SLI on X58 without nF200 Chip

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08-27-2008, 11:58 PM
Chri$ch

SLI on X58 without nF200 Chip

Some good news :)

original source is german, its translated with google..

Quote:

Enthusiasts have already been a long time the possibility of two or ATi Nvidia graphics cards on their motherboard to build, to increase performance. However, it is either a cross-fire or a board-certified SLI will be needed.

While Crossfire both on its own AMD as well as on the Intel chipsets works, you can SLI (with a few exceptions) only on Nvidia motherboards. Nvidia acquaintance will be the start of the new Bloomfield Intel CPU (Nehalem) does not have its own chipset have done - it would also be really no SLI for the Next-Gen GPU. Intel and Nvidia, however, have been known for some time, that for the Intel X58 SLI chipset unlock when the board partners nForce 200 chip from Nvidia construction.

The last act on the house exhibition Nvision, the chip specialist announced that it now has decided, on the X58 SLI chipset also without a nForce 200 free to give what it never before has been made. However, it stresses explicitly that it will only apply to the Intel X58 and for no other chipset will.

Read More @ source (Computerbase)

http://www.abload.de/img/17o6k6.jpg

http://www.abload.de/img/2sucuk.jpg

http://www.abload.de/img/3k0gdv.jpg

http://www.abload.de/img/44h8ce.jpg
08-28-2008, 12:02 AM
MomijiTMO

Thanks for the article. Hmm 2 n200 = Quad SLI???

I wonder what kind of cooling systems will be needed. :p:
08-28-2008, 12:07 AM
Chri$ch

Quad SLI is also without nF200 Chips possible, but only with PCIe x8. Mainboards with nF200 Chips have 4 x16 lanes.
08-28-2008, 12:09 AM
oohms

I wonder how much its going to cost for them to get boards certified by nvidia :p:
08-28-2008, 12:16 AM
Mk

Quote:

NVIDIA will provide approval keys that will be integrated into the BIOS

Awesome then some one gonna crack it:rofl:
08-28-2008, 12:24 AM
twwen2

Yesss!!!!!!! i just saw this at techreport:

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/15405

Thank goodness for that!:yepp:
08-28-2008, 12:31 AM
BulldogPO

Just excelent news!
08-28-2008, 12:43 AM
Roch

More here and here
08-28-2008, 12:49 AM
XS Janus

So they caved?
Simple SLi on Intel is a go?
08-28-2008, 12:51 AM
zsamz_

nice maybe now we can have sli on x48 n p45;)with some help from coders
08-28-2008, 12:59 AM
Blacky

excellent news :D !!
08-28-2008, 01:04 AM
Blauhung

haha, can't wait to see the perf/watt tests showing how worthless nf200 is on a platform
08-28-2008, 01:09 AM
safan80

I'll believe it when it actually works.
08-28-2008, 02:03 AM
OBR

Big surprise!
08-28-2008, 02:06 AM
JumpingJack

They are beginning to buckle under the pressure. They must be getting a lot of flack push back from the board makers.
08-28-2008, 02:09 AM
MomijiTMO

Anandtech also have it up as news. Hooray!!!!!!
08-28-2008, 02:10 AM
Jamesrt2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blauhung

haha, can't wait to see the perf/watt tests showing how worthless nf200 is on a platform

wouldnt be surprised if they did something in the driver though tbh
08-28-2008, 02:19 AM
MomijiTMO

You know this is actually pretty smart from nVidia. Instead of having to manufacture another chip, they can just charge us [since we will pay a premium on the enabled mobos] without any cost. I think they should promote whoever came up with that :p:
08-28-2008, 02:22 AM
JumpingJack

Quote:

Originally Posted by MomijiTMO

You know this is actually pretty smart from nVidia. Instead of having to manufacture another chip, they can just charge us [since we will pay a premium on the enabled mobos] without any cost. I think they should promote whoever came up with that :p:

Yep, brilliant -- so instead of selling the OEMs/ODMs a hot, expensive chip ... they will sell them a key to embed into their BIOS (probably for the same as the chip would cost)....
08-28-2008, 02:23 AM
OBR

My P6T Deluxe will support SLI next month ... great!
08-28-2008, 02:23 AM
STaRGaZeR

This can only mean one thing: Core i7 is gonna kick some serious ass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JumpingJack

Yep, brilliant -- so instead of selling the OEMs/ODMs a hot, expensive chip ... they will sell them a key to embed into their BIOS (probably for the same as the chip would cost)....

