Gizmodo: Sli

HYDRA System Lets "Vastly Different" Video Cards Work, Play Together

John Herrman — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:15:36 EDT

Lucid's HYDRA GPU pairing technology could soon allow PC builders to incorporate multiple video cards that - hear this, ATI and Nvidia - don't have to be identical. What this potentially means, among other things, is that gamers could leverage old hardware instead of just sadly setting it aside, though paired cards must be of the same brand. HYDRA differs functionally from Nvidia's SLI and ATI's Crossfire solutions, which split rendering by sectioning off the screen and alternating frames between cards, respectively, by intelligently distributing highly specific rendering tasks between the GPUs. Instead of divvying up all the tasks equally, HYDRA will only send as many polygons or shader calls as each constituent card can handle (see right of the above pic for an example of what one of two cards might be rendering).

The most irritating aspects of current twin-card configurations (well, aside from the fact that you had to buy two cards in the first place) are the high cost and disappointingly low performance gains. HYDRA, which Lucid claims could scale to up to handle four unique GPUs, could remedy both of these issues if it ever comes to market. The company says it'll be soon, but that's as specific as they're getting for now. Visual learners can check out a detailed diagram of the system below. [PcPer via Slashdot]

Nvidia, Intel Kiss and Make Up: Bloomfield CPU to Have SLI Tech After All

Kit Eaton — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:54:52 EDT

Intel and Nvidia's cold war over the discrete and integrated graphics chipsets that sit inside our computers seems to have at least partially thawed. Nvidia's announced that "it will be bringing the power and performance of its SLI® multi-GPU technology to Intel’s upcoming line of Bloomfield CPUs." Upcoming SLI motherboards will have the nForce 200 SLI processor alongside Bloomfield CPUs, and Tylersburg (X58) chipsets, which should come as good news to gamers with top-end gaming PC setups. Nvidia's press release below (including some interesting "customer viewpoints")

SANTA CLARA, CA—JULY 14, 2008—PC enthusiasts, manufacturers, and developers around the world have a lot to be excited about today with NVIDIA Corporation’s announcement that it will be bringing the power and performance of its SLI® multi-GPU technology to Intel’s upcoming line of Bloomfield CPUs. With this winning combination, consumers will have an SLI platform designed for current and future graphics-intensive games and applications; these platforms can be powered by one, two, or even three NVIDIA GeForce® GPUs, including the new, award-winning GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 GPUs.

New SLI motherboards will feature the NVIDIA nForce® 200 SLI processor, Intel Bloomfield CPUs, and Tylersburg (X58) chipsets. The nForce 200 SLI processor features patented SLI technology for graphics bandwidth management and multi-GPU peer-to-peer communications, both required to optimize graphics performance.

“With GeForce-based visual computing application, our customers are experiencing exciting new ways to interact with their photos and videos while also experiencing the bone-chilling realism from our latest graphics processors,” said Jeff Fisher, senior vice president of GPU business at NVIDIA. “Our SLI technology allows us to combine the power of hundreds of GeForce processing cores in multi-GPU configurations with Intel’s latest CPUs for platforms that are sure to excite our customers.”

What the Customers Are Saying:
“It’s great to see that NVIDIA opted to enable SLI on the future Intel Bloomfield platform,” said Rahul Sood, CTO Voodoo Business Unit, HP. “Make love not war I say… and NVIDIA’s enablement of Intel chipsets to support SLI will make our jobs much easier in offering a better customer experience as we continue to evolve HP’s award-winning Blackbird 002 and Voodoo Omen platforms.”

“Our clients want the best of everything, and it’s our job to package the best technologies into one complete system for them,” said Kelt Reeves, president of Falcon Northwest. “NVIDIA’s SLI configurations have produced the fastest graphics solutions on the market for years, and the ability to pair SLI with Intel’s upcoming processors will deliver a level of overall system performance no one has ever seen before. We can’t wait to equip Falcon Northwest systems with this solution!”

