Nvidia opens SLI to other manufacturers

[imported_X]

Isn't competition grand? Looks like Xfire has motivated Nvidia to share the wealth:

SPEAKING AT a recently held Editors' Day, representatives from Satan Clara company decided to put some rumours to rest and talked about Nv's SLI Certification Program - it isn't only working as an nForce4-SLI motherboard and graphics validation Lab (or for systems with nF4-SLI), but that Lab is testing non-Nv products in SLI config as well.

You don't need to be an MIT graduate to understand the logic of latest nV's moves: when talking to representatives of Intel, nVIDIA learned that problem with double-barreled graphics systems is lack of standardisation, and now it appears that the Green Goblin company is working in silence with other manufacturers in order to get non-nV SLI products out the door and gain advantage over CrossFire from "dear" competitor from Markham.

It was mentioned that both i945 and i955X, as well as other chipsets from VIA and SiS are in testing procedure, but that certification depends soley on products making the grade. ATi is invited as well, but somehow I doubt the Captain Canuck Company would join Green Goblin and will just start with the CrossFire counter-standard. By the way, which do you think will come first - CrossFire retail board of R520 reviews?

It was pretty interesting to hear that the company doesn't has anything against SLI in x16/x4 PCIe configuration, as long as performance suffer too much (interesting, when MyStarInternational made that nF4 Ultra thingie with x16/x4 configuration, Green Goblin sent all of its flak towards TheirStarInternational and they had to can the product).

As explained, Nvidia expects that SLI boost the performance by at least 50% in tested applications, and then submitted product can start using SLI stickers and advertise as insert_name_of_the_company SLI power to power/price financially challenged users.

So, now you perhaps know why are there so many non-SLI-non-CrossFire dual PEG (PCI Express Graphics) motherboards out there. Hope to see those products making the "nV U" grade and soon in our INQ lab.

 

[Beiruty]

SLI is not something one should consider as an upgrade path. The value of SLI is that you get 1.5X improvement of performace at 2X price of the video card ((excluding the price of SLI motherboad), and your value is 75%. If one is satisfied with one PCIe card, by the time he wants to upgrade, a better PCI card will provide an SLI performance.
.

 

[Deinonych]

Wow, that article was painful to read. Don't they have copy editors over at The Inquirer?

Anyway, it should be interesting to see how this pans out. SLI is a cool concept, but so far it hasn't been worth the cost. Maybe with standardization, we'll see better support across the board in games (hopefully translating to much better performance gains).

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: Beiruty
The value of SLI is that you get 1.5X improvement of performace at 2X price of the video card

No, the value of SLi is being able to run at high resolutions with AA/AF and all details on high.

It's got nothing to do with "value" in terms of money. Those who want that kind of performance will pay for it. They're not looking for a "deal".

And I think SLi has a good upgrade path. Now, let me preface that with the fact that I'm not really into the whole buy 1 card now and 1 later thing though. I'm talking about upgrading your SLi to the next gen. Here's my example:

I bought 2x BFG 6800GTs back in February for $650. Technically, it was $750 but they included a free (normally $100) PSU and I needed one since it was a new build. With the arrival of the 7800s around the corner, I'll have the ability to evaluate their performance in both single and SLi to determine if it warrants an upgrade.

If a single card is MUCH better than my SLI GTs (which some initial rumors indicate NO), I can sell my GTs for around $300 each, buy a single card, and POCKET around $200. OR, I can listen to the little devil on my shoulder and grab 2 of the 7800s. Which, after selling my GTs, would put me out-of-pocket around $200. Granted, this is all a guess on the price front. I have no idea what they will retail for, but this is what I would be willing to spend.

In the end, you have to go back to the fact that since February, I have been able to play many of the major releases at 16x12 4xAA 8xAF with no slowdowns. Now, it's 6 months later and someone is finally about to put out a single card that can come CLOSE to matching it (if the leaked results are accurate).

 

[SNM]

Suppose this means the DFI Ultra-D will be able to SLI with new drivers now?

 

[Beiruty]

The DFI Ultra-D is the same as the SLI with what is called "pencil mode". There is only 1 resistor diffrence betweem the 2 board. And according to Anand, with this mode, the Ultra-D will be detected as an SLI, the SLI-bridge can bought off the net sperately.

 

[BadAcid]

I'm building an SLI system. I'm getting a 6800 GT when I see one for 300$ PCIe. I'm also getting just a A64 3000+. In 2 years, I'll get another 6800 GT probably for around 150$ (and a A64 X2 for around 300$, but anyway) By that time, I'm betting that performance has only doubled that of a 6800 GT, and the price won't be cheap. So for 450$ I'll have about 1.6-1.8x the performance of a 6800 GT, when a single card will probably cost 600$ and possibly require another power supply. 600$ for 2x performance, or 450$ for 1.6-1.8? I know this can get fudged by Direct X 10. And I doubt PCs will be that much faster, considering 2 years ago top of the line was 3.2 GHz, and up until last month it was ~4.0 GHz performance (now it's times 2 with dual core, but not for games that exist yet )

edit: and if nVidia does what the rumors say what they're doing by only putting SLI on the 7800 GTX, have fun spending even MORE cash to best a 6800 GT SLI rig. The main thing keeping me from building today is seeing if 7800 in SLI can compete with 6800 GT in SLI, which may not even come to fruition.