close look of NV40

[AlphaWolf]

ok guys, if you dont beleive me that there is a 1 slot 6800 ultra just go here
http://vr-zone.com/?i=681&s=1 as i directed twice already.

you can see PLENTY of 6800 ultra's at many angles displaying the 1 slot design.

No. I can't. The only one that looks like it might be a one slot is the prolink, but its hard to tell as the cooler is completely uniform thickness across the card. There is a leadtek design that is clearly not a 2slot solution, but its also clearly not a 6800ultra as it has FX stamped on the cooler.

I expect there will be one slot designs, but most of the cards being shown so far are based on the 2 slot reference cooler.

 

[ANova]

There are two reference designs. The ones pictured below are the single slot designs that were created for marketing but are available to partners.

http://vr-zone.com/eventpics/Apr04/14/NVIDIA/IMG_8352.JPG

The other is the more popular two slot design that pretty much all reviewers recieved.

http://vr-zone.com/eventpics/Apr04/14/NVIDIA/IMG_8360.JPG

In the end they are both just engineering samples and whether or not the card is a one or two slot board depends entirely on each company's design.

 

[ben6]

Ah there are the rest of the missing AIBs except for Abit. So the actual current list is:

Albatron
AOpen
Asus
BFG
Chaintech
eVGA
Gainward
Galaxy
Gigabyte
Inno3d
Leadtek
MSI
PNY
Prolink
XFX


Strangely the Press Release by NVIDIA is missing a few

 

[Cubase]

Hehehe, I have started something here

Look, there is ONE simple way to identify the Ultra from the N-Ultra and that is, the non ultra only has ONE molex connector.

So if you see a single slot card with TWO molex connectors, it is the Ultra. Like in those pictures from that Taipei convention.

Here are some very easily identifyable single slot ultras, and if you still don't beleive it, you must be labotamised!

1. Inno3D, once again, TWO molex connectors, signifying it is an ULTRA, pictured HERE

2. ASUS. YES it IS single slot. Read the caption at the top "This one is a single slot design with funky blue LED and hey, this model does not have dual DVI." Pictured HERE and

3. Gainward, again ONE slot, 2 Molex HERE

4. Albatron, SINGLE SLOT, hmm, am I repeating myself.... anyway HERE

5. Pixel View HERE

And YES there are many more. If you are one of those people that are so hellbent of wanting proof for something that is so dead obvious it exists, then perhaps you are not looking for proof at all, but an axcuse to prove yourself right in reagrds to a subject where you have indeed failed to do so!

-Cub.

 

[Geeforcer]

Humm, there indeed seem to be quite a few single-slot designs.

 

[DoS]

I hate to play smart but there are some pissed off ppl in this board since Wendesday...some will even start defying their own eyes in their effort to discredit NVIDIA's new card

 

[anaqer]

I hate to play smart ...

Then don't. Quite simple, really.

 

[DoS]

I hate to play smart ...

Then don't. Quite simple, really.

Sometimes the circumstances require us to do things that we don't like, and frankly seeing the guy posting 3 times a link where at least 4 cards with single shot colling solutions can be seen (without doubt) and people keep on denying it requires a small dose of sarcasm.

 

[Bahadir]

I must say that this time around, nVidia did a great job in designing the NV40. Based from the benchmarks, I must admit that it is a very powerful GPU indeed, especially when cranking up the resolution all the way up to 1600x1200. The thing that bothers me though is the power consumption on this card. According to some reviews, this card draws about ~110 watts of power, hence the need for 2 molex connectors on the Geforce 6800Ultra. I think this is way out of hand, since not many power supply units will not have 2 molex connectors available, but then again this is a enthusiasts card, and with such as a card, you must be paying a high price for it.

The question is, with the introduction of the PCI Express bus, the data bandwidth is greatly increased (the equivalent of AGP 16x speeds I think) and the maximum power the video card can draw from this was about 80 Watts (i think), which means that NV40 GPU and later GPUs from nVidia (or even ATi) still needs a molex connector to feed more current into the video card!! The PCI Express standard of 80 Watts max is not good enough. Looking at this trend, it seems that soon we will be needing a 600W power supply as the absolute minimum and maybe some water cooling in our CPUs and/or video cards!