It's only a piece of (inofensive?) code in the BIOS, way better than a physical piece of crap in the mobo.
08-28-2008, 02:46 AM
JumpingJack

Quote:

Originally Posted by STaRGaZeR

It's only a piece of (inofensive?) code in the BIOS, way better than a physical piece of crap in the mobo.

Yep, and you are gonna pay extra for that piece of inoffensive code :) :) ...

nVidia doesn't need that crappy 200 PCIe splitter to make SLI work, they just want to sell more silicon.... if they can't get the money selling the silicon, they will get it some other way.

Every SLI enabled x58 board will be more expensive... wait and see.
08-28-2008, 02:52 AM
MomijiTMO

Well if it's just 50 bucks I think almost everyone would pay it [not me though]. However if nVidia get greedy and whack on say 100 then they suck and not everyone would jump on.
08-28-2008, 02:53 AM
Macadamia

They'll probably sell it at a $20-30 markup to the OEMs, which will probably put it only in the top SKUs, costing another lovely $50.

At least it doesn't use more power or cripple Radeons now. Sheesh.
08-28-2008, 02:56 AM
Sr7

Quote:

Originally Posted by JumpingJack

Yep, brilliant -- so instead of selling the OEMs/ODMs a hot, expensive chip ... they will sell them a key to embed into their BIOS (probably for the same as the chip would cost)....

To clarify.. obviously the nf chip still has a purpose.. it gives maximum throughput to the sli configuration and facilitates communication. So I'm thinking maybe we'll see some performance differences between an NF chip setup and a non NF chip setup. If it legitimately affects SLIs performance it makes sense why they've wanted to keep it limited to the chip based SLI... to show the products in the best possible light and control the SLI ecosystem better.
08-28-2008, 02:57 AM
Sr7

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macadamia

They'll probably sell it at a $20-30 markup to the OEMs, which will probably put it only in the top SKUs, costing another lovely $50.

At least it doesn't use more power or cripple Radeons now. Sheesh.

It couldn't have crippled the Radeons, but I suppose people love to assume that any black box is an evil black box... :rolleyes:
08-28-2008, 03:07 AM
Macadamia

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sr7

It couldn't have crippled the Radeons, but I suppose people love to assume that any black box is an evil black box... :rolleyes:

Why don't you explain the Skulltrail Driverheaven QCFX vs 3SLI review and the Techreport benchmark numbers? :rolleyes:
08-28-2008, 03:24 AM
JumpingJack

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sr7

To clarify.. obviously the nf chip still has a purpose.. it gives maximum throughput to the sli configuration and facilitates communication. So I'm thinking maybe we'll see some performance differences between an NF chip setup and a non NF chip setup. If it legitimately affects SLIs performance it makes sense why they've wanted to keep it limited to the chip based SLI... to show the products in the best possible light and control the SLI ecosystem better.

:) .... you, know I am pretty certain Anandtech will do a comparative article on this very point to validate this claim... if not, I will spend the money to do it myself :) ... personally, I think it would hurt more than help ... adding another node in the bus adds latency, which is the real killer in the current ecosystem.

Frankly, I see all of nVidia's behavior as means to benefit only nVidia -- makes sense, a company is out to make money.
08-28-2008, 03:26 AM
Sr7

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macadamia

Why don't you explain the Skulltrail Driverheaven QCFX vs 3SLI review and the Techreport benchmark numbers? :rolleyes:

links? Proof? What you're claiming is highly slanderous and would be highly illegal for NVIDIA to do. Don't you think AMD would've called them out on it if it had been the case? Don't you think Intel would've rejected it outright from their product?

There are a whole lot of logical tests you're failing right now.
08-28-2008, 03:30 AM
Blacky

I think this is nvidia big bang II!
08-28-2008, 03:43 AM
msimax

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=609
08-28-2008, 03:53 AM
Biker

Excellent news!

No tri or quad sli support without the chip though and it only works with PCI-E 2.0+ boards...

