Release 90 Drivers to support 4 GPU's !!!

[Delbert]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27300

Edit: Removed so not to upset anyone or get :firedevil flamed.... Just wantde to point out the possible Jan2006 dates.

[TierMann]

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=56994&highlight=quad+sli+board

[AthlonXP1800]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27300

Pinch of salt anyone ?????

No it not pinch of salt, Gigabyte and ASUS already got quad cards up and running in their labs, here (http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=701824&postcount=23) a pic of HKEPC tested sample motherboard with quad cards in my post.

[deimos47ca]

Although its a natural progression from 2, it still gives me that "frankenstein" feeling. Afterall, it would cost at least 4 times as much, and consumer 4 times as much power, and put out 4 times as much heat.

For folks attempting to do this, I hope they have sufficient cooling and not doing this in hot weather (Singapore), because you could have a "meltdown".. all 4 nVidia cards could melth right through the plastic sockets and through the motherboard!!

[J-Mag]

Although its a natural progression from 2, it still gives me that "frankenstein" feeling. Afterall, it would cost at least 4 times as much, and consumer 4 times as much power, and put out 4 times as much heat.

For folks attempting to do this, I hope they have sufficient cooling and not doing this in hot weather (Singapore), because you could have a "meltdown".. all 4 nVidia cards could melth right through the plastic sockets and through the motherboard!!

I really dont forsee any major issues that cannot be solved though. I mean if you wanted to run quad GPUs and just so happend to have the right drivers the dual 7800GT asus boards would work nicely as they have their own PSUs.

Watercooling can solve he heat issue...

[Raje]

I really dont forsee any major issues that cannot be solved though. I mean if you wanted to run quad GPUs and just so happend to have the right drivers the dual 7800GT asus boards would work nicely as they have their own PSUs.

Watercooling can solve he heat issue...

The newer cores that NVIDIA is working on are being designed with 2 GPUs to a PCB in mind. Not necessarily high end GPUs.

4 GPUs/Quad GPUs doesn't necessarily have to be for the high end. This just gives people more flexibility.

[Reaper106]

Furture speculation, 4 Ge-Force 8900Ultra's in quad SLI:drooling:

[Rakeesh]

I still don't know how you can justify buying more than one graphics card for just one computer.

[retsam]

I still don't know how you can justify buying more than one graphics card for just one computer.i guess when you need to compensate for having a small penis?:D

[CaptNKILL]

i guess when you need to compensate for having a small penis?:D
Well in that case...

*puts GF2MX 200 PCI back in system*

:D:condom:

[shabby]

Ok so two sets of gtx's will be connected with that sli bridge, but how will they both communicate to each other... through the pcie bus? Wont that starve the bus if each slot is only 8x?

[saweetnesstrev]

4 BIG CARD is too much! the max i would do is 2 Dual Core GPU Cards, Not 4 Cards. You will be a super super nerd, if you did that, i would tell you to get a life.:eek: :eek:

[Veger]

This is getting ridiculous and too expensive for any worth out of it. I think I am going to give this pc crap up next year when ps3 hits. More for the dam rich and elitist crowd to afford now. I admit that is impressive but the few games that will use is far and few.

[Raje]

This is getting ridiculous and too expensive for any worth out of it. I think I am going to give this pc crap up next year when ps3 hits. More for the dam rich and elitist crowd to afford now. I admit that is impressive but the few games that will use is far and few.

I think the idea is that NVIDIA will be releasing graphics cards that use two smaller GPUs in parallel via SLI. So, you have two GPUs on one PCB. Then you want to be able to have two of those two-GPU cards in SLI. That's 4 GPUs total so you need new drivers to make that work correctly.

This isn't specifically aimed at making you want 4 GeForce 7800 GTXs in Parallel or 2-4 Dual GeForce 7800 GT/Xs in Parallel.

Someone somewhere will find this worth it. NVIDIA is just giving everyone more options, whether or not anyone actually uses the technology.

Plus... this is something NVIDIA's PR Machine can say that SLI can do that CrossFire can't at least until CrossFire is updated to support the same thing.

[keith33]

This is getting ridiculous and too expensive for any worth out of it. I think I am going to give this pc crap up next year when ps3 hits. More for the dam rich and elitist crowd to afford now. I admit that is impressive but the few games that will use is far and few.

Man I agree, I won't be able to afford to game well at this rate when smart ass game makers like the geniuses that made FEAR say you need SLI to play their games at their potential.

[jAkUp]

You don't need SLI to play, just turn the graphics down a tad and everyone is happy. Its not like anyone is forcing you guys to buy 4 graphics cards. Hey, if I was rich, I would do it in a heartbeat, like I'm sure anyone would. Does that make you a "super nerd." Of course not, it just means you have alot of money.

