ATI tries to downplay SLI

[nRollo]

http://www.oc-zone.com/modules.php?name=Articles&rop=conteudo&id=65

The truth is that these kind of exotic arrangements are of interest to only a tiny minority of gamers. Almost all of the X800 boards that are sold will go into a standard PC. Putting several chips onto one board, or several boards into one machine makes the system very expensive and most people won?t go there.

Also note that the SLI system from NVIDIA is another example of an unbalanced design. It will draw an amazing amount of power (for most people that will necessitate a new power supply) and will generate a massive amount of heat and noise. As a technology demonstration it is interesting, but as a gaming setup - it?s crazy!

Hmmm. Apparently Huddy doesn't remember V2 sli. It was OBSCENELY expensive for it's time, but EVERYONE got one.

 

[imported_mitch2891]

Yeah it does kind of stink of desperation. What you have to remember is building a machine that has so many fans it sounds like a jet fighter is crazy but it does not stop us does it. I fully plan to go SLI once the nVidia A64 boards are out that support it.

 

[Bateluer]

Granted the V2 weren't 600 dollar graphics cards and require dual PSUs to run . . . I tend to agree with ATI on this. Unless Nvidia brings the cost and power consumption issues down, it will appeal only to a small minority. Perhaps the 6600 GTs might be a better value.

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Granted the V2 weren't 600 dollar graphics cards and require dual PSUs to run . . . I tend to agree with ATI on this. Unless Nvidia brings the cost and power consumption issues down, it will appeal only to a small minority. Perhaps the 6600 GTs might be a better value.

I paid $600 for my 2 12mb Voodoo 2's

So $600 for a couple of 6800's is right in line.




ATi can downplay it all they want.

 

[imported_mitch2891]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Granted the V2 weren't 600 dollar graphics cards and require dual PSUs to run . . . I tend to agree with ATI on this. Unless Nvidia brings the cost and power consumption issues down, it will appeal only to a small minority. Perhaps the 6600 GTs might be a better value.

But neither would two 6800nu be. Buy one now buy one later as a cheap upgrade. That is where the attraction of SLI lies in my opinion. Well that and the nutters who buy p4 EE chips will probably shell out for it.

 

[Insomniak]

They're missing the point. The point is, the option is there if you want it, which is more than ATi can say, and it's not like it's costing Nvidia anything extra to make SLI happen. It is, as they say, icing on the cake.

Would anyone care to hedge bets that r500 will have an SLI copycat? I'm giving 2 to 1 odds.

No, SLI will not translate into huge sales, but it WILL translate into huge amounts of street credit for Nvidia. Gaming cards period don't mean much in terms of sales - high end enthusiast cards account for about 5% of the revenue of both ATi and Nvidia. What enthusiast cards do do is generate word of mouth, and recommendations from knowledgable people. The performance crown means nothing in terms of sales, but why do both companies pursue it so relentlessly? Exactly. Word of mouth travels fast.

As for the "most people won't go there" comment, I find that kind of funny. I was going to upgrade in September, buit in light of the 6600GT's SLI capabilities and the ever-closer debut of "Nforce 4" with its dual PCIE slots, I've put off my system building. I'm waiting for benchmarks on the 6600GT and it's SLI abilities. If it does, as they note, almost double performance, then it will be perfect for me. $200 for a card that plays everything out just fine, and another ~$120-150 a year down the line when I need more grunt in the box. Cheaper than buying a 6800GT now, and just as effective - IF (and it's a big IF) everything we've heard about SLI and the 6600GT is true. I would like to remind people at this point that we haven't seen solid numbers from either yet.

However, just the potential of what SLI might do for me has convinced me to wait another few months at least to see what it brings to the table. That's powerful influence in and of itself.

Personally, if SLI does work out exactly like Nvidia says, I will be near giddy.

 

[Shinei]

Actually, the theory is that you'll be able to double up on hardware once your stuff is out of date. If I could have dropped two Ti4200s into my system and only spent $80 on the second card, I could have had performance in non-DX9 games similar to a much more expensive card (total money spent, $247 for both cards ($167 at release, $80 two years later)). Nobody says you have to use the cards in SLI format, just that if you choose to do so, the option is always open to you if you want/need the extra power.
So just put the Haterade away and accept SLI as the good thing that it is.