Hmmm..... this sli enabling miracle will be actually enabled through a CUSTOM BIOS ;)

I sense a *lot* of happy ppl in the near future :D

More detail at Custom PC :)
08-28-2008, 04:04 AM
spursindonesia

Now it really makes sense, i've been a long time believer that dual card SLI DOESN'T need any bridge chip, IF the PCIE lanes are enough in the original chipset itself -unlike nVidia which split PCIE lanes beetween northbridge and soutbridge, Intel 975X and X38/48 generation, as well as incoming X58, are fully capable of delivering 32x PCIE lanes 2.0. Now, if we talk about Tri SLI and the bridge beetween PCIE 1.0 compliant chipset with PCIE 2.0 VGA cards for best performance in nVidia platform, that's another subject to discuss.
08-28-2008, 04:11 AM
Sr7

Quote:

Originally Posted by msimax

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=609

So because 3 GT200 gpus get better scaling than 4 ATI GPUs, NVIDIA must've rigged the skulltrail NF200? :rofl:
08-28-2008, 04:24 AM
ShArKo

Quote:

Originally Posted by zsamz_

nice maybe now we can have sli on x48 n p45;)with some help from coders

hope you right:rolleyes::rolleyes: That will be very cool :cool:
08-28-2008, 04:26 AM
bowman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamesrt2004

wouldnt be surprised if they did something in the driver though tbh

Flash in a BIOS that makes the driver think there's an NF200 chip there.

Oh well, I'm not interested in multiGPU anyways unless it comes with a Hydra chip perched on top but maybe it's nice for some folks.
08-28-2008, 04:43 AM
vmsein

In my opinion, this has been the only interesting news to come out of nvision. Finally, something worthy to cheer about!
08-28-2008, 04:47 AM
Sagart

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blacky

I think this is nvidia big bang II!

This may be a part of it, but the main "boom" is a new driver, ForceWare 180-series. ;)
08-28-2008, 05:08 AM
3NZ0

Fantastic news, that's great progress made but I'm still not very happy with nvidia about the licensing.

I have a feeling we might see custom bios' for other boards though......
08-28-2008, 05:19 AM
STaRGaZeR

Quote:

Originally Posted by MomijiTMO

Well if it's just 50 bucks I think almost everyone would pay it [not me though]. However if nVidia get greedy and whack on say 100 then they suck and not everyone would jump on.

Man I think almost everyone would not pay for it :rolleyes:. They want SLI, but they don't want to pay a premium to use it. Add that to the already overpriced X58 mobos at launch and we'll break the $500 barrier.
08-28-2008, 05:20 AM
ShArKo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagart

This may be a part of it, but the main "boom" is a new driver, ForceWare 180-series. ;)

:yepp::yepp: imagine the forceware 180-series eneable the SLI support on x38/x48 motherboards !!:rolleyes::rolleyes:
08-28-2008, 05:46 AM
hollo

Quote:

Once a board is certified, Nvidia will provide the board maker with an approval key (called a "cookie") that it must embed in the system BIOS. The combination of this approval key and an X58 chipset will then unlock SLI support in Nvidia's ForceWare driver software. Nvidia acknowledged to us up front that users would more than likely hack the BIOSes of non-certified X58 boards and add "cookies" to them, but said it won't get in the way of such things.

kindof funny, i always thought it was loopy of nvidia to disallow sli on any chipset at all

user: "i have a p35 chipset motherboard and a 8800 GT and i'd like to buy another nvidia gfx card to use in sli"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no, you don't understand. if you'll allow SLI on p35 i'll buy another one of your graphics cards to put in my computer"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no no, i mean like, i'll buy another nvidia gfx card, and you'll make money off the sale of that extra gfx card"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "....mmk" /buys a 4850
08-28-2008, 06:01 AM
iadstudio

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShArKo

:yepp::yepp: imagine the forceware 180-series eneable the SLI support on x38/x48 motherboards !!:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Ever hopeful, but I doubt it. I'm guessing the architecture is different enough that x38 & x48 compatibility will not happen but I'm no expert.

