PCI Express SLI by Alienware!

forcing SLI on HW that isn't made for it just doesn't seem like a good idea. Furthermore, adding another software 'layer' in between game => display just seems foolish, given the complexity and fragility of the already existing 'layers.' I wouldn't be surprised if it worked in some games, and not in others -- though I'd also expect Alienware to try their damndest to make a working product, because if it just plain doesn't work, they won't be able to sell it.

 

I bet money that it only works for two of the SAME cards - and in that case, its probably just gonna do AFR, not SLI.

 

Can't 4 9800's work together now? Could it be something along the same lines just implemented over a different bus? I remember when the 1st PCI-e standard came out people speculated on this.

 

Up to 256 r3xx cards can work together I believe. There are even a couple of 3rd party r3xx boards with 2 or more chips on them, priced in the stratosphere however, and I really don't know how the drivers work for that.

 

Ta, IIRC some where made for the military simulators.

 

Or even better, visit and buy before you are murdered !

 

ROFL

 

I wonder what their patents are in, multiple GPU's
and image compositing have been around for a while.

I hope their solution will allow for 1 GPU => 1 Display. Sounds like
their targeted config is 2 GPU => 1 Display for performane gains.

Or even better, 1 GPU => 2 display, so that a single system could
drive 4 displays.

 

They better provide plenty of space between the 2 pci-e slot or else nvidia will be stuck out in the cold. lol

 

Considering they use a custom watercooler for the GPU, the size of the standard heatsink is irrelevant.

 

I can't imagine this functioning reasonably well with 2 different model cards...

The way I read the release, was that the *technology* (i.e. 2 pci-e 16x slots) was graphics vendor independant... so you could use it with cards from either nvidia or ATI or anyone else... but there is nothing that says you can put cards from 2 different manufacturers in the system at the same time... Wouldn't make much sense to do anyway even if you could.

 

The biggest problem I see is applications that carry info (i.e. textures that are rendered to) from one frame to the next. This'll be a lot more common in newer games as developers discover new techniques, and is used in RTHDRIBL. Motion trails in GTA3 and NFSU would have the same problem.

I think this is the main reason ATI and NVidia have for the most part stayed away from dual GPU solutions, and why XGI's Volari line has, IMO, a rather bleak future.

 

(Scribbles down "dizietsma" on my personal "people to murder" list).

8)

 

1. I believe NVidia has indicated that under non overclock conditions you don't need both connectors..

2. The power requirements between the high end 6800 is X800 is not that big of difference - so dual X800's would still require alot of power.

3. isn't PCI Express suppose to manage power to card better, they cards may not have any connectors..


I beleieve Dual X800 or Dual 6800 would have similar power needs. What would be interesting if you can have both a X800 and 6800 on the same system.

It probably not a big deal for multiple cards ( 2 or even 4 ) to work together running seperate monitors - that has been done for years, but 2 running in parrallel - that like the Voodoo 2.

 

Seen a couple of them running lots of R300s. Was tempted to ask them to load up UT2K4.

 

Oh please give it up already. The 6800 uses a lot more power than the X800. A LOT. About 25 watts each I think. Its like 30-40% more than a X800. And as I already mentioned it won't be a big issue for alienware as these systems will likely have a 650 watt psu.

 

Too bad it has to use Intel's board with slow dual processors and slow DDR2-400. When is this supposed to be actually available? And why would you want it if performance is an issue? DDR2-400 isn't any faster than PC3200 that we have now. And who uses that anyway? If you are the kind of performance geek that they are targeting, you already have DDR433, 466, 500, 533 or 566 now. And 600 is on the horizon.

 

well SLI done by who? Alien has coders? But i cant wait for Dual 16x slots. Then i can run two workstation cards, NVDA and ATI. Will be a good thing for devs.

 

But one thing to keep in mind is that this system is PCI Express and PCI Express power requiremenets maybe different than AGP.

Also keep in mind that NVidia has stated that 6800 Ultra will work on 350 watt psus and comparing that to reviews of 6800, I believe that the power requirement between the two should be about equal.

Even if 6800 PCI-Express is 25 watts higher than the X800 PCI Express, it would means than dual X800 would required 600 watt psu based on 650 watt psu stated above which I assume was for a 6800.

My guess is that this system will have dual psu on it to handle the power requirements.

 

alienware

Didn't anyone read the homelanfed interview? Lots of the questions you are asking are addressed in the interview. Like PSU 700+watts, they overclock the processors and video cards. Say whatever you want about alienware, I own 2 of them (last on is 6 months old) and they are great and within $300-$400 of dell etc with better support.