nVidia SLI

psyno

psyno

Newbie
Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Messages
559
Reaction score
0
That's "Scalable Link Interface" and not "Scan Line Interleaving" but the idea is very basically the same, and probably stems out of nVidia's acquisition of 3dfx IP a few years ago. It looks like for a few pretty pennies, nVidia may have the end all, beat all graphics solution.

The NDAs are apparently over, so here are links to some overviews:
HardOCP: http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjMz
Tom's Hardware: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/index.html

Your thoughts? Anyone crazy enough to put down that kind of money? :eek:
 
Wouldn't suprise me if this feature appears on ATi's next line-up of graphics cards... funny how that happens.

Looking at the benchmarks for a Dual 6800 ultra rig blew me away, they get over 100% increases in some benchmarks, and overall its something like a 90% increase over a single 6800-ultra. That just blows ATi out of the water.

Unfortunately the price of two 6800-ultras, the price of the motherboard to support them, and the rest... makes such a system only available to the three richest kings in the world.
 
Yes because we all know we all need 4,000 fps on d3 hl2 and fc with 2400x1200 resolution with 8x aa/af and all settings on max.

Sorry but after a while it gets overkill. You don't need a card that'll do more than 100 fps in the top of the line games with full blasted settings. If someone bought that, and I had my 9800 pro, and we both played far cry for instance, his gaming experience wouldn't differ in the slightest from mine. After around 60 fps the human eye can't tell the difference. So wheter its 100 fps or 10,000 fps, you wouldnt notice it anyway. The only reason you upgrade your gfx card is for the new features, and to keep up those 60-100 fps in newer games as they come out, not to have 50,000 fps which u cant even see.
 
Uh some people need that, when they put movies together such as toy story, etc. That kills graphic cards easly, this will help them out with pci-express with dual video cards runnning :)
 
At the moment such a system would only be an option for rich hardware nuts who are desperate for a place in the 3DMark Hall Of Fame or something like that.

On the other hand, it looks like an ideal upgrade path. You could first buy a single 6800 card and after a year, when more demanding games arrive, simply add another 6800 card and get 90% more performance instantly. By that time, the second 6800 card would have considerably dropped in price as well. It all depends on buying the correct motherboard and powersupply, of course.
 
So, having two 6800 Ultras would take up 4 PCI slots? That is incredible.

I don't think it's worth it. You are spending a $1000 on graphics cards that will be feature outdated in one year. I hope this fails miserably so the price of graphics cards will start to fall.

[Edit]: Not to mention heat and power issues from havig two Nvidia cards in the same computer. Throw a Prescott in that computer and you can call it an 'easy bake oven'.

[Edit 2]: Just thought about all of the noise issues of having 2 graphics cards in a computer. You may want to buy a set of ear plugs if you go the SLI route.
 
Yes because we all know we all need 4,000 fps on d3 hl2 and fc with 2400x1200 resolution with 8x aa/af and all settings on max.
Click to expand...
Then why the hell did you buy a athlon fx-53 and an x800 xt why didint you just get an athlon 3400 and and x800 pro?
 
Give the guy some sympathy, he's just spent a bomb on that system only to find it gets blown away by another spec machine - in such situations it's common for people to just insult the higher spec machine and say how pointless it really is.

Guinny - cheer up man, that system owns anyway.
 
LOL. That's true that it will consume a lot of power. To be honest though, I don't think that's going to stop the high-end enthusiast. Many of these gripes are the same as those during 3dfx's debut of the Voodoo2, where not a few people paid $1000+ (USD) for their graphics cards, and they still needed a 2D one for normal operation!

With respect to the physical slot space it would take up, I guess you just have to ask yourself whether the physical space in your case is at that much of a premium. I can safely say that in my case, it's not. The only other add-on card I have is my SoundBlaster. With more and more features being integrated directly into the motherboard, we're seeing fewer and fewer add-on cards.

Also, I don't really think noise is going to be an issue.
 
blackeye said:
Then why the hell did you buy a athlon fx-53 and an x800 xt why didint you just get an athlon 3400 and and x800 pro?
Click to expand...

Because I won't be updating for probably another 2 years. So I got the tippy top of the line now, so in 2 years I'm not *too* shamefully behind.
 
blahblahblah said:
So, having two 6800 Ultras would take up 4 PCI slots? That is incredible.
Click to expand...

An update on [H]ard|OCP says that VeolictyMicro are looking at SLI'ing two 6800GT's as a cheaper ( :E ) two-slot solution.
 
Yes, and there is speculation that you may be able to mix and match different models. This was possible with the Voodoo2, but it would have a sort lowest-common-demoniator effect. With nVidia's dynamic load balancing, it might be more useful.
 
guinny said:
Because I won't be updating for probably another 2 years. So I got the tippy top of the line now, so in 2 years I'm not *too* shamefully behind.
Click to expand...

In 2 years you will be way behind.
 
Last I checked 2 years ago pentium 4's with 2ghz were around, and they are still widely being used so....not sure what your talking about if you think I'll be way behind.
 
technology grows exponentially, not really in numerical order.
in 2 years your fx-53 and x800xt-pe wont mean shit.
 
guinny said:
Yes because we all know we all need 4,000 fps on d3 hl2 and fc with 2400x1200 resolution with 8x aa/af and all settings on max.

Sorry but after a while it gets overkill. You don't need a card that'll do more than 100 fps in the top of the line games with full blasted settings. If someone bought that, and I had my 9800 pro, and we both played far cry for instance, his gaming experience wouldn't differ in the slightest from mine. After around 60 fps the human eye can't tell the difference. So wheter its 100 fps or 10,000 fps, you wouldnt notice it anyway. The only reason you upgrade your gfx card is for the new features, and to keep up those 60-100 fps in newer games as they come out, not to have 50,000 fps which u cant even see.
Click to expand...

Guinny as ATI fanboyed as ever.

It was only a week ago you was having an arguement with me and some other people that the ATI is better than the Nvidia...but both cards get over 60fps in every game out and according to you, the eye cant see anymore than that. You need to grow the **** up and make your mind up. One minute the ATI ****ing rules because it beats the nvidia by a mere few fps and now this sucks because it beats the ati by 150fps. Tit.

BTW i have an X800PRO but i still believe the nvidia to be better in the long run by a LONG way. My X800pro does'nt have PS3.0 which say whatever you want...the 6800 does and with two 6800's that will dominate for at least the next 2 years in any game maxed out the 6800 would be the BEST buy overall.

Think before you say anything on this about what you previously said.
This is the thread where you say the ATI is the best card because it outperforms the nvidia, now the tables turn and you say the nvidia is wank because it doubles anything with this new technology
 
Yay, a fanboy argument has erupted over technology that only an extreme enthusiast can buy.

So how does this new SLI fit in with Alienware's ALX systems? Does anybody know if Alienware is licensing this technology? I don't think so because Alienware calls their technology "Video Array" rather than "SLI."

As for this SLI technology, I hope Nvidia doesn't urge its "way its meant to be played" partners to use more advanced shaders/textures/geometry to help sell its SLI solution. I am tired of seeing fancy new shader effects that game companies don't properly optimize because high-end hardware can handle them at 30 FPS.
 
Alienware use the same principle but implemented differently, and as a result they don't get as good results as nVidia do.

nVidia results have not been released officially yet but they are significantly better than the Alienware setup.

I think the major differences between the two implementations is driver-only, regarding how the workload is spread across the two cards. I'm guessing AlienWare will take a peek at nVidias driver solution and copy them.
 
guinny said:
Last I checked 2 years ago pentium 4's with 2ghz were around, and they are still widely being used so....not sure what your talking about if you think I'll be way behind.
Click to expand...

So what about the new pentiums coming this coming year, all the way to 6ghz supposedly. I mean that will blow the FX-53 out of the water.
 
:dozey: You just brought Guinny's hopes down, by mentioning 6 Ghz Pentiums... he now feel his system is obselete, so he is going to upgrade once more.
 
Alig - why u insist on following me into threads to argue idk
disturbed - ur lucky if intel releases a 3.8ghz chip this year.
ailevation - im not THAT stupid...stupid...but not that stupid. my system is nowhere near obsolete. in a few months it'll obsolete to those die-hard computer guys who upgrade every time theres a new piece of tech out. in order for my comp to be obsolete id have to have a problem running games and programs, and have slow down with pretty much everything. and i highly doubt thats happening anytime soon, seeing as my amd athlon 1.4 t-bird my friend bought off of me runs almost as smooth as my 3.0ghz p4.
 
Guinny: You bought a 3.2Ghz p4 and a 9800pro awhile bac, if I remember correctly.... and you're talking about people upgrading?

Also, like it was mentioned, this will be a great way to upgrade...
 
Pobz said:
Alienware use the same principle but implemented differently, and as a result they don't get as good results as nVidia do.

nVidia results have not been released officially yet but they are significantly better than the Alienware setup.

I think the major differences between the two implementations is driver-only, regarding how the workload is spread across the two cards. I'm guessing AlienWare will take a peek at nVidias driver solution and copy them.
Click to expand...