Any expert opinions on this issue?
08-28-2008, 06:07 AM
3NZ0

Quote:

Originally Posted by hollo

*snip*

I know, it seems so logical to allow it on all platforms, they would make a huge amount of cash with people that have 975x, 965, p35, p45, x3/48 but nooooo :rolleyes:
08-28-2008, 06:10 AM
Logos

@ hollo: great post :up:
08-28-2008, 06:12 AM
NeedMoMegaHurtZ

Quote:

Originally Posted by iadstudio

Ever hopeful, but I doubt it. I'm guessing the architecture is different enough that x38 & x48 compatibility will not happen but I'm no expert.

Any expert opinions on this issue?

I'm not an expert, but there is no technological reason why they couldn't enable it. My understanding is that SLI could be enabled through drivers on any platform

The reason stems from a business standpoint. If they stand to increase revenue through BIOS licensing/board certification + nF200 sales on x58, there is no way they are going to enable it on x38 and x48 "for free"

We as consumers are still going to pay "Nvidia Tax". Even those that don't want it will probably have to pay extra$ for the board certification. Since the board certification is only a BIOS modification, not a hardware chip, it is unlikely mobo manufacturers will make several SKU's around "certified" vs "uncertified" - forcing everyone to pay extra - as the Mobo manufacturers will just pass along the any additional costs.
08-28-2008, 06:15 AM
Bo_Fox

both Xfire and SLI support on the same mobo?? :wiggle::kissbutt:
08-28-2008, 06:30 AM
Frodin

I'm not paying anything to Nvidia for a "feature" that I'll never use, if I ever go X58 I'll make sure to get a board that doesn't support these blackmail tactics, we pay enough for those damn graphics cards. "Certification fee", how stupid is that? This is a loud and clear statement from Nvidia that they don't want my money any longer, I take the hint.
08-28-2008, 06:37 AM
Buck47

Quote:

Originally Posted by hollo

kindof funny, i always thought it was loopy of nvidia to disallow sli on any chipset at all

user: "i have a p35 chipset motherboard and a 8800 GT and i'd like to buy another nvidia gfx card to use in sli"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no, you don't understand. if you'll allow SLI on p35 i'll buy another one of your graphics cards to put in my computer"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no no, i mean like, i'll buy another nvidia gfx card, and you'll make money off the sale of that extra gfx card"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "....mmk" /buys a 4850

:lol2:
08-28-2008, 06:50 AM
Nedjo

so now we have it officially: NVIDIA lost to Intel on this game of smartassing! They didn't get licence for QPI for their own chipset, then mobo manufacturers told them to stuff NV200 where Sun don't shine, and finally they simply gave up and are trying to do any damage recovery in a fear that enthusiastic market will go only with x58+ATI CFX combo... this is end of the line for any NVIDIA ambitions for part of chipset market on Intel platform in the future!
08-28-2008, 06:54 AM
Blacky

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagart

This may be a part of it, but the main "boom" is a new driver, ForceWare 180-series. ;)

Yeah I know, I was just saying :rofl:
08-28-2008, 07:22 AM
turbox997

I'm not too surprised, I mean they have to make SLi live on and since they no longer make chipsets, what are they going to do?

Also, a note on the license price, I'm betting that it's not too high, why? Again, because unless they want to kill SLi, they have to
rely on Intel's chipset, and if it's too high, either the manufacturer's won't buy it, or the end consumers. Then only ATi will be
the only one with a dual slot graphics solution.
08-28-2008, 08:05 AM
ShArKo

Quote:

Originally Posted by hollo

kindof funny, i always thought it was loopy of nvidia to disallow sli on any chipset at all

user: "i have a p35 chipset motherboard and a 8800 GT and i'd like to buy another nvidia gfx card to use in sli"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no, you don't understand. if you'll allow SLI on p35 i'll buy another one of your graphics cards to put in my computer"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no no, i mean like, i'll buy another nvidia gfx card, and you'll make money off the sale of that extra gfx card"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "....mmk" /buys a 4850

jajajajaja Its funny, but is the reality :(:(

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3NZ0

I know, it seems so logical to allow it on all platforms, they would make a huge amount of cash with people that have 975x, 965, p35, p45, x3/48 but nooooo :rolleyes:

Yes its logical FOR US..but not for nV. Because if they allow SLI on chipset INTEL, the people will just buy INTEL CHIPSET and no longer nV chipset.. that why