I never understand this argument, if they throw something a little extra in for the SLI users, is that so bad? Why should we SLI users have the same experience when we pay double the amount on the graphics card? Should we not get a little something extra?

Would you rather Monolith not even include some of the Soft shadows and advanced features? I really don't understand the sense in that.

I will not go 4 GPU's. At least not on the income that I am in right now... I just can't afford that, but if game developers throw something extra in for them, more power to them.

[Sazar]

4 dual-core cards in quad config :cool:

I need to buy me a power-plant.

[Toss3]

You don't need SLI to play, just turn the graphics down a tad and everyone is happy. Its not like anyone is forcing you guys to buy 4 graphics cards. Hey, if I was rich, I would do it in a heartbeat, like I'm sure anyone would. Does that make you a "super nerd." Of course not, it just means you have alot of money.

I never understand this argument, if they throw something a little extra in for the SLI users, is that so bad? Why should we SLI users have the same experience when we pay double the amount on the graphics card? Should we not get a little something extra?

Would you rather Monolith not even include some of the Soft shadows and advanced features? I really don't understand the sense in that.

I will not go 4 GPU's. At least not on the income that I am in right now... I just can't afford that, but if game developers throw something extra in for them, more power to them.


But then again I don't think we would have games that would require a 7800gt or better, if it weren't for SLi users. I mean that the game developers often aim at the middle-range when they develop a game, but with SLi in the mix then that's a 6800gt or 7800gt. You used to be able to play a game at at high settings before(~2years ago) with just one card; there wasn't any need for a second, third or even a fourth card! So now if you want to play at the highest settings you have to pay like 800$< (7800gt SLi) for it and that's quite a lot of money!
That's why I've lost interest in computers; it's IMHO like throwing away your money(there is always better components a moth after you've bought your "new" comp.). But for those that have the money, great for you, but I just can't afford buying a new card everytime I want to play a new game @ high settings... Maybe it's just me, but that's where consoles have their "charm"; no need to upgrade. So I'm just going to stick to my Xbox360 and Ps3 when I get 'em! :)

[Daneel Olivaw]

But then again I don't think we would have games that would require a 7800gt or better, if it weren't for SLi users. I mean that the game developers often aim at the middle-range when they develop a game, but with SLi in the mix then that's a 6800gt or 7800gt. You used to be able to play a game at at high settings before(~2years ago) with just one card; there wasn't any need for a second, third or even a fourth card! So now if you want to play at the highest settings you have to pay like 800$< (7800gt SLi) for it and that's quite a lot of money!
That's why I've lost interest in computers; it's IMHO like throwing away your money(there is always better components a moth after you've bought your "new" comp.). But for those that have the money, great for you, but I just can't afford buying a new card everytime I want to play a new game @ high settings... Maybe it's just me, but that's where consoles have their "charm"; no need to upgrade. So I'm just going to stick to my Xbox360 and Ps3 when I get 'em! :)Sorry to be blunt, but to write that post, you thought with your ass.

It's just hurting your ego to be unable to play at "high settings". You're not even considering the fact that if it weren't for SLI, the devs wouldn't even think of adding certain features to games because they'd see no point since no one would be able to run them.

Sli is a graphics technology advancement, just like any other. And that's good.

To make you happy, devs should create a level called Ultra High (ala UT). So you'd be able to have your "High settings" for that single card of yours and have your ego intact.

Unbelievable... Your comment would make sense if the existence of Sli stopped you from running a game, or if the devs thinking about Sli stopped you from maxing out your vid card when playing. That's why in-game graphical settings exist.

Plus, right now, the advantages to Sli are mostly AA and AF, hardly any in-game settings are added for them beyond what my lowly GF6 6800LE can run.

Bring it on! Let Sli roar! :)

[Sazar]

Well he has a point wrt efficiency.

I remember before you could have a high-end game and the devs would strive to make things efficient enough so that it would run on a fair number of machines, and run well.

Now, with the added graphics power, efficiency doesn't seem to be as big a thing anymore.

I mean heck look how good Far Cry looks and the physics and the draw distances and look how well it runs on slower systems. Think about how long ago it came out. My old aiw 9700pro played it pretty well too.

Sure add more stuff into games but also spend some time in allowing the user to utilise it without having to buy a whole new system just to play a game. Tighter coding and more efficient use of the device should be key.

[Rakeesh]

Man I agree, I won't be able to afford to game well at this rate when smart ass game makers like the geniuses that made FEAR say you need SLI to play their games at their potential.

Hmm...fear don't work fully with a 7800GTX?