“NVIDIA`s SLI technology is the outstanding feature of high-end gamer PCs,” says Klaus Rüther, Desktop Product Manager at Atelco. “We are very pleased that the SLI technology will be available for the new line of Intel Bloomfield CPUs. With SLI, the gamer can experience the latest PC games as if they were real.”

“Medion is a highly regarded European OEM as an innovator in enthusiast-based PCs,” said Oliver Soellner, CMO at Medion. “By adding NVIDIA SLI with Intel’s next-generation CPU platform, we can offer the most feature rich Medion Erazer PCs with blistering graphics performance, which is sure to satisfy the most demanding users.”

“Fujitsu-Siemens is excited to see NVIDIA SLI technology associated with Intel Bloomfield CPUs. This combination addresses the innovative gaming market and will bring the best experience to gamers worldwide,” said Michael Hilpert, Senior Product manager at FSC.

“What a great, great move, the ability to have 3-way SLI, with Intel Bloomfield CPUs. The combination will break all the existing performance barriers and deliver a whole new user experience. The wait is over,” Elan Raja III Director Scan Computers.

“Over the last four years, NVIDIA has been recognized for its SLI technology innovation and leadership," said Joe Hsieh, General Manager at ASUS. "This technology is an excellent feature that customers are demanding for their new Intel platforms. We are excited about bringing the power of this platform to our Intel customers.”

“Acer congratulates NVIDIA on its nForce 200 SLI technology platform and we are very interested to bring it to market,” said Brian Bogaard, Product Business Manager, Acer EMEA Desktop PC

The pairing of the NVIDIA nForce® 200 SLI MCP with Intel’s new Bloomfield CPU and Tylersburg core logic chipset will deliver NVIDIA 3-way SLI technology for an unmatched PC gaming experience, providing up to a 2.8× performance boost over traditional single graphics card platforms. When playing the most cutting-edge games, including current titles such as Crysis and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, 3-way SLI technology lets gamers ratchet up the resolution to 2500 × 1600, while turning on all of the tasty eye candy, including high-dynamic range lighting, motion blur, and realistic environmental effects.

Motherboards and PC systems featuring support for the NVIDIA nForce 200 SLI processor, NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, and NVIDIA SLI technology will be available from the world’s leading motherboard manufacturers, add-in card companies, and major system builders including: Acer, ASUS, Atelco, Coolmod, Dell, Ditech, Falcon Northwest, Founder, Fujitsu-Siemens Computer, Gigabyte, Haier, Hypersonic PC, Iqon/Commodore, K&M, Komplett, Komputronik , Legend, Maingear, Medion, MSI, Multirama, Next, Scan Computers , Sky Electronics , Tongfang, TS, Velocity Micro, Vigor Gaming, and more.

[Fareastgizmos]

Intel and Nvidia At War, Gamers Are Collateral Damage

matt buchanan — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EDT

Sure, Nvidia's crashing into the mobile market Intel wants to dominate. And Intel is running into discrete graphics (not to mention ruling with integrated graphics). But you know, it's friendly right? Wrong. It's total war. Nvidia's continuing to hold out licensing SLI support for Intel's boards, notably its next-gen Tylersburg chipset for the Nehalem CPUs. And Intel hasn't yet licensed Nvidia to make an nForce chipset that'll support Nehalem, citing a "disagreement" over the terms. If they don't make nice, gamers will have to pick between having SLI or the latest and greatest Intel processors, meaning they get screwed either way. Man, where's AMD when you need them? [Maximum PC]

Toshiba X205-SLi5 and SLi6 Gaming Notebooks Pack Penryn and SLI Goodness

matt buchanan — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:35:00 EDT

Along with the re-designed and cheaper Satellite notebooks from last week, Toshiba's tossing out a pair of gaming notebooks packing Penryn chips (Core 2 Duo 8300 or 9300) and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT running in SLI, with HDD configs up to 400GB. Starting at two grand, which isn't bad for "gaming" notebooks, but churning the 8600M GT seems a bit old and busted with 9-series cards right around the corner. Plus, the plain Jane looks aren't going to turn any heads. [Toshiba]

Dell Ditching Proprietary Parts

Sean Fallon — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:15:48 EST

One of the best arguments for building your own PCs is that you make the decisions regarding parts, which means you don't have to scrap the whole system or buy sub-standard hardware from the manufacturer when it is time to upgrade. This is especially true for gaming rigs. Dell, one of the biggest offenders when it comes to this issue, has announced that proprietary parts like power supplies and motherboards will be a thing of the past.

