Hardware.fr - Nvidia: $30 for SLI with the Nehalem

Nvidia: $30 for SLI with the Nehalem
>> Motherboards

Written by Nicolas Gridelet
Published on July 11, 2008

URL: http://www.behardware.com/news/lire/11-07-2008/#9826

While according to the latest news Nvidia will obtain a license for the QPI bus (enabling it to offer chipsets for the Nehalem), it seems that the firm with the green chameleon intends on cashing in on SLI support on one of Intel’s flagship platforms, as was the case with the Skulltrail.

Given that the Intel X58 should be ready at the end of the year for the launch of its new architecture and that Nvidia has nothing to rival it before some time, the latter will offer the nForce 200 (aka BR04) for roughly $30 to motherboard manufacturers which can then add the SLI logo.

This solution is doubly inelegant because not only will the chip be expensive but also it will have to be integrated on the PCB requiring the design of a new layout. With profits and the same percentage of taxes added on, the difference on the final price should be high. In addition, as compatibility was far from being optimal with the Skulltrail, we may wonder what it will be this time.

At a time when ATI is making a comeback and a CrossFire Radeon HD 4800 offers a more than competitive performance/price ratio compared to the GeForce GTX 200, the creator of the GeForce probably would have more to gain by opening up SLI (maybe for a small licensing fee) rather than trying to sell off bridges in the name of increased SLI support.