nVidia's SLI Apparently Doesn't Require CK8-04 MB

[JackBurton]

Oooooo, I want some SLI action BAD!

 

[Genx87]

I would wait until games come out. Chances are you wont see the benefits of SLI until you crank up AA + AF.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: Insomniak

Originally posted by: CaiNaM
lots of ppl have said "SLI was good"; many nv faithful even proclaimed it the death of ati. just search this board. i've certainly speant enuff time debating that here, or questioning the "claimed" performance gains

still, 3dm is not the definitive answer on exactly how well this config will perform...

Smartass

You know what I meant. There has been no definitive testing or evidence of SLI performance. People can spout all they want - until I see benches, I'll just stay cautiously optimistic. If SLI performs the way NV says, I think it will be very compelling technology. However, I doubt that it will...but here's hoping :beer:

what can i say?

yea, that was my point all along when SLI was announced, what.. over 2 months ago? and we still haven't seen any real performance indicators.

i do find it amusing that in 3dm05 that the "12 pipe" x800pro holds it's own vs. the "16 pipe" 6800GT (actually beats it in the most miniscule of margins), another issue i've been somewhat vocal about. with the amount of posts i've seen where ppl will buy one card over another over simply the "# of pipes", it's certainly interesting to see how misinformation and PR can sway perceptions of the masses.

anyways, i certainly do expect SLI to show some benefits, expecially in high res/aa/af usage, but i certainly don't expect an 1.9x increase as some claims have stated (30-50% would seem more reasonable), and i still question whether the cost of such a solution will be viable for anything mainstream (as in i do think it will be more accepted in pro 3d workstations) other than a "niche" market.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

i do find it amusing that in 3dm05 that the "12 pipe" x800pro holds it's own vs. the "16 pipe" 6800GT (actually beats it in the most miniscule of margins), another issue i've been somewhat vocal about. with the amount of posts i've seen where ppl will buy one card over another over simply the "# of pipes", it's certainly interesting to see how misinformation and PR can sway perceptions of the masses.

I find it amusing you'd use 3DMock as the basis for those comments.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

i do find it amusing that in 3dm05 that the "12 pipe" x800pro holds it's own vs. the "16 pipe" 6800GT (actually beats it in the most miniscule of margins), another issue i've been somewhat vocal about. with the amount of posts i've seen where ppl will buy one card over another over simply the "# of pipes", it's certainly interesting to see how misinformation and PR can sway perceptions of the masses.

I find it amusing you'd use 3DMock as the basis for those comments.

is doom 3 more valid? for a time there a "12 pipe" 6800 beat a "16 pipe" xtpe (i havent kept up, but i thing driver optimizations have changed that). it's hardly the only example that shows the # of pipes by iteself doesn't incidate anything, and it's not limited to this generation either. it all depends on the overall architecture of the the gpu containing those pipes.

this isn't an ati vs nv thing, rather a general statement that overall architecture is what's important, not the "# of pipes".

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
So, what the heck are 2 lesser NV cards going to perform like?

Something is wrong, or SLI is not providing nearly the boost it ought to.

I'm hoping something is wrong.

The CPU bottleneck is certainly possible, but you'd think NV would have known about that. CPU's weren't much of an influence on 3DM03, though. It was mostly the GPU.

Maybe NV is sandbagging?

If a current high end processor can barely feed one 6800U, how in the hell is it going to feed two?
You will definately need a dual processor system o/c'd and have games compiled to take advantage of dual processors before anyone can even get a glimpse of what SLI can do.
SLI is a "down the road a piece" technology. CPU's and their platforms have to become MUCHO faster.

 

[Killrose]

Well my excitement about SLI just dropped about 98%, no wonder they have been FUD'ing around with it and releasing nothing concrete. I guess they were saving this for us? :frown:

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: Killrose
Well my excitement about SLI just dropped about 98%, no wonder they have been FUD'ing around with it and releasing nothing concrete. I guess they were saving this for us? :frown:

Originally posted by: Insomniak
There has been no definitive testing or evidence of SLI performance. People can spout all they want - until I see benches, I'll just stay cautiously optimistic. If SLI performs the way NV says, I think it will be very compelling technology. However, I doubt that it will...but here's hoping :beer:

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Killrose
Well my excitement about SLI just dropped about 98%, no wonder they have been FUD'ing around with it and releasing nothing concrete. I guess they were saving this for us? :frown:

You shouldn't be disappointed. Buy your PCI-E 6800xx/6600GT now. Then down the road, when you need it, purchase a second one for dirt cheap (compared to current pricing) and a SLI capable mobo for a whole hell of a lot less than you would be paying now. By that time, there will be much more wickedly fast CPU's (possibly dual core) that can feed an SLI setup. Granted, by that time, new faster graphics cards will be out that may equal SLI performance, but for a 500+ dollar price premium.

