User`s guide

NVIDIA Corporation 171
Chapter 9
Using NVIDIA Scalable Link Interface (SLI)
Using NVIDIA SLI
This section explains how to use the following SLI features:
• SLI Frame Rendering
• SLI Antialiasing Mode
• Viewing Load Balancing
SLI Mode Overview
The following SLI modes are available:
• SLI Frame Rendering (Multi-GPU)
SLI frame rendering accelerates OpenGL operation in two different ways: split-
frame rendering (SFR) and alternate-frame rendering (AFR). In SFR, the display is
split into distinct sections, and each section is sent to a different GPU. The
resulting rendering is recomposed and displayed as a single contiguous frame.
The position of the split is adjusted dynamically as the workload moves between
the GPUs. In AFR, each GPU renders alternate frames of data from the
application.
•SLI AA
You can use SLI to provide higher-quality antialiasing beyond 16xFSAA. In this
mode, neither AFR nor SFR are available.
•SLI Single GPU
Also known as SLI compatibility mode, this mode provides for improved
performance at a level that assures compatibility with most applications.
Two basic steps are required to select an SLI mode,
1 Select the SLI mode to use when SLI is enabled in a profile.
• SLI Multi-GPU rendering
• SLI Single-GPU rendering
• SLI AA
2 Select the 3D application profile to use.
• 3D App-Modeling AFR
• 3D App-Visual Simulation
• 3D App-Default Global Settings
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