Apparently, pressure from critics and competing devices like the Blackbird 002 from HP prompted the change— which is also evident in their decision to offer support NVIDIA's dual-card SLI or AMD's dual-card CrossFire cards. They have even taken an extra step towards openness by offering support for NVIDIA's Enthusiast System Architecture. The first gaming PC to feature these upgrades will be the "affordable" new XPS 630, which starts at $1249. [Maximum PC]

NVIDIA's Three-Way SLI Graphics Cards Cost More Than Actual Three-Ways

Jason Chen — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:10:36 EST

If tying two video cards together in an SLI configuration doesn't quite get you the frames-per-second you need, NVIDIA's just intrduced three-way SLI, which does exactly what it sounds like. Now you can use their nForce 680i SLI motherboard to tie together tres GeForce 8800 GTX or 8800 Ultras to give a 2.8X boost over just using a single card—so you will be able to play Crysis at something more than the "slideshow" configuration.

You canget your own pre-built three-way SLI on the ALienware Area-51 ALX SLI, but will cost $4999 with an overclocked quad-core inside. Not to bitch about the state of PC gaming too much, but when you need three SLI cards to run something on "high" graphics (the way the developer intended), isn't that prohibitively expensive—especially compared with a PS3 or Xbox where you can just plug and go? [SLI Zone via Electronista]

Malibal Veda Notebook Has Huge 20.1" Screen, SLI Graphics

Charlie White — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 09:16:49 EDT

Las Vegas PC purveyor MALIBAL, the company that insists its logo be written in all caps, has rolled out its Veda series of laptops, whose distinguishing characteristic is a gigantic 20.1-inch screen.

This big bertha notebook, made by Chinese manufacturer Clevo, packs some impressive specs, including an 16x Dual NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX SLI graphics card driving that big screen, along with a dual-core AMD Turion 64 X2 processor on board. You can pile on the spec-heavy options, including a TV tuner and a 160GB hard drive. The downside? Brace yourself.

Well, the thing is a boat anchor, weighing an anvillesque 15.2 pounds, and that huge screen skimps on the resolution—at just 1680x1050, it could be great for gamers, but graphics artists will certainly want a 1920x1200 rez on a screen that big. Plus, just try using that honkin' huge screen in a cramped airplane seat. There's no way unless you're sitting in at least Business Class.

And then there's the milquetoast appearance of this giant notebook, in which the word "plain" is an understatement. In a world where laptops are becoming more beautiful every day, and some are even considered fashion accessories, this is an awfully utilitarian-looking appliance, and that gigantic Malibal logo (and no, we won't yell it at you again in all caps) plastered across most of the bottom of the screen just shouts at you. It's certainly not subtle.

Even so, it might be a suitable desktop replacement, with an attractive starting price of $2799. – Charlie White

Product Page [Malibal]

ASUS P5N32-E Motherboard: Gaming Hydra

kthompson — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 18:05:17 EST

ASUS knows, like you do, that you can never have too many graphics cards. In a day and age where double- and quadruple-SLI graphics solutions are commonplace, ASUS saw a weakness in traditional motherboards that only house a couple of your $800 GPUs. That's why the NVIDIA-based P5N32-E comes equipped with not one or two but three 16x PCI Express slots: because more is always better. Read about more additions to the ASUS line after the jump.

How many graphics cards do you really need? With the P5N32-E, you can run two cards in SLI and use the third slot to fill up to two separate monitors on another card. Necessary? I doubt it. Cool as hell? Maybe. Justification for picking up two more sweet LCDs? Now you're speaking my language. Alternatively, you could use the third slot for a physics processor card and rock out on the two games that support the hardware.

