PRB
August 3rd, 2010, 15:50
Ok, my computer has two of these video cards: They are MSI 9800GTX+ with 512 MB of ram.
http://www.hoc.hu/upload/news/17154_msi-9800-gtx-plus.jpg
These cards are SLI capable. So, if I “use” SLI, the two video cards work together and I get better performance. I get that. I think. I'm “assuming” that to “use” SLI I have to connect the two video cards together using the small cable that came with the motherboard. It connects the two cards via one of the two small connectors at the top of the card, at the left end of this picture. But, if you notice, there are two such connectors, and they are identical. But, they are not labeled. So which one do I use? I'd hate to get it wrong and blow up the video card.
But what if I don't connect the two cards together? Are they still working together to increase performance? Will not connecting them together damage the computer and/or the motherboard? Will they just sit there as isolated video cards unaware of each other? Will only one even work if they're not connected?
I've been searching Nvidia, MSI, and anywhere else I can think of and I can't find a manual for this card and anything that explains how to do this.
The reason I ask is: When I opened the box to troubleshoot my computer problem, the small cable was connected to only one of the video cards, with the other end just flopping around in the case. So I connected the other end to the other video card. It had no affect on the problem.
Are those small connectors even related to SLI at all? What the heck is that connector for?
http://www.hoc.hu/upload/news/17154_msi-9800-gtx-plus.jpg
These cards are SLI capable. So, if I “use” SLI, the two video cards work together and I get better performance. I get that. I think. I'm “assuming” that to “use” SLI I have to connect the two video cards together using the small cable that came with the motherboard. It connects the two cards via one of the two small connectors at the top of the card, at the left end of this picture. But, if you notice, there are two such connectors, and they are identical. But, they are not labeled. So which one do I use? I'd hate to get it wrong and blow up the video card.
But what if I don't connect the two cards together? Are they still working together to increase performance? Will not connecting them together damage the computer and/or the motherboard? Will they just sit there as isolated video cards unaware of each other? Will only one even work if they're not connected?
I've been searching Nvidia, MSI, and anywhere else I can think of and I can't find a manual for this card and anything that explains how to do this.
The reason I ask is: When I opened the box to troubleshoot my computer problem, the small cable was connected to only one of the video cards, with the other end just flopping around in the case. So I connected the other end to the other video card. It had no affect on the problem.
Are those small connectors even related to SLI at all? What the heck is that connector for?