Its all a matter of how patient you are and how into computers you are.

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, it looks like the CPU speed is not making too much of a difference in 3DM05, from reports.

 

[Killrose]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: Killrose
Well my excitement about SLI just dropped about 98%, no wonder they have been FUD'ing around with it and releasing nothing concrete. I guess they were saving this for us? :frown:

You shouldn't be disappointed. Buy your PCI-E 6800xx/6600GT now. Then down the road, when you need it, purchase a second one for dirt cheap (compared to current pricing) and a SLI capable mobo for a whole hell of a lot less than you would be paying now. By that time, there will be much more wickedly fast CPU's (possibly dual core) that can feed an SLI setup. Granted, by that time, new faster graphics cards will be out that may equal SLI performance, but for a 500+ dollar price premium.

Its all a matter of how patient you are and how into computers you are.

I'm waiting to see how all this pans out. But honestly I will never own an SLI system. I've already evauluated the costs based on buying a capable card today and one a year later, and I don't see how you can spend less than $600 on an SLI system. $400 card today and the same card a year later at $200 (which I think is a pretty good estimate).
Chances are, once you see what the new cards are able to do a year later, you are either going to want 1 of those new cards because it either has about the same or more performance than 2 of your year old tech cards in SLI. and/or quite possibly, the new card has advanced pixel shaders or some new fancy smancy AA/AF algorythym you just have to have.

Great, now you are going to have to have 2 of those newest cards, in SLI of course. Would you like 1 now or 2 sir?
ummm....no you are not going to wait till next year to get your second card when they are cheap, because you just got thru doing that and it did'nt work right?

And either way, the new tech card probably will run you under $600 when released, your total investment for your year old SLI tech cards. But you are right. It's all based on how much you are into computers and more importantly, how much you are willing to spend to breifly have a fast system. :beer:

 

[BenSkywalker]

is doom 3 more valid?

Beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt to anyone with a thought in their head- D3 is a game which in and of itself makes it valid at all(blowing 3DM2K5 away to start with) not to mention D3 will likely be the most oft(or second most) licensed game engine over the next several years. Don't get me wrong, if you were to use HL2 as an example of why number of pipes shouldn't be the only consideration I'd back that up- but not FM's latest promo.

I do find it slightly amusing that the ATi PR has now been picked up by the nV followers(it has more pipes- therefore it is better ).

 

[Atif]

Guys, do keep in mind that the SLI tests were conducted in an Intel Tumwater-equipped motherboard.

I'm not saying that nVidia's engineers are so brilliant as to allow us to untap the full potential of two 6800 Ultras in one system, however, they make the GeForce cards, and (once it comes out) are making the CK8-04 chipset with a dedicated chip to handle the SLI function available on these cards.

Perhaps we'll see a performance increase once nVidia puts out its own chipset INTENDED for use with two videocards (CK8-04 SLI)

I guess we'll have to wait and see until '4th Quarter 04'

Peace

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, ATI will have a response to SLI, and then the battle will just be on all over again.

 

[Killrose]

Originally posted by: Atif
Guys, do keep in mind that the SLI tests were conducted in an Intel Tumwater-equipped motherboard.

I'm not saying that nVidia's engineers are so brilliant as to allow us to untap the full potential of two 6800 Ultras in one system, however, they make the GeForce cards, and (once it comes out) are making the CK8-04 chipset with a dedicated chip to handle the SLI function available on these cards.

Perhaps we'll see a performance increase once nVidia puts out its own chipset INTENDED for use with two videocards (CK8-04 SLI)

I guess we'll have to wait and see until '4th Quarter 04'

Peace

True, it is too early to tell exactly what SLI can do. We need to see what exactly nVidia has to offer. No doubt they have some proprietary hardware/programming that will work with their GPU designs.

 

[ijester]

i do find it amusing that in 3dm05 that the "12 pipe" x800pro holds it's own vs. the "16 pipe" 6800GT (actually beats it in the most miniscule of margins), another issue i've been somewhat vocal about. with the amount of posts i've seen where ppl will buy one card over another over simply the "# of pipes", it's certainly interesting to see how misinformation and PR can sway perceptions of the masses.

Dapunisher: It is not a '12 pipe'. It is an x800Pro that has been modded to the full 16 pipe.

And where did everyone get the misconception that SLI would only work on nVidia chipsets. They have said all along that it would only require the necessary PCI-e slots to work.