Multi GPU Fix on any Dual PCI-E x8 or x16 Official Fix Pending

[Mr Fox]

I spend a fair chunk of cash keeping my machine current and future-proof ... $2000-5000 per year. (I have a son also) but anyway... I have been seriously looking at Intel 975x Motherboards for Intel Conroe Processors.

One thing that has kept me from doing this is that 975x does not support Nvidia SLI so it leads me to think that my Vid. Cards are obsolete, or that there is something proprietary about Scalable Link Interface... Or Crossfire.

After reading on most of the OEM's and partner sites that this is not possible ... it almost had me beliving the party line...... Almost.....

Then a brain fart occured : go to JEDEC and look-up the PCI Express Standard.
I learned that PCI Express Bus v 1.0a is the standard for PCI Express on ATX motherboards.
This standard is not proprietary, and dictates standardized interoperability standards for JEDEC partners of which ATI, NVIDIA and Intel are members.

That is when I got mad.... after doing more reading Intel 975X was going to originally support SLI and Crossfire... Then something happened ...

Just what happened I could not find much about... Im hoping that someone can enlighten me there.... I gathered that there was some sort of impasse that caused SLI not to be "Officially Supported".

Then I had to find proof that Nvidia Cards Can be run in SLI mode on an Intel 975x.
A search engine lead me to the forums at another site. There this guy proved that this is a Political Issue, and not Technological.

http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46863


It is sad that Intel, and Nvidia, have put their own interests ahead of their customers.
I'm not sure just how many people ran out and bought ATI cards to get supported Multi-GPU functionality. and how much hardware was thought to be un-useable.

I think again "the Voice Of The Consumer" was forgotten and now needs to speak it's disscontent about how this has sorted out so far... It will force a "Supported Solution"
Rather than forcing un-official work arounds and non-certified solutions upon their customers.

Have a Great Day !!

 

[taltamir]

SLI is proprietary for nVidia, Crossfire is proprietary for ATI. Get the one that matches your TWO video cards that you run in tandam. Not really worth it IMAO though.. one video card is better. I think there are SLI mobos with that chipset, but I might be wrong...

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: taltamir
SLI is proprietary for nVidia, Crossfire is proprietary for ATI. Get the one that matches your TWO video cards that you run in tandam. Not really worth it IMAO though.. one video card is better. I think there are SLI mobos with that chipset, but I might be wrong...

SLI is NVIDIA branding of a JEDEC established PCI express operating standard.... it is simply applying the link between the cards.... ATI Crossfire is the same basic idea... AFR(Alternate Frame Rendering) as is tiling etc. is common to both of them... they are simply branding for a similar technology.... NVIDIA cards work on ATI Crossfire Chipsets.. just fine... that is established in the vid drivers of either technology.

The physical link between the cards isn't even required any longer the drivers have been that well developed.

 

[taltamir]

standards or not... they still own those trademarks!

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Mr Fox
One thing that has kept me from doing this is that 975x does not support Nvidia SLI

The solution is the 7950GX2.

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Mr Fox
One thing that has kept me from doing this is that 975x does not support Nvidia SLI

The solution is the 7950GX2.

The solution is for NVIDIA and INTEL to wake - up... they would rather let/lead people to belive something that is not true.....

 

[SexyK]

Where are they leading anyone to believe that 975x supports SLi?

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: SexyK
Where are they leading anyone to believe that 975x supports SLi?

They are not... but there is nothing actually preventing it from happening either, and that is my point...

This is Political Crapola tha has left NVIDIA PCI Express Vid Card users in the Lurch.

JEDEC standards are there for a reason .... and that is that Interoperability of PC components.

PCI Express Protocol 1.0a dictates the Communication timing, frequency, and IRQ so that regardless the brand of card that is placed into the slot it will communicate properly to the Chipset and Processor.

Because the companies want to protect their "Branding" they are not willing to admit the interoperability standards.

This puts the consumer between a rock and a hard spot to get "Supported" Multi GPU functionality.

There is a workaround that uses a ULI driver that allows it to work using 80 series vid card drivers.. but the point is that it is a poor thing to have to put your customers thru... Just because "you don't play well with others."

 

[SexyK]

Originally posted by: Mr Fox

Originally posted by: SexyK
Where are they leading anyone to believe that 975x supports SLi?

They are not... but there is nothing actually preventing it from happening either, and that is my point...

This is Political Crapola tha has left NVIDIA PCI Express Vid Card users in the Lurch.

JEDEC standards are there for a reason .... and that is that Interoperability of PC components.

