So, you’ve got two GPUs sitting in your rig and a burning desire to squeeze every drop of performance out of them, but your game doesn’t support SLI. Now what?
You’re not alone. Games nowadays hesitate to go for dual GPU configurations as the multi GPU setups become less common even in the real world.
But that does not completely mean you won’t be able to use that second graphics card at all. Just a little tinkering and patience are all that is needed.
And here is a friendly guide-on maxing out your multi GPU setup when SLI isn’t civilly accepted.
Ways to Improve Multi GPU Supports for Games
1. Try Forcing Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR)
The most famous way enthusiasts use these days is forcing Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR), through third party utilities, for example NVIDIA Profile Inspector.
How to do it:
- Download NVIDIA Profile Inspector
- Find the game profile or create a new one.
- Open NVIDIA Control Panel
- Right-click on your desktop > NVIDIA Control Panel
- Go to “Manage 3D Settings”
- Click the tab on the left panel.
- Under “Program Settings”, select the game or software.
- Set “SLI Rendering Mode” to AFR or AFR2.
- Select either AFR 1 or AFR 2. (You can experiment to see which performs better.)
- Click Apply
- Restart the game for changes to take effect.
2. Tweak SLI Compatibility Bits
In the same tool (NVIDIA Profile Inspector), you can also adjust SLI compatibility bits. These tell your GPU drivers to behave as if they’re running a game that does support SLI.
- Open the app and select your game from the dropdown.
- Find “SLI Compatibility Bits (DX10 + DX11)”.
- Enter a known hex value (e.g. 0x0C1902F5).
- Scroll down to “SLI Rendering Mode”.
- Set it to “Force Alternate Frame Rendering 2” or “AFR Friendly”.
- Click “Apply Changes” (top right).
- Launch your game and test!
3. Repurpose the Second GPU for Other Tasks
If gaming across both cards isn’t working out, you don’t have to let that second GPU collect dust. You can use it to:
- Turn off SLI
- Open NVIDIA Control Panel
- Go to SLI settings → Choose “Disable SLI”
- Pick the Second GPU in Apps
- In video editors (like Premiere), go to settings and pick the second GPU
- In Blender or AI tools, choose the second GPU for rendering
- Use It for Other Work
- Great for:
- Video editing
- 3D rendering
- AI tasks
- PhysX (set it in NVIDIA Control Panel)
- Great for:
4. Try Running the Game in Borderless Windowed Mode
This one sounds simple, but it sometimes works.
- Open the game
- Go to Settings > Display or Graphics
- Find Display Mode
- Select Borderless Window (or Borderless Fullscreen)
- Click Apply and enjoy!
Final Thoughts
It’s annoying when your second GPU just sits there in games without SLI support but don’t give up!
Try tools like NVIDIA Profile Inspector, switch to DX12 or Vulkan, or use that extra GPU for tasks like rendering or video editing.
Stay patient, experiment a little, and tweak some settings; you might be surprised how much more you can get out of your setup!