X-bit labs

ASUS Experiments with 4 Graphics Processors in SLI - Photos.

Category: Video

by Anton Shilov

[ 11/08/2005 | 10:08 PM ]

Sources close to ASUSTeK Computer have reportedly demonstrated select Asian journalist a capability to enable 4-way multi-GPU system based on two of ASUS’ dual-GeForce 7800 GT graphics cards. The systems appeared to function and even work in Futuremark’s 3DMark05 benchmark.

Journalists from Chinese web-site PCPOP have received pictures and screenshots which might proof that NVIDIA’s multi-GPU technology dubbed Scalable Link Interface (SLI) allows up to four graphics processing units (GPUs) to operate in parallel achieving unprecedented levels of performance at tremendous cost. The photos and screenshots were allegedly taken in a Taiwanese research & development (R&D) laboratory of the company.

 
Two ASUS EN7800 GT Dual graphics cards on ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Revision 2 mainboard. Click to enlarge

The 4-Way graphics solution consisted of two ASUS EN7800 GT Dual graphics cards each equipped with a pair of NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT graphics chips and 512MB (256MB per GPU) of GDDR3 memory as well as ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Revision 2.0 mainboard powered by NVIDIA nForce4 SLI 16x core-logic. Graphics boards were not connected using MIO connector required for typical multi-GPU systems developed by NVIDIA, used unknown drivers and were recognized as 4 graphics devices by operating system. Based on screenshots, the system used the so-called scissor mode to balance the load between the graphics processors, when each chip renders its own part of the image.

 
Windows Control Panel screenshot. Click to enlarge

Even though the web-site published screenshots from 3DMark05, it did not reveal the final score of such a system with four GPUs.

 
3DMark05 screenshot. Click to enlarge

Rumours about 4-way SLI graphics solutions have been floating around for some time now, for instance, recently it was said that NVIDIA was aiming to allow such a capability in its ForceWare Release 90 drivers scheduled to arrive in late 2005 or early 2006.

While the cost of 4-way multi-GPU solution is unlikely to be lower than $1800 - $2000 or more only for graphics cards, provided that the drivers work fine, end users who agree to pay that amount of money are likely to get unbelievable performance. Even ATI Technologies, who first doubted about the success of multi-GPU technologies on the desktop market, recently said that 4-way multi-GPU was possible on the consumer market.

While on the game market only a few enthusiasts are likely to jump on a 4-way multi-GPU system because of its cost, the technology may become very interesting for professionals seeking for the highest performance possible.