SLI still requires same brand & BIOS?

[vanvock]

I don't mean for this to be another discusion about the merits(or lack of) SLI but it looks like if I'm gonna do it,it should be soon. The much touted future path of it seems a little shady to me. With 6800gt prices droping to where I might go for it now they have a better single card & it looks like the gs is replacing the gt & ultra so the availability may drop = price up. I thought I saw a post that said they no longer had to be exactly the same anymore & if so would be great. My card is a PVT45GUDF7-XFX-rev2.0. I've seen some listed as F3, does that refer to the BIOS? I would rather not have to flash the card & kill the warranty. The BIOS is 5.40.02.36.08 & 77.72 drivers. Seems to me if I buy a 7800 I would still wind up in the same position in a few months. I'm just looking for a speed bump & a reason to tinker without going nuts on the $ side. Thanks for any input.

 

[Cooler]

I think you needs just same bios but i could be wrong.

 

[nRollo]

You don't need the same brand or bios.

http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_winxp_2k_32bit_81.87.html

Mixed vendor support for NVIDIA SLI.

 

[Hacp]

/w the new drivers, you don't need the bios or the brand to match. Just 6600GT with 6600GT, 6800 with 6800 etc...

 

[vanvock]

Great, any idea what the F3- F7 at the end of the p/n refers to? Maybe just signifies different manufacturer?

 

[vanvock]

Do I need to update my drivers?

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: vanvock
Do I need to update my drivers?

You need the latest drivers, ie: 81.87's, so you might need to update your drivers, but we don't kjnow what drivers you have.
Rollo posted a link to drivers which should be able to do mixed vendor SLI, so you don't even have to go searching.

 

[vanvock]

Thanks, missed that before.