ASUS X58-based ROG Implementation will Support both SLI and Crossfire

[btarunr]

The functionality of NVIDIA SLI and ATI Crossfire on the same motherboard isn't something new, we saw Intel's high-end D5400XS "Skulltrail" support it, where it used BR-04 chips made by NVIDIA to support the SLI functionality. Not much has changed with NVIDIA's plans on cashing in on the first wave of Nehalem LGA-1366 processor even though it's not ready with a native chipset for the new Intel chip, the nForce 200 (BR-04) chips will be used on some motherboards based on the Intel X58 chipset, thereby making the motherboard support both NVIDIA SLI technology. ASUS will release a high-end motherboard targeted at the gaming and overclocking community branded under the Republic of Gamers (ROG) banner. This board, according to a recent presentation by ASUS supports SLI and Crossfire.

Derek Yu, responsible for the R.O.G. series, told NordicHardware that the new NF200 is already performing adequately in most cases, and above expectations in other. He also revealed that the NF200 (BR-04) chip is hot (temperature-wise), like so many other chips form NVIDIA, and that ASUS has had to look at a variety of cooling solutions to keep the temperatures at bay.



Source: NordicHardware

[chron]

Now all we need is a board to support slifire, where you can run two video cards, one from each vendor

[-1nf1n1ty-]

THANK YOU SWEET JESUS, time to save money to buy this

[CDdude55]

Thats awesome. But will cost an arm and a leg(literally),

[jbunch07]

I don't know why they didn't think of that earlier.
I like how they used the comic book characters to represent.

[Metzen]

Originally Posted by chron

Now all we need is a board to support slifire, where you can run two video cards, one from each vendor

Vista prevents you from doing this.

[Darkrealms]

I thought Nvidias chips weren't going to be ready for retail distribution in time for the X58s? And the X58s time frame was moved forward.
It will be interesting to see how they solve their heat problems this time. Anyone remember the faulty A8N-SLI fans that went bad and killed board functionality. Free replacement though : )

Originally Posted by btarunr

Nehalem LGA-1366 processor even tough (though) it's not ready with a

Sorry it was bugging me : (

[jbunch07]

Originally Posted by Metzen

Vista prevents you from doing this.

nonsense. we will just get solaris17 to whip us up some drivers to support it.

[REVHEAD]

This is the last thing we need .

Another dodgey unnneeded component on the motherboard to generate more heat and hinder high overclocks, I was excited to see the Northbridge would be a thing of the past but now this.

Nvidia need to stop these pathetic tricks to keep there revenue flowing, they know we dont need the NF200 but they will assure us we do and we pay a premium for it. I am really getting sick and tired of this.

[Octavean]

Hot, likely expensive and likely a little late to the Nehalem LGA-1366 party,…….I’ll just go for a standard X58 board.

[btarunr]

I wish someone made such a board for us lesser mortals (AM2+ users).

Originally Posted by REVHEAD

Another dodgey unnneeded component on the motherboard to generate more heat and hinder high overclocks, I was excited to see the Northbridge would be a thing of the past but now this.

I agree. the BR-04 were found to step up latencies a little (on the Skulltrail), and latency = microstutter. SLI without BR-04? Possible. I remember reading this article years ago when a driver-modding team made two GeForce 7600 GT to run off a i975 board.

[Metzen]

Originally Posted by jbunch07

nonsense. we will just get solaris17 to whip us up some drivers to support it.

Across different companies cards? I don't think so

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device...imonVista.mspx

"Multimonitor Support in WDDM
On Windows Vista, older XPDM drivers still work and the multi-monitor behavior with XPDM drivers hasn't changed, because the operating system uses the legacy graphics stack.

However, the Windows Vista Display Driver Model (WDDM) brings fundamental changes to the management of multiple graphics adapters and external displays. This includes a new restriction, because WDDM drivers do not support "heterogeneous multi-adapter" multi-monitor implementations. Specifically:

• All graphics adapters in a system must use the same display driver model. That is, all of them should either be running XPDM or WDDM. The driver models are mutually exclusive, and Windows Vista does not allow the simultaneous loading of both an XPDM driver and a WDDM driver.

If a system has one graphics adapter with a XPDM driver and another with a WDDM driver, then Windows Vista will choose the POST device, which is the one with VGA resources. This is commonly referred to as the "VGA adapter."

• If multiple graphics adapters are present in a system, all of them must use the same WDDM driver. If there are two graphics adapters with WDDM drivers from two different manufacturers, then Windows will disable one of them. The VGA adapter will be enabled, and the second device will be disabled.

Notice that XPDM drivers still support heterogeneous multi-adapter as they did in Windows XP. A user who has such a configuration working fine in Windows XP will encounter a problem when upgrading to Windows Vista. An external monitor connected to one of the graphics adapters will have no video signal, because it is disabled. An error message will appear on system boot, as described later in this article.

The solution for this problem could be as follows:

• A user could force the installation of a XPDM driver for each of these devices, and therefore get heterogeneous multi-adapter multi-monitor to work as in Windows XP.

-Or-

• The user could change the graphics hardware configuration by choosing multiple graphics adapters that use the same WDDM driver. Graphics adapters from the same ASIC family generally have the same graphics driver. In late 2006, each of the major graphics vendors had a single WDDM driver for all supported WDDM graphics adapters. Please consult the graphics vendor's Web site for details on their driver support."

[PCpraiser100]

Add in DDR2 support and I'm all over it.

[Ketxxx]

.... I think its time nvidia moved to a smaller fab process for lower temps. For whats essentially a bridge chip active cooling shouldn't be required - or even a heatsink for that matter

[Mussels]

wow that slide is actually accurate. It shows the REAL strengths behind each platform (OCing included!)

this board is going to be very popular just because it does both platforms.

[Hayder_Master]

nvidia take a deep breath with x58 board's

[Jansku07]

So if SLI doesn't really need the BR-04 chip, then why dont take make it inactive? Kind of like the chip is keycode to use sli. You dont need a boiling hot chip, just a keycode to use Sli (br-04). It will be cheaper for mobomakers, customers and Nvidia. A win-win in my book.