The motherboard is an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe. I've pretty much worked out what each entry in the BIOS does, as well as the optimal settings for each of them (including the 20 or so memory settings--whew!) I'm just stumped on one entry here: "K8 to NB (Northbridge) link width". The options are Auto, 8↓ 8↑, and 16↓ 16↑. I'm guessing that the setting has something to do with the PCIe bus (the options kinda sound PCI Expressish, don't you think?) I haven't been able to gather much information from the Net or from the manual about this setting. I recently got a second video card and am now running in SLI mode. If this setting does indeed have anything to do with the PCIe bus, should I change it to maximize PCIe/CPU bandwidth? Thanks The New Furnace, replacing Lennox G12 Trane XV90i 2 stage furnace 112,000 BTUs 92.5% efficient Direct venting Variable speed fan Trane XL600 thermostat CleanEffects air cleaner

Check this out. May be of some help. http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/a8n...

Thanks for the link. The thing is, while hardware enthusiast websites (like the one above) recommend the user to use the 16↓ 16↑ setting, both my 3DMark01 and 06 scores decrease slightly at that setting. When set to Auto, they're a little higher. I haven't tried the 8↓ 8↑ setting yet. This is why I'm so interesting in learning what the K8 to NB link width entry actually does. 16↓ 16↑ sounds like it should be providing more bandwidth to the CPU, yet both 3DMark scores decrease ever so slightly at this setting. Is it possible that, while the 16↓ 16↑ setting increases bandwidth to the CPU, it cuts a few of the PCIe lanes available to the graphics cards? Again, the available options sound like they're related to the PCIe bus (8 upstream, 16 downstream, etc). The New Furnace, replacing Lennox G12 Trane XV90i 2 stage furnace 112,000 BTUs 92.5% efficient Direct venting Variable speed fan Trane XL600 thermostat CleanEffects air cleaner

Many Mboard in SLI mode will only run in 8/ 8 mode. that is by design. check your specs.

This board is able to run both cards in x16 mode, hence the '32' in the motherboard's name. The New Furnace, replacing Lennox G12 Trane XV90i 2 stage furnace 112,000 BTUs 92.5% efficient Direct venting Variable speed fan Trane XL600 thermostat CleanEffects air cleaner