Thread: SLI Memory

I have an SLI motherboard, a couple of 8600 GT in SLI, and an SLI certified case and power supply. I am not sitting here saying you want SLI versions of everything. I am actually creeped out about how SLI I have become. Maybe I must obtain some SLI RAM and paint an nVidia logo on my head. Well okay, maybe I should not go that far, but SLI memory has irritated my interest. Unlike SLI certified case, which didn't appear to have any advantage over normal case, SLI memory is supposed to offer some type of advantage in performance. My first action was to investigate what SLI memory is. Here is what I grabbed from nVidia's site.



NVIDIA SLI-Ready system memory certification makes sure the compatibility and system strength with rest of SLI ecosystem elements, with NVIDIA nForce SLI motherboards, NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, and SLI-Ready power supplies. SLI-Ready memory also supports Enhanced Performance Profiles (EPP). When corresponding with NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI, 680i LT SLI or 590 SLI AMD edition-based motherboards, SLI-Ready memory exposes advanced performance memory settings.

"Only memory that passes NVIDIA SLI certification can be known as 'NVIDIA SLI-Ready certified.' Be confident to look for NVIDIA SLI-Ready badge when you purchase your system memory."

I remove from this that it includes compatibility and stability while giving memory advanced settings. Doing a little more research, I found out that it is generally done via Enhanced Performance Profiles (EPP). This is information about timings than what are generally in SPD profiles. It must make memory "self-tweaking," in a sense. All those settings in memory configuration that need countless hours of twisting can now be done by the memory itself.

This will save me hours of time and must give some benefit in performance, because memory must be at its best configuration likely. On other note, you don't want a pair of SLI video cards to run SLI memory developments. To run SLI enhancements on PC you want an SLI chipset and SLI capable RAM; all else is optional.



If you open up CPU-Z and turn to memory SPD, you will see few things you may have never seen before. Take a look down at timing table. You notice two types of timings: JEDEC and EPP. You possibly never saw these earlier, so I will provide you run down. JEDEC are official, by memory standards, speeds. These are your usual speed at which you can locate memory being sold. Some memory is sold above any rated JEDEC speeds; your more performance-oriented RAM tends to be sold like this. You may get one, two or three settings like this depending on the memory frequency.

EPP means Enhanced Profile Protocol. This is what creates RAM SLI-Ready. It is extra timing and speeds at which RAM is able of running. These settings could be very uneven on certain motherboards and certain setups.

This is where SLI-Ready appears. This RAM will work with any SLI motherboard out there. It has been intended to run at this speed and timing. And every motherboard has voltage and any other requirement to run this memory.

The huge differences between EPP and JEDEC are speed, timings, and voltage. To go to EPP, you are pushing 2.2 volts through memory in order to get rated speed and timings. This is not a choice for motherboards. The EPP technology could be used in non-SLI RAM, but you reach inconsistencies with various motherboards and chipsets, which may cause some EPP settings to not work properly. A user-programmable EPP would be sweet though.