So when should we expect the first Quad SLI cards to ship, and how easy will they be for end users to obtain? For an answer to the latter question, we quizzed NVIDIA’s board partners for answers, and the answer may not be good for the do-it-yourself (DIY) crowd. You see, while NVIDIA’s board partners will be selling Quad SLI cards to the retail and e-tail markets, they’ve warned us that they expect that many of their Quad SLI cards will go into system builders PCs, especially at first. In other words, if you want to get your hands on a Quad SLI card, your best odds at getting one may be by buying a new PC from Alienware, Voodoo, or Falcon Northwest.
This could be a repeat of the exact same situation that occurred with the GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB late last year, where a limited number of cards could be found on store shelves on launch day before supplies dried up. Since then, we’ve discovered that a large reason why NVIDIA’s had so many nagging retail availability issues with this GPU in particular is because OEMs were just eating them up for use in their flagship PCs. These systems sell for the highest profit margins for manufacturers and bring in lots of buzz due to their extraordinary performance, so the GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB has been in high demand since its introduction.
We’re hoping our sources will be wrong on this point, and that NVIDIA’s board partners will be able to supply the retail and OEM markets with Quad SLI cards equally well, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.
In terms of when you can expect the first Quad SLI cards to ship, as the old saying goes, we could tell you, but then we’d have to kill you. All indications are that it won’t be long though. At CES Dell stated they’d begin shipping Quad SLI in the March/April timeframe.
Closing thoughts
Just when you thought two graphics cards was overkill, NVIDIA ups the ante by introducing Quad SLI. The best part about their technology is that NVIDIA doesn’t require anything special to get it up and running – existing nForce4 SLI X16 motherboards should work fine with no problems. Unlike ATI’s CrossFire, no dongles are required while NVIDIA’s ForceWare driver features SLI profiles that can be customized for specific games.
But just how much will a Quad SLI setup set you back? That’s the question that still hasn’t received a specific answer just yet. We’ve got a feeling though that Quad SLI is going to be one of those products that if you have to ask, chances are you can’t afford it. We just hope that those DIY’ers who can afford Quad SLI when it debuts will be able to purchase it without having to buy a complete system. Only time will tell on that particular subject though…
For more on Quad SLI and Dell’s XPS 600 Renegade system, check out our video footage from CES, including gameplay footage of F.E.A.R. running at 2560x1600 on the Dell 3007WFP!
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Is Quad SLI a Dell-exclusive?
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