 

[OnEMoReTrY]

Your talking about 600 dollars for two 6800's which would more or less equal one x800 xt, that and the fact you have to add on a 200 dollar motherboard, which won't be out for a while. The enormous psu that it would require and the large heat outputs just don't make it feasible imho

 

[Shinei]

Err, didn't three posters (including myself) just say that SLI isn't a requirement to use nVidia's cards? You can run a single 6800 until you feel you need the extra power, so then you go out and buy another card for a reduced price (since you'll probably be upgrading between a year to two years later). That performance gain puts you back on par with the newly released single-card solutions, and for the performance freaks out there, there's always the option to stick two 6900 Ultras (or whatever nVidia's high-end refresh for NV40 will be) in an SLI configuration for maximum power...

 

[BenSkywalker]

Your talking about 600 dollars for two 6800's

Or $400 for two 6600GTs- or as mentioned above multiple times $200 for a 6600GT now and then wait a year or so and spend another ~$120 for a second GT when you want more power. Dual 6600GTs won't generate insane amounts of heat and won't require some killer power supply either.

 

[Insomniak]

Check out this other wonder quote from R. Huddy:

And, yes, we have good yields on the X800 series ? higher than many had predicted. It?s always a struggle to bring a new chip into volume production, but ATI have a great track record for making boards available for purchase within 30 days of the official product launch. We achieved that for all of the X800 range.


Is anyone else laughing as hard as I am?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Maybe he cant count!?

Two 6800NU's in SLI are more than a match for an X800XT IMO. Yeah makes more noise but will ultimately be a better solution in the long run because you buy a card now, then in the future when the 6800NU's are dirt cheap buy another and get close to double the performance. Not saying the X800XT is slow by any means im just saying the 2 6800NU's will surely win.

-Kevin

 

[unipidity]

Do we have official benchmarks? Its not as though 2x 6800 NU will give you twice the fps of a 6800NU in the vast majority of situations.

As far as I am concerned, SLI is very usefull to anyone who has $1400 burning a hole in their pocket, or people who will add an extra card, rather than buy a new, next-gen one. If you could SLI 9500s, then everyone would be doing so (that is, if they were available).

In addition, the Voodoo2 SLI was popular because a single V2 was blisteringly fast compared with other solutions, but people really wanted to push the resolutions. The top of the line didnt satisfy people. I cant see anyone benig dissatisfied with the current generation on current games.

Add to this the fact that this generation isnt going to see widespread SLI due to a lack of mobos (excepting a spring erfresh, perhaps), and I doubt ATI are that worried... as long as they think they can replicate it for the next generation.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Insomniak
Check out this other wonder quote from R. Huddy:

And, yes, we have good yields on the X800 series ? higher than many had predicted. It?s always a struggle to bring a new chip into volume production, but ATI have a great track record for making boards available for purchase within 30 days of the official product launch. We achieved that for all of the X800 range.


Is anyone else laughing as hard as I am?

he is pretty quiet about the x800xt

and ati HAS sli - or it's equivalent - "built-in" to the r300 core . . . don't think they won't "unleash" it if they feel it is necessary - tomorrow.

who believes ati's marketing BS anymore (if ever)?

:roll:

 

[Tab]

They're missing the point. The point is, the option is there if you want it, which is more than ATi can say, and it's not like it's costing Nvidia anything extra to make SLI happen. It is, as they say, icing on the cake.

Would anyone care to hedge bets that r500 will have an SLI copycat? I'm giving 2 to 1 odds.

No, SLI will not translate into huge sales, but it WILL translate into huge amounts of street credit for Nvidia. Gaming cards period don't mean much in terms of sales - high end enthusiast cards account for about 5% of the revenue of both ATi and Nvidia. What enthusiast cards do do is generate word of mouth, and recommendations from knowledgable people. The performance crown means nothing in terms of sales, but why do both companies pursue it so relentlessly? Exactly. Word of mouth travels fast.

I completely agree with everything above 110%. The idea of being able to do something like that is awesome, even if you cant do it. It is going to sell other cards "OMGz0r Nvidia has SLi Technology thats so advancedz0r they must make the best graphizcs cardz"... Not that thats true, but its the way some people are going to think.

