nForce4 and SLI

[nitromullet]

Anyone know if an nForce4 motherboard in a dual PCIe x8 configuration will only work with nVidia cards or would it also work with ATi cards?

Basically, I am wondering a few things:

1) Obviously, the ATi cards won't be able to be run in SLI, but would they be able to able to function in the special x8 slots (sized like x16), or is there something present on the nVidia cards that allow them to run in the x8 slots.

2) How much of SLI is dependent on the chipset? Apparently, SLI does work on the Tumwater (Intel server) chipset, but the performance seems to be better on nForce4. Is this just due to fact that Tumwater paired with a Xeon isn't a very good gaming setup or are there optimizations in nForce4 to function better with nVidia cards?

It is quite likely these are still unknowns at this point, but if anyone has any info on either of these I'd be interested to hear it.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

A #1: Any NF4 Mobo should work with any PCIe graphics card. The Mobo can be configured with a little card to run in a single 16X mode or a dual 8X mode. If you are running a single card you would configure the mobo for a single 16X slot. Check out the Anandtech preview of SLI for more info. They show the little configuration card in that article.

I don't know the answer to number two. Could be a combination of things. I seem to recall that the Intel mobo runs SLI in a 16X/4X mode, instead of an 8X/8X mode, so maybe that second card on the 4X slot is not able to contribute as much.

-D'oh!

 

[nitromullet]

yeah, I read the article....

As far as single cards are concerned, nForce4 better run any PCIe card....

My question is not will an ATi card work as a single card, but would it work as dual card... Obvioulsy not in SLI mode, but could you use it to run up to 4 monitors like you can with nVidia cards when the SLI bridge is removed, or will there be a problem because the cards won't run in the x8 slots?

The reason I ask is because I find it interesting that if ATi comes out with some sort of dual PCIe card setup, they might be reliant on nVidia for chipsets for Athlon64... In addition, nVidia doesn't have the rights to make a chipset for Intel based motherboards, but ATi does... Could we potentially see nVidia SLI setups on Intel/ATi motherboards and ATi dual card setups on AMD/nVidia motherboards? I guess I'm curious about how proprietary or how flexible the chipset is.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
The reason I ask is because I find it interesting that if ATi comes out with some sort of dual PCIe card setup, they might be reliant on nVidia for chipsets for Athlon64

ATI has their own K8 chipsets on the way, and I expect to see their version of SLI implemented at some point so no way are they intending to rely on Nv.

How much of SLI is dependent on the chipset? Apparently, SLI does work on the Tumwater (Intel server) chipset, but the performance seems to be better on nForce4. Is this just due to fact that Tumwater paired with a Xeon isn't a very good gaming setup or are there optimizations in nForce4 to function better with nVidia cards?

nV is very likely trying to make their forceware opts a plus for choosing a homogenous solution but most of the difference is probably just that Tumwater isn't as good of a gamer as you suspect.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Anyone know if an nForce4 motherboard in a dual PCIe x8 configuration will only work with nVidia cards or would it also work with ATi cards?

Basically, I am wondering a few things:

1) Obviously, the ATi cards won't be able to be run in SLI, but would they be able to able to function in the special x8 slots (sized like x16), or is there something present on the nVidia cards that allow them to run in the x8 slots.

2) How much of SLI is dependent on the chipset? Apparently, SLI does work on the Tumwater (Intel server) chipset, but the performance seems to be better on nForce4. Is this just due to fact that Tumwater paired with a Xeon isn't a very good gaming setup or are there optimizations in nForce4 to function better with nVidia cards?

It is quite likely these are still unknowns at this point, but if anyone has any info on either of these I'd be interested to hear it.

Drivers are what makes SLI work.

nVidia has been working 2-1/2 years on perfecting their sli drivers.

So, ATI cards will NOT work in Sli in nForce MBs (maybe "someday" . . . . but ATI has announced their OWN sli-type MBs and setup.