Hybrid NVIDIA Chipset Motherboards Launched
MojoKid writes "Filling the price gap between the high-end nForce 680i SLI and more affordable 650i SLI chipsets, without sacrificing any advanced features, motherboard manufacturer Asus has created a
hybrid motherboard chipset in cooperation with NVIDIA, dubbed the "Dual X16 SLI". Designed for
the Intel platform, the chipset combination employed on the P5N32-E SLI Plus
motherboard offers true, dual PCI Express x16 electrical connections for graphics, dual
Gig-E LAN support and a slew of other features found on high-end 680i boards. HotHardware pits the P5N32-E SLI Plus against an nForce 680i SLI to see if Asus' hybrid chipset approach truly offers all of the performance of the more expensive 680i SLI for a fraction of the cost."
Manufacturer announces slightly different model of thing at lower price. How did this get in? Slow news day?
Even a simple, yes/no/sort of would have been more helpful than nothing.
TFA is interesting and all, but it should have a summary. Not a teaser!
Very simple marketing tactics. I would have expected better from slashdot.
(oh wait, nevermind, thats what I have come to expect from slashdot. silly me)
And I thought... like, it's a cross between a chipset and a motherboard, genetically engineered by NVidia!
Just some more inane marketing speak.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Yawn. Wake me up when the motherboard has optical connections to the video card.
The ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus has been out for ages; and there have already been a number of reviews on it...
Now that I call progress! Holy shit! Electrical?!?
None of that old fashioned, noisy, pneumatic video signalling for ASUS!
Bot Assisted Blogging
They don't each have a full 16 lanes of signaling backing them up. There is probably 16 total lanes, so if both are in use they get 8 lanes per, despite being electrically 16x.
Actually, they mean that they do have a full 16 lanes. Compare to the 650i, which is at a similar price point, which only supports 8 as you describe, but has a slot designed for 16.
It better have 40 total lanes if they're trying to get close to 680i performance. 680i has 40 lanes total, two x16 SLI and one x8 intended for a physics card, but which can be used for anything. If the Dual x16 SLI doesn't even have 32 or 40 total lanes, it's not really in the same league. Surely it does, right? Or is that another disadvantage to this mb?
I only mod funny =D
because "Hybrids" are the "in thing" currently.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Since when did slashdot became so blatantly a mouthpiece for corporate advertising, such as this add-campaign for motherboards?
Mind you, I mean *so blatantly*. They used to have a bit more discretion.
--- "To pee or not to pee, that is the question." ---
I can just see some idiot trying to wire some video card to fit in a PCI 1x slot. Sure it would work, but how fast would it be? I didn't even know this stuff existed. It makes it nice that they have a standard that it seems they will be able to expand on for a few years, but it adds a lot of extra stuff to know for those trying to price a new computer.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I can just see some idiot trying to wire some video card to fit in a PCI 1x slot
No reason to hack it when you can buy them.
Sure it would work, but how fast would it be?
PCIe 1x is adequately fast for many purposes. PCIe 1x bandwidth is 250MB/s (that's bytes, not bits), which is roughly the same as AGP 1x, and twice as fast as PCI. Both of these technologies are adequate for providing standard 2D desktop graphics. I wouldn't want to try playing hi-def video over a PCIe 1x link (1920x1080p @ 32-bit, 30 fps would need about 237MB/s, which doesn't leave a lot of headroom), but anything short of that should be possible.
It makes it nice that they have a standard that it seems they will be able to expand on for a few years, but it adds a lot of extra stuff to know for those trying to price a new computer.
Not really. You just need to remember that PCIe-16x slots let you run most graphics cards, other slots can be used for specialist graphics cards or other purposes. No different really to the old AGP/PCI slot distinction.
I've had nothing but bad things happen with every asus m/b I've tried. I'll stick with VIA and buy the nvidia card separately, thanks.
Nvidia will come out with decent open drivers when you can convince them that ATI will not steal their driver tricks/optimization. Likewise, you must convince ATI that Nvidia will not read ATI's open source drivers... Good luck with that!
If anyone likes, they may buy my old P5N-SLI (crap) before I replaced it with an AW9D-MAX. I had the P5N-SLI Faulty twice from newegg, and when I checked with the rep he had over 30 returns for just that month on the motherboard, despite the large amount of internet hype and diety praise to the motherboard. It was utter crap, and I would never buy their product again. AW9D-MAX worked great, only gripe is crossfire (hacked sli drivers), and the lack of expansion slots. but I'd gladly take that over my memory going all funky, and random blue screens very 30 minutes or so. Be very wary.
Err -- this article's about a motherboard, not a graphics card.
I've got used to people not reading the summary now, so presumably everyone's going to start not even reading the title...?
Are there really that many people using SLI to provide a market for another SLI mb design? Who are these people spending their retirement fund on graphics cards?
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
How goods the gas consumption on them now?
I may agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to face the consequences of saying it.
Their refusal to support nForce2 and nForce3 in Vista means I won't be buying anything from them, and I urge you all to consider this fact when shopping: they don't have enough resources to support all their products, which can be seen from delay or lack of drivers, and issues with hardware.
This is not trolling, it is a fact. Compare to intel, VIA, and others supporting way older hardware.