SLI not available with 2 different brands of card- why is this a thing?

dmoney1980

Platinum Member
Jan 17, 2008
2,471
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91
So I have an EVGA GTX 970 along with an asus 970 Strix card. both cards function by themselves, however they will not work in SLI. GPUZ and the Nvidia control panel will show both cards, but the option to enable SLI is greyed out and I get a message / alert stating to use the ribbon to ensure SLI is working. I tried 3 different SLI bridges and no go so that wasn't the problem. I googled the issue and to my surprise found that SLI will not work natively when using 2 different brands of GPU's.....why is this a thing? Is this Nvidia being difficult, or does the blame get placed squarely on EVGA, Asus, etc?
 

Sabrewings

Golden Member
Jun 27, 2015
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Even EVGA doesn't guarantee compatibility within their brand without essentially matching part numbers. Sounds like vendor issues.
 

96Firebird

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 2010
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I believe it is indeed an EVGA issue, I'm not sure what they did differently with the 970s but some don't SLI with each other... What is the model number of the EVGA card you have, dmoney?
 

Deders

Platinum Member
Oct 14, 2012
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Just to be sure as no specs provided, What mobo do you have? Does it support SLI?
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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www.techbuyersguru.com
Here's your answer: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2449358

This is an EVGA-specific issue. They switched PCB designs on the GTX 970 after the initial release, and it broke standard SLI compatibility, even within the EVGA lineup.

Your best bet is to contact EVGA and see if they'll send you a replacement with the more universal PCB design.

To be clear, this is most definitely NOT an issue of SLI not working across brands. I've used many cross-brand SLI setups over the past several years.
 

psolord

Platinum Member
Sep 16, 2009
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Nvidia themselves state the following

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/sli/faq#c17

Can I mix and match graphics cards from different manufacturers?

Using 180 or later graphics drivers, NVIDIA graphics cards from different manufacturers can be used together in an SLI configuration. For example, a GeForce XXXGT from manufacturer ABC can be matched with a GeForce XXXGT from manufacturer XYZ.

Use that to rub into EVGA's face when you contact them.
 

dmoney1980

Platinum Member
Jan 17, 2008
2,471
38
91
Here's your answer: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2449358

This is an EVGA-specific issue. They switched PCB designs on the GTX 970 after the initial release, and it broke standard SLI compatibility, even within the EVGA lineup.

Your best bet is to contact EVGA and see if they'll send you a replacement with the more universal PCB design.

To be clear, this is most definitely NOT an issue of SLI not working across brands. I've used many cross-brand SLI setups over the past several years.

Well that just sucks! Thanks everyone for the help!