SLI without the graphics cards.
July 14, 2010 3:39 PM Subscribe
How do SLI slots work for non-graphics cards?
I can't seem to get a definitive answer on this. I've inherited a rather nice, but last generation, system that I want to use as a VMware server. It's a gaming oriented system based on the nVidia nForce 860i chipset, so 2 of the PCI-e slots are designated SLI slots for dual graphics card installs. I don't need them for that; I'd rather put disk or network controllers in there.
So...how can one use them? Are they normal PCI-e 16x slots, 8x slots in a 16x form factor if there are cards plugged into both or something else?
My google-fu fails me.
I can't seem to get a definitive answer on this. I've inherited a rather nice, but last generation, system that I want to use as a VMware server. It's a gaming oriented system based on the nVidia nForce 860i chipset, so 2 of the PCI-e slots are designated SLI slots for dual graphics card installs. I don't need them for that; I'd rather put disk or network controllers in there.
So...how can one use them? Are they normal PCI-e 16x slots, 8x slots in a 16x form factor if there are cards plugged into both or something else?
My google-fu fails me.
I've got two computers, both with SLI slots. They both have a card (that looks like a small memory module) mounted on the motherboard that can be flipped over to enable/disable SLI. This may only be a feature of ASUS boards, not sure.
posted by foobario at 4:01 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by foobario at 4:01 PM on July 14, 2010
According to the nForce 600i technical specifications, you could have dual 16x slots, electrically. The board-maker might not have them setup that way, but the chip at least supports it. I don't believe anything requires you to use video cards in those slots, however. It's up to the software (drivers, BIOS) to run video cards in SLI. It's like PCI: there are PCI video cards, but you can put all sorts of other cards in a PCI slot, as well. The PCI and PCI-e interfaces don't care what type of card they're connecting.
In any case, aren't disk and network controllers all 1x or maybe 4x at most? You should be able to put a device with fewer lanes into a wider slot, so those should all work in your 16x slots. There's some discussion of that here and here if you want other random strangers on the internet saying it's cool. I can't find an authoritative source explaining it, though.
posted by whatnotever at 4:10 PM on July 14, 2010
In any case, aren't disk and network controllers all 1x or maybe 4x at most? You should be able to put a device with fewer lanes into a wider slot, so those should all work in your 16x slots. There's some discussion of that here and here if you want other random strangers on the internet saying it's cool. I can't find an authoritative source explaining it, though.
posted by whatnotever at 4:10 PM on July 14, 2010
Oh, and I'm assuming you meant 680i.
posted by whatnotever at 4:11 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by whatnotever at 4:11 PM on July 14, 2010
Any PCI Express card will work fine in the slots designated for use as SLI - They're just slots that are designated in hardware as providing support for SLI functions, if SLI is being used for video cards.
posted by Rendus at 5:21 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Rendus at 5:21 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
whatnotever wrote: "In any case, aren't disk and network controllers all 1x or maybe 4x at most? You should be able to put a device with fewer lanes into a wider slot, so those should all work in your 16x slots. There's some discussion of that here and here if you want other random strangers on the internet saying it's cool. I can't find an authoritative source explaining it, though."
I don't specifically remember any 16x disk controllers, but I've definitely seen 8x.
Regardless, a lot of early SLI boards only had one or two 1x PCIe, and the 8x electrical with a 16x slot and the full 16x (8x in SLI mode) slot for SLI.
posted by wierdo at 8:32 PM on July 14, 2010
I don't specifically remember any 16x disk controllers, but I've definitely seen 8x.
Regardless, a lot of early SLI boards only had one or two 1x PCIe, and the 8x electrical with a 16x slot and the full 16x (8x in SLI mode) slot for SLI.
posted by wierdo at 8:32 PM on July 14, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by rhizome at 3:47 PM on July 14, 2010