General SLI Hardware Question

endersblade · 12-14-2007, 08:40 PM

I've had my computer for a couple months now, and I recently decided to tinker under the hood a bit (installed SATA DVD drives, and some other misc tweaks). When I went to pop everything back in, I picked up this small ribbon cable that was on my video cards. It connects to 1 of the 2 port thingies on the side of one card, and links to the other. My first question is, what does this cable do? Secondly, which spot am I supposed to put it in to run in SLI? Or does it not matter? The cable is about 5 or 6 inches long stretched out. I'm running two Asus 8800GTs in SLI. The computer is running fine, to my knowledge, though I'm not entirely sure I put that one specific cable back in the right spot.

**emosun** · 12-14-2007, 09:19 PM

That cable links the two video cards together to enable them to run in sli. And as far as i know it can only be inserted in one way

ebackhus · 12-15-2007, 10:17 AM

Emosun nailed it there. The ribbon is designed to let the cards talk back and forth without using the PCI-Express bus. It'll only install the correct way so don't worry about how it's on there.

endersblade · 12-15-2007, 10:36 AM

I'm not talking about directions...there are two identical tabs on each video card that this cable can plug into (that would be 2 on one, and 2 on the other, if I'm not being clear.) They aren't labeled or anything. As of right now, I have the cable plugged into the ports furthest from the back of my computer, and nothing bad has happened. Since the spots have no ID on them, I haven't the foggiest idea why there are two. Do I need to have two cables? I know I have another floating around my house, maybe I'll go find it at some point today...

Forgive the artwork, but they look something like this:
_______ _________
|_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_|

Then again, from the sounds of it, you guys know what it is I'm talking about lol. Anyway, thanks for the quick response!

**emosun** · 12-15-2007, 12:12 PM

Two? Well then both need to be occupied for the cards to be in sli

ebackhus · 12-15-2007, 02:30 PM

Those are likely cards ready for a quad SLI setup. Connect the ones that are directly across from the other.

Code:

_________________________
|||||               ||||| <-Connected

|||||               ||||| <-Open connectors

12-14-2007, 08:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
endersblade Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 OS: Vista32	General SLI Hardware Question I've had my computer for a couple months now, and I recently decided to tinker under the hood a bit (installed SATA DVD drives, and some other misc tweaks). When I went to pop everything back in, I picked up this small ribbon cable that was on my video cards. It connects to 1 of the 2 port thingies on the side of one card, and links to the other. My first question is, what does this cable do? Secondly, which spot am I supposed to put it in to run in SLI? Or does it not matter? The cable is about 5 or 6 inches long stretched out. I'm running two Asus 8800GTs in SLI. The computer is running fine, to my knowledge, though I'm not entirely sure I put that one specific cable back in the right spot. __________________ ________________________ "When the sword becomes a burden, let the warrior lay it aside so that another with a truer heart my take it up." -Radiant, Archangel

12-14-2007, 09:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,921 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: General SLI Hardware Question That cable links the two video cards together to enable them to run in sli. And as far as i know it can only be inserted in one way __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

12-15-2007, 10:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: General SLI Hardware Question Emosun nailed it there. The ribbon is designed to let the cards talk back and forth without using the PCI-Express bus. It'll only install the correct way so don't worry about how it's on there. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

12-15-2007, 10:36 AM	#4 (permalink)
endersblade Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 OS: Vista32	Re: General SLI Hardware Question I'm not talking about directions...there are two identical tabs on each video card that this cable can plug into (that would be 2 on one, and 2 on the other, if I'm not being clear.) They aren't labeled or anything. As of right now, I have the cable plugged into the ports furthest from the back of my computer, and nothing bad has happened. Since the spots have no ID on them, I haven't the foggiest idea why there are two. Do I need to have two cables? I know I have another floating around my house, maybe I'll go find it at some point today... Forgive the artwork, but they look something like this: _______ _________ \|_\|_\|_\|_\| \|_\|_\|_\|_\| Then again, from the sounds of it, you guys know what it is I'm talking about lol. Anyway, thanks for the quick response! __________________ ________________________ "When the sword becomes a burden, let the warrior lay it aside so that another with a truer heart my take it up." -Radiant, Archangel Last edited by endersblade; 12-15-2007 at 10:40 AM.

12-15-2007, 12:12 PM	#5 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,921 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: General SLI Hardware Question Two? Well then both need to be occupied for the cards to be in sli __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

12-15-2007, 02:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: General SLI Hardware Question Those are likely cards ready for a quad SLI setup. Connect the ones that are directly across from the other. Code: _________________________ \|\|\|\|\| \|\|\|\|\| <-Connected \|\|\|\|\| \|\|\|\|\| <-Open connectors __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.