers. Makes me long at times for my 6970/unlocked 6950 combo again.

9QIGxa3.png


p09wqGr.png


Thank you for your time. :)
 
are they the same monitor?

i had that problem when i was using 780s and then 980s in surround.

had something to do with the polarity of the monitor.

iirc if you take them out of surround and have them as 3 different monitors there is a setting in the nvidia control panel that will let you change the polarity.

it's been a while sorry im not that much help.
 
All 3 monitors are the same monitor, bought at the same exact time and they were working fine before I added a 3rd 970. :(

I'll try to see if I can find those polarity options, maybe one got screwed.
 
It's having the different brand card in there. Unfortunately it seems that is the main issue. It's complete bollocks IMO.
 
kasakka said:
It's having the different brand card in there. Unfortunately it seems that is the main issue. It's complete bollocks IMO.
Click to expand...

having the different cards shouldn't matter. they're pretty much identical other than one of them being clocked .00001% higher than the rest and even then it'll still run that card at the same gpu clock as the other 2. but if thats the case than EVGA screwed something up..

the only thing i could suggest is see if the new card will work in normal SLI with each of the old cards, if it does then you know it's not the cards being different.

as far as the monitors go, you might want to mess with the windows settings and make sure all 4 monitors are in the correct display order, maybe it's wanting to use the samsung instead of the 3rd dell monitor.
 
I had a bit of a fight with my 3x titan's in SLI. First, I'll drop This NVidia SLI / monitor config tool in here. Second, I'll tell you that even using that tool, my monitor config is not listed in there.

Granted I'm using Titan X's so I've got a slightly different config than you do, but how I have my 4 monitors plugged in (all DP's too for me). I have Monitor 1-3 (surround) plugged into Card 1-3 respectively. So that's 1 DP per card. Monitor #4 is plugged into a second DP on Card #2 (the middle card). Strange? Yes, but I do have 4 monitors up and running perfectly in that config.

Again, you're running 970's which are a bit different than mine, but try putting your monitors in a similar configuration (or try using the tool because hey it might work for 970's).
 
^ Tri-SLI requires 1 monitor per card in Surround.

Why didn't you just get another G1 970?
 
I've tried every combination of monitors across all 3 cards, etc, following that guide.

Nothing worked.

I got the eVGA figuring that the brand did not matter either, but apparently it does on nVidia cards.

I'll just end up getting another Gigabyte one now instead.

My other issue why I wanted the eVGA one too is it is only 2 x 6-pin, so it would have fitted easier into my power supply currently, where as the Gigabyte one I'll also have to buy a bigger PSU. lol Not only that, but I've stuck the two G1's against one another (my board has no spacing between slots for tri-SLI), and one started to grind a bit against the other, which was frustrating.
 
It used to not matter, but apparently since the release of Maxwell, there have been incompatibilities (I'm guessing due to some major BIOS/UEFI difference) even within the same BRAND, EVGA being the most notable example due to them making like a dozen SKUs of every GPU they sell.
 
Reanimation_LP said:
I've tried every combination of monitors across all 3 cards, etc, following that guide.

Nothing worked.

I got the eVGA figuring that the brand did not matter either, but apparently it does on nVidia cards.

I'll just end up getting another Gigabyte one now instead.

My other issue why I wanted the eVGA one too is it is only 2 x 6-pin, so it would have fitted easier into my power supply currently, where as the Gigabyte one I'll also have to buy a bigger PSU. lol Not only that, but I've stuck the two G1's against one another (my board has no spacing between slots for tri-SLI), and one started to grind a bit against the other, which was frustrating.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you might just as well buy a 980 Ti or two.
 
Just went through this with a evga ssc acx 2.0 and ssc acx 2.0+. They were incompatible with each other despite being evga 970s. Differentsli gets sli working but nv surround seems to break. Had to get a same SKU card. Sucks
 
Yeah, I find it kind of fucked that even eVGA cards can't be SLI'ed together and the fact they have 3 seperate groups that can be paired with one another.

