GTX 580s PhysX Auto Select?

[Slik]

Thanks for the quick response everybody! I am going to separate them. The cards are VERY close to each other in the top slots and that of course is going to create more heat. My PC case is large and is well ventilated. Everthing else [CPU] etc. is nice and cool so I'm sure separating them is the way to go. At least NOW I'm sure. Thanks again for that good advice.

[MacJunky]

Originally Posted by Slik

My PC case is large and is well ventilated.

You are the only person I have seen say that an area51 case has good airflow.

[Soultribunal]

Originally Posted by Slik

I have the cards installed in the two top PCI slots. I read a post somewhere in this forum that if you put the second card in the bottom PCI slot,you will lose performance as the bottom slot is a different speed. It was something like that. Speed x8 rather than x16? I also found out on this forum that an older and longer SLI bridge would work with the 580s if I were to separate them. Should I do it? Will putting one card in the top and one in the bottom hurt IQ or performance? For sure they will run a lot cooler that way. Experienced opinions please? I'm really not sure what the hell to do. Thank you all very much for help.

Like I said in the other post about this on 580 SLI, I believe that your board runs 16x/8x/8x. So that way no matter which way you stack the cards in you will still get the same performance.

I think you forgot about my posts on your board.

ST

[rjbarker]

Split em up......leave the middle PCI-E Slot clear and use a longer SLi Bridge.....silly to put em so close if you don't have to...the 8X vs 16X Bandwidth will be negligible...barely noticeable Benching...also as Soul Tribunal stated get a better Case with far better Air Flow....sure sounds to me like your lacking Air Flow.....my Silvestone TJ09 has been modded to handle Tri Sli 580's with a shvtload of efficient fans running.....highest Temps I see is around 78C on the middle Card with the GPU Fans at 80% @ 2560 x 1440 Res.....

I'll clarify.....when your running multi high end GPU's whether your Case "looks Fab" means jack.......you want whistling Air Flow .....and lots of fresh Air to cool those puppies!!! I'm running 7 x 120mm and 1 x 140mm Fans in my Case.....set up with Positive Pressure and te 140mm was added (modded) to the side window to provide fresh air nblowing directly on the GPU's, there's anoter 120mm that provides fresh air directly to the front of the GPU's (GPU Intakes)....whether you go positive / negative is mixed...you just have to play around....sure your Area 51 Case may "look fab"....but thats not what matters.....or go WC

[Slik]

I did remeber what Soultribunal said about my MB but I thought that somehow the 3rd slot would cause a performance hit. As far as my case goes,I added two more 120mm fans on the top of my PC and another 90mm fan to exhaust air out the back. Overall pretty good air flow I would say.

[Slik]

Originally Posted by Soultribunal

Like I said in the other post about this on 580 SLI, I believe that your board runs 16x/8x/8x. So that way no matter which way you stack the cards in you will still get the same performance.

I think you forgot about my posts on your board.

ST

I just ran GPU Z and it shows both cards at PCIE at 16 x 16. v2.0 The cards are still in the top two slots. I am going to separate them to 1 and 3 slots a bit later. One more question. Now that I know the older SLI bridge works on the 580s, will I get any benefit if I use TWO of them? Thanks again

[JJThomp]

Nope for some cards it actually causes errors and lowers your performance but I don't know about the 580... either way having 2 wont increase performance might as well use 1.

[Soultribunal]

Originally Posted by Slik

I just ran GPU Z and it shows both cards at PCIE at 16 x 16. v2.0 The cards are still in the top two slots. I am going to separate them to 1 and 3 slots a bit later. One more question. Now that I know the older SLI bridge works on the 580s, will I get any benefit if I use TWO of them? Thanks again

Ahhh okay, so then in the first part of my post I was right, crap. Its hard to tell with OEM boards like yours. So put it in the bottom slot and see if it runs at either 8X or 4x. If it runs at 4X then put it back to the second slot, if not then keep it there and at worst you will lose a frame or two.

For the SLI connectors, I don't know on the 580's. I think putting both in won't hurt, but you can always test it both ways to see if there are any changes.

ST

[Slik]

Originally Posted by Soultribunal

Ahhh okay, so then in the first part of my post I was right, crap. Its hard to tell with OEM boards like yours. So put it in the bottom slot and see if it runs at either 8X or 4x. If it runs at 4X then put it back to the second slot, if not then keep it there and at worst you will lose a frame or two.

For the SLI connectors, I don't know on the 580's. I think putting both in won't hurt, but you can always test it both ways to see if there are any changes.

ST

Thank you, and here I go! The Area 51 case is soooo heavy, I had to kind of get myself motivated to move it. I have had several cups of coffee and I'm ready for bear. I will report any changes in temps etc. Thanks again. This forum is a WEALTH of good info and advice. Much easier than talking to a Dell tech for hours and getting no where. All they ever want to do is replace something and get you off the phone.

[Slik]

OK it's done. The bottom slot is x8 but after running a game for a bit,I couldn't really see any difference. I don't know if performance is any different but so far so good. The cards are also running cooler by about 7c. Is that about right? I can't say enough about how good you guys are.