Date:
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Category:
GPU / Video Cards
Manufacturers:
NVIDIA
Author:
Kyle Bennett

NVIDIA Quad SLI DIY Interview

We have an exclusive interview with NVIDIA about their launch into true enthusiast Quad SLI. Today marks the release of the beta driver with official DIY Quad SLI support. We ask some tough questions and get no-nonsense answers that should help you make your Quad SLI decision.

Introduction

I know many of you have heard about Quad SLI. Dell and a few others have been supplying Quad SLI machines for a while now. With the launch of the BFGTech GeForce 7950 GX2, Quad SLI moved into a new realm. These new single PCIe slot video cards were designed with two things in mind: bringing SLI to those without an SLI motherboard, and allowing those of us with SLI motherboards the ability to install and utilize what is equivalent to four of the fastest video cards in the world in a single system.

Quad SLI, referring to the four GPUs, started out with a little less bang than expected. While it was planned to launch with official support into the do-it-yourself enthusiast community, that did not happen. Simply put, NVIDIA's forward-looking card design was not compatible with many motherboards at the time so NVIDIA pulled back official support till they got their ducks in line. There were also some game profile issues to be worked on. Of course, NVIDIA still "allowed" Quad SLI use with their Forceware drivers, but as expected, gaming was not smooth as silk. But when it worked, wow, did it friggin' work!

Brent Justice, Senior Video Card Editor, and myself sat down for some Quad SLI gaming utilizing two BFGTech GeForce 7950 GX2 video cards, and I have to say that it supplied a gaming experience unlike any other that I have recently had. On Dell's 3007 WFP 30" LCD display the immersion into the game was unmatched by any other system I have ever gamed on.

Now let's just be honest, putting together a system of this magnitude is not inexpensive, and there will be only a select few of you that decide to follow the Quad SLI path. But those of you that do will be highly rewarded.

NVIDIA allowed us the opportunity to question them on Quad SLI and we have put together a group of questions that hope will ring true with all you possible Quad SLI owners out there. If you are going to buy into the Quad SLI gaming dream, we sure as hell want you to do it with confidence and no unanswered questions.

The v91.37 Beta Driver for Quad NVIDIA SLI™ Technology for Windows XP / 2000 can be found here.

Quad SLI Interview

Answers provided by Chris Daniel, Product Manager, NVIDIA SLI

1. With Quad SLI now moving into the DIY realm, I think power and hardware compatibility are the factors that should be priority concerns on the enthusiast’s list when putting together a new system or upgrading his current system. On a newer system with a high end CPU, 2GB of RAM, sound card, a couple of hard drives and an optic drive, what “SLI Certified” power supplies does NVIDIA suggest or recommend? If not “SLI Certified” what power specifications should the enthusiast be looking for?

NVIDIA has certified a set of power supplies specifically for Quad SLI. This list can be found here on SLIZone. This set of power supplies has been tested to handle the power requirements of Quad SLI, an AM2 processor, 2GB of RAM, a sound card, and multiple hard drives and optical drives all driving a 30-inch monitor at 2560x1600 resolution.

2. We know that motherboard compatibility issues in the past have forced NVIDIA to make Quad SLI only supported in the OEM realm. How active is NVIDIA when it comes to working with motherboard builders to make sure that the GeForce 7950 GX2 Quad SLI will work on past, present, and future motherboards? And what DIY problems did you have to solve in regards to Quad SLI?

Although the GeForce 7950 GX2 is fully compliant with the PCI-Express specification, it was the first mass-produced graphics card design to use a PCI-E switch, and frankly it was unlike anything motherboard builders had seen before. NVIDIA has shared detailed technical information with both motherboard builders and BIOS suppliers (such as Phoenix and AMI) to ensure current and future BIOS revisions are compatible with 7950 GX2 products. We’ve also tested dozens of the most popular motherboards, contacted the manufacturer if any problems were found, and published a list of approved motherboards at www.nvidia.com/gx2. The list gets longer every week, and we’re finding that more and more boards pass on the first attempt without BIOS changes. However, there are still some incompatible motherboards out there, and we recommend you check with your motherboard manufacturer or check NVIDIA’s list of approved boards before purchasing a 7950 GX2.

3. We are hearing that we will not see any new Core 2 Intel chipsets supporting Quad SLI. Is this true? Will we see Intel chipsets support SLI?

NVIDIA nForce SLI motherboards remain a requirement for SLI technology. Quad SLI will be available with all current and future nForce SLI motherboards, including those supporting Intel’s Conroe processor.

4. Can we be assured that at least one GeForce 7950 GX2 will be working with Conroe motherboards that use non-NVIDIA chipsets?

One GeForce 7950 GX2 graphics card will continue to be supported in non-NVIDIA chipsets.