FiringSquad: Home of the Hardcore Gamer - Games, Hardware, Reviews and NewsSubmit your own or view users' CPU overclocking results!

  
 Home   News   THE MATRIX   Deals   Hardware   Games   Features   Media   Products   Forums   FS China 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Home : Hardware : Video Cards : NVIDIA's SLI Technology
» Join the Greatest Gaming Community NOW! (It's free)

Already a member? Login
 


Bioshock: The Brutally Honest Review [Preliminary #2] (8) by Swatt
Hope or Fear? (0) by ICDP
A Truely "Epic" Game: Unreal Tournament 3 Review (4) by Discobiscuits
Clive Barker's Jericho Review (Round 2) (6) by jacobvandy
So what if it doesn't follow the topic? (0) by ICDP
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare SP Review (prelim 2) (9) by jacobvandy
PC in a world of Crysis (3) by greennova
WW2 License Plate says it all (0) by Ph33rsPhun
it could have been better T_T (0) by exe3
»» best haiku ever (0) by darkportal_4

More Blogs >>


 Hottest Topics
New Modern Warfare 2 PC petition created (33)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Review (33)
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview (12)
BioShock 2 special edition includes vinyl LP (11)
Activision hopes to monetize some aspects of CoD multi (11)
NPD: Wii, Unchartered 2 #1 in hardware, software sales (10)
First Fermi-based Tesla board announced (9)
Steam weekend deal: Crysis for 50% off (8)
Craigslist flooded with modded Xbox 360s (8)
Supreme Commander 2 coming this Spring (7)
New Bad Company 2 trailer released (7)
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will support DirectX 11 (7)
Is CoD: MW2's 'Ghost' getting his own game? (6)
JPR: PC gaming hardware market forecast to hit $27B next year (6)
Report says Activision has hired a 3rd dev team to make Call of Duty games (6)
Today's News >>
Today's Siteseeing >>


 News Archive
This Month

October 1 - 31, 2009

September 1 - 30, 2009

August 1 - 31, 2009

July 1 - 31, 2009

June 1 - 30, 2009

May 1 - 31, 2009

April 1 - 30, 2009

March 1 - 31, 2009

February 1 - 28, 2009

January 1 - 31, 2009

December 1 - 31, 2008

November 1 - 30, 2008



NVIDIA's SLI Technology
June 28, 2004   Brandon Sandman Bell > [View My Other Articles]
Product Info | User Reviews | Article Images(19) | Image Gallery | Comments | Forum Thread
Final Thoughts


Availability

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!

Back! More on SLI, including performance    
Blog + Share: Digg Del.icio.us Reddit SU furl • More: AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Send This Article to a Friend!  
Table of Contents
  Print Entire Article  

MATRIX CONTENT » RANDOM MEDIA BLOG More Blogs >>
No ratings yet
» Please rate this
I am an AMD AgentRead this Media-Blog entry!» Sins of a Solar Empire Beta Review [Prelim 2] (5)
by Itchyeyes (77) Talk with this user on their Shout Box (My other blogs) Posted 24 months ago
  Latest Content
Left 4 Dead 2 PC Review
Left 4 Dead 2 PC Review
Valve says Left 4 Dead 2 contains so much new content, it's worthy of a sequel rather than DLC. Is this true or false? Judge for yourself in today's review!
Nov 20, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
After a 10-month hiatus, ATI's once again got the world's fastest graphics card. The Radeon 5970 fuses two RV870 chips onto one board for max performance, and is built for OC'ing. See how this board fares in the latest games including Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and DX11 titles like STALKER: Call of Pripyat in this article!
Nov 17, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Review
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Review
With no dedicated servers, no lean, and 18-player cap for multi, does Modern Warfare 2 for PC live up to its predecessors? Most of the reviews online have praised Infinity Ward's latest shooter but those reviews were focused for console players -- how does the PC port fare? Find out in today's review!
Nov 13, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
Bull's Eye Award Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
With its custom vapor chamber cooling+heatpipes and factory OC'ing, Sapphire's 5870 Vapor-X is targeted towards gamers looking for a 5870 card with a little more oomph than the stock 5870 card can provide. Best part of all is that the card sells for just $10 more than the stock Radeon 5870. See how much cooler and quieter the Vapor-X card runs inside!
Nov 10, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Dragon Age Origins Review
Editor's Choice Award Dragon Age Origins Review
While Jakub wasn't too impressed with Dragon Age Origins, Vandy has a completely different take on the game. This is one review you definitely won't want to miss if you're a BioWare fan!
Nov 9, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Phenom II Gets A New Revision: 125W AMD Phenom II X4 965 Performance Preview
Phenom II Gets A New Revision: 125W AMD Phenom II X4 965 Performance Preview
Promising lower power consumption, lower temps, and most importantly for enthusiasts, more OC'ing, AMD is back with a new CPU revision for the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, which now boasts a 125W TDP. Is AMD able to deliver on their promises though? Find out in today's article!
Nov 3, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Shattered Horizon Review
Shattered Horizon Review
FutureMark, well known for their popular 3DMark benchmarks, is venturing into new territory with Shattered Horizon. This multiplayer shooter is perhaps best known for its system requirements -- the game supports DX10 only -- but there's more underneath the surface of this game than fancy visuals. Is it worth its $20 price tag though? Read Vandy's take inside!
Nov 2, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Borderlands PC Review
Borderlands PC Review
Is it an RPG or is it an FPS? Borderlands blends the best elements of both in one entertaining package. Vandy has spent the past week playing the PC version of the game and came away rather impressed. Read his full thoughts on the game in today's review!
Oct 29, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
AMD Athlon II X3 435/Athlon II X2 240e Performance Preview
AMD Athlon II X3 435/Athlon II X2 240e Performance Preview
Today AMD is introducing 8 new Athlon II CPUs intended to service different segments of the budget CPU market. For HTPC users, new 45W dual, triple, and quad core offerings should deliver good performance along with low power, while performance junkies on a budget will want to look at AMD's new Athlon II X3 CPUs. See how the new chips stack up in terms of performance and OC'ing in this article!
Oct 19, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
EVGA P55 FTW Review
EVGA P55 FTW Review
Looking for a good P55 motherboard to OC your CPU beyond 4GHz? If so, you may want to check out EVGA's P55 FTW. With its extra ATX12V connector, this motherboard can send up to 600W of juice to the CPU, and it's got more voltage settings in BIOS than 95% of the general public needs. But that's just barely scratching the surface of what this board can do. Check out today's review for the full details!
Oct 16, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]




 Hottest Topics
New Modern Warfare 2 PC petition created (33)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Review (33)
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview (12)
BioShock 2 special edition includes vinyl LP (11)
Activision hopes to monetize some aspects of CoD multi (11)
Today's News >>
Today's Siteseeing >>


 Table of Contents


Check Out These Related Articles >>
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
ATI Radeon HD 5770/5750 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon HD 5770/5750 Performance Preview
Batman: Arkham Asylum PhysX Features and Performance
Batman: Arkham Asylum PhysX Features and Performance
ATI Radeon 5850 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon 5850 Performance Preview
Overclocking the Radeon HD 5870
Overclocking the Radeon HD 5870
ATI Radeon HD 5870 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon HD 5870 Performance Preview
FiringSquad is powered by... Back to Top Site MapContact UsAdvertise With Us Privacy StatementAbout Us  
News RSSSiteseeing RSSArticle RSS   © 1998-2009 FS Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved