NVIDIA SLI Multi-GPU Technology

Driver 7 · Jun 29, 2004, 12:00 PM

When we first spotted the NV45 card over at Computex, no one has a clue about the special connector at the top of the card. Well the answer is finally unveiled today and that special connector which is none other than the SLI (Scalable Link Interface) connector. NVIDIA has been rather secretive regarding their SLI capability that has been built into NV40 GPU ever since GeForce 6800 was launched and has waited for the right moment to announce this technology. We can say that Alienware's demonstration of their Video-Array enabled ALX systems in E3 this May has provided a glimpse of what NVIDIA SLI Multi-GPU technology can offer, though they are somewhat different.

It seems like we are back in the good old 3Dfx days where their Voodoo 2 cards offer support for SLI (Scan Line Interleave) with two PCI Voodoo 2 cards sharing the graphics workload and thereby boosting performance. Definitely, hardcore gamers that time are out to get the SLI Voodoo 2 cards to get the fastest frame rates out of their Quake II game.

The Boys from VR-Zone had good opportunity to talk to David Kirk, NVIDIA's Chief Scientist where he shared with us the future directions of NVIDIA and of course SLI technology when he visited NVIDIA Asia Pacific office here in Singapore last week.

See What VR-Zone has to report

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jun 29, 2004, 12:16 PM

gota love thier lack of inovation ....

I wish 3dfx was still out there

mike2h · Jun 29, 2004, 06:15 PM

what do you mean lack of inovation? yet again your fanboyism has gotten in the way of your normally good judgement.
you should do more research before making such biased comments. 1st nvidia had the smarts to buy most/all of 3dfx tech. 2nd, their sli IS NOTthe same implementation as 3dfx. though i am sure 3dfx tech is involved.
ati WILL copy this in some form. i believe nvidia got one up on them here. ati,s solution will, imo, probably be another multi gpu card. i think nvidia's vers is more elegant - makes better use of the bandwidth available wit pci express & is a better upgrade path. ie. buy one card now, & the other when you need it(probaly much cheaper too) instead of spending a LOT of $$ one one multi gpu card.

Jun 29, 2004, 12:00 PM	#1
Driver 7 Discombobulated NVidiot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Vancouver, BC - CANADA Posts: 1,015 Rep Power: 0	NVIDIA SLI Multi-GPU Technology When we first spotted the NV45 card over at Computex, no one has a clue about the special connector at the top of the card. Well the answer is finally unveiled today and that special connector which is none other than the SLI (Scalable Link Interface) connector. NVIDIA has been rather secretive regarding their SLI capability that has been built into NV40 GPU ever since GeForce 6800 was launched and has waited for the right moment to announce this technology. We can say that Alienware's demonstration of their Video-Array enabled ALX systems in E3 this May has provided a glimpse of what NVIDIA SLI Multi-GPU technology can offer, though they are somewhat different. It seems like we are back in the good old 3Dfx days where their Voodoo 2 cards offer support for SLI (Scan Line Interleave) with two PCI Voodoo 2 cards sharing the graphics workload and thereby boosting performance. Definitely, hardcore gamers that time are out to get the SLI Voodoo 2 cards to get the fastest frame rates out of their Quake II game. The Boys from VR-Zone had good opportunity to talk to David Kirk, NVIDIA's Chief Scientist where he shared with us the future directions of NVIDIA and of course SLI technology when he visited NVIDIA Asia Pacific office here in Singapore last week. See What VR-Zone has to report

Jun 29, 2004, 12:16 PM	#2
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	gota love thier lack of inovation .... I wish 3dfx was still out there __________________

Jun 29, 2004, 06:15 PM	#3
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 89 System Specs	what do you mean lack of inovation? yet again your fanboyism has gotten in the way of your normally good judgement. you should do more research before making such biased comments. 1st nvidia had the smarts to buy most/all of 3dfx tech. 2nd, their sli IS NOTthe same implementation as 3dfx. though i am sure 3dfx tech is involved. ati WILL copy this in some form. i believe nvidia got one up on them here. ati,s solution will, imo, probably be another multi gpu card. i think nvidia's vers is more elegant - makes better use of the bandwidth available wit pci express & is a better upgrade path. ie. buy one card now, & the other when you need it(probaly much cheaper too) instead of spending a LOT of $$ one one multi gpu card. __________________ Last edited by mike2h; Jun 29, 2004 at 06:22 PM.