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    question about sli and crossfire

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by somep3ople, Mar 4, 2011.

  1. somep3ople

    somep3ople Notebook Consultant

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    i can buy any 2 video cards as long as it's the same model and then just ad the sli/crossfire cable connector right?

    there is no such thing as as dedicated secondary sli card right?
     
    somep3ople, Mar 4, 2011
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  2. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    There used to be (cards were flashed with master and slave vBIOSes), but a bigger problem you're more likely to have these days is that not all video cards come with a SLI/Crossfire connector.
     
    Judicator, Mar 4, 2011
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  3. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    As Judicator has stated, the older CF cards had Master/Slave, and generally were labeled with M and S stickers.

    Newer cards SLI/CF through the motherboard?
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Mar 4, 2011
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  4. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    No, they still require a cable, it's just that not all video cards are "made" to be run in SLI/Crossfire, and so to save money, manufacturers don't put the connectors on all models. Thus there can be versions of, for example, the 5870M with crossfire connectors, and versions of it without.
     
    Judicator, Mar 4, 2011
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  5. somep3ople

    somep3ople Notebook Consultant

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    well what if i bought the cable separately, what i'm wondering is does it make a difference, obviously i can do a bios flash and wont have trouble right? i want to know what to look for, my cards of interest are 260m,280m,285m,460m,5870m and above.

    so am i suppose to by a "secondary video card" sli crossfire dedicated, or can i buy any 2 mxm 3.0b and just find a connector.
     
    somep3ople, Mar 4, 2011
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  6. somep3ople

    somep3ople Notebook Consultant

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    bumps bumps, i feel this is important and other people are probably wondering.
     
    somep3ople, Mar 4, 2011
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  7. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    I don't know enough about the vBIOS to be certain, but I think there's no longer master/slave for the newer cards. However, you have to specifically buy cards with crossfire/SLI connectors, because, as I mentioned before, not all of them will have them. For example, the 5870Ms in the first Asus G73s did _not_ have a crossfire connector. I don't know if the newer G73s have crossfire connectors or not. The 5870Ms that go in Sager/Clevos usually have a crossfire connector, I believe. Again, it depends on the actual source of the card.

    Edit - By connector, I mean an actual connection port on the card. This port sometimes isn't even there on some cards.
     
    Judicator, Mar 5, 2011
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  8. somep3ople

    somep3ople Notebook Consultant

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    g73 have reverse mxm if i'm not mistaken right? and g73 never supported sli. can anybody be confirm, can i just buy any 2 gtx 260m/280m/285m 4870m/5870m and above and just get a cable.
     
    somep3ople, Mar 5, 2011
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  9. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

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    The G73 has only one MXM slot, so no SLI or CS.

    And yes, most Asus laptop's with MXM slots use reverse MXM cards.
     
    Nick, Mar 5, 2011
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  10. somep3ople

    somep3ople Notebook Consultant

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    thats not what i meant, anyways so nobody knows huh. guinea pig time.
     
    somep3ople, Mar 5, 2011
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  11. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    All I can do is repeat myself; it'll depend on the specifc maker of that card. Some versions of the cards will have the appropriate connector on the board, and some won't. I'm not personally very interested in SLI/Crossfire (seems to be too much trouble for too little gain, given driver issues and game incompatibilities), so I don't keep track of which specifically manufactured cards have the connector or not. Your best bet is to ask whomever you're getting the cards from if the card has a SLI/Crossfire port or not.
     
    Judicator, Mar 5, 2011
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  12. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

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    You may want to re-clarify you question(s), as you posts have been quite confusing at best.
     
    Nick, Mar 6, 2011
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