 

[nutball]

Looking at this trend, it seems that soon we will be needing a 600W power supply as the absolute minimum and maybe some water cooling in our CPUs and/or video cards!

Yeah, I'm sure if were all willing to wait 3-4 years for NV5x/R5xx then the power requirements could be brought back into check. I can't see people being capable of waiting that long though!

 

[Stryyder]

I hate to play smart but there are some pissed off ppl in this board since Wendesday...some will even start defying their own eyes in their effort to discredit NVIDIA's new card

Just because your subjective view doesnt match anothers subjective view doesn't mean anyone is defying their own eyes. I have consistently said that the REFERENCE design is a two slot design their are not two reference designs as some people claim becuase no one has actually handled a single slot reference that is only pictured in slides at that conference which is probably an early 6800 non U or U prototypem . Secondly I have said that OEM's will attempt to make a single slot solution if they can, what the trade off in heat, and noise will be will determine if those designs will be successful.

Those pictures show some cards that may be single slot, some cards that obviously are single slot but there is no way to detrmine if they are actually Ultra's or not as we do not know what other OEM changes are being made. One of the obvious single slot design clearly says 6800 and has the NVIDIA 6800 logo but the word ultra is no where to be seen. Until the manufactures publish their specs, and we see some of these single slot options tested we will not know what the heat/noise trade off will be or if those cards are actually ultras which means your conjecture carries no more weight than mine or anyone elses. Unless of course someone actually at the event can attest to what each of those designs were.

 

[WaltC]

1. Inno3D, once again, TWO molex connectors, signifying it is an ULTRA, pictured HERE

This is obviously an official PR montage by Inno3d, which includes an obvious stock nV40U reference design image, with an Inno3d image overlaid on top of the stock nV heatsink. The fan does not look single-wide to me...

2. ASUS. YES it IS single slot. Read the caption at the top "This one is a single slot design with funky blue LED and hey, this model does not have dual DVI." Pictured HERE and

I see nothing, though, contained in your link which would indicate to me the clock speed here, or whether or not this is a prototype AIB-partner design (pictured dual molex notwithstanding.) If it is a single-slot Ultra, how can it be known that the smaller fan isn't twice as loud as the larger one, for instance?

3. Gainward, again ONE slot, 2 Molex HERE

4. Albatron, SINGLE SLOT, hmm, am I repeating myself.... anyway HERE

5. Pixel View HERE

All plastic-mounted display mockups for show, it looks to me... (I can't tell what I'm supposed to see in the pixelview image...)

And YES there are many more. If you are one of those people that are so hellbent of wanting proof for something that is so dead obvious it exists, then perhaps you are not looking for proof at all, but an axcuse to prove yourself right in reagrds to a subject where you have indeed failed to do so!

-Cub.

What really baffles me, though, is why nVidia would deliberately choose to publicize and have only the large-fan reference design for the Ultra reviewed? Perhaps there's a bit more to it than merely the "option" of whether to choose double-wide or not? (If it was that simple I can't conceive of nVidia or anybody else choosing the double-wide fan electively, for many reasons...)

It seems to me that the people advocating mere choice by AIB partners as to the width and size of the fan required by Ultra need to come up with a reason to explain it, as the heat-dissipation requirements for all of the Ultras will be the same. I'm not saying that thin-fan Ultras are impossible, just that they will involve tradeoffs of some type when compared to the double-wide fan versions circulated by nVidia in its nV40 prototypes reviewed to date. Noise seems as good a place as any to start.

 

[WaltC]

There are two reference designs. The ones pictured below are the single slot designs that were created for marketing but are available to partners.

http://vr-zone.com/eventpics/Apr04/14/NVIDIA/IMG_8352.JPG

Come on, the width of the fan isn't remotely intelligible here... But what is, is that the configuration is different between the Ultra and base model.

The other is the more popular two slot design that pretty much all reviewers recieved.

http://vr-zone.com/eventpics/Apr04/14/NVIDIA/IMG_8360.JPG

In the end they are both just engineering samples and whether or not the card is a one or two slot board depends entirely on each company's design.

One's a sample of the base model, the other's a sample of the ultra, if that's what you mean by "more popular."

