What's SLI?

[Solodays]

?

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

SLI = Scalable Link Interface is two PCI-ex NVIDIA graphics cards linked together. Theoretically doubling your graphics performance but the games most be driver linked (and not all games are). Usually the performance increase ranges from nothing to 100% depending on the game. Just look through Anandtech's archives I am sure you will find an article talking about it.

All you need to know, well not really but a good start

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

It links two nvidia video cards together via a bridge and is suppoed to bring over 60 percent performance increases. not all games benfit it.
http://www.thg.com.tw/NewsImages/2004/0000868/sli-intro.jpg

 

[Solodays]

All SLI cards only uses PCI-E interface? So, SLI cards come stack together when you buy them? There are motherboards with 2 PCI-E slots?

 

[Lockout]

Originally posted by: Solodays
All SLI cards only uses PCI-E interface? So, SLI cards come stack together when you buy them? There are motherboards with 2 PCI-E slots?

SLI motherboards usually have 4 or 5 PCI-E slots, but only 2 x16 slots for video cards. The other slots are usually x1 or x4, which will be used for expansion cards in the future as a replacement for PCI.

SLI cards do not come stacked together when you buy them. You just buy two SLI-capable cards and connect them with an SLI bridge that comes with the motherboard. (Like this)

 

[Solodays]

Thought none of the videocards could take full advantage of the PCI-E bandwidth as of now, so basically when combined 2 SLI card together it will take advantage of the PCI-E bandwidth?

4-5 PCI_E? 2 x16's for the SLI cards and the others for expansions in the future. but if a mobo has PCI-E expansion slot and no pci, how would you go about installing a PCI device on your mobo as for now since network card, sound cards, tv tuners are all using PCI interface? or perhaps those x4 PCI-E are backward compatiable with PCI?

 

[Lockout]

Originally posted by: Solodays
Thought none of the videocards could take full advantage of the PCI-E bandwidth as of now, so basically when combined 2 SLI card together it will take advantage of the PCI-E bandwidth?

You're right about that, they don't fully take advantage of the bandwidth of PCI-E x16, even with SLI. But I guess they've designed the x16 slots with the future in mind. I don't think there are any video cards that fit in x1 or x4 PCI-E slots.

4-5 PCI_E? 2 x16's for the SLI cards and the others for expansions in the future. but if a mobo has PCI-E expansion slot and no pci, how would you go about installing a PCI device on your mobo as for now since network card, sound cards, tv tuners are all using PCI interface? or perhaps those x4 PCI-E are backward compatiable with PCI?

Most boards nowadays have a mix of PCI-E and PCI. Take a look at this Asus A8N-SLI Premium for example, you'll see it has 2 PCI-E x16 video card slots, with an x1 and an x4 between them, and then it has 3 additional PCI slots.

 

[Solodays]

The small black & white slots are PCI-E 1x and 4x? What exactly do you meant they will ...

The other slots are usually x1 or x4, which will be used for expansion cards in the future as a replacement for PCI.

since there are already PCI slots there and when you combined 2 SLI card doesnt that 2 little pci-e slot became invaded and useless?

 

[Schadenfroh]

SLI = Scan Line Interleve, developed by 3DFX and used in the VooDoo2 and VSA100 series of chips. One chip processed odd, the other even lines. SLI worked slightly different on the VSA 100 becuase it allowed many chips to run in it (i think up to around 100, hence the name VooDoo Scalable Architecture) It also was Single Card SLI on the VSA100 based solution and it communicated over a digital link rather than the old voodoo2 SLI.

But times have changed and that meaning is only for those of us who fought the 3dfx versus nvidia flame wars.

It has a new meaning in the modern world and it has little in common with nvidia's new SLI, save sharing the same marketing acronym, for it now stands for Scalable Link Interface and works completly differently than that of the people who created the acronym.

 

[Solodays]

SLI is only for hardcore gamers isn't it?

 

[BFG10K]

SLI at its most basic definition is simply rendering something in parallel, usually with more one GPU.