The new ASUS board also sports a redesigned heatpipe chipset cooling system for noise reduction and an upgrade to Intel's integrated audio with the 7.1-ready SupremeFX sound card. They've also released a new on-the-fly overclocking system called AI NOS which reads system temperatures and performance load and overclocks your system automatically to achieve peak performance. No word on whether or not the NOS system requires you to be a jerk about your computer or challenge other gamers to benchmark competitions for pinks.

For $300, you can bring one home in time for the holidays. – Karson Thompson

The ASUS P5N32-E Gaming Motherboard [via Electronista]

Hurry Up and Wait: Quad SLI Driver for NVIDIA 7950 GX2

Charlie White — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:30:01 EDT

As we reported to you yesterday, just about the only thing wrong with NVIDIA's hot graphics card released yesterday, the GeForce 7950 GX2, is that the high-powered yet relatively low-cost 1GB graphics board is not yet capable of Quad SLI. That's because the driver hasn't been written yet. Now NVIDIA says we won't be seeing that driver until the end of the summer.

Oh, well. Isn't that frequently the problem with graphics cards? The drivers trail the technology, sometimes by a long shot. But in the case of the GeForce 7950 GX2, even without that new driver, the $650 card is still a speed burner. – Charlie White

Quad 7950 driver to come at the end of summer [the Inquirer]

NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 Reviewed (Verdict: Speedy Value)

Charlie White — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 13:08:57 EDT

The first reviews of that GeForce 7950 GX2 graphics card we told you about last week are just coming in, and the guys at FiringSquad took a close look at this 1GB graphics card from NVIDIA that just shipped today. They liked the HDCP (HD copy protection, must also have an HDCP-compliant monitor) support, the shorter board design that lets it fit into computer cases easier, enhanced cooling, and then there's the fact that this is two graphics cards in one, giving you great performance for the money.

However, the reviewers wished this GeForce 7950 GX2 were capable of quad SLI performance, something they got when they strapped together two GeForce 7900 GTX SLI cards. But they did like the price, where they expect it to sell in a range between $599 and $649, making it a lot more cost-effective than buying two GeForce 7900s. Overall, in this extensive first-look preview which includes lots of "real-world" gaming benchmarks, they gave the card a thumbs up for its performance and value. – Charlie White

GeForce 7950 GX2 Hands-On Preview [FiringSquad]

NVIDIA GeForce 7950GX2 Details Leaked

Charlie White — Thu, 25 May 2006 13:50:21 EDT

NVIDIA is at it again, where its upcoming GeForce 7950GX2 Quad SLI graphics card is going to seriously leapfrog its predecessor. Delectable details have leaked out, complete with preliminary benchmarks that show just how far that card will leap ahead, showing its performance at 20% to 80% faster than the card that preceded it, the GeForce 7900 GTX.

More good news includes a gigabyte of GDDR3 memory, a 500MHz core clock and 600MHz memory clock, dual dual-link DVI+HDTV-out and HDCP support. Wow. NVIDIA might just be correct when it pitches the card as the "fastest single graphics card in the world." Available June 6 for between $599 and $649. – Charlie White

GeForce 7950GX2 Details, Preliminary Benchmarks [Daily Tech]

Alienware Aurora mALX and m9700

Charlie White — Wed, 10 May 2006 11:17:38 EDT

Alienware appears unfettered by its recent assimilation into dorktastic PCmeister Dell, blasting out two 64-bit AMD-packing monster notebooks with dual SLI graphics and MIMO connectivity the company says is faster than wired.

The star of the show is the mALX (pictured above) with its 19-inch screen and dual SLI cards with 512MB of total graphics memory. It's got two 120GB hard drives in a RAID configuration, but the thing's not exactly a lightweight. Also along for the ride is MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) connectivity, WiFi technology that uses multiple antennas strapped together for the wireless equivalent of extreme multitasking. The 17-inch m9700 starts at $2000, while the 19-inch mALX will run $4500 or higher depending on configuration.

