a_scerba
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Hello, I recently picked up an X58 SLI LE board with the intent to run 3x GTX 260s in SLI. I didn't do as much digging into the slot wiring as I should, and when it arrived I realized the 4 x16 sized slots are wired x16 x8 x4 x8. I was hoping to keep 0 slot spacing between each card because the case I'm using won't accommodate a 2 slot tall card in the lowest x8 slot, which means running the third card in the x4 slot. I saw in the product manual that there were two 3-way bridges that came with the board originally. One for 0 slot spacing and one for 0 + 1 to allow for a single slot PhysX card between cards 2 and 3.
From my understanding, putting the third card in the x4 slot for 3-way would significantly hamper performance. Am I missing something? Why would the 0 slot spacing bridge be included if it was for a sub-optimal configuration? Or is it actually fine to run the third card in the x4 slot?
I don't have the 0 + 1 bridge or a single slot rear I/O panel to test, but I might pick up another bridge and just run the third card without a rear I/O bracket to test. If I can solve this ahead of time, though, that would be preferable.
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bdary
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/17 07:25:27
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The x4 slot was intended for something other than an SLI config. It's been many years since I ran an SLI config, but if memory serves, in order to enable SLI, all GPU's need a minimum of a x8 slot to work. EDIT: Useful info in here -> https://thetechylife.com/can-you-sli-3-cards/ Scroll down to the FAQ section.
post edited by bdary - 2025/01/17 07:35:17
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/17 07:55:34
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bdary
The x4 slot was intended for something other than an SLI config.
For sure, that's what I figured from prior knowledge. I think the intent is for a dedicated PhysX processor. At least that's what contemporary reviews of the time highlighted as the use case. I'm just unsure then as to why EVGA included a bridge that would connect cards in the x16 x8 x4 positions, instead of only including the bridge that connects cards in slots x16 x8 and x8, which has more space between cards 2 and 3.
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/17 07:59:00
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Cool GTX
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/17 09:46:53
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☄ Helpfulby a_scerba 2025/01/17 10:18:38
I searched EVGA Forum --->>> X58 SLI LE & SLI ..............(you need to change default search time filter, from 30 days to "from the beginning") Seems SLI was a hot topic way back in 2009 - 2012 for that MB Home » All Forums » [EVGA Motherboards] » All Other EVGA Motherboards link to results  AllOther MB section, search results so take a look through all of those threads (4 pages), maybe you'll find some of the information you're after
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/17 10:21:24
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Cool GTX
I searched EVGA Forum --->>> X58 SLI LE & SLI ..............(you need to change default search time filter, from 30 days to "from the beginning")
Shoot, I missed the filter button... much appreciated  Cool GTX
Seems SLI was a hot topic way back in 2009 - 2012 for that MB
so take a look through all of those threads (4 pages), maybe you'll find some of the information you're after
Great, thanks for the help!
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/17 11:14:04
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I dug through the posts and found a few relevant things: - Someone running a 8800GTX in the x4 slot. Linked to a TechPowerUp article on PCIe scaling with a GTX 480. Noted an average performance hit of around 7% at 1920x1200 resolution.
- Also found this post asking about my direct use-case. It seems like the hit should be negligible.
I guess to answer my question about why the included a 0 slot 3-way bridge is because the performance hit should be negligible, at least on cards of the time. Saw someone that said x4 cripples performance for the GTX 260, but others say it's fine. I'll run x16 x8 x4 for now to get the build finished, then do some performance benchmarks with the third card in x8. 
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bdary
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/18 09:59:40
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Post back with results when you get some benchmarks run. I'd be curious to hear (read) about that.
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Cool GTX
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/18 10:33:50
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Good to see you found some pearls of wisdom in those threads, that can help you on your SLI adventure Happy to Help  Looking forward to reading your updates, in the future
Learn your way around the EVGA Forums, Rules & limits on new accounts Ultimate Self-Starter Thread For New Members
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/18 15:43:32
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bdary
Post back with results when you get some benchmarks run. I'd be curious to hear (read) about that.
