Graphics SLI back, not only from alienware

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Guest-16, 28 Jun 2004.

  1. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1728/

    So that's what that damn MIO conacts were for. They weren't just some useless-never-to-be-used addon like the "multimedia" ports on other, older gfx cards.

    Just need some 2x X16 mobos now..

    2x the speed from twice the price. Expect 3dmarks to be blown out of the water id imagine.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 28 Jun 2004
  2. Adrienne

    Adrienne What's a Dremel?

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    Running in SLI is great and all (for the few who will be able to afford it), but it seems to me that when you are actually playing a game and not benchmarking to keep the two halves of the screen synched there would be forced vsynch which really gets rid of any benefits.
     
  3. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    True, but in theory it shouldnt matter as long as they are identically clocked same cards and the drivers are good enough.
     
  4. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    part of the requirement is that the cards are the exact same make and model :)
     
  5. stephen2002

    stephen2002 What's a Dremel?

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    Pretty cool however the problem is that there are not likely to be any games that will redily take advantage of this. No sane game publisher is going to have requirements anywhere near 2x high-end graphics cards, that would kill their audience. I suppose for future expansion it might make sence however by the time you need to double your preformance new technologies will probably be out there.

    Now for the workstation end of things this is pretty neat, considering the ability to drive 4 monitors and still have great preformance.
     
  6. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    You didnt need 2 Voodoo 2s to play Quake 2, but people still did it cause it was the only way to play in 1024x768 with an apprecible frame rate. You turn all the bells and whistles on in uber high res on doom 3 or unreal 3 and your gonna need it. Sure, like always you can turn down the settings but where's the fun in that?
     
  7. Hamish

    Hamish What's a Dremel?

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  8. JADS

    JADS Et arma et verba vulnerant

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    Although it isn't meant to be possible I wonder if Geforce 6800 Ultras are compatible with PCI-E x1 slots or maybe x4? Certainly wouldn't be a bandwidth issue and would allow you to SLI in most motherboards with PCI-E.

    Hmm dual water-cooled Gainwards anyone? :)

    You know this reminds me of my Voodoo 2, I craved for SLI but couldn't afford it at the time (and it was a mighty expensive present). Now maybe, just maybe, it will be mine...
     
  9. Jedi

    Jedi What's a Dremel?

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    if u got money to burn then sli would be sweet, except maybe with aircooling, check out the pic from thg

    tut tut... stealing bandwidth... - Fly

    the top card's gonna be sweltering with that minimal intake between the cards, but i suppose it's a valid excuse to watercool em :naughty: :naughty:

    edit: upped image to my own account :p

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: 30 Jun 2004
  10. Piratetaco

    Piratetaco is always right

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    is it just me or is that hype about Alienware making this ALX stuff by themselves bollocks? this seems(to me) that Nvidia have had this SLI in from the start of the 6800 series cards meaning alienware have done a lot of work for nothing.
     
  11. Enzo04

    Enzo04 Banned

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    You know ATI will have something up their sleeve... they always do..
    Dont forget about ATI's Fast14 technology.. hopefully they'll use it soon
    imagining a 1.6ghz core speed on one chip is amazing, also they said they can make them past 2.0ghz as well...they might not use it untill or after R500 unfortunetly. :wallbash:
     
  12. icarus

    icarus What's a Dremel?

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    i dont get how this is supposed to work.
    on a voodoo 2 it was easy u needed 2 pci slots but ive never seen a motherboard with 2 agp slots or 2 pci-e slots so where is the other on meant to go?
    if one went in agp the other in pci-e then its not the same model so u cant use it like that:( please explane or am i just a bit dippy to as how this works
     
  13. Ben

    Ben What's a Dremel?

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    some new boards will have 2 pci-e (16x) slots

    link
     
  14. Enzo04

    Enzo04 Banned

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    Mid users wont spend mroe than 600$ o the same card
    SLI is'nt gonna sell that much to only high end users...
    Hell no way i aint paying 1,000$ for two 6800 ultras that maddening insanity...
    and knowing that 4 PCI slots taken up that make's it worse :jawdrop:
    Im an Nvidia user and ATI
    the pros of Nvidia are
    1.User friendly Driver
    2.Speed

    Cons
    1.Expensive
    2.They fall apart easily

    Pros of ATI
    1.Rock stable drivers
    2.Cheap

    Cons

    1.Crappy heatsinks
    2.Over heat too much

    It's funny though, Europeans now remind me of America
    thinking bigger'n faster is better...
     
    Last edited: 4 Jul 2004
  15. JADS

    JADS Et arma et verba vulnerant

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    They said a similar thing about the Voodoo 12MB SLIs and the pricetag for those was similar. I'd blow £1k on gfx cards just because frankly it would rock and it would be a lot of fun :)

    I must admit I am curious about the 4 slots as some of nVidias partners will surely release single slot cards. This would mean the cards could be placed together, but surely nVidia reference for SLI must include a 1 slot space between the PCI-E cards. Personally I'd go for dual single slot solutions, water cool them and slap an Audigy in the middle.

    Ah I remember what I was going to say now, what I find really amusing is that it makes anything Alienware were doing redundant. Alienware have blown vast amounts on a custom board and custom driver development and they didn't need to at all. nVidias solution is better as it doesn't require a separate PCI card to create the final image (from analogue no less) and the solution will be fully supported by nVidia. Given they are an nVidia partner they should have at least asked wtf nVidia were up to!

    Alienware would have been better off getting a custom 6800 Ultra developed with dual cores. Then they would have been able to boast 64-pixel pipeline graphic power :) I do get the feeling that quad 6800 Ultra cores might be completely excessive for any currently available CPU at any resolution with any setting, you're just going to end up CPU limited with that much gfx power on tap.
     
    Last edited: 4 Jul 2004
  16. Hamish

    Hamish What's a Dremel?

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    :eyebrow:
    nvidia drivers are still superior to ATi imo, ati have come a long way adn their drivers are pretty good, but nvidia's are better
    speed? do you mean clockspeed? that was true with the FX vs 9x00 but the x800 runs at higher clockspeed than 6800
    fall apart? :eeek: wtf
    stock ATi sinks are usually pretty naff but most manufacturers use their own
    overheat? the FX series ran ridiculously hot, my o/c'd 9800 doesnt even get warm under load :p
     
  17. lunix_user

    lunix_user What's a Dremel?

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    exactly, i was wondering if that was supposed to be a joke!
    nvidias drivers are equal in my opinion, but I find ati's more capable whereas nvidias more thought out.
    ati cards are MUCH faster, and also give better picture, in my opinion.
    my 256mb 9800pro runs cooler then my brother's 5200Xt or FX or something like that.

    the only good cards nVidia ever made were the ti series...
    but now most nVidia cards blow.

    ati :clap:
     
  18. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    So? Everything i use is built into the mobo, or usb. I dont use a single pci slot and i dont see why people need more than a couple with the stuff bundled into modern mobos.
     
  19. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    exactly my thoughts :)
     
  20. star882

    star882 What's a Dremel?

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    A good video system (video cards and monitors) needs a good audio system to patch up the other side of multimedia (21" TFTs and dirt-cheap speakers aren't exactly a good match).
    Therefore, a good sound card will take up one PCI slot, then there are RAID controllers, SCSI cards, IEEE 1394 cards, etc. using up more slots.
     
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