PCI Express Protocol 1.0a dictates the Communication timing, frequency, and IRQ so that regardless the brand of card that is placed into the slot it will communicate properly to the Chipset and Processor.

Because the companies want to protect their "Branding" they are not willing to admit the interoperability standards.

This puts the consumer between a rock and a hard spot to get "Supported" Multi GPU functionality.

There is a workaround that uses a ULI driver that allows it to work using 80 series vid card drivers.. but the point is that it is a poor thing to have to put your customers thru... Just because "you don't play well with others."

Neither Intel nor nVidia are circumventing the JEDEC standards. nVidia PCIe cards will work in any JEDEC-spec PCIe slot, and Intel PCIe slots will accept any JEDEC-spec PCIe card. SLi compatibility is not mandated by JEDEC, in fact SLi is mainly controlled by drivers. nVidia is in the chipset market and they want people to buy nVidia chipsets to use with nVidia SLi... really it's their choice, considering it's their technology. I'm not really sure why you're so upset by this. If you want to use SLi, you have to buy an SLi-compliant mobo with an SLi-enabled chipset. If you're agitated by this, why aren't you agitated by motherboards with nVidia non-SLi chipsets?

 

[erikistired]

so what would you suggest? you obviously registered to start a mess of your own, i'm just waiting to see what you're pulling for. amd? i'm not sure why intel would want to hold nvidia back if that's what your suggesting, especially now that amd owns ati.

 

[Mr Fox]

[/quote]

Neither Intel nor nVidia are circumventing the JEDEC standards. nVidia PCIe cards will work in any JEDEC-spec PCIe slot, and Intel PCIe slots will accept any JEDEC-spec PCIe card. SLi compatibility is not mandated by JEDEC, in fact SLi is mainly controlled by drivers. nVidia is in the chipset market and they want people to buy nVidia chipsets to use with nVidia SLi... really it's their choice, considering it's their technology. I'm not really sure why you're so upset by this. If you want to use SLi, you have to buy an SLi-compliant mobo with an SLi-enabled chipset. If you're agitated by this, why aren't you agitated by motherboards with nVidia non-SLi chipsets?[/quote]


I'm only Irritated by the Dis-Information that is out there about Intel/NVIDIA "Official Multi GPU Support"

Only after hours of research and finding a thread about some crazy bastard on Maximum did I prove my theory...... that it is all CRAP.....

ATI never stated with their Crossfire 3200 Chipset that NVIDIA cards in SLI mode would not work on their Chipset.... in fact they were honest and open that it would work together. ULI...same thing... in fact if it hadn't been for ULI... the work around would have been more complex...

The Motherboard Companies were very careful to not put their tit in that wringer also.
They simply stated the standard that they were compliant to, and included the Crossfire Compatability Blurb.

It is the (Legaleze).... carefully worded Lack Of Complete Information... that Irritates Me.... that is deception at the lowest level.

We as Customers deserve better...We pay the bills, and are their reason for existence.

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: fisher
so what would you suggest? you obviously registered to start a mess of your own, i'm just waiting to see what you're pulling for. amd? i'm not sure why intel would want to hold nvidia back if that's what your suggesting, especially now that amd owns ati.

All that I'm pulling for is that Corporations get smart about Customers.

I'm in the same dillema as everyone else when it comes to much of this stuff.
I have been very pro AMD over the last 5 years... But I know a good thing when I see it .... but I also know a steaming pile when I see it... !
I want to be able to transfer a Working Vid System... and have the proper support.

As far as messes are concerned... you need to read before you pass summary judgement.. you might be supprized you could open your mind and learn something...

 

[slpaulson]

That whole thing does kind of piss me off. Apparently there's an entry in nvidia's drivers that don't allow sli on non nvidia boards. If you look hard enough you can find some hacked drivers that will allow slii to work on crossfire chipsets...

 

[n7]

LOL...

This isn't really news, sorry.

You can run SLI or CF on pretty much all 975 mobos...just requires hacked drives in the case of SLI.

Just like you can run CF on SLI mobos, & vice versa.

Or how you can run SLI/CF on non dual 8x PCI-e slot mobos. (Using one 16x slot + 4x slot, etc.)

Yes, it's entirely political.

Welcome to the world of greedy corporations

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: Mr Fox

Originally posted by: fisher
so what would you suggest? you obviously registered to start a mess of your own, i'm just waiting to see what you're pulling for. amd? i'm not sure why intel would want to hold nvidia back if that's what your suggesting, especially now that amd owns ati.

All that I'm pulling for is that Corporations get smart about Customers.