I haven't paid that much attention to Alienware's setup (because I would never buy an Alienware desktop PC) but I think I could give you a basic compare/contrast.
  • nVidia built their SLI tech into the NV40 GPU. Alienware's solution is more general, and I see no reason why it couldn't apply to any pair of graphics card you threw at it (excepting that Alienware would have to support them).
  • Neither of them do scan-line interleaving (the old 3dfx method) but instead have one card draw the top portion of the screen, and the other card draw the bottom. nVidia's solution is currently faster and more flexible largely because they don't fix the ratio between the two. If one card is having an easier time, the driver gives it more of the screen to draw. Alienware's tech just splits it 50/50 currently.
  • Finally, in nVidia's solution there is a direct hardware bridge between the two cards much like 3dfx's SLI cable. I haven't seen any detailed specs on it yet but I presume it serves a similar function (it's even in the exact same place...).
One interesting thing about 3dfx's method is that it could actually be expanded to far more than 2 GPUs. High end AAlchemy rigs from Quantum3D had up to 32 VSA-100 chips (the GPUs in the Voodoo4 and Voodoo5). Obviously that's not for gamers... I wonder if Quantum3D is working with nVidia to do this again.
 
guinny said:
Alig - why u insist on following me into threads to argue idk
Click to expand...

Well dont leave yourself open. You change your mind in every graphics related thread.

The reason i picked you was because you are the only person here who i remember saying the ati pwns the nvidia (by a MERE FEW fps) and then says the nvidia 6800ultra x 2 is crap because it pwns the ati (by ONE HUNDRED fps). You also specifically say you are'nt a fanboy but you will never admit the nvidia's are better. Dude ive got a Sapphire X800PRO...im not fanboy by backing up nvidia... i just spent £310 on an ATI, only i KNOW when something is really going to come out top unless ATI copy the idea.
 
Probably not, PCI express motherboards are limited to 1 or 2 slots - only the expensive ones are slots.

Gone are the days when all graphics cards were PCI and we had an ample supply of PCI slots.

Thanks for the info.
 
guinny said:
Yes because we all know we all need 4,000 fps on d3 hl2 and fc with 2400x1200 resolution with 8x aa/af and all settings on max.

Sorry but after a while it gets overkill. You don't need a card that'll do more than 100 fps in the top of the line games with full blasted settings. If someone bought that, and I had my 9800 pro, and we both played far cry for instance, his gaming experience wouldn't differ in the slightest from mine. After around 60 fps the human eye can't tell the difference. So wheter its 100 fps or 10,000 fps, you wouldnt notice it anyway. The only reason you upgrade your gfx card is for the new features, and to keep up those 60-100 fps in newer games as they come out, not to have 50,000 fps which u cant even see.
Click to expand...



says the person who just bought a top of the line PC when he could have settled for much less. ;)




This is pretty cool though. I doubt i would buy two 6800ultras(to expensive) but if they did it with more mainstream cards to bring the price down i would definatly consider it. Even with slower cards it would still be faster than any other single card.

Good play by nvidia.
 
Alig said:
Well dont leave yourself open. You change your mind in every graphics related thread.

The reason i picked you was because you are the only person here who i remember saying the ati pwns the nvidia (by a MERE FEW fps) and then says the nvidia 6800ultra x 2 is crap because it pwns the ati (by ONE HUNDRED fps). You also specifically say you are'nt a fanboy but you will never admit the nvidia's are better. Dude ive got a Sapphire X800PRO...im not fanboy by backing up nvidia... i just spent £310 on an ATI, only i KNOW when something is really going to come out top unless ATI copy the idea.
Click to expand...

1. I never said it pwned it, you still insist on taking it that way. I said the XT is a better buy then the 6800 and that's my opinion. And I've got almost every FX line card somewhere in this damn room so stop calling me an ATi fanboy for it.

2. for someone who isnt a fanboy you sure show a funny way of proving it."You also specifically say you are'nt a fanboy but you will never admit the nvidia's are better." thats a rather stupid statement to make, because by saying im a fanboy and then saying nvidia is better you contradict yourself and make yourself an nvidia fanboy. :cheers:
 
Just my opinion but it would make more sense to spend about $1500 on a computer now and then in 12 months or so spend antother $1000-$1500 on a new computer. The new one you buy will be a lot more powerfull then if you buy a computer every 2 years but are spending $3000 a shot. See.

Athlon FX-53
X800 XT
Whatever else you get.. ($3000)

Or you could get an athlon 3500
X800 Pro both these parts are decent overclockers.
Whatever else you get.($1500)
And then in 12 months for another $1500 you could get and athlon 4500 (or whatever is out then) and an 7800 GT (or whatever is out then).

This would be a lot faster then you Athlon FX-53 and X800 XT in the long run.
 
I spend about 1000-1500 every two or three years..... with about 500-1000$ worth of upgrades inbetween.


works for me.
 