[Toss3]

Sorry to be blunt, but to write that post, you thought with your ass.

It's just hurting your ego to be unable to play at "high settings". You're not even considering the fact that if it weren't for SLI, the devs wouldn't even think of adding certain features to games because they'd see no point since no one would be able to run them.

Sli is a graphics technology advancement, just like any other. And that's good.

To make you happy, devs should create a level called Ultra High (ala UT). So you'd be able to have your "High settings" for that single card of yours and have your ego intact.

Unbelievable... Your comment would make sense if the existence of Sli stopped you from running a game, or if the devs thinking about Sli stopped you from maxing out your vid card when playing. That's why in-game graphical settings exist.

Plus, right now, the advantages to Sli are mostly AA and AF, hardly any in-game settings are added for them beyond what my lowly GF6 6800LE can run.

Bring it on! Let Sli roar! :)

Umm that was kindah my point(aside from the other ones).. :) The developers add features, that makes the games look incredibly much better, that only people with SLi can run with an acceptable framerate! So why would anyone want to play without that setting if they pay like 400$ for a card(you'd have to buy a new one every time a new series is released)?
Yes, you're right; it's like thinking with my ass, I have to agree to that! But if the companies require me to buy a new card for 400$ then I expect it to run all games on high settings at least for a year, but now with SLi I wouldn't be able to run games on the highest settings(I know there are only a few games that wouldn't run on a 7800gt at an acceptable framerate)!
So, I'm thinking on my wallet(with my ass)! Before, you could buy the best graphics card there was and you were able to play the games you wanted on the highest settings and only for 400$, but now you have to spend 800$ to do the same!
And no, playing on lower settings doesn't hurt my ego(I have a geforce2 at the moment), but for 400$ I expect the best there is! That's why I'm switching to consoles because 1) I don't need to upgrade to play a certain game with a new feature 2) I can afford to buy games(no upgrading = lots of cash to spend on games) 3) The games on the new consoles will look as good as they do on pc's at least for a short period of time(this is also one of the negative sides of consoles, lack of keyboard and mouse being another one)!

[FraGTastiK]

Umm that was kindah my point(aside from the other ones).. :) The developers add features, that makes the games look incredibly much better, that only people with SLi can run with an acceptable framerate! So why would anyone want to play without that setting if they pay like 400$ for a card(you'd have to buy a new one every time a new series is released)?
Yes, you're right; it's like thinking with my ass, I have to agree to that! But if the companies require me to buy a new card for 400$ then I expect it to run all games on high settings at least for a year, but now with SLi I wouldn't be able to run games on the highest settings(I know there are only a few games that wouldn't run on a 7800gt at an acceptable framerate)!
So, I'm thinking on my wallet(with my ass)! Before, you could buy the best graphics card there was and you were able to play the games you wanted on the highest settings and only for 400$, but now you have to spend 800$ to do the same!
And no, playing on lower settings doesn't hurt my ego(I have a geforce2 at the moment), but for 400$ I expect the best there is! That's why I'm switching to consoles because 1) I don't need to upgrade to play a certain game with a new feature 2) I can afford to buy games(no upgrading = lots of cash to spend on games) 3) The games on the new consoles will look as good as they do on pc's at least for a short period of time(this is also one of the negative sides of consoles, lack of keyboard and mouse being another one)!

you can run all current games with highest eyecandy settings using single 7800GTX(or in general with top single card of any given time and current gen games of that time).you just cannot run games at high resolutions with aa af,you have to lower the res and it would still look good.SLi is there for high res aa af+maximium eyecandy settings.

FEAR runs just fine at 1024x768 with all the settings maxed and aa af,so there you wont miss any actual eyecandy with single card,probably no 1600x1200(and sometimes 1280x1024) gaming.I didnt see anything new that I havnt seen before in FEAR switching from single to SLi,just the ability to crank up the resolution.

so IMO SLi or Xfire are not making any negative impact on the way games are getting developed,as of now at least.

[jAkUp]

Yup, pretty much.

I have said it before, but many people are spoiled with High resolutions and AA/AF.

My voodoo2 struggled at times to play quake2 at 800x600 with 0AA/0AF. And that was cutting edge at the time.

Games have increased in overall detail by lightyears since quake4, but in addition to that, most of us want high resolutions with AA/AF also. Its just not possible.

People think years ago that a single card could run everything great, but yet you forget that you were likely playing with noAA/AF and low resolutions.

[slick]

Man I agree, I won't be able to afford to game well at this rate when smart ass game makers like the geniuses that made FEAR say you need SLI to play their games at their potential.

Don't blame the game makers, blame nVidia, they made SLI.