Could nVidia actually benefit from allowing Intel SLI?

[Revs]

I've been thinking (I know, lol). At the moment, nVidia aren't allowing Intel to make SLI mobo's, right. Therefore, anyone who wants an SLI setup has to get an nVidia mobo, which, I think you'll all agree, is a bit of a gamble.

Therefore, nVidia must be loosing out on graphics card sales as there are people out there who would have SLI but are not prepared to buy an nVidia mobo.

So my question is this; if nVidia sold the SLI rights the Intel, would they make more profit from the sale of the licence and the additional card sales, despite the loss off mobo chipset sales?

Discuss...

[Amuro]

nVidia would benefit from it for sure.

[Revs]

I would think so too. I suspect they wouldn't consider anything like this until the 790i chipset is out. If that turns out to be a dud, they really should do it.

Even if the 790i is a success though, they still should. I'm sure they'll make alot more from graphics card sales than chipset sales.

[Madpistol]

Nvidia would benefit for sure. Stability is one thing, but they'd also sell a lot more cards than they would just for their chipsets.

[walterman]

A top mobo costs 250-300E, a top gfx card +600E. As easy as that.

nForce SLI rig -> 250E + 2x600E = 1450E in nVidia based products.

intel rig -> 600E in nVidia based products.

I dunno how many percentage nVidia earns from each product, but even a 10% of 850E is a nice benefit.

[hirantha]

Intel boards have 2 16x PCI-X slots all nvidia has to do is release the drivers to support intel chipset.

[Revs]

Originally Posted by hirantha

Intel boards have 2 16x PCI-X slots all nvidia has to do is release the drivers to support intel chipset.

Not sure it's as simple as that. I'm sure there would be a hardware change required. Although I have nothing to back that up.

[Tr1cK]

I'm thinking its just a software change, most likely drivers and possibly a BIOS update.

I think it could lead to more OEM systems with the SLI upgrade path. As far as the bottom line goes, I think the motherboard sales would definitely drop, but potentially the video card sales would more than make up for it.

[Revs]

Exactly. So you godda ask; what's stopping them?

If it's just that they don't want to admit defeat, they need to have a re-think.

[Lfctony]

I personally prefer Intel boards for stability's sake. I will probably never get a SLI setup because of this. All these problems I keep reading about Nforce boards just stop me from potentially buying another GTX. I would have ages ago. I even considered the less than decent Crossfire setup, merely because Intel boards is the only setup they support. If the 3870X2 is fast enough, I'm probably swapping to that(but not likely since the 9800GTX might come out).

[Revs]

Does Intel actually want to allow SLI on there boards anyhow? As it would kinda mean them crapping on ATI CrossFire, which Intel support.

If anyone has any links to sites with info on this, could you please post a link. Wouldn't mind having a read.

That's another point actually. This would benefit them in that they would have another thing over ATI. Which would be a good thing for them, but maybe not for the rest of us.

[Amuro]

Any board with dual PIC-E slots and proper driver support can support SLI. There used to be hacked drivers that make SLI possible on Intel boards, but nVidia now encrypts their drivers to prevent hacking.