SLI is targeted for release later this fall. NVIDIA is focusing on system builders first, which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise considering the infrastructure support that will be necessary for SLI’s adoption. Remember, a beefier power supply will be required (although NVIDIA hasn’t given specifics), and cooling will have to be taken into consideration: two dual-slot GeForce 6800 Ultra boards would require an enormous amount of space, and don’t forget that the current reference 6800 coolers are both ducted designs that rely on internal airflow to keep the GPU and memory cool. Dual PCI Express slot motherboards will also have to hit the retail market.
Another question mark we have revolves around the SLI connector. As of press time, NVIDIA hasn’t announced their plans for bundling this device. Hopefully it will ship with PCI Express GeForce 6800 boards once they hit retail, but it’s also possible that you’ll have to purchase it as a separate accessory. Considering the success of 3dfx’s “The Power of Two” campaign, we’re hoping NVIDIA bundles the connector with the card, just as 3dfx did with the pass-through cable on Voodoo2, even if that means the board ships with an extra pamphlet or two full of SLI marketing material, but the final decision is still up in the air.
Conclusion
NVIDIA’s SLI technology could dramatically spice up the 3D market. With GeForce 6800 already CPU-limited in many situations, gamers could instead potentially crank up the AA to 8x and the AF to 16x without a dramatic performance hit. Meanwhile, next generation titles could be played with their maximum settings and at high resolutions. The possibilities are limitless.
The real question mark will be infrastructure support. How many motherboard manufacturers will provide dual PCI Express motherboards and in what quantities and pricing? What are the power requirements going to look like? These are the types of questions that really haven’t been adequately answered. NVIDIA initially plans to control the situation by focusing on system builders first, but in order for SLI technology to really take off, it also needs to hit retail.
Until that occurs, NVIDIA will be demonstrating SLI at the Electronic Sports World Cup, Fragapalooza, and the CPL Championships next month, with SIGGRAPH and QuakeCon demonstrations in August. If you’re in the area of any of these events, you may want to check it out.
In any case, we’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of SLI. If NVIDIA is able to deliver as promised, NVIDIA SLI should give gamers a compelling reason to upgrade to PCI Express, and they’ll be sure that PCI Express card (or cards) is based on an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series GPU!
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More on SLI, including performance
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