Definitely. Still waiting on some parts to arrive before I can test, and I may have killed one of the cards while installing a water block  , but I'll start a new post with the data once I have it in a few weeks. Cool GTX
Good to see you found some pearls of wisdom in those threads, that can help you on your SLI adventure
Happy to Help
Looking forward to reading your updates, in the future
One of the reasons I appreciate the Internet Archive. Plenty of good information to be found in old posts and blogs, and making sure content stays accessible is important. Thanks again for the guidance 
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/23 16:59:12
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I'm back with some preliminary testing. CPU: i7-960 GPUs: 3x GTX260 I'm currently pretty busy, but I got the system to post and boot. I took some rough seat-of-the-pants measurements in Metro 2033 Redux. Currently running high settings with PhysX turned on. Walked the same stretch of game play for each run. Some combat. Eyeballed FPS with Steam's FPS overlay. 1600x900. All four components water cooled in serial w/2x 360mm radiators. Only 3 fans installed on the top radiator currently. Temps maxed out at 60C for CPU and 50C for all GPUs. Single GPU: 40-60FPS- Pretty stable, no stuttering. What you would expect from a single card.
2-way SLI (x16 and x8, x4 dedicated PhysX): 80-110FPS- Some hiccups occasionally, but overall, pretty smooth. Pretty close to a single high performance card experience.
- Saw ~95% utilization on cards.
2-way SLI (x16 and x4, x8 dedicated PhysX): 80-110FPS- Not much to say, felt similar to the last setup.
3-way SLI (CPU set to PhysX): 70-100FPS*- More noticeable stuttering, but felt pretty similar to the 2-way SLI runs.
I still haven't tried installing the card in the other x8. I need to get a longer male-to-male fitting for the lower GPU and the bridge with wider spacing for the bottom two cards. I'll come back when I have some more time and the parts on hand. Some more controlled testing across a few games would give a more accurate picture, but I think the 2-way SLI results say enough for my purposes.
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bdary
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/23 18:00:40
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a_scerba
I'm back with some preliminary testing.
CPU: i7-960
GPUs: 3x GTX260
I'm currently pretty busy, but I got the system to post and boot. I took some rough seat-of-the-pants measurements in Metro 2033 Redux.
Currently running high settings with PhysX turned on. Walked the same stretch of game play for each run. Some combat. Eyeballed FPS with Steam's FPS overlay. 1600x900.
All four components water cooled in serial w/2x 360mm radiators. Only 3 fans installed on the top radiator currently. Temps maxed out at 60C for CPU and 50C for all GPUs.
Single GPU: 40-60FPS
- Pretty stable, no stuttering. What you would expect from a single card.
2-way SLI (x16 and x8, x4 dedicated PhysX): 80-110FPS
- Some hiccups occasionally, but overall, pretty smooth. Pretty close to a single high performance card experience.
- Saw ~95% utilization on cards.
2-way SLI (x16 and x4, x8 dedicated PhysX): 80-110FPS
- Not much to say, felt similar to the last setup.
3-way SLI (CPU set to PhysX): 70-100FPS*
- More noticeable stuttering, but felt pretty similar to the 2-way SLI runs.
I still haven't tried installing the card in the other x8. I need to get a longer male-to-male fitting for the lower GPU and the bridge with wider spacing for the bottom two cards. I'll come back when I have some more time and the parts on hand.
Some more controlled testing across a few games would give a more accurate picture, but I think the 2-way SLI results say enough for my purposes.
Have you tested with 3-way sli but leave Physx on auto? Physx on the CPU will slow things down and cause stuttering as you've found out already.
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/23 18:23:47
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bdary
Have you tested with 3-way sli but leave Physx on auto? Physx on the CPU will slow things down and cause stuttering as you've found out already.
No... I'll give that a shot. I understand SLI is pretty touchy. I did try setting it to the third card, and performance was pretty abysmal. 10-20fps.
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/24 12:08:11
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Tried setting PhysX on auto. It selected The 8x card. Performance was bad. 10-20 fps. Bad stuttering. Tried setting it to the main x16 card. Similar result, but this time the game crashed about a minute in.
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bdary
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/25 08:58:05
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I guess you just have to try every possible combination and then run with whichever gives the best results.
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a_scerba
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Re: X58 SLI LE | 3-way SLI Support/Slot Spacing Question
2025/01/25 09:34:33
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bdary
I guess you just have to try every possible combination and then run with whichever gives the best results.
Yep, seems 2-way with one dedicated to PhysX is the best currently. Gonna try some other games soon.
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