Why do they even have like 12 different models of a 970.

I want to thank everyone for their input, you guys have been immensely helpful in resolving my issue. :)
 
You could maybe try flashing the same BIOS onto all three? I mean the people on OCN talk about flashing different cards' BIOSes onto the different GPU's all the time, mainly to unlock voltage controls. You could ask them about it.
 
I'll look into that, I did try to check the BIOS with Maxwell BIOS Editor to see if I could change the Device IDs to match, but no dice. lol
 
BIOS would be a bet...
Your two Gigabyte cards have different BIOS. I admit I'm out of my depth here, but that was the first thing I noticed.

I wouldn't think that would make a difference...but then I wouldn't think this tri-sli would be hard to get working.

Get all three cards flashed to the same BIOS...

Good luck.
 
c3k said:
BIOS would be a bet...
Your two Gigabyte cards have different BIOS. I admit I'm out of my depth here, but that was the first thing I noticed.

I wouldn't think that would make a difference...but then I wouldn't think this tri-sli would be hard to get working.

Get all three cards flashed to the same BIOS...

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Tried that buddy. Extracted the eVGA BIOS, extracted the Gigabyte BIOS, modified the GB BIOS to match all the eVGA stuff, flashed it to the eVGA, same deal, no go. :(
 
I am sorry if my question may sound a bit insolent, but given the known issues of multiple cards setup (diminishing return, stability, heat), especially with 3 and 4 cards, what would motivate someone to prefer 3×970 over 2×980?
 
BIOS: well, it seemed like a long shot... Too bad it didn't work.

I'd like to think and nvidia rep would chime in. Pretty ridiculous if you need identical sku's.
 
You don't need identical sku's, you need the board company to follow some simple rules about the PCB layout. EVGA with it's beta 970s stage didn't. The problem with them is related to the sli ports/traces that lead to them. They don't play nice with other cards (EVGA 970s cards mind you, let alone other manufacturers) and they don't light up SLI bridges that have the option.
 
AlexisRO said:
You don't need identical sku's, you need the board company to follow some simple rules about the PCB layout. EVGA with it's beta 970s stage didn't. The problem with them is related to the sli ports/traces that lead to them. They don't play nice with other cards (EVGA 970s cards mind you, let alone other manufacturers) and they don't light up SLI bridges that have the option.
Click to expand...

Interesting to know, but not entirely surprised... I mean, this was the same company that when everyone else's GPUs came out with a backplate and such, they couldn't be bothered, charged more, then had the balls to try to charge another 20 for the backplate, until the backlash was so huge that they gave them away for free for a long time. lol
 
With the backplates they are now forced by the marked to put them on as almost every manufacturer offers them, but i know what you're saying.

TBH I've noticed their pcb designs slipping (besides Classy, Kingpin) for sometime now but they were decent and didn't have problem like these. In the winter when I was looking for cards I couldn't pay 30 bucks more for a subpar PCB just because it's Evga and I like their CS (was considering GB, MSI and Zotac). IMO Evga are now ridding the wave of former glories, we'll see how long that holds up.
 
Everything's installed and working great with 3 G1 970s.

Now, does it matter if I have all 3 surround monitors + the accessory monitor plugged into the first card? Would I see any kind of small boost by separating the 3 monitors across the 3 970s?

The 3 Dell U2312HMs are plugged in via DP and the Samsung 24" is via HDMI.
 
Reanimation_LP said:
Everything's installed and working great with 3 G1 970s.

Now, does it matter if I have all 3 surround monitors + the accessory monitor plugged into the first card? Would I see any kind of small boost by separating the 3 monitors across the 3 970s?

The 3 Dell U2312HMs are plugged in via DP and the Samsung 24" is via HDMI.
Click to expand...

Easy enough to try. I think if you run SLI then you need to have them plugged to the first card. Otherwise you can use one per card. I think going one per card might drop idle clocks down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top