Quad SLI - Inevitable future or nVidia showboating

[Quitch]

Couldn't see a topic on the new nVidia press release (fairly new), which was suprising.

Surely this is simply overkill? In an era when people are starting to lean towards quieter solutions something like this is dead in the water? Can there really be a big enough market to justify this, or is this a bit like being top dog on the Futuremark benchmarks?

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

they're doing a rig with Dell.

i wonder how the cooling will work, what size PSU and stuff.

they said expect at least $8000 pricetag...out in June i think.

 

[Karma Police]

It's all a publicity stunt. By the time it gets released to the public, a new SKU will be released, invalidating any performance gains you would get with a quad-SLI anyway. VooDooPC & FalconNW, a couple of nVidia's partners seem to agree, too, and have made comments as such.

 

[^eMpTy^]

I think it's practically useless for gamers...however it could be very useful for game developers and it would be quite handy for the professional types if they got Quadro cards doing quad-sli...hmm, quad-quadros...interesting.

The fact that they pitched it as a gaming rig is kinda silly, because there are maybe 20 gamers on the planet that could afford such a setup...and pairing it with an intel processor = lame...

But I have to say, it's a pretty frickin sweet piece of technology...

 

[Sxotty]

It's all a publicity stunt. By the time it gets released to the public, a new SKU will be released, invalidating any performance gains you would get with a quad-SLI anyway. VooDooPC & FalconNW, a couple of nVidia's partners seem to agree, too, and have made comments as such.

What else would they say? "We don't have anything that can compete with that b/c we suck" Once they start selling something like it they will say it is the best thing ever.

 

[Skrying]

Its a limited edition system that will go away as soon as G71 is out. Its that easy. You wont see but maybe a few thousand of tese out in the wild.

 

[Razor1]

why not update the four cores to G71's makes sense test it out make sure drivers are ready and spin out a faster card then replace. Don't think it will be that hard to add in new cards once its ready. The quad g70 will be a lower priced limited edition. Perfect to get rid of excess stock. I agree with Sxotty, think nV's launch partners are a little miffed, that they weren't in the huddle.

 

[Skrying]

These are Nvidia cards, not some AIB company. Dell paid big money for those cards directly from Nvidia, this would finally give Dell something that they only have in their high end line. These systems are limited, that's been known since the start. They will carry an insane price tag, wouldnt be surprised if its over $10K.

I dont believe these will be bumped up to G71 in any near future, if at all. Tons of engineering went into this. Plus I'm guessing a G71 would be just a bit to hot for this without some extra cooling power (water) and I just dont see Dell getting there just yet.

 

[Razor1]

These are Nvidia cards, not some AIB company. Dell paid big money for those cards directly from Nvidia, this would finally give Dell something that they only have in their high end line. These systems are limited, that's been known since the start. They will carry an insane price tag, wouldnt be surprised if its over $10K.

I dont believe these will be bumped up to G71 in any near future, if at all. Tons of engineering went into this. Plus I'm guessing a G71 would be just a bit to hot for this without some extra cooling power (water) and I just dont see Dell getting there just yet.

We don't know if this is only for Dell, might start off that way, just like how SLi started off with tier 1 partners.

Why would the G71 be hot they are dropping in microns and adding low-k, should offset the heat production from the speed boost and increased transistors.. If the technology is set for a pre-existing chip, I don't see why it would be very hard for nV to use the same tech in a new chip.

It took sometime to get SLi into Dell in the first place, and it took much longer for Dell to get the gtx 512. They don't have any issues of adding options if its going to be making them money.

 

[Skrying]

We don't know if this is only for Dell, might start off that way, just like how SLi started off with tier 1 partners.

Why would the G71 be hot they are dropping in microns and adding low-k, should offset the heat production from the speed boost and increased transistors.. If the technology is set for a pre-existing chip, I don't see why it would be very hard for nV to use the same tech in a new chip.

It took sometime to get SLi into Dell in the first place, and it took much longer for Dell to get the gtx 512. They don't have any issues of adding options if its going to be making them money.

