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Nvidia Reintroduces SLI with GeForce 6800 Series
An anonymous reader writes "It's 1998 all over again gamers. A major release from ID software, and an expensive hotrod video card all in one year. However, rather than Quake and the Voodoo2 SLI, it's Doom3 and Nvidia SLI.
Hardware Analysis has the scoop, 'Exact performance figures are not yet available, but Nvidia's SLI concept has already been shown behind closed doors by one of the companies working with Nvidia on the SLI implementation. On early driver revisions which only offered non-optimized dynamic load-balancing algorithms their SLI configuration performed 77% faster than a single graphics card. However Nvidia has told us that prospective performance numbers should show a performance increase closer to 90% over that of a single graphics card. There are a few things that need to be taken into account however when you're considering buying an SLI configuration. First off you'll need a workstation motherboard featuring two PCI-E-x16 slots which will also use the more expensive Intel Xeon processors. Secondly you'll need two identical, same brand and type, PCI-E GeForce 6800 graphics cards.'"
There goes my savings again!
Its sad that my first born has to go..
But perversly exhilarating to hold an SLI configuration in my hands instead..
Rapid Nirvana
Am I the only one to find it hilarious that at the top of the page there was a Flash ad for an ATI Radeon X800?
"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live." - Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle"
sweet... so now i can get the same performance using my 3d Glasses as all you 2D slacker for only 2 or 3 times the price... wicked!!
(now = sometime in the future)
Break out my old Voodoo2 cards again... SLI? Sure... My voodoo2 cards in series from my Radeon x800 :-) Who says you have to have a 6800? ;-)
So THAT'S how we can run Longhorn! It makes sense!
Oh wait...
/richboyon Anyone who says that this kind of setup isn't necessary simply cannot afford the necessary gear. I am looking forward to the envy and hate from all the punk kids playing with their mom's computer. Truly the Ferrari concept brought to the desktop. /richboyoff
Now, what is a realistic price for a system such as this?
Look on the bright side; most Xeon systems already have the second PSU that you are going to need to power the extra card and turbofan based cooling system.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
Buy them here.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
I don't feel that an extra AU$3000 is worth it for the extra frame rate in games
Get out of here you heathen...........
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:D
How many of you are there hitting refresh just to see the hit counter go up?
Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
When it bursts into flame you have drawn too much current.
200% more GPU.
200% more expense on said GPU.
And 200% more problems calculating percentages!
Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
Not only would you have a kickass system to play Doom3 on, but you'll be able to heat your entire house with it.
Imagine a beowulf cluster of video cards in your machine.
IT COULD HAPPEN
The above post makes almost no sense, don't go modding it up. I'm not even going to waste time going into the specifics.
It's even worse, with that car they'll pick girls who will spend even more money... Thinking this way, a couple of SLI cards look like a bargain. And my right hand does everything else I need for free!
Nah. The reason why the new graphics cards run so hot is that they're self-powered. Each carries its own RTG.
As long as you have a lead-lined case and follow local, state, and federal ordinances regarding disposal of nuclear materials--then you should be fine.
Glad I could clear that up.
~Idarubicin
No, in '98 I had a great job and salary.
Sanity is the trademark of a weak mind. -- Mark Harrold
CRT > LCD / PLASMA
This equation just made me laugh. Like...if plasma is less than one, just think of how much smaller LCD has to be than CRT!
OK, I'm done.
I've discovered that playing games with no eye-candy, i.e. transparent wireframe, often gives me a decisive advantage.
Or, Redundant Array of Very Expensive Graphics-Cards.
This is great news! I knew that there was work on implementing RAID for memory and CPU's, but this is outstanding!
Now my gaming need never be interrupted on the off-chance that my video-card blows during an intense Far Cry session.
I'm hoping to buy six of these cards so I can implement RAID-5 across five of them and have a hot standby.
Why isn't Creative looking at doing this for sound cards?
Seriously, why can't the money used developing this stuff be put into VR again? For FPSs, it provides *way* more realism than increasing pixel count and frame rates ever will.
With OLEDs supposedly about to revolutionise the display market, could we have another stab at that technology?