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeedMoMegaHurtZ

I'm not an expert, but there is no technological reason why they couldn't enable it. My understanding is that SLI could be enabled through drivers on any platform

The reason stems from a business standpoint. If they stand to increase revenue through BIOS licensing/board certification + nF200 sales on x58, there is no way they are going to enable it on x38 and x48 "for free"

We as consumers are still going to pay "Nvidia Tax". Even those that don't want it will probably have to pay extra$ for the board certification. Since the board certification is only a BIOS modification, not a hardware chip, it is unlikely mobo manufacturers will make several SKU's around "certified" vs "uncertified" - forcing everyone to pay extra - as the Mobo manufacturers will just pass along the any additional costs.

all the new technology is business for them.....
Nv is try in to make us belive that FULL SLI on x58 is just posible only with NF200 chips.........that marketing.....:shakes::shakes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frodin

I'm not paying anything to Nvidia for a "feature" that I'll never use, if I ever go X58 I'll make sure to get a board that doesn't support these blackmail tactics, we pay enough for those damn graphics cards. "Certification fee", how stupid is that? This is a loud and clear statement from Nvidia that they don't want my money any longer, I take the hint.

no dude..........nV want's you money, my money and everybody money's....that why nV do buisness like X58 SLI and NF200 chip.........They want more and more money...........
08-28-2008, 08:20 AM
Swatrecon_

jesus christ, finally. The whole proprietary solutions thing was really pissing me off.
08-28-2008, 09:04 AM
STaRGaZeR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nedjo

so now we have it officially: NVIDIA lost to Intel on this game of smartassing! They didn't get licence for QPI for their own chipset, then mobo manufacturers told them to stuff NV200 where Sun don't shine, and finally they simply gave up and are trying to do any damage recovery in a fear that enthusiastic market will go only with x58+ATI CFX combo... this is end of the line for any NVIDIA ambitions for part of chipset market on Intel platform in the future!

Thank god (or I should say Intel) for that ;)
08-28-2008, 09:13 AM
golfjam

That's great news but if I get another stuck "FF" code because of SLI I'll be very pissed.
08-28-2008, 09:19 AM
Katanai

Quote:

Originally Posted by STaRGaZeR

Thank god (or I should say Intel) for that ;)

Haha, you fanboy!

Anyway this is great news for everybody. You people need to stop complaining about every little detail. Some of you are like women, nitpicking everything. BIOS key or not the drivers are important, if there is a part in them that allows SLI on x58 then we're set. :)
08-28-2008, 09:33 AM
Biker

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3NZ0

Fantastic news, that's great progress made but I'm still not very happy with nvidia about the licensing.

I have a feeling we might see custom bios' for other boards though......

Amen, brother :D
08-28-2008, 09:49 AM
Kai Robinson

I'm just holding out hope that someone is going to backport this to X38/X48 and P45 boards...you'd surely be able to get around the whole key thing like the SLIC emulation people (*ahem*) are using to get around Vista activation?
08-28-2008, 10:05 AM
drizzt5

SLI on my x38 sounds like fun.... :P Watch it scale better than a 750i ftw too, rofl.
08-28-2008, 10:08 AM
SamHughe

I feel like we'll be seeing a $550 desktop board (probably an Asus ROG) in the very near future.
08-28-2008, 10:21 AM
Xello

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nedjo

They didn't get licence for QPI for their own chipset

Hmm:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digitimes

Peterson also noted that although Nvidia has received a license to use Intel's QPI technology, the company is currently not planning to launch any chipsets supporting QPI. It will however launch Intel Socket 1160 platform-based chipsets supporting DMI.
08-28-2008, 10:23 AM
[XC] leviathan18

Quote:

Originally Posted by hollo

kindof funny, i always thought it was loopy of nvidia to disallow sli on any chipset at all

user: "i have a p35 chipset motherboard and a 8800 GT and i'd like to buy another nvidia gfx card to use in sli"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no, you don't understand. if you'll allow SLI on p35 i'll buy another one of your graphics cards to put in my computer"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no no, i mean like, i'll buy another nvidia gfx card, and you'll make money off the sale of that extra gfx card"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "....mmk" /buys a 4850

you see the issue is not so many go SLI, but people when buy a mobo thinks maybe i should get the nvidia chipset so in the future i get sli, there is where they make the money
08-28-2008, 10:24 AM
RealTelstar

