Problem with GTX 460 SLI + GTS 250 Physx - cant enable SLI

Today bought a 3-way SLI motherboard (NF200 based) + two GTX 460 1GB and I had a GTS 250 from old pc --> goal : GTX 460 SLI + GTS 250 dedicated physx processor

but after installing 3 cards cant enable SLI - SLI option is missing !!



Installed 260.63 Beta and 260.89 Beta/WHQL and no success
Disabled GTS 250 from device manager, no SLI option
disabled realtek sound and ethernet controller and no success (from BIOS)
removed GTS 250 and could enable SLI but after installing that again disabled
SLI bridge is ok
Clean Install many times! :biggun:
OS 7 Ultimate x64

stupid drivers help! :bang:

 

What mobo did you get, and what bios are you using?? Also make sure you have the latest Intel Inf drivers, as some have issues with SLI if youre Intel x58 isnt up to date with drivers, or thats what ive heard, not sure tho.

 

Thank you MB is ECS P55H-AK and latest Intel INF is installed will flash MB BIOS now ...

 

Do that and let us know, also check that all cabels are attached correctly (power/fan/etc).

 

You're not using the Tri-SLi bridge are you? If the GTS250 is connected to the SLi bridge then SLi wont work as it's an incompatible card. Use a normal two-way SLi bridge between your GTX 460s ONLY (if you don't have one you can buy bridges made with ribbon cables and they are cheap).

 

MB BIOS flashed no success
All cables checked no problem
2-Way SLI bridge is installed for 460 SLI --> (GTX 460 has one SLI connector then only supports 2-way)

and still :bang:

 

I know tri-sli is not an option with the 460 cards - only 2-way sli can be done. Maybe because you have a third card in the machine alongside the 2x 460's they won't SLI anymore.

Try taking the 250 out of ur machine and only running the 460's. If it allows you to go SLI then you know what the problem is

 

It allows - with two GTX 460 installed I can enable SLI but its not my goal

You think driver could not find that its not 3-Way 460??

and have you any solution?

 

What driver have you tested? And make sure that the GTX460 on the top pcie lane is the default card? And what kind of pci-e lanes do you have, is it 2x16pci and last maybe x8 or x4, could be that the pcie lane you got youre physx card in does not support real x16, only looks like one? Make sure of that?

 

Thanks.

1. 280.63 Beta / 280.89 Beta / 280.89 WHQL
2. one GTX460 is def at top pice lane x16
3. I have PCIE16X_1/PCIE16X_2 /PCIE16X_3 runs at x16/x8/x8 speed - please look here :
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...?DetailID=1155&CategoryID=1&MenuID=15&LanID=0

any problem you think?

 

Did you install the two GTX460 on PCIE16X_1 and _2 and the GTS250 on PCIE16X_3?

 

Yes bro

 

The board could be cutting the lanes on 2 out of 3 connectors when 3 cards are connected, shove the 2 460s in the bottom and see if you can enable sli then.

 

Hi!

What do you guys think; is it actually even possible to achieve what HamidFull is trying to do? My guess would be that a 3-way SLI mobo is designed to run in 3-way SLI mode only with three cards.

It's probably due to a chipset limitation that you simply can't run 2 cards in SLI with the third card separate on a 3-way SLI motherboard. You can only either run 2-way SLI with the third slot empty or run 3-way SLI with three identical cards.

If you had three 3-way SLI capable cards, you could enable 3-way SLI and THEN choose the card you wish to use for PhysX. Actually, that must be it. You cannot enable SLI mode with three cards if they aren't all alike. A 3-way SLI mobo cannot run two cards in SLI and exclude the third, it can only run your configuration in "non-SLI" mode. Buying a third GTX 460 wouldn't help either as it only supports 2-way SLI.

This is of course only my guess, and it's not very helpful either, but I was hoping I could assist you in finding the cause of the problem. Or at least start a debate on the matter.

 

SLI issue

Well funny thing is I'm having the same issue, have a Asus Sabertooth TUF X58 with two MSI Hawks in SLI and a 8800GT as Physx, with the old 259 and below driver was working fine, loaded new 260 and above and refuses to enable SLI on the GTX460's even with the 8800GT in or out. Now strange thing is i have an old Asus Formula Striker 2 with a Quad core heavily overclocked with a pair of Asus GTX460's and a 8800GT in there and with the latest drivers it works blinking fine!! Personally i think Intel haven't paid the bills to Nvidia lately and they've disabled the SLI function on all boards other than their own chipset! Even tried the extremesystems.com SLI hack and that didn't work on the new drivers either! I've had to revery back to the old 259 series drivers which is a shame as the 260 is noticeably faster on 400 series cards. My Quad core is benching nearly as fast as my new I7 system!! Any one else had same or similar issue?

 

I've got no issues here on My Rampage Extreme II running 2 460GTX and 1 8800GT SSC..
Running the 1504 BIOS and all the latest drivers...

 

You have to set in the bios the PCIE to 16/8/8 and run the sli on the 8/8. This according to the manufacturer via the link you provided should work. Try that and post back. I have the 261.00 installed but will be trying my own similar setup but with two 8800gts in sli and a single 8800gt ; To make sure it does work like its supposed to with the drivers (but diff mobo and cards.)

 

The solution is: Buy a better motherboard. You need something that can handle having all three PCIe x16 slots in x16 mode if you want to run with three video cards. Something like the ASUS P6T7 WS Supercomputer is what you need.

 

He should not have to buy another mobo, the cards will run in 8x mode... he just has to set it manually in the bios to do so for SLI to work (and have them in the appropriate slot.)

 

Sure, but he's going to narf the performance of his cards if he runs them at x8 mode.