PCIe Video Card has a connector on top

08
2014-07
  • JVarhol

    I have an 8500GT XFX 512MB Video card(like the picture) and I noticed that it had an interesting looking connector at the top of it. At first I didn't really take it into much though, until the other day I saw another video card that had the same little port on the top. I was hoping that you could tell me what it was and what it is used for.

    enter image description here

    • Answers
  • DanteTheEgregore

    What you are looking at is an SLI connector. SLI is a technology by which multiple Nvidia GPUs can be used in unison to provide better performance than a single GPU would.

    Along with better performance, SLI provides other benefits. In an SLI configuration, a second GPU can be used in a game supporting PhysX as a PhysX processor, and SLI supports SLI Antialiasing.

    Both AMD and Nvidia provide similar technologies on their cards. SLI is the Nvidia specific technology that enables this function, while Crossfire is a similar technology available on select AMD cards.

    Supported SLI GPUs can be found here. For SLI you will need two (or more) of the same GPU, a compatible motherboard, and an SLI bridge like the one pictured below:

    Nvidia SLI

  • Steven Sowder

    For SLI to work, you will need the Bridge Connector, and then I believe the rules are that they have to be the same GPU. I've done SLI several times, and when I do, I just buy two of the same card to make sure that they are compatible.

    I also believe I've read something that nVidia has come up with a way to SLI with cards that are at least in the same family, but not necessarily identical. It's been a while, so I don't have a solid answer on that, but a little bit of Google'ing or looking on nVidia's website for SLI requirements should get you a quick answer.


    • Related Question

    Running PCIE card with the on board video card as well in Windows 7
  • Russ Johnson

    I have an emachines Windows7 PC. I am trying to run the on board video card along with the dual DVI card I installed in the PCIE slot. In CMOS it shows the on board card as disabled and it will not let me enable it? Its greyed out so I cant even highlight it to change anything.

    I have done this before in XP on a few different machines so I know its possible, Any idea?


    • Related Answers
  • Dustin G.

    This is not a XP vs. Windows Vista or 7 issue... what you are describing is a motherboard issue.

    I would check for an updated BIOS, but in many cases you don't have a choice whether onboard video is disabled or not when installing an add-in graphics card. Sometimes, manufacturers make this decision to reduce confusion (there are many people who install a graphics card and then plug their monitor into the onboard VGA/DVI socket). Or the motherboard design will turnoff the internal graphics and re-route the PCI-E lanes from the onboard chip to the graphics card you installed.

  • Moab

    Vista and W7 are not as friendly towards multiple video cards as XP was

    http://www.intelliadmin.com/index.php/2006/12/vista-limitation-multi-monitor-displays/

    If you have two different video cards that have different WDDM Drivers – one will be disabled

    No work around that I know of.