SLI on X58 without nF200 Chip

[Sr7]

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...

[Macadamia]

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

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

[JumpingJack]

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.

[Sr7]

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

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.

[Blacky]

I think this is nvidia big bang II!

[msimax]

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

[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

More detail at Custom PC

[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.

[Sr7]

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?

[ShArKo]

nice maybe now we can have sli on x48 n p45with some help from coders

hope you right That will be very cool

[bowman]

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.

[vmsein]

In my opinion, this has been the only interesting news to come out of nvision. Finally, something worthy to cheer about!

[Sagart]

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.

[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......

[STaRGaZeR]

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 . 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.

[ShArKo]

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

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

[hollo]

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

[iadstudio]

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

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?

[3NZ0]

*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

[Logos]

@ hollo: great post

[NeedMoMegaHurtZ]

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.

[Bo_Fox]

both Xfire and SLI support on the same mobo??

[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.

[Buck47]

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

[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!