No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

[DakAttack]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

A lot of people on their forums are having the same exact problem as I, and most of them don't find solutions that work 100%. I could fill out a bug report for them, but I''m sure they're quite aware of the problem. Perhaps I could offer a little more insight.

[Aeni]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

Well, I'm not sure how much stuff you installed, but you may want to (a) back up your hard drive and (b) reinstall everything and make sure both cards are inserted into their proper slots when Windows 7 is being installed and recognizes your cards for the very first time. This may actually be an issue with Windows not being able to properly handle multiple GPUs. I heard that Cross Fire users report problems more often than SLI users and so there might be some merits to the bad driver argument, but I also think Microsoft had not anticipated a surge in interests in multiple GPU setups (they've always taken the stance that these kinds of activities were usually done by the enthusiast community which they numbered to be "insignificant at best")

[TheGrandMom]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

This is one of the biggest reasons that I don't SLI/Crossfire anymore. Too much futzing around. It doesn't end either once you get it figured out, at least it didn't for me. Every driver update was a potential nightmare too. I'm really sorry to hear that you're having issues Dak. I wish there were some simple pat answer or a guide for you to follow in order to fix them but often its just some small thing you forgot or did or some invisible conflict that you'll never know what it was.

[Aeni]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

Just curious, Dak, but why did you purchase two cards instead of just one? IIRC a GTX 460 at the time you purchased (1GB) was going for around $220. With $450 you could've purchased a HD 5870 (2GB 256b) or a GTX 480 (1.5GB 384b)

[DakAttack]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

In all the tests Toms Hardware ran they found that two GTX 460 1GBs in SLI mode ran a lot better than on GTX 480, so why not? Plus, I just sort of wanted to. I'm still pretty new to the whole building, maintaining, and overclocking computers, and I felt like this would be a great opportunity to try something fun without it being for no real reason.

Anyways, what I've figured out is the drivers aren't being uninstalled, they're reporting a problem which causes Windows to disable them. This leaves me as if I had no drivers. I'm fairly certain it's because these beta drivers are unsigned, but I haven't found a sure fire way to prevent signature enforcement. I tried turning debug mode on through the command prompt, and turning it off at boot, but no good. I installed the drivers in safe mode, after which they did load properly on boot, but SLI wasn't available, so I just installed the drivers again.

I did manage to overclock the two cards, which provided a 300 point increase on the FFXIV benchmark. Neat, huh? Shame that when the drivers are disable the overclock is reset...

[Aeni]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

Have you tried to go to the older drivers rather than the beta ones? I think it was 258.96

As for the performance of the 2x 460 I'm sure it would do well but at the same time the results can be very different depending on the brands you purchase and everything else around it. It's never twice as better, the secondary card can only provide maybe up to 50% at best. I'm not saying it's a bad idea but the fact that SLI is unstable (same with Crossfire) and can be very PITA to deal with would usually turn off many people.

I just hope for your sake that the new drivers that nVidia will be releasing (it's been delayed again for some reason) fixes your issues. But it also sounds like a Windows issue as well.

[Aeni]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClrkQUDgYcw]YouTube - PC - i7 980xEE(4.4ghz) + AsusR3E + GTX480SC(3-way SLI 850mhz)[/ame]

Oh god ... I think I'm in heaven ...

I just wanna stop ... the world ain't right without ya babe ....

[DakAttack]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

For some reason the beta drivers are working pretty well, right now. They'll only occassionally disable on boot, instead of every single time.

I built my whole system around SLI. I wanted to give it a try at some point, just for kicks, so that's where my planning came from when purchasing parts. Specifically, the motherboard and graphics card, because they both work well with SLI. Upgrading the 460 to a 480 would have been a waste of money.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

YouTube - PC - i7 980xEE(4.4ghz) + AsusR3E + GTX480SC(3-way SLI 850mhz)

Oh god ... I think I'm in heaven ...

I just wanna stop ... the world ain't right without ya babe ....

A little piece of me died....

/em huddles in a corner and cries herself to sleep...

[Aeni]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

Upgrading the 460 to a 480 would have been a waste of money.

For what you need, sure, but there are people out there that not only want to push the envelope, but crush it along the way.

A little piece of me died....

The music, the machine or my comment?

[TheGrandMom]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

The music, the machine or my comment?

The machine.....I want.....pretty please?

[Aeni]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

The machine.....I want.....pretty please?

When I win some money at a gambling parlor I'll be sure to keep my online friends in mind. The only thing is ... I don't gamble

Remember when you were in grade school and the teacher asked you, "If you could change the world..." or "If you won a lot of money..." or "If you had the power to do anything..."

Well, for starters, if I had a lot of money, I would help the people closest to me first, like my family and my irl friends. Then move outwards to online friends and communities. This community is one of a few where I've spent a lot of time with so there probably would be a "wish for something and put it here ... please be reasonable" thread.

I think, in my opinion, that would be money better spent than having it disappear to some unknown NGO in a foreign country. Sure, I'm sympathetic to the plight of poor people, but I think we have a lot of poor here in this country already. The rest of the countries need to fend for themselves.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

When I win some money at a gambling parlor I'll be sure to keep my online friends in mind. The only thing is ... I don't gamble

Remember when you were in grade school and the teacher asked you, "If you could change the world..." or "If you won a lot of money..." or "If you had the power to do anything..."

Well, for starters, if I had a lot of money, I would help the people closest to me first, like my family and my irl friends. Then move outwards to online friends and communities. This community is one of a few where I've spent a lot of time with so there probably would be a "wish for something and put it here ... please be reasonable" thread.

I think, in my opinion, that would be money better spent than having it disappear to some unknown NGO in a foreign country. Sure, I'm sympathetic to the plight of poor people, but I think we have a lot of poor here in this country already. The rest of the countries need to fend for themselves.

LOL You sound like me. I don't gamble but I always tell people "One day when I win the lottery..." And I totally get what you are saying about if you would have the money, I'd secure my immediate families financial means. Then the first thing I'd love to do is to give out scholarships to deserving young people that can't afford it. I would really REALLY love to do that. But people like us never get rich...its kind of sad.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

To be honest, you're about as likely to win the lottery by not playing it as you are by playing it.

[Aeni]

Re: No option to SLI in nVidia control panel?

BTW Dak ...

I believe the earlier Gigabyte release of the GTX460s require a BIOS update. The one I got a couple of weeks back was from the 3rd batch and had the new BIOS. Yours might be an older batch requiring a BIOS update. Might wanna check with their support. At least your first card would need it, not sure about your second card.