Does SLI work without NVLink bridge?ha

Using 4 x RTX A6000 + 2 x NVLink Bridge,

From my understanding, SLI requires NVLink bridge, but I found SLI can be enabled without NVLink bridge, switching SLI Configuration to Maximize 3D performance on Nvidia Control Panel. Confirmed SLI is enabled on both “Configure SLI, Surround, PhysX” and “View system topology” menu on Nvidia Control Panel.
Could anyone please advise if it is just a bug on Nvidia Control Panel?

My question is

  1. Does SLI work without NVLink bridge?
  2. Should SLI on Control panel be disabled if NVLink is installed? (Encountered BSOD after I installed NVLink bridge and I enabled SLI. I am worried if it is just due to faulty hardware or incorrect SLI configuration).

[System configuration]
GPU: RTX A6000 x 4EA (PCIe Slot 1, 4, 5, 8)
RAM: 1024GB(64GB x 16EA)
PSU: 2200W
CPU: Intel Xeon w9-3495X
NVLink: NVLink Bridge x 2EA
OS: Windows 11 23H2 & 24H2 / Windows 10 Enterprise
GPU Driver: 553.24 & 556.12

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Benchmark results is interesting. I found the performance with SLI enabled is even worse regardless of NVLink is installed or not.

  • Benchmark programs: Superposition(both DirectX and OpenGL), Octane, 3D Mark(Time Spy)