SLI on X58 without nF200 Chip

[Blacky]

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

[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.

[ShArKo]

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

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

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

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.....

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...........

[Swatrecon_]

jesus christ, finally. The whole proprietary solutions thing was really pissing me off.

[STaRGaZeR]

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

[golfjam]

That's great news but if I get another stuck "FF" code because of SLI I'll be very pissed.

[Katanai]

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.

[Biker]

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

[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?

[drizzt5]

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

[SamHughe]

I feel like we'll be seeing a $550 desktop board (probably an Asus ROG) in the very near future.

[Xello]

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

Hmm:

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.

[[XC] leviathan18]

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

[RealTelstar]

Oh yeah!
SLI was already the main reason for me to get nehalem asap

[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.

[gojirasan]

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.

[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!

[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.

[Astratuner]

best news in weeks ^^

[Omastar]

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.

[Sr7]

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.

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.

[Omastar]

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.

[Sr7]

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.

[Epsilon84]

I liken this to a game of stare - nVidia was always going to blink first.

[naokaji]

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.