X-bit labs

Alienware Initiates Supplies of NVIDIA GeForce SLI Graphics.

Category: Other

by Anton Shilov

[ 10/26/2004 | 11:57 AM ]

Alienware, a maker of powerful desktops and workstations for demanding gamers and professionals, announced on Monday commercial production of personal computers that feature enhanced performance of 3D graphics thanks to NVIDIA’s Multi-GPU technology that is also referred as Scalable Link Interface.

“Alienware unveils the breakthrough approach of combining dual graphics cards in a single system, enabling unimaginable performance increases with the Area-51 ALX featuring NVIDIA SLI Technology,” the PC maker said in its statement.

SLI is a technology that enables two NVIDIA-based graphics cards to operate in a single workstation or PC delivering higher graphics horsepower. A special mainboard with two PCI Express x16 is required for such configuration. According to NVIDIA’s estimates, typical performance advantage dual NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra bring is about 75% - 80% when operating on a system running NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset that boasts special enhancements for Multi-GPU technology.

Alienware offers PCs with two graphics cards for gamers under its ALX brand-name. ALX systems are engineered and precisely-crafted to deliver ultimate performance using overclocked and tuned-up hardware. Performance-enhanced hardware includes the option to have CPU, memory, and video card settings overclocked by Alienware to the highest levels while maintaining system stability.

Default configuration of Area-51 ALX SLI includes Intel Xeon processor at 3.40GHz with 1MB L2 cache and EM64T, Alienware X2 mainboard, 1GB of dual-channel DDR2 400MHz memory, two NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics cards, 148GB (74GB x 2) WD Raptor HDDs in RAID 0 configuration, Plextor PlexWriter Premium 52x32x52x CD-RW drive, NEC ND-3500 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Recorder, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS audio card, Microsoft Window XP Professional and so on. The default pricing is $6077.

Alienware X2 mainboards are based on Intel E7525 (Tumwater) core logic and besides 2 PCI Express x16 slots as well as 2 sockets for CPUs will also support dual-channel DDR2 memory, Serial ATA ports with RAID capability, PCI-X support, Gigabit Ethernet and 5.1 Dolby Digital audio.

Alienware also has plans to intro its own proprietary special technology that will allow to install two graphics cards and increase 3D graphics speed without using any techs, such as NVIDIA SLI, from graphics chip designers.