Member Avatar for gingank

Hi All,

Currently i have one Nvidia GTS250 & one Nvidia GTX 285 can this two do SLI ??

If can how to do it ??
If can not want the reason ??

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Short answer: No — a GeForce GTS 250 and a GTX 285 cannot be put into an NVIDIA SLI pair. NVIDIA’s SLI requires identical PCI‑Express graphics cards, and those two cards use different GPU chips/architectures (GTS 250 = G92 series; GTX 285 = GT200 series), so they are not SLI-compatible. (NVIDIA SLI requirements, GTS 250 specs, GTX 285 specs).

Clarification on “identical”: NVIDIA expects the same GPU model/architecture and matching resource set; SLI does not add VRAM — GPU memory is replicated, so the usable VRAM equals the memory on the smaller card. That is why matching memory size matters in practice. Cards from different board partners are OK only when they are the same GPU model and memory configuration. (NVIDIA SLI Best Practices — note on GPU memory, what you need for SLI).

Practical alternative (what hinted at): install both cards but not SLI — the GTX 285 can be used as the primary renderer and the GTS 250 set as a dedicated PhysX/compute card via the NVIDIA Control Panel’s PhysX settings. That can help in a few PhysX-heavy titles, but gains are limited and not worth buying a second expensive card only for PhysX in most cases. (NVIDIA: Set PhysX configuration, Set Multi‑GPU & PhysX).

Quick checklist for next steps: confirm each card’s exact model in Device Manager / NVIDIA Control Panel; verify your motherboard supports SLI and that you have the SLI bridge; update to the latest drivers; enable SLI only if you acquire a matching card. If the goal is improved frame rates, selling one card and buying a matched pair (or a single faster card) is usually the most effective path. (NVIDIA SLI requirements & setup).

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Member Avatar for The New Normal

No I'm afraid not. Cards need to have the same GPU type and same amount of vRAM. http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=161155

However, they can still work together. You can use the 285 as your primary card, and the 250 for physx processing. But that's really overkill, and unless you're playing Batman Arkan Asylum or another physx heavy games it's really not going to do much for you.

Member Avatar for 110108

Hi All,

Currently i have one Nvidia GTS250 & one Nvidia GTX 285 can this two do SLI ??

If can how to do it ??
If can not want the reason ??

no/yes

to be able to use sli both graphic need to be from the same factory, same GPU and bios version nowaday hardware are tolerente like a geforce driver release 80 from nvidia but they need at least to be twin on the GPU side

Member Avatar for hradwarez

It should work. The fastest card will work with a lower clock of the other one. you can go to nVidia's website for more support..

Member Avatar for The New Normal

no/yes

to be able to use sli both graphic need to be from the same factory, same GPU and bios version nowaday hardware are tolerente like a geforce driver release 80 from nvidia but they need at least to be twin on the GPU side

Don't need to be from the same factory, just the same GPU and same RAM.

It should work. The fastest card will work with a lower clock of the other one. you can go to nVidia's website for more support..

No it won't.

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100217142541AA07sJD

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