Saturday February 11, 2012 8:23 AM AEST

Enabling SLI on a cheaper X58 mobo

By Justin Robinson
10:22 Mar 19, 2009 | 1 Comment
Tags: SLI | X58 | hack
Enabling SLI on a cheaper X58 mobo

For when your X58 doesn't support SLI in the BIOS - get a new BIOS!

X58 boards can all support SLI, it's something that almost any board with two PCIe 16X slots can do - but only with NVIDIA's say-so.

Intel and NVIDIA both came to an agreement for the X58 chipset, allowing NT200 chipsets to be used for hardware SLI, and a license to be purchased that will add a code into the BIOS to allow the software to function.

The problem came when cheaper boards cut out this code, since it's an added expense, leaving some X58 boards without the capability.

Amusingly, Taiwanese magazine PC Home Advance found out that you can simply take your lower-end mobo, and flash it with a BIOS from a high-end one in the same series!

They took a GIGABYTE X58-UD4 board, and flashed it with a X58-UD4P BIOS - enabling SLI without a hitch and giving them a nice performance bump.

Of course this is going to take your warranty for a long walk off a short pier, but for those with a swashbuckling sense of adventure this might be worth giving a go - just be careful!

Head to TweakTown for a look-see.

 

 
 
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1 Comment
Lazzarus2nd
Mar 19, 2009 9:08 PM
Great idea - All we need now is for a reason to jump ship to i7!
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Issue: 133 | February, 2012

Atomic is a magazine aimed squarely at computer enthusiasts, gamers, and serious PC upgraders.

Every month we bring you the latest reviews of new technology and PC components, in depth features on everything from overclocking to console hacking, and gaming previews and interviews.
 
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