SLI x16 boards

[Artic_Kid]

nVidia announced a new chipset that enables full PCI-express x16 on both SLI slots. Thus enabling greater bandwidth to the dual SLI graphics cards (when two are used together).

1) When will that chipset find its way into motherboards?

2) When will it be useful? (that is, is it worth the wait. Or will a current motherboard mostly be obsolete by the time two SLI graphics boards could really use all of that x16 bandwidth?)

[Xaneden]

Could you give some more details of where you got this info, maybe a link? Sounds very good

[cm_uk]

what so in theory 32x sli?

[Artic_Kid]

nForce 4 SLI X16: Full Speed PCI Express

Configurations for PCI Express slots in nForce 4 SLI motherboards must be selected by using a paddle that can be flipped to allow for either 2 x8 connections or full bandwidth for one with the other disabled. There is added flexibility on an nForce 4 SLI motherboard, but this flexibility comes with some limitations. Today, NVIDIA sheds the shackles of the paddle selector and limited bandwidth with the new nForce 4 SLI X16 chipset.

In addition to the increased bandwidth and ease of use come quite a few extra niceties. Boards based on nForce 4 SLI X16 will have more I/O options on top of the added PCI Express bandwidth. The introduction of a new enthusiast part will also push prices down on existing products and NVIDIA will begin selling its current nForce4 SLI solution at mainstream prices. Aside from cheaper being better, this should increase adoption of the SLI platform giving the mainstream user some reason to care about SLI. With this also comes value for options like 6600 and 6200 SLI. Everything seems to be coming up roses for NVIDIA's dual GPU business right now with ATI's Crossfire still waiting in the wings.

With this introduction also comes quite a surprise from Dell. NVIDIA will be supplying core logic to the previously Intel-only volume computer manufacturer, making nForce4 SLI X16 the first non-Intel chipset for dudes to get in their Dells. This is quite a big announcement ...

I've seen some motherboards include an additional SATA controller that maps through the old PCI bus -- which unfortunately ends up limiting the speed of that SATA controller substantially. I presume (from the above quoted article) that the new nVidia chipset "will have more I/O options on top of the added PCI Express bandwidth" and that these will be high speed options that eliminate the need to map SATA drives through the PCI bus.

In other words, the new nVidia SLI x16 chipset will have more advantages than just the graphics card bandwidth.

[nvening]

Well basically at the moment apart from if you are a dataholic (you could always get a pci card) or have a gpu from the future this is kinda something that does not matter.

[Artic_Kid]

Well basically at the moment apart from if you are a dataholic (you could always get a pci card) or have a gpu from the future this is kinda something that does not matter.

No, gpu's from the future are not needed here. The current PCI-express graphics cards will work on the upcoming SLI X16 motherboards, and with full bandwidth in SLI mode (rather than half bandwidth as is currently the case).

There are also other benefits of the SLI X16 motherboards, including greater I/O bandwidth and options for I/O.

My interest here is to understand the benefits (or not) of the upcoming SLI X16 motherboards, and when those boards will arrive, so that I (and others) may better decide whether to hold-off purchasing now and wait for them.