Oh yeah!
SLI was already the main reason for me to get nehalem asap
08-28-2008, 10:41 AM
paulhamm

Seems to me that this is a very clear indication that Nvidia will be out of the chip set business in 12-18 months. Just no money in making them anymore. It is very difficult to compete against the guys who make the CPUs. Looks like the green goblin really needs to buy VIA to get a CPU. I am not sure what happened to the Alpha IP would really like to see that come back. Hate the fact that corporate raiders eviscerated one of the greatest tech companies ever.
08-28-2008, 11:27 AM
gojirasan

Quote:

Well if it's just 50 bucks I think almost everyone would pay it

Is that supposed to be funny? I sure as hell wouldn't pay it. It's a different world now with AMD becoming so badass, born-again-hard. Nvidia now has some real competition in GPU-land. So they just can't pull that kind of crap anymore. Of far as I'm concerned SLI is already dead in the water with the availability of cards like the 4870x2. Maybe this move will help revive it. Why would I pay even an extra $20 for SLI support whether there is an extra silicon space heater onboard or not? To hell with that. F U Nvidia for ever having limited SLI to your own chipsets in the first place. Jerks.
08-28-2008, 11:52 AM
MikeMK

Well, this is fantastic news, and something ive been wanting (as have many ppl) for a while. Its such a PITA having to change mobos for multi-GPU solutions, or being forced to use a sub-par (i.e. nvidia 680i lol) chipset if u want SLI when there are better alternatives out there.... lookin fwd to my 1st nahelem board now! :D
08-28-2008, 12:09 PM
Zaskar

If you want the best your still going to be getting a board that has the NF chips to get 16x on all lanes though.
08-28-2008, 12:15 PM
Astratuner

best news in weeks ^^
08-28-2008, 12:16 PM
Omastar

Quote:

Originally Posted by hollo

kindof funny, i always thought it was loopy of nvidia to disallow sli on any chipset at all

user: "i have a p35 chipset motherboard and a 8800 GT and i'd like to buy another nvidia gfx card to use in sli"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no, you don't understand. if you'll allow SLI on p35 i'll buy another one of your graphics cards to put in my computer"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "no no, i mean like, i'll buy another nvidia gfx card, and you'll make money off the sale of that extra gfx card"
nvidia: "no!"
user: "....mmk" /buys a 4850

So true. That Jen-Hsun Huang is a real smartass guy, but it seems he's realized the error in his ways here--thank God he can demonstrate hubris. :rolleyes:
08-28-2008, 12:34 PM
Sr7

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omastar

So true. That Jen-Hsun Huang is a real smartass guy, but it seems he's realized the error in his ways here--thank God he can demonstrate hubris. :rolleyes:

It's not an error.. you can bet they got what they wanted out of it.

There's a specific strategy to establishing a platform. Look at Apple...

You can also bet they'll keep making chipsets.
08-28-2008, 12:38 PM
Omastar

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sr7

It's not an error.. you can bet they got what they wanted out of it.

There's a specific strategy to establishing a platform. Look at Apple...

You can also bet they'll keep making chipsets.

Their strategy is not matching up to their focus on the outset: to put their branded SLI bridge chips on non-nVidia based motherboards. That's a platform. Sure, they can still charge other manufacturers a premium for unlocking SLI on the BIOS level, but they don't have their NF200 chip on the PCB. Licensing an expensive software/firmware level unlock isn't really appealing, personally, but they'll still make a killing off everybody who simply can't live without non-nVidia chipset-based SLI on X58.
08-28-2008, 12:41 PM
Sr7

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omastar

Their strategy is not matching up to their focus on the outset: to put their branded SLI bridge chips on non-nVidia based motherboards. That's a platform. Sure, they can still charge other manufacturers a premium for unlocking SLI on the BIOS level, but they don't have their NF200 chip on the PCB. Licensing an expensive software/firmware level unlock isn't really appealing, personally, but they'll still make a killing off everybody who simply can't live without non-nVidia chipset-based SLI on X58.

It *does* match up with a platform strategy. One of the key points of a platform is branding and quality of your brand. This is an effort to loosen up the reigns a bit and maintain some quality without dictating that things will only work on their own motherboards. Whether the nforce200 chip is there or not has nothing to do with the *platform*.