First, I did not say this was a Dell only tech. It is right now, it is a Dell only tech, or at least a Dell only launch of the tech. What you said is entirely different.

The drop in mircons and adding low-k wont be enough, IMO, to compenstant for the heat production of the G71. Also, its not like its an over night thing, it will take a few months in order to alter and engineer a dual core card with G71's on it.

 

[digitalwanderer]

People, people; please don't fight!

I keep telling ya, this whole multi-card thing is just a fad...

 

[Skrying]

People, people; please don't fight!

I keep telling ya, this whole multi-card thing is just a fad...

I kinda hope its not. Its a nice option, and the more options the better. Just as long as its not substituated for high performing single cards I'll be fine.

Though I do believe having 4 video cards is just stupid, by that time there's already bottleneck's holding back your bottom line, which is the most important thing to me.

 

[DudeMiester]

If it was $10k I wouldn't expect less then dual dual CPUs and 4GB of RAM in it! That's insane!

 

[dizietsma]

People, people; please don't fight!

I keep telling ya, this whole multi-card thing is just a fad...

I don't think so, it will be multi cores and multi cards soon I think.

 

[Quitch]

I concur, it seems to me that high-end games are pushing up demands faster than single card solutions can match. Wouldn't suprise me if in five years time you've only got a top end rig if you've got two cards (or dual cores etc.)

I missed it was an Intel processor... so much for it being a gaming rig.

 

[Sxotty]

I missed it was an Intel processor... so much for it being a gaming rig.

Hence hte comment about putting lipstick on a pig.

Anyway, it will be easy IMO to update this with g71 cards when they come out. And it will not be any hotter than the 7800 gtx 512MB IMO, remember dell already under clocked these.

Sure 4xsli is ridiculous, but it is kinda cool if they can manage it to work well. If they ever get their SLi implementation not to take huge dives in performance think on getting 4x7800GT @ $300.00 a piece, or when g71 come s out think about getting them at 200/card. The lower end cards have a way higher bang/buck ratio so this technology could be amazingly useful in the future for an enthusiast w/o the mad cash. (i.e. 4x7600 or something of that nature. They left of SLi connectors on some of their lower end 6 series cards at first b/c you could actually outperform a 6800 ultra in doom3/hl2 and pay less for both cards to do it)

 

[Tahir2]

The ASUS quad SLI capable graphics cards are limited to only 2000 production units so it is very limited but gives NVIDIA bragging rights. Even though only 2000 were produced some retailers managed to get hold of some.

 

[Fox5]

I think it's practically useless for gamers...however it could be very useful for game developers and it would be quite handy for the professional types if they got Quadro cards doing quad-sli...hmm, quad-quadros...interesting.

The fact that they pitched it as a gaming rig is kinda silly, because there are maybe 20 gamers on the planet that could afford such a setup...and pairing it with an intel processor = lame...

But I have to say, it's a pretty frickin sweet piece of technology...

Considering how sli practically seems to need per application support, I don't think it would be ideal for quadros.

I do think quad sli will eventually become available, but I don't think it will be common palce. IMO, there's no reason to produce anything more than a single board, low profile (small fan) cooled video card. Think of how much quad sli would contribute to the eventual heat death of the universe! Really, whatever is being used in laptops, except maybe with faster ram, should be the fastest we see in the desktop market, and laptop stuff should be even weaker. Stay off the exponential heat/noise/price curve!

 

[Sxotty]

The ASUS quad SLI capable graphics cards are limited to only 2000 production units so it is very limited but gives NVIDIA bragging rights. Even though only 2000 were produced some retailers managed to get hold of some.

From the info I saw on 'em they did not really work though. In other words like one game tested actually functioned. If dell actually sells this crap then it will have to work better than that.

 

[dizietsma]

I missed it was an Intel processor... so much for it being a gaming rig.

When you need Quad Sli it means that you are gpu limited so it matters not whether it is teemed up with Intel 955, AMD Fx-57 or FX-60.

Your sentence above shows you have not really thought about it much IMO