No, the setup isnt nessciarly going to be noisey and cause alot of heat. We've managed to fit Quad Xeons and SCSI hard drive arrarys into tiny boxes, of course the fans are loud but I think we can deal with that if we moved to a bigger box. Looking at the heatsink on the 6600GT it is very small and doesn't seem like it outputs that much heat to begin with. Of course you'll need a larger powersupply, but if you have money to buy two graphics cards I am sure you have the money to buy a large powersupply.

 

[imported_mitch2891]

No but nVidia are saying about a 90% performance increase so you in effect with 2 x 6800nu have a 24 pipe card with 256 or RAM. It is possible that building a dual 6800nu or dual 6600GT system could compete with a 6800 Ultra for about the same price.

 

[SneakyStuff]

They can say whatever they want to, 2 6600 GT's are in my future. $400 doesn't sound like a whole to pay for a decent SLI setup.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: SneakyStuff
They can say whatever they want to, 2 6600 GT's are in my future. $400 doesn't sound like a whole to pay for a decent SLI setup.

bingo.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Rage187

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Granted the V2 weren't 600 dollar graphics cards and require dual PSUs to run . . . I tend to agree with ATI on this. Unless Nvidia brings the cost and power consumption issues down, it will appeal only to a small minority. Perhaps the 6600 GTs might be a better value.

I paid $600 for my 2 12mb Voodoo 2's

So $600 for a couple of 6800's is right in line.




ATi can downplay it all they want.

600 PER 6800U translates to 1200 dollars for the card, and between 50 and 150 for either a second or more powerful PSU.

 

[SneakyStuff]

The simple fact of the matter is, that's chump change for most enthusiasts, they'll get it, BECAUSE it's the best. And they don't mind noise, or cost, they just want the fastest.

 

[gururu]

both companies have a history of downplaying rival technologies. it is understandable. the one thing about SLI rigs is that I believe you have to have two cards from the same company with the same core and memory specs and overclocking is out of the question. Is that going to be a reality when picking up a second card 6 months down the line?
I hope so

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: Rage187

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Granted the V2 weren't 600 dollar graphics cards and require dual PSUs to run . . . I tend to agree with ATI on this. Unless Nvidia brings the cost and power consumption issues down, it will appeal only to a small minority. Perhaps the 6600 GTs might be a better value.

I paid $600 for my 2 12mb Voodoo 2's

So $600 for a couple of 6800's is right in line.




ATi can downplay it all they want.

600 PER 6800U translates to 1200 dollars for the card, and between 50 and 150 for either a second or more powerful PSU.

the 6800Standard is ~$300/ the "GT" is $400 and the Ultra ~$500.

The real attraction of SLI is to use 2 OLDER cards to equal 1 newer card.

And ati ALREADY HAS "sli" built into the r300 core

:roll:

Guaranteed - we WILL see "sli" from ati.

:roll:

 

[gururu]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Guaranteed - we WILL see "sli" from ati.

:roll:

is it SLI as we know it, or just the ability to run chips in parallel like the 3dfx VSA100(?) chips. I know the Rage MAXX was something like that with two cores and double the memory. that'd be interesting, althought they may hesitate to do it again since it didn't end up being a good solution. It wasn't twice as fast, maybe because their drivers were still in their infancy.

 

[ZobarStyl]

ATi also seems to want to forget that for people running business 3D workstations, that kind of cash is chump change (quadro/fireGL cards are already 2x more than their game-oriented counterparts) and time is money for them, so tossing down an extra grand for increased productivity may be right up their alley. And it's true; those of us with older generation cards might be more inclined to buy a second cheaper card 2 years after launch than an expensive new-gen card, since the only major difference would be feature set.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: gururu

Originally posted by: apoppin

Guaranteed - we WILL see "sli" from ati.

:roll:

is it SLI as we know it, or just the ability to run chips in parallel like the 3dfx VSA100(?) chips. I know the Rage MAXX was something like that with two cores and double the memory. that'd be interesting, althought they may hesitate to do it again since it didn't end up being a good solution. It wasn't twice as fast, maybe because their drivers were still in their infancy.

The ONLY problem with the MAXX was writing drivers for it . . . evidently that IS the hard part.

All we "know" is that a multi-chip or multi-core functionality is built-in to the r300 and later . . . ati hasn't given us the 'details'.

clearly, ati will do it if nVidia is successful with theirs.