NVIDIA Corporation
158
Chapter 8
Using NVIDIA SLI Technology
Hardware Requirements
To
support
NVIDIA
SLI
technology,
the
motherboard
and
system
must
include
the
following:
Motherboard
Your
PC
motherboard
must
be
PCI
Express
‐
based,
with
two
available
and
adjacent
PCI
Express
expansion
slots.
Both
slots
must
be
x16
mechanical
with
the
following
allowed
electrical
slots:
• x16
+
x16
• x16
+
x8
• x16
+
x4
• x8
+
x8
Graphics Cards
NVIDIA
SLI
requires
two
SLI
graphics
cards.
• For
SLI
Frame
Rendering
or
SLI
Antialiasing
•
Two
identical
NVIDIA
Quadro
FX
4500,
4400,
3450,
3500,
3400,
or
5500
graphics
cards
•
An
SLI
bridge
connector
(provided
with
your
graphics
board)
must
also
be
installed
to
utilize
the
full
capabilities
of
SLI
Frame
Rendering.
•
For
SLI
Multi
‐
View
•
Two
matching
NVIDIA
Quadro
FX
5500,
4400,
3500,
3400,
1400,
and
540
graphics
cards
Power supply
• Some
SLI
‐
ready
graphics
boards,
such
as
the
NVIDIA
Quadro
3450,
3400,
3500,
4500,
4400,
or
5500
require
an
external
power
cable.
• Since
NVIDIA
SLI
technology
supports
up
to
two
high
‐
end
graphics
boards,
the
load
on
the
system’s
power
supply
can
increase
significantly.
A
minimum
of
a
450W
Power
Supply
Unit
(PSU)
is
recommended.
An
inadequate
power
supply
will
result
in
erratic
and
unpredictable
system
behavior.
QuadroGuide_.book Page 158 Thursday, July 27, 2006 6:48 PM
