why two SLI edge Connectors?

I saw a picture of the BFG 8800GTX Video card and it had 2 SLI edge
connectors.

does this mean you need bridge across both to get SLI?

Or, does this mean you can bridge 3 cards with the center card bridged to 2
cards?

( I want this Looney assed answer cuz I only have one freaking cable and
just ordered a couple of those afore mentioned 8800's.)

Where does one get another cable with out trying to call the major Taiwanese
company and asking them?

If that fancy looking film type ribbon cable is just a fancy looking cable,
can one just get a couple of edge connectors and some flat cable from
Digi-Key and squish a new cable together?

Thanks in advance

"Mr. Porter" <nanimal.porter@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:Zmk2i.13719$He1.7210@trndny04...
>I saw a picture of the BFG 8800GTX Video card and it had 2 SLI edge
>connectors.
>
> does this mean you need bridge across both to get SLI?

No. One is enough for a two-card SLI configuration.

> Or, does this mean you can bridge 3 cards with the center card bridged to
> 2 cards?

Or 4 cards, for that matter. Note the existence of four PCIe x16 physical
slots on nVidia 680i motherboards. It's more of a provision for future
developments (quad-SLI, physics acceleration, etc.)

> ( I want this Looney assed answer cuz I only have one freaking cable and
> just ordered a couple of those afore mentioned 8800's.)

The SLI cable (or bridge connector) is usually supplied along with the
motherboard, and not included with the card, because slot distances are not
universal. Extra cables, if and when needed in the future, will have to be
sourced from the motherboard mfr.

> If that fancy looking film type ribbon cable is just a fancy looking
> cable, can one just get a couple of edge connectors and some flat cable
> from Digi-Key and squish a new cable together?

The data transfer rate across that cable is on the order of GB/s. A handmade
cable probably won't be "clean" enough. (The Voodoo2 SLI cable from the old
days transferred analog pixel data, so it could be fashioned from a floppy
ribbon cable with the 4 center wires twisted 180 degs.)

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"Mr. Porter" <nanimal.porter@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:Zmk2i.13719$He1.7210@trndny04...
>I saw a picture of the BFG 8800GTX Video card and it had 2 SLI edge
>connectors.
>
> does this mean you need bridge across both to get SLI?
>
> Or, does this mean you can bridge 3 cards with the center card bridged to
> 2 cards?
>
> ( I want this Looney assed answer cuz I only have one freaking cable and
> just ordered a couple of those afore mentioned 8800's.)
>
> Where does one get another cable with out trying to call the major
> Taiwanese company and asking them?
>
> If that fancy looking film type ribbon cable is just a fancy looking
> cable, can one just get a couple of edge connectors and some flat cable
> from Digi-Key and squish a new cable together?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
>
Thanks for the info

I still have a couple of creative 3D Voodoo cards laying about collecting
dust, the monster cards.

"Mr. Porter' wrote:
| Thanks for the info
_____

There are only three physical PCI-E X16 slots on nVidia 680i motherboards;
two have 16 lanes, the third (center slot) has only 8 lanes (see
http://www.nvidia.com/object/designe..._680i_sli.html ).

The 680i chipset does not support enough PCI-E lanes to EVER support four
PCI-E X16 slots wit 16 lanes each.

Phil Weldon

"Mr. Porter" <nanimal.porter@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:6kr2i.15006$rT6.8177@trndny08...
|
| "Mr. Porter" <nanimal.porter@verizon.net> wrote in message
| news:Zmk2i.13719$He1.7210@trndny04...
| >I saw a picture of the BFG 8800GTX Video card and it had 2 SLI edge
| >connectors.
| >
| > does this mean you need bridge across both to get SLI?
| >
| > Or, does this mean you can bridge 3 cards with the center card bridged
to
| > 2 cards?
| >
| > ( I want this Looney assed answer cuz I only have one freaking cable and
| > just ordered a couple of those afore mentioned 8800's.)
| >
| > Where does one get another cable with out trying to call the major
| > Taiwanese company and asking them?
| >
| > If that fancy looking film type ribbon cable is just a fancy looking
| > cable, can one just get a couple of edge connectors and some flat cable
| > from Digi-Key and squish a new cable together?
| >
| > Thanks in advance
| >
| >
| Thanks for the info
|
| I still have a couple of creative 3D Voodoo cards laying about collecting
| dust, the monster cards.
|
|

Creative or Diamond Monster? :-) Different brands from what I recall.

I have one of each, running in SLI with mismatch-enabled drivers, in a
secondary rig for old Win9x games.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"Mr. Porter" <nanimal.porter@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:6kr2i.15006$rT6.8177@trndny08...
> Thanks for the info
>
> I still have a couple of creative 3D Voodoo cards laying about collecting
> dust, the monster cards.
>

"Phil Weldon" <not.disclosed@example.com> wrote in message
newsfs2i.7110$296.4617@newsread4.news.pas.earthl ink.net...
> "Mr. Porter' wrote:
> | Thanks for the info
> _____
>
> There are only three physical PCI-E X16 slots on nVidia 680i motherboards;
> two have 16 lanes, the third (center slot) has only 8 lanes (see
> http://www.nvidia.com/object/designe..._680i_sli.html ).
>
> The 680i chipset does not support enough PCI-E lanes to EVER support four
> PCI-E X16 slots wit 16 lanes each.
>
> Phil Weldon
>

Many folks use the top 2 (16 + 8) with the 8800 GTX cards with very good
success in SLI. I use the two 16L slots for mine and may just check out
what, if any, difference it would make to use the top two because of the
limited breathing space for the bottom card's fan. I have only about 1/2" of
clearance between the fan and case. For some reason, I cannot get nTune to
read temps for the second (bottom) card so I don't have any idea how hot it
is running. Since all video output is from the card in the primary slot it
is possible that the daughter card may not use all 16 lanes.........I
dunno.....:-). From all I have read about the 8800 GTX card's 2 SLI
connectors, they are for future MBs that may support 3-4 X16-16L cards. I
could build a pretty good system for the price of 4 768mb 8800
GTXs.......:-). Two of them were a big enough hit. One other thing I have
found is that it doesn't matter which pair of connectors you use as long as
you connect the cable to the corresponding connector on each card.


Ed