I posted here last year when I could not get clear answers to getting my Quadro M4000's in SLI Mode or if that was even possible. I wanted to post here my solution to getting Quadro SLI to work. So now I know from experience: The answer to the question, "IS QUADRO SLI capable" is YES! I got it on my system working FINALLY. Im posting this because I saw a lot of unanswered questions on the internet and it took me awhile to get it set up properly. I had hired a computer tech guy to build my system and set up SLI but he never did it properly. I got sick of paying him money to fix, it and he wasn't doing it so I did it myself.
I originally spoke to an advanced technician at PNY who called me from his cell phone while driving to tell me that yes, Quadro cards are SLI capable even though NVIDIA Tech Support kept telling me they were not. NVIDIA Sales Reps though told me they were, but tech support there just told me yesterday (10/5/2016), again they aren't. The tech support rep is wrong.
SLI stands for Scalable Link Interface. From the NVIDIA website, it allows a connection of multiple graphics cards to present themselves to the CPU as 1 and work as 1 graphic card. Without them being connected, my experience is that one graphic card is just sitting there, and only one is being used. To harness the power of multiple NVIDIA graphic cards, you need SLI enabled. But I am still not sure if SLI will only work with 2 graphics cards or not (for the Quadros). I know with GeoForce you can have more than 2.
NVIDIA Still does not have detailed info on their website regarding QUADRO SLI. And I did not see any tech info regarding SLI under their QUADRO Card spec pages or sheets. While under the webpage for MULTI-GPU TECHONOLOGY is does state that one can use a combination of any number of Quadro cards and Tesla cards, it does not specify if that includes SLI. NVIDIA's Quadro SLI page simply has a list of systems and motherboards that support it. THERE IS NO DETAILED INFO ON QUADRO SLI.
QUADRO SLI is PLUG AND PLAY. If everything is done right it will just work. The following is a list of steps/facts I discovered to get QUADRO SLI working. I hope it saves you the time and hassle I went through.
NVIDIA tech support was useless. They told me several times Quadro does not have SLI. I had to tell them to read their website. I got it working without their help.
On the NVIDIA website there is a list of Motherboards compatible with Quadro SLI. Look under TECHNOLOGIES - QUADRO SLI drop down menu. I purchased the ASUS Z10PE D8 WS.
I have 2 Quadro M4000's. I dont know if SLI will work with more than that or not. But it will definitely work with 2 Quadro cards.
You MUST attach the SLI bridge to the Quadro connectors toward the inside of the Quadro cards. There are 2 sets (tabs) next to each other on edge pointing upwards after they are installed on motherboard. A left set towards edge where DisplayPorts are and one is on right and closer towards center of card. Use the ones on RIGHT towards center of cards. These clip on very easy. No forcing required.
READ MOTHERBOARD MANUAL. The Quadros MUST use the x16 PCI Express bus. You can always look in System Info in Windows, or in the NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL or in the Device Manager. Device manager will tell you which PCI Slot numbers you are in and SYSTEM INFO if you are at x8 or x16 bus.
For the ASUS Z10PE D8 WS motherboard, the PCI Express slots are PAIRED. 1 and 3; 2 and 4. Per ASUS, slots 1 and 3 are paired for SLI. So they must be in these slots. However, if you have anything in PCI Slot 2, slot 1 will run on x8 bus. If you have anything in slot 4, slot 3 will run at x8 and DISABLE SLI. Slots 2 and 4 must be EMPTY for SLI to work. This was one of my mistakes. CHECK YOUR MOTHERBOARD DOCUMENTATION and make sure you have the right PCI slots and they are on x16 bus.
DO NOT DAISY CHAIN power supply to the the Quadro Cards. To ensure they work properly with SLI they must have the right power reaching them. Make sure you have a strong enough power supply and attach a 6 pin cable from the power supply to each card individually. My tech guy daisy chained them and I discovered through Quadro/Nvidia/SLI documentation they may not work properly if daisy chained.
Be sure to download the newest driver and do a CLEAN INSTALL. Just choose Custom Install and than check the Clean Install check box.
The BIOS needs to have SLI enabled. I have Windows 10 64 bit. My BIOS settings had nothing for SLI. Look for PCIE or PCI EXPRESS or something like that and make sure option is ENABLED. Mine was disabled and the computer guy I hired and paid has this at DISABLED for some reason. Since SLI is Plug and Play, you may not need to set this,
You may need to reboot the PC several times.
Once I got everything connected properly, I got a pop up window on my reboot that said something to the effect: "Your system is now SLI CAPABLE." This only happened once. When i restart my computer now I never get that pop up, but I DO have SLI working.
Make sure your DiplayPort cords are in the correct Display Ports. You must be in DP1. DP1 on my system was towards the bottom of the ports on the back of my PC. I assumed DP1 was the TOP PORT. I WAS WRONG. DP1 was the first port on the BOTTOM.
If you have a 5K monitor: YES SLI WILL WORK. 5K monitors have 2 DisplayPort cords. Make sure the BLUE DOT one is in DP1 and the 2nd is in DP2.
in the NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL. On the left hand side are expandable menus. the top expandable optiuon says 3D SETTINGS. It usually has 2 submenus. If SLI is recognized and you have a 4k or less monitor, you WILL see an SLI Option. You click on this and than in window on the right select ENABLE SLI.
In the NVIDIA Control Panel, if you have a 5k Monitor, the SLI submenu under 3D Settings will NOT appear. However, click on VIEW SYSTEM TOPOLOGY under the WORKSTATION menu on the left expandable menus. Than in the right window under each Graphic Card you will see SLI MIODE: ENABLED PREMIUM MOSAIC MODE. Also, in the GPU UTILIZATION GRAPH (accesible via the Manage GPU submenu on the left, you will see BOTH the graphs moving! It IS working!!!!!
One more thing. If you use 4k or less (with a 5k monitor only attach 1 cable and it will be a 4K monitor), I was able to get 2 monitors working with SLI. However, if you are in the PREMIUM MOSAIC MODE with a 5K monitor (both cables attached) you cannot use a second monitor unless it is the SAME RESOLUTION and REFRESH rate. This is a limitation of MOSAIC which is automatic with a 5K monitor in Quadro SLI.
IF YOU NEED HELP. On the NVIDIA website go to SUPPORT - KNOWLEDGE BASE - and do a search for Quadro SLI. A trouble shooting PDF pops up. Here is a link: http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/782/...
I HOPE THIS HELPS!!!!! I put this up because the hell I went through getting this running and having to deal with "eperts" that had no clue and didnt do the due diligence to figure it out. I can tell you though it was worth the gains. My videos are running lightening fast. I am doing 3D modeling in RHINO and about to start rendering so I am hoping Ill see the gains there, too.
One last thing: iF YOU MUST CALL TECH SUPPORT - CALL PNY or another reseller before you call NVIDIA. NVIDIA Tech Support was USELESS. PNY Quadro Tech support: at 1-800-230-0130 helped me trouble shoot to an extent. 10/6/2016