"Each company's design" is built directly from the nVidia reference design, with most if not all differences being cosmetic. The problem with this theory is that it pretends that a double-wide fan is "more popular" than a single-wide, and of course the reverse is true. Whatever the size of the fan it will have to displace the same amount of heat from the Ultras, so smaller fans will probably run faster and noisier, or some cards might include a heat-pipe extension to heatsinks on the back of the card, etc., to compensate for smaller, quieter fans on the top. I agree there will likely be various cooling-solution options offered by AIB partners, but for the Ultras the amount of heat to dissipate will be uniform.

 

[Bad_Boy]

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0416/nvidia2.htm

some MORE pics of the 6800ultra gang.
1 slots everywhere (except sparkle?)

 

[Cubase]

some cards that obviously are single slot but there is no way to detrmine if they are actually Ultra's or not as we do not know what other OEM changes are being made.

Like I said, the ULTRA has TWO molex connectors and the Non-Ultra only requires ONE! You wanted a way to determine U from N-U, so this is your reference.

I challenge you or anyone to find me and Ultra with only ONE connector. Ditto for finding a Non-Ultra with two...

-Cub.

 

[WaltC]

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0416/nvidia2.htm

some MORE pics of the 6800ultra gang.
1 slots everywhere (except sparkle?)

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0416/nvidia2_1.jpg

Definitely a two-slotter... (Don't look at the backplane, look at the fan.) Also, be careful of looking at non-functional mockups displayed for show and confusing them with functional cards.

 

[Bad_Boy]

walt, sorry i wasnt specific enough. scroll down a bit to see the rest of the cards.

 

[Stryyder]

some cards that obviously are single slot but there is no way to detrmine if they are actually Ultra's or not as we do not know what other OEM changes are being made.

Like I said, the ULTRA has TWO molex connectors and the Non-Ultra only requires ONE! You wanted a way to determine U from N-U, so this is your reference.

I challenge you or anyone to find me and Ultra with only ONE connector. Ditto for finding a Non-Ultra with two...

-Cub.

That is if the OEM's haven't changed the 6800 for economies of scale in fabrication to have two connectors one of which will be used. My point is that until I see published information from the manufactures on what kind of cards they will have with what type of solutions I will take subjective views of pictures with a grain of salt.

And again I have said that I have NO DOUBT THAT OEM's WILL CREATE A SINGLE SLOT 6800 ULTRA I AM SAYING THAT THERE IS NO NVIDIA REFERENCE BOARD THAT HAS SINGLE SLOT COOLING. I am also saying that if any of those OEM boards are 6800 Ultras with a single slot cooling solution and I cannot say with certainty which ones are or aren't based on my observations., I am very curious to see what the trade off will be in both heat and noise from the two slot cooling reference board.

Now it is possible that NVIDIA has a single slot refrence board clocked higher than what was sent to the review sights still under NDA as a PR sucker punch to whatever ATI is going to release in May but there is no way to confirm that right now is there?

 

[WaltC]

walt, sorry i wasnt specific enough. scroll down a bit to see the rest of the cards.

Well, the Aopen and the Sparkle both have double-wide fans, Albatron looks like a mockup, and of course the bottom one is a mockup of a non-ultra without a fan at all...

 

[Cubase]

Hey, that whole NV sucker punch is outta our league to try and speculate upon at this stage I agree.

And I hear you in regards to your reference design comment, but if you could answer me this... Why would nvidia place a single slot design example on their own presentation slides if they were not using that design as a reference for others to produce examples or designs of? And if your answer leads to that sucker punch theory, once again, maybe so, maybe not.

But I too am a man of proof and fact, so as long as it is my job to ensure you get the raw facts, it is also your job to prove me wrong. All you are doing is denying my evidence without showing my any of your own.

So, with that in mind, here's another chunk of my proof:

http://www.bjorn3d.com/_preview.php?articleID=443&82853

Notice in the paragraph just under the images, the last few sentaces state:

"And finally, the 6800 and 6800 Ultra appear to be single-slot solutions. Therefore, that first PCI slot is not sacrificed (at least not by the reference design; it's logical to expect some retail boards to have bigger cooling solutions), but as always, I'd still recommend leaving it vacant to increase airflow around the graphics card."

-Cub.