Skip to main content
GameDev.net gamedev.net
🔒 Locked

GPU Madness?

Started by tstrimp Jan 10, 2005 at 10:33 AM 14 replies 1k views
Original Post
tstrimp
tstrimp
Gigabyte is releasing a motherboard that will be capable of running 2 PCIe graphics cards for one monitor. Gigabyte launches dual graphics mobo - for any PCIe graphics card Gigabyte is also releasing a dual GPU graphics card Gigabyte creates dual-GPU graphics card It didn't say that the dual GPU will be PCIe but all the other high end cards are shifting over it seems like this one should follow suit. Can you imagine what kind of power you'd get from a dual-dual gpu system?
tHiSiSbOb
tHiSiSbOb
...That is awesome...Two dual gpu cards?? 1000 fps doom 3 ultra detail [smile].
----------------------------------------------------"Plant a tree. Remove a Bush" -A bumper sticker I saw.
_the_phantom_
_the_phantom_
time to apply for planning permission for that power plant I always wanted...
tHiSiSbOb
tHiSiSbOb
Quote:
Original post by _the_phantom_
time to apply for planning permission for that power plant I always wanted...


Rofl...I wouldn't go with less than 1kW on that mother...[smile][smile].
----------------------------------------------------"Plant a tree. Remove a Bush" -A bumper sticker I saw.
vNistelrooy
vNistelrooy
There will be no dual-dual GPU proccesing. The dual-GPU card is a SLI-based card, and nVidia's drivers don't and won't support two SLIs in one system.
Besides the dual-GPU card works only with Gigabytes motherboards and new BIOSes.
And yes, those kind of systems need to get feedback from the cards, and only PCIe is fast enough for this. There will be no AGP versions of those motherboards or dual-GPU cards.
"C lets you shoot yourself in the foot rather easily. C++ allows you to reuse the bullet!"
GKW
GKW
Only 128MB per gpu core is no good. It needs a minimum of 512MB( 2x256MB ).
"... we should have such an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation ..."Thomas Jefferson
Sandman
Sandman
I'm yet to be convinced that SLI is anything more than a gimmick aimed at the sort of people who will happily blow huge wads of cash on fancy hardware so that they can get 200 FPS on Doom instead of a measly 150. And then play it with VSync turned on.
vNistelrooy
vNistelrooy
Quote:
Original post by GKW
Only 128MB per gpu core is no good. It needs a minimum of 512MB( 2x256MB ).


In a SLI configuration, each GPU needs its own memory and bandwidth. This card has 256MB, but only 128MB usable, the same about bandwith, 256-bit, but all the data is duplicated so it is 128-bit effective. 256MB per GPU is 256MB.
"C lets you shoot yourself in the foot rather easily. C++ allows you to reuse the bullet!"
vNistelrooy
vNistelrooy
Quote:
Original post by Sandman
I'm yet to be convinced that SLI is anything more than a gimmick aimed at the sort of people who will happily blow huge wads of cash on fancy hardware so that they can get 200 FPS on Doom instead of a measly 150. And then play it with VSync turned on.


I think it is more for upgradbility options. I have a single 6600GT, but I plan to buy a new motherboard another 6600GT somewhere in the not-so-near future.
"C lets you shoot yourself in the foot rather easily. C++ allows you to reuse the bullet!"
Extrarius
Extrarius
Quote:
Original post by vNistelrooy
[...]I think it is more for upgradbility options. I have a single 6600GT, but I plan to buy a new motherboard another 6600GT somewhere in the not-so-near future.
The SLI mobos will have to come down a LOT though. Right now, it is only marginally less expensive to buy a single 6600GT+SLI mobo than it would be to buy a single-slot PCI express mobo with a 6800GT (save ~$50 for a much slower graphics card). Once the prices come down, it might be worth it, but maybe not. It really depends on how things pan out.
Personally, I find my Radeon 8500 holding up nicely.
"Walk not the trodden path, for it has borne it's burden." -John, Flying Monk
Ravuya
Ravuya
The title of this thread makes me want to Photoshop the Reefer Madness movie poster.

"Women can't get enough of those HIGH POLYGON COUNTS!!!"
"Gateway to evil, satan and DOOM!!!"
vNistelrooy
vNistelrooy
Quote:
Original post by Extrarius
The SLI mobos will have to come down a LOT though. Right now, it is only marginally less expensive to buy a single 6600GT+SLI mobo than it would be to buy a single-slot PCI express mobo with a 6800GT (save ~$50 for a much slower graphics card). Once the prices come down, it might be worth it, but maybe not. It really depends on how things pan out.


The new nForce 4 SLI motherboards are really cheap (The Asus one is only abit more expensive then the 915P Asus board I use now).

Quote:
Original post by Extrarius
Personally, I find my Radeon 8500 holding up nicely.


Not for high-resolution +aa +af gaming, and shader development.
"C lets you shoot yourself in the foot rather easily. C++ allows you to reuse the bullet!"
Extrarius
Extrarius
Quote:
Original post by vNistelrooy
[...]The new nForce 4 SLI motherboards are really cheap (The Asus one is only abit more expensive then the 915P Asus board I use now).[...]
Well, the asus SLI on newegg is $269, vs $149 for the gigabyte nforce 4 standard.

Quote:
[...]Not for high-resolution +aa +af gaming, and shader development.
I think it's more that I hate most high-tech games than that I don't mind playing at low resolutions/etc. I used to be an id fan, but only because I loved modding, and I loved valve until steam was first imagined. After eliminating those two, and all the other games aimed just under the lowest common denominator, I've found lots of time to read gamedev and do a little programming on the side =-)
"Walk not the trodden path, for it has borne it's burden." -John, Flying Monk
Spoonbender
Spoonbender
Quote:
Original post by Sandman
I'm yet to be convinced that SLI is anything more than a gimmick aimed at the sort of people who will happily blow huge wads of cash on fancy hardware so that they can get 200 FPS on Doom instead of a measly 150. And then play it with VSync turned on.


The thing I like about it is the upgrade path. Buy one good card now, and in a year or two, buy another one, which, by then, will cost only a few dollars. Then you've gotten almost twice the performance, by buying a ridiculously cheap card.
Trap
Trap
If you have a monitor capable of 2300x1500 you can finally turn on AA and AF without slowdowns...
_the_phantom_
_the_phantom_
Quote:
Original post by Spoonster
The thing I like about it is the upgrade path. Buy one good card now, and in a year or two, buy another one, which, by then, will cost only a few dollars. Then you've gotten almost twice the performance, by buying a ridiculously cheap card.


Yep, you've got twice (more or less) todays performance for that card, however cards dont drop much if at all in a year now and in two years your card will be outdated (feature wise) and the new crop of cards will have better performance than the current crop.

Personally I dont see the attraction, but each to their own [smile]

Topic Locked

This topic has been locked by a moderator. New replies are not allowed.

Sign in to reply to this topic.