No dual-GPU 6800s from ASUS

[Steve]

Just last week we brought you exclusive pictures from Inside the labs of ASUSTeK, showing you dual-GPU 6800 GT and Ultra cards being tested, and grabbing some benchmarks while we were there. However, it now looks as though these cards will never see the market.

X-Bit Labs is reporting that ASUS has ditched plans to sell these cards.

During the launch of the GeForce 7800 GTX a representative for ASUSTeK told that the company no longer has plans to commercially launch its dual-chip GeForce 6800-series product

Why? Well, when we were in ASUSTeK's labs only a few cards had gotten through quality control. Of course, these were sample cards going out to media, not commercial products. Most folks are speculating that the launch of NVIDIA's 7800 GTX has given ASUS reason to shift efforts onto producing a dual 7800 card instead. Our 7800 GTX SLi benchmarks demonstrated that most (but not all of the time,) a pair of 7800 GTXs can put some distance between themselves and a pair of 6800 Ultras. The last thing ASUS want to do is try to sell a card nobody wants.

It has also been pointed out by The Register, that the reduced power consumption of G70 could make is a much friendlier chip for dual GPU cards.

Some may be disappointed by this news, but it looks as though ASUS are scrapping one idea to focus on a better, faster, 24 fragment processor idea instead.

[Dougal]

So Asus may have just been using the 6800s to experiment with, to ensure that the technology was feasible?

Sounds good, now that they know its possible to do it, whats the turn around going to be for the 7800s?

Hopefully before Xmas cos I'm spending a lot on a new base unit