As long as they can control the delivery of SLI to the end-user and ensure it's deployed properly, they still have a platform there.
08-28-2008, 01:24 PM
Epsilon84

I liken this to a game of stare - nVidia was always going to blink first. :p:
08-28-2008, 01:42 PM
naokaji

Quote:

Originally Posted by drizzt5

SLI on my x38 sounds like fun.... :P Watch it scale better than a 750i ftw too, rofl.

wont happen as nvidia has s775 boards on the market and fooling the drivers into believing that a x38 /x48 is a x58 will most likely not be possible as they are entirely different, too many posibilities to double check.
08-28-2008, 02:59 PM
skinnee

SWEET!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:
08-28-2008, 04:42 PM
crazy1323

So what does this mean for me:

I am planning on using two GTX 280's in SLI but i also have a SAS controller that that is PCIe 8X. Will i need the nF200 chip so that I can have two lanes at 16X and one at 8X?
08-28-2008, 05:16 PM
mdzcpa

SLI on an Intel based mobo.....finally. Honestly, I'm pretty done with these Nvidia based boards. The 680i and now 790i have worked well, but they never delivered the kind of stability I cherish.

This also means I can go back to offering SLI on my client builds again (which I have not bean able to do since I will not warranty an Nvidia based mobo for OCing builds).

Good news indeed.
08-28-2008, 05:34 PM
Xoulz

Quote:

Originally Posted by gojirasan

Is that supposed to be funny? I sure as hell wouldn't pay it. It's a different world now with AMD becoming so badass, born-again-hard. Nvidia now has some real competition in GPU-land. So they just can't pull that kind of crap anymore. Of far as I'm concerned SLI is already dead in the water with the availability of cards like the 4870x2. Maybe this move will help revive it. Why would I pay even an extra $20 for SLI support whether there is an extra silicon space heater onboard or not? To hell with that. F U Nvidia for ever having limited SLI to your own chipsets in the first place. Jerks.

Wait... weren't you one of the biggest Nvidia fanbois..? What happened?
08-28-2008, 05:59 PM
iadstudio

Quote:

Originally Posted by gojirasan

Is that supposed to be funny? I sure as hell wouldn't pay it. It's a different world now with AMD becoming so badass, born-again-hard. Nvidia now has some real competition in GPU-land. So they just can't pull that kind of crap anymore. Of far as I'm concerned SLI is already dead in the water with the availability of cards like the 4870x2. Maybe this move will help revive it. Why would I pay even an extra $20 for SLI support whether there is an extra silicon space heater onboard or not? To hell with that. F U Nvidia for ever having limited SLI to your own chipsets in the first place. Jerks.

Ha. Well said.

I know SLI would be possible on the x38, but not readily enabled by nVidia and not easily hacked anytime soon. Apple and nVidia are both jacka$$'s for pulling the crap they do. Only reason I have nVidia right now is because it was the best quick fix at the time, but I can promise you that I will NEVER use nVidia for multi gpu solution unless it's on an Intel platform.

I see where the brand equity BS comes into play with nVidia, but as long as they have AMD going head-to-head w/ them on performance, their brand isn't worth crap unless they are the performance king.

This coudl be the only reason I end up with nVidia. Also the reason I puked a little bit in my mouth when they bought Ageia.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/37611/140/
08-28-2008, 09:21 PM
lutjens

Nvidia,

How's it feel to be pushed around by the big dog?? Kudos to Intel for standing firm against Nvidia and telling them the way things will go, instead of the other way around (with Nvidia calling the shots). Intel FINALLY decided to play hardball with NVidia...and predicably, NVidia lost. Now we'll see how many NVidia chipsets sell...personally, ever since I had one on my dual Opteron system, I've wanted nothing further to do with NVidia core logic.

NVidia finally gets its comeuppance....today is a sweet day indeed...:D
08-28-2008, 11:19 PM
twwen2

This might have already been posted, but bit-tech ran an article here:
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/08...-sli-support/1

I found this bit interesting (about hacking the bios/drivers whatever nVidia are gonna use):

Quote:

So what about if a budding enthusiast manages to extract the key from one or more boards? Nvidia said it wouldn’t do anything to stop enthusiasts enabling SLI support on non-certified motherboards themselves. Tom Petersen, Technical Marketing Director in Nvidia’s chipset business unit, said that he’d be quite happy if enthusiasts did that because it’d mean they’d be using two (or more) Nvidia graphics cards in their system.