Thanks for making me feel like shit. I was so excited about this comp and now you all took the fun out of it. I feel like im running a 486 the way you guys are talking.
 
blackeye said:
Just my opinion but it would make more sense to spend about $1500 on a computer now and then in 12 months or so spend antother $1000-$1500 on a new computer. The new one you buy will be a lot more powerfull then if you buy a computer every 2 years but are spending $3000 a shot. See.

Athlon FX-53
X800 XT
Whatever else you get.. ($3000)

Or you could get an athlon 3500
X800 Pro both these parts are decent overclockers.
Whatever else you get.($1500)
And then in 12 months for another $1500 you could get and athlon 4500 (or whatever is out then) and an 7800 GT (or whatever is out then).

This would be a lot faster then you Athlon FX-53 and X800 XT in the long run.
Click to expand...


yes it is more sensible. but consider the hooker analogy. some people can't afford the most expensive hooker, but they can afford getting an OK looking hooker more often. the ones who can afford the high quality/high performance hooker get one hell of a night, but less often. i could go further into this analogy, but it might offend some people
 
lol. One of the most attractive things about SLI with the Voodoo2 was that you could upgrade it at any time. Spend 500 USD now on a top of the line graphics card and then another 450 USD a few months later to nearly double the performance. Interesting. Of course you'll need to have a dual-PEG slot mobo.
 
guinny. all you have proved is that your a fanboy, a hypocrite, and a troll. sorry mods if i sound a lil too harsh but im just stating the obvious.

give it a rest.
 
If we give the FX53 a number rating it would be 3900+.
In a year there will be 4.2GHz PCs. I don't see how that is considered outdated. The X800XT won't be outdated either.
The UE3 engine is being developed and ready in what, 3 years? And then games will come out after that.
How long do you think most of us will be playing HL2 based games?
That is a while before ginny's system will be outdated.
 
soon we will have two dual core xeons on one motherboard (thats practically 4 processors), equiped with SLI cards(already coming this year), DDR2 memory (already coming this year), 16mb cache hard drives (already coming this year from seagate), 64 bit intel cpu's, faster and better optical drives (im guessing 12 or 16x dvd burners).

with most of these things coming THIS YEAR, trust me, guinny's computer will definately be dated in 2 years.
 
x84D80Yx said:
soon we will have two dual core xeons on one motherboard (thats practically 4 processors), equiped with SLI cards(already coming this year), DDR2 memory (already coming this year), 16mb cache hard drives (already coming this year from seagate), 64 bit intel cpu's, faster and better optical drives (im guessing 12 or 16x dvd burners).

with most of these things coming THIS YEAR, trust me, guinny's computer will definately be dated in 2 years.
Click to expand...
You quote DDR2 with these great achivements. I shouldn't even respond. hehe
Xeons? I would never buy Xeons for gaming, ever. What about future dual core A64's that work in existing motherboards? Those are actually taped out unlike those Xeons.
Actually, I don't expect dual core Intel products to be out in a year.

16MB cache HDDs won't do much at all. They work great when compensating for low RPM when saving power like in laptops but it's diminishing returns for desktop use.
Not new and top of the line, yes. But not outdated by far. It isn't outdated until it doesn't do what you want. Most of these things you mention are developing and new tech. that needs to mature first.
Intel's 64bit hehe

btw We sell 12X and dual layer DVD burners at Compusa currently.
 
Owned by Asus as usual. Not saying you don't have a point badboy it's just when your making statements you can't back up properly I hate to be flamed because of your ignorance.
 
Can we lay off the flaming/counter flaming? It's not like its helping anyone.

You quote DDR2 with these great achivements. I shouldn't even respond. hehe
Click to expand...
That was the Piece de Resistance of this thread. :p

x84D80Yx and DiSTuRbEd - I suggest you read up about upcoming technology. ;)
Guinny - Your computer will be good for a couple of years. You may want to stop following technology news for the next six months, you may drive yourself crazy. ;)
Asus - You used an article from the inquirer :O <------------ j/k

The thing to remember is that technology has a way a delaying itself. So what is supposed to be out this year can easily be delayed until later.
 
Thanks blah. I think I should stay clear away from following technology for a long time. Maybe in 16 months or so I'll start checking out newegg and hardocp again. :-P
 
Alig I think by buying an X800 when you think a 6800 is MUCH BETTER really proves that you are either 1) stupid or 2) an nvidia fanboy in disguise.

Anyway, I'm not to excited about SLI because I could just buy a new computer and get similar returns for a similar price to just those 2 6800's. Technology is always on the move though, everythings expensive when it starts out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

X
Nvidia planning to only release one driver update per year.
Replies
6
Views
762
azz0r
azz0r
blackeye
How much of this is BS
Replies
13
Views
1K
[Matt]
[Matt]
Back
Top