X-bit labs

Quadtet: Nvidia GeForce 7900 Quad SLI Performance Unveiled

Category: Video

by Anton Shilov , Alexey Stepin

[ 04/30/2006 | 02:24 AM ]

When announcing the quad SLI technology at CES 2006, Nvidia Corp. stated that there are some gamers who desire to have extreme performance, quality and exclusivity, but did not begin shipping such products immediately. At CeBIT 2006 the company stated that the systems featuring four GPUs were shipping, even though not all system makers can supply such computers even now. Two announcements and several systems shipped to end-users later, X-bit labs is publishing the performance preview of the technology that made such a loud hype to reveal all the truth about it. Check out how a GeForce 7900 quad SLI performs against rivals in over 10 games.

Table of contents:

• Graphics Not for Everyone
  
• Quad SLI Explained: PCI Express x48 Bridge Improves the Bandwidth
  
• All 4 One: Quad SLI Rendering Modes Explained
  
• GeForce 7900 GX2: PCB Design
  
• GeForce 7900 GX2: Cooling System
  
• Meet the Extreme High Definition: 2560*1600 in Action
  
• Meet the Sleeping Beauty: 32x Antialiasing Checked Out
  
• Meet the Testbeds and Methods
  
• Bang Bang: Here Come Problems
  
• Performance in First-Person 3D Shooters
  
• Call of Duty
  
• Chronicles of Riddick
  
• Doom III
  
• Far Cry
  
• F.E.A.R.
  
• Half-Life 2
  
• Quake 4
  
• Serious Sam 2
  
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
  
• Project Snowblind
  
• Performance in Third-Person 3D Shooters
  
• Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
  
• Performance in Simulators
  
• X3: Reunion
  
• Synthetic Benchmarks
  
• Futuremark 3DMark05 build 120
  
• Futuremark 3DMark06 build 120
  
• Conclusion
  

The market of high-end graphics sub-systems is changing: those, who were video games enthusiasts a decade ago have grown up, but retained the passion for gaming. But now they do not want to just play, they want to enjoy the best quality and very rapid frame-rates. Today they have much higher budgets on a PC than just about 8-10 years ago and not only want, but can afford to be on the bleeding edge of technology.

Just about 3 years ago technology enthusiasts would be happy with only one Radeon 9800 Pro, but a couple of years back Nvidia introduced its technology called scalable link interface (SLI) that could allow two graphics cards to work in tandem to deliver high frame-rates and some improvements in quality.

The high-end of enthusiast community adopted the multi-GPU technology rather quickly, but the total available market for those extreme graphics sub-systems did not increase much: the majority of computer gamers do not buy graphics cards more expensive than $399. Then Nvidia introduced its GeForce 7800 GTX at extreme price of $599 and those, who could afford, bought the boards once again despite of the price. It looked like the number of customers who buy the cream of the creams does not grow, they simply buy more cards in their desire for the best.

If hardcore technology and video games enthusiasts, or, at least, some of them, would afford virtually everything, why not offer them something, which promises them the absolutely highest performance and amazing quality? Why not sell them four graphics cards at once?

This is the idea behind the quad SLI: to offer extreme gamers a truly extreme solution. But is the first implementation of the quad SLI really brings extreme speeds and quality? Let’s find out together!