MSI SLI DBS - Another HEXUS World Exclusive

[Steve]

Think SLI, but on the nForce 4 Ultra chipset, without the extra PCB on the motherboard, and you have MSI's new solution.

Whilst the performance if an MSI SLI-DBS system may not quite parallel that of NVIDIA's officially validated platform, the cost savings for running an MSI nForce4 Ultra based DBS SLI system will be significant when compared to an SLI rig based on an nForce4 SLI chipset, and we think that it's likely to have a very high appeal and will help grow the NVIDIA SLI market.

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews...lld19JRD05NTc=

[Platinum]

Looks good, saw something about this a few days ago on Xtremesystems I think where someone got a card working in the 2x slot, look forward to the full review

[BUFF]

Yeah, I posted the xtreme link here a few days ago in the XLi thread
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=33609

[DR]

This is the first confirmed sighting from a mainboard manufacturer

[Rave]

I don't reckon there's any difference between the NForce4 SLI and the NForce4 Ultra- just as there's no difference except the packaging between a S754 and a S939 Newcastle, or an Athlon XP Tbred and a Sempron. It also suggests to me that the implementation of SLI is pretty robust at a driver level, if whats look like NVidia's standard drivers supports SLI even when the cards are not in the recommended 8x + 8x configuration. This makes me think that Via's and SiS's chipsets will be supporting SLI sooner rather than later.

If my supposition that all NForce4 chipsets are the same is true, then really the only price premium that can be justified for pukka 8x + 8x motherboards is the extra cost of putting two 16x PCI-E slots on the board along with the associated power circuitry etc. If one of the second tier motherboard manufacturers wants to make a motherboard supporting SLI out of a standard NForce4 ultra chipset, then they will. Abit used the Intel 440BX chipset to make a motherboard supporting dual PPGA Celerons, a configuration that Intel never intended to be used. Intel disabled SMP support on the next generation of Celerons, but Abit are still making motherboards with Intel chipsets to this day. If Intel can't afford to tell Abit to take a hike, then I hardly think NVidia are going to.

The very positive side of this as I see it, is that less than a year after it was launched, PCI-E is enough of a well sorted and bug-free standard that not only will 16X video cards sit in a 2X slot and work flawlessly, they'll also communicate with other PCI-E devices while doing so. Was the intel 915/925 generation of chipsets designed from the outset to support SLI? I doubt it, but the very first SLI demonstations were run on them, so it's clear that all SLI requires is a correct implementation of the PCI-E standards. The future's bright.

Rich :¬)

[johndoe]

hey, don't these guys know how to install dual channel memory ? it's installed in single channel mode in those pics

[Steve]

hey, don't these guys know how to install dual channel memory ? it's installed in single channel mode in those pics

You sure? I've seen different boards with different configs.

[johndoe]

that's why the DIMM sockets are color coded - you're supposed to install one DIMM in the blue socket and one in the corresponding green one to enable dual channel mode

[DR]

Good job we didn't take the shots.

[johndoe]

[BUFF]

that's why the DIMM sockets are color coded - you're supposed to install one DIMM in the blue socket and one in the corresponding green one to enable dual channel mode

Either I need an eye test or that is indeed what they have done
In the other pics you can't see 1 slot because of the gfx card.

[johndoe]

my bad i guess

[rickbanr]

I think the PCIe tecnoçogie will show a new dimesion in the pc world, WE HOPE ???

I have been testing some ASUS and they look very stable, but im still going ot wait a little bit longerr to get my new system.

[shiato storm]

...just as there's no difference except the packaging between a S754 and a S939 Newcastle, or an Athlon XP Tbred and a Sempron.

apart from the chip inside the packaging as well of course - i'd be gutted if I got a 939 box with a 754 inside!

[skuzgib]

I think he's talking about packaging as in how the CPU connects with everything else, so the green/brown/purple bit and the pins are the packaging.
Am I right?

[DR]

Soon we will have our review of this board...