Product Page [Alienware]

Eurocom M590K Emperor: Beefy

johnb — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 17:12:15 EDT

We're pretty familiar with Eurocom and their OEM monsters. Most of them are dead generic, but the M590K has a 19-inch display and two GeForce Go 7800 graphics cards sitting atop a 100GB hard drive. While it may be quite hubric to name your laptop "Emperor," this monster runs a 2.1-GHz AMD Turion 64 MT-40 and costs... are you sitting down? $4000.

Yes, folks, this isn't a portable laptop. In fact, it's pretty hard to lift. We'll see how this thing benchmarks, but if you're in the market for a LAN party rig, this might the one.

Hands-on: the Eurocom M590K Emperor [CNet]

VoodooPC ENVY U909 SLI: Laptop to the Max

Charlie White — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:39:45 EST

Here's a company that's putting all the heavy juju it can think of into a laptop, and the result is the VoodooPC ENVY U909 SLI Laptop, going over the top with two NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX graphics cards in an SLI configuration and an AMD Turion 64 processor. The thing is huge, though, with a 19-inch 1680x1050 screen, and don't expect to be exactly light, either—at nearly 16 pounds it's more like a luggable computer than a sprightly notebook. Continuing the maximum theme, it's got a 160GB hard disk and includes a 4-in-1 memory card reader as well. The company was coy with pricing but said the laptop would be released next month.

Product page [via Bios Magazine]

Eurocom Launches M590K SLI Notebook with 19-Inch 16:9 Screen

Charlie White — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 07:19:37 EST

Eurocom introduced the M590K Emporor, a laptop that it calls the world's first SLI (Scan Line Interleave) notebook. Gamers will like the combination of two NVIDIA SLI-certified Geforce Go 7800 GTX 256MB graphics cards strapped together for 2x graphics performance. Those two GPUs are pumping out video to a 19-inch 1680x1050 widescreen display. With its 16x9 aspect ratio, Eurocom says this laptop has integrated HDTV support with anti-aliasing video algorithms.

Running Windows XP is a 64-bit AMD Mobile Turion64 processor running at 2.2GHz, and the notebook is configurable with up to 2GB of DDR400 RAM and a 120GB 5400 RPM SATA drive. The thing even has a built-in subwoofer, but it s not light—11 lb. with battery on board. Available now, the notebook will run in the neighborhood of $5,200.

Product Page [Eurocom Corporation]

Widow to Launch Dual GPU Laptop

johnb — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 21:32:09 EST

Just got a bit of news in about the WidowPC SLI laptop. It will be a portable/desktop replacement with dual PCI Express graphics cards and should, on average, blow away single GPU desktops. The laptop, called the 919, will be running an AMD CPU and have a 19-inch screen. Very LAN-party worthy. No release date or price.

Product Page [WidowPC]

NEC's Musical Cellphone Microchip

Noah R — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 11:37:35 EST

In response to the rapid increase in the number of mobile phones being used as music players in Japan, NEC Electronics has developed a dedicated SLI chip for audio. This is a companion chip made specifically to enhance audio in cellphones. It has a CPU dedicated to music play, a digital signal processor and a connection for an application processor. It functions with SD cards and supports copyright protection (CPRM). The chip also minimizes battery drain, thus enabling continuous music play for 50 hours. Sampling started yesterday, and mass production is planned for April. Sample price is $13. Hopefully we'll see these in stateside handsets before the end of the decade.

Press Release

Nvidia to do SLI for Lappys

Travis Hudson — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 15:20:49 EST

Nvidia is working on a design that will integrate powerhouse SLI graphics into laptops. This design will feature two MXM graphic modules linked together for tons of graphical goodness. Unfortunately, more hardware means more weight so this concept will probably have to stick to the more desktop replacement type of laptops. SLI is already costing desktop manufacturers an arm and a leg. Expect to shell out even more money for those desktop replacement laptops featuring SLI. SLI will also eat at the battery life and make cooling problems out the wazoo. Just buy a desktop, yo.

SLI coming to laptops soon [Inquirer]