But also:

Quote:

He added that the certification process is in place to ensure a great out-of-the-box experience – boards that aren’t certified by Nvidia may encounter problems and it’ll require some BIOS modification on the user’s part. I’m not quite sure how Nvidia will react to custom BIOS files enabling SLI support on non-certified boards being hosted on the ‘net, as the company’s legal team has had a fairly rocky relationship with modified driver developers in the past – things could play out either way here.

Bring it boys, we got the best right here at XS! I'm sure we can figure something out... :cool:
08-29-2008, 04:11 AM
Anemone

Good news because it means that you can buy a mobo and then choose the best gpu option, down the road, for a given time period. If they did not do this, I think a lot of folks just would have opted for the CF solution only.

Bad news is that nearly all X58's will have probably paid for this (the enthusiast models which will be almost all models) thus the costs will go up even for those who will never run SLI. But that's acceptable imo, because the whole NF200, add layers to the mobo, add heat to the setup, thing was just totally wrong.
08-29-2008, 04:19 AM
Macadamia

Quote:

Originally Posted by iadstudio

Ha. Well said.

This coudl be the only reason I end up with nVidia. Also the reason I puked a little bit in my mouth when they bought Ageia.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/37611/140/

It uses OpenGL (has nothing to do with GPGPU), AMD demoed it on the Radeons (http://techreport.com/articles.x/14990/16). I'm gonna correct everyone until the the record's right.
08-29-2008, 06:12 AM
3NZ0

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShArKo

Yes its logical FOR US..but not for nV. Because if they allow SLI on chipset INTEL, the people will just buy INTEL CHIPSET and no longer nV chipset.. that why

The true implications of this would be that they would sell many more gpu's and slightly less motherboards, people would still go lengths to buy nvidia over intel. If they did sell absolutely no motherboards then that would be a benefit to us and them. They wouldn't have to waste time supporting and building a crud chipset while all the OEM's like evga take the stick for everything and we, the users wouldn't have to use the crap in the first place.

But look at it now, nv are no longer ABLE to make a chipset and intel is the only option (how it should be)
08-29-2008, 07:15 AM
Jamesrt2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xoulz

Wait... weren't you one of the biggest Nvidia fanbois..? What happened?

Good contribution to the thread right there :down:

[ot] I though Nvidia has pulled out of Chipset business now but yeah, am I wrong or right?
08-29-2008, 07:34 AM
ShArKo

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3NZ0

The true implications of this would be that they would sell many more gpu's and slightly less motherboards, people would still go lengths to buy nvidia over intel. If they did sell absolutely no motherboards then that would be a benefit to us and them. They wouldn't have to waste time supporting and building a crud chipset while all the OEM's like evga take the stick for everything and we, the users wouldn't have to use the crap in the first place.

But look at it now, nv are no longer ABLE to make a chipset and intel is the only option (how it should be)

yes that is true.....but nV is trying to expan the market.......so they will try to get more and more marked....sellding chipset, VGAs, etc.
08-29-2008, 07:38 AM
Tonucci

Wow tri-sli + 1 card for physX is supported :shocked:

Even tho I used to think that nvidia and intel were just playing games until an deal was signed, I was not so sure lately, seeing how they were constantly exchanging words and stuff..
08-29-2008, 03:31 PM
WRC

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3NZ0

But look at it now, nv are no longer ABLE to make a chipset and intel is the only option (how it should be)

I read an article where it states that nvidia does have a QPI license for nehalem, but they will not make any boards soon because it is not cost effective to them, in other words they will not sell too many boards. It is very tough beating intel at their own game
08-29-2008, 04:13 PM
Bo_Fox

I wonder if it would be possible to use that NF200 chip for Xfire solutions? Perhaps an ATI engineer could teach a hacker how to "reverse-engineer" the NF200 so that it allows Xfire to take advantage of the extra PCIE bandwidth... ooooh *puts pinkie finger in the mouth*!

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