I'm in the same dillema as everyone else when it comes to much of this stuff.
I have been very pro AMD over the last 5 years... But I know a good thing when I see it .... but I also know a steaming pile when I see it... !
I want to be able to transfer a Working Vid System... and have the proper support.

As far as messes are concerned... you need to read before you pass summary judgement.. you might be supprized you could open your mind and learn something...

open my mind and learn what? you're ranting like a spoiled child. i want, i demand, now now now.

 

[taltamir]

Cows (beef) and plants are the reason for my existance... and we herd and butcher and chop them into peices and eat them... there are two approaches to customers... customers are gods, or customers are food... As long as companies are allowed to get away with treating you like food, they will continue to do so, as its more profitable for them.

I am CERTAINLY not going to purchase a multicard system... they can go screw themselves.

Thanks for the info, its good to know you can run ATI on SLI and Nvidia on Crossfire

 

[SexyK]

I really honestly don't get this thread. nVidia wants people to buy nVidia chipsets as opposed to Intel chipsets whenever possible, so they want SLi support to be an 'exclusive' feature. It's called capitalism. No one is misleading anyone. It's not like Intel is advertising SLi support then not following through, on nVidia is running around saying "SLi will work on any motherboard with two PEG slots!!!" I just don't see how anyone could get riled up about the fact that an Intel chipset doesnt officially support an nVidia tech. "It's misleading because it's physically possible for the chipset to support SLi, but it doesnt" and "It should just work" aren't really compelling arguments in this case. Is is really that hard to find a motherboard that has the features you want?

 

[Mr Fox]

[/quote]open my mind and learn what? you're ranting like a spoiled child. i want, i demand, now now now.[/quote]


I spent hours and hours chasing down this information and Proved that it is "A Pile Of Steaming Feces" and then shared this information so that Un-informed folks such as yourself would maybe read this, and be enlightened.

Corporate Dis-Information is the Norm now days...

I'm not too happy about it because it is political, and not technological....

Also so that maybe some of the Industry Insiders that participate in these forums might shed some light on what has created the Impasse. between the Two.

I, would think that you were grateful for someone else saving you a ton of leg work....

But no you seem determined to try to "Crap On My Thread" .....(Off Task, and Attacking) as well as not having anything wothwhile to contribute. or any true interest in the thread.

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: SexyK
I really honestly don't get this thread. nVidia wants people to buy nVidia chipsets as opposed to Intel chipsets whenever possible, so they want SLi support to be an 'exclusive' feature. It's called capitalism. No one is misleading anyone. It's not like Intel is advertising SLi support then not following through, on nVidia is running around saying "SLi will work on any motherboard with two PEG slots!!!" I just don't see how anyone could get riled up about the fact that an Intel chipset doesnt officially support an nVidia tech. "It's misleading because it's physically possible for the chipset to support SLi, but it doesnt" and "It should just work" aren't really compelling arguments in this case. Is is really that hard to find a motherboard that has the features you want?

It does work... that is the point... the dis-information just makes it "Not Officially Supported" NVIDIA is experiencing heat over this you can bet....

and you would need to view some of the Motherboard Partner sites to read the Legalese on the JEDEC Standard PCI Express v 1.0a 16x Slots.

I could develop a video card " Laser Graphics " tommorow that is compliant to the JEDEC spec. and with the Appropriate Drivers implement AFR (Alternate Frame Rendering) SLI & Crossfire's Best Mode, and Give it a Brand Name " Laser Link "

Would it be Proprietary ? No...

JEDEC Compliant .... Yes

Would it work Across All 2x 16x PCI express Boards.... Yes it should if it is JEDEC Compliant.

That is the point of the post....

 

[vlad4]

Originally posted by: Mr Fox.
That is when I got mad.... after doing more reading Intel 975X was going to originally support SLI and Crossfire... Then something happened ...

Just what happened I could not find much about... Im hoping that someone can enlighten me there.... I gathered that there was some sort of impasse that caused SLI not to be "Officially Supported".

Then I had to find proof that Nvidia Cards Can be run in SLI mode on an Intel 975x.
A search engine lead me to the forums at another site. There this guy proved that this is a Political Issue, and not Technological.

Or you could wait for the Intel-SLi motherboards to come out.

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: vlad4

Originally posted by: Mr Fox.
That is when I got mad.... after doing more reading Intel 975X was going to originally support SLI and Crossfire... Then something happened ...

Just what happened I could not find much about... Im hoping that someone can enlighten me there.... I gathered that there was some sort of impasse that caused SLI not to be "Officially Supported".

