Hell Freezes Over: NVIDIA Announces Native SLI Support for the Intel X58 Chipset

[Bamboo]

I figured since we have talked about SLI here recently, I would post this to give everyone the good news:

Link: (2 page article)
Hell Freezes Over: NVIDIA Announces Native SLI Support for the Intel X58 Chipset

I am not a fan of dual card setups (too much hassle and $$$$$$ for not enough reward), but this is really huge news. Pretty much means that a lot of motherboards will be able to run both SLI and Crossfire, meaning you won't be stuck like now if you like bought a p45 motherboard because they are more reliable, but went with an Nvidia card because until recently, they were on top.

NVIDIA originally expected OEMs to use its nForce 200 chips to enable SLI support on X58, however we heard from the very start that most motherboard manufacturers weren’t going to use the nForce 200 + Intel X58 combination. If NVIDIA wanted to offer SLI on Nehalem, it would have to open it up to all X58 motherboards, otherwise AMD could actually gain a multi-GPU advantage by being the only multi-GPU technology natively supported by Nehalem.

This is absolutely huge because it does mean that with the right motherboard you can now have both CrossFire and SLI support, without resorting to an OEM system or something more exotic like Skulltrail.

Here it is from other sources:
NVIDIA give into pressure, allow native SLI on X58 :: TweakTown

Nvidia to enable native SLI on certified X58 motherboards

[[R-DEV]Masaq]

Yeah, I've read up on that recently. Not every board will have it initially though; boards that will be in production at Nehalem release may be unlikely to have the nF200 chips on.


Oh, and anyone who went for Skulltrail as a home-use desktop gaming PC is clearly nuts.

[Bamboo]

Masaq, reread the news stuff above. This is saying you will no longer need the 200 chip. You can still do it if you want like 4xSLI full speed, but you now won't have to have the boards with that chip on. That means pretty much every board could be sent to Nvidia for testing, and as the article says, with a BIOS tweak, SLI will be turned on.

[[R-DEV]Masaq]

Whoa, damn. Thanks, I gotta get my glasses checked... that's News, and Satan is indeed ice-skating to work.

[SocketMan]

Guess that means goodbyi to their chipset buesiness,unless NV comes out with
something like NF4 back in the AMD's better days.The main reason people were
getting expensive NV boards was in fact SLI.
Good news for consumer thats for sure.

[Bamboo]

They actually still have most of the market cornered in the AMD motherboard would.
Read:

Nvidia to stay in chipset business

Nvidia holds more than 60 percent AMD chipsets

So they are still making money.