Then I had to find proof that Nvidia Cards Can be run in SLI mode on an Intel 975x.
A search engine lead me to the forums at another site. There this guy proved that this is a Political Issue, and not Technological.

Or you could wait for the Intel-SLi motherboards to come out.

I have looked at that already.... the NVIDIA 590 will only be Built by ASUS that Chipset it is an interim chipset for Intel from what I have seen. It has limitations that the 975x does not have especially in Overclocking potential.

The NVIDIA C5 is supposed to come soon but I have not been able to dig up more info as of yet.... It will possibly have what I'm looking for.. but I have not done due diligence on it yet to know.

But one of the reasons I was going to try this Chipset was to escape NVIDIA chipset drivers that are so messed up that I always use a repacked version or windows defaults...
Particularly when it comes to IDE drivers.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: vlad4

Originally posted by: Mr Fox.
That is when I got mad.... after doing more reading Intel 975X was going to originally support SLI and Crossfire... Then something happened ...

Just what happened I could not find much about... Im hoping that someone can enlighten me there.... I gathered that there was some sort of impasse that caused SLI not to be "Officially Supported".

Then I had to find proof that Nvidia Cards Can be run in SLI mode on an Intel 975x.
A search engine lead me to the forums at another site. There this guy proved that this is a Political Issue, and not Technological.

Or you could wait for the Intel-SLi motherboards to come out.

That's nF5, not Intel

 

[Skott]

As mentioned some mobos, like the P5W DH, will run SLI with hacked drivers. There are some issues with those drivers however so read into it before trying it. One thread i read said if you try to use regular supported drivers before installing the hacked drivers it wont work. Anyway, yeah it'd be nice if nVidia and ATI could have gotten togeather and agreed to some standard for dual card setups instead of making the consumer choose one or the other but it didnt work out that way unfortunately. Maybe someday they will but for now Its unsupported and although it can be done its not a gurantee it'll work issue free.

 

[SexyK]

Originally posted by: Mr Fox

Originally posted by: SexyK
I really honestly don't get this thread. nVidia wants people to buy nVidia chipsets as opposed to Intel chipsets whenever possible, so they want SLi support to be an 'exclusive' feature. It's called capitalism. No one is misleading anyone. It's not like Intel is advertising SLi support then not following through, on nVidia is running around saying "SLi will work on any motherboard with two PEG slots!!!" I just don't see how anyone could get riled up about the fact that an Intel chipset doesnt officially support an nVidia tech. "It's misleading because it's physically possible for the chipset to support SLi, but it doesnt" and "It should just work" aren't really compelling arguments in this case. Is is really that hard to find a motherboard that has the features you want?

It does work... that is the point... the dis-information just makes it "Not Officially Supported" NVIDIA is experiencing heat over this you can bet....

and you would need to view some of the Motherboard Partner sites to read the Legalese on the JEDEC Standard PCI Express v 1.0a 16x Slots.

I could develop a video card " Laser Graphics " tommorow that is compliant to the JEDEC spec. and with the Appropriate Drivers implement AFR (Alternate Frame Rendering) SLI & Crossfire's Best Mode, and Give it a Brand Name " Laser Link "

Would it be Proprietary ? No...

JEDEC Compliant .... Yes

Would it work Across All 2x 16x PCI express Boards.... Yes it should if it is JEDEC Compliant.

That is the point of the post....

I'm still waiting to hear where there has been any disinformation spread about this topic? And no offense, but I have no idea what information you spent "hours chasing down." It's common knowledge that Intel chipsets don't support SLi at this point, and even if you were new to the scene, you could have easily asked on these boards and found out in no time flat. If you were researching whether or not it was physically possible for Intel's chipsets to support SLi, that's fine, but I don't know where you made the leap to some massive conspiracy and disinformation campaign. I don't even understand who you're upset with... Intel? nVidia? Your complaint just doesn't make any sense. There's no coverup, no one is fleecing you, I hate to break it to you.

 

[vlad4]

Originally posted by: n7
That's nF5, not Intel

Ah, now I see what everyone's ah heck is, you want an Intel 975x branded motherboard with official SLi support, not a SLi motherboard that supports Core 2, (my bad).

Well, as much as I agree with the JEDEC standards discussion here, I really think that this is a mute point, since nVidia is responsible for their drivers, and it's their drivers that make SLi work.

As far as the C19 chipset that will be used in the first ASUS motherboard, you are correct. There are some overclocking limitations to that northbridge. The first C55 northbridge may be the DFI 590 motherboard for Intel, and if we're lucky, we may see it's release just before the end of this year.