Will SLI be relegated to system builders?

[santapolainabatman]

I recently read a post over at joystiq titled: NVIDIA denies enthusiasts the Quad-SLI goodness. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/05/nvidia-denies-enthusiasts-the-quad-sli-goodness/
I do not have the money for an SLI setup yet. However, I do have an income and am much more excited about (eventually) playing Crysis or F.E.A.R. 2 (lord, hear my prayers) on an SLI rig. I believe that half the fun of gaming on a PC is building your own. If Nvidia will not cater SLI systems directly to consumers but instead hopes for professional installation exclusively then what are my options? I would like someone more knowledgeable than myself to give me the straight dope on this. Will I be able to build my own SLI system if I gather the dough? I currently own a BFG GeForce 6800 and have loved it way more than my previous card, a Powercolor Radeon 9800 Pro. I do realize they are vastly different cards but I also owned an Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 and liked it as well. What I am trying to say is that I really dig Nvidia but would NEVER pay to have my computer built by someone else. If the future of SLI is professional installation only then I no longer want to build my own PC and will quit gaming on it. I will buy a console instead. I realize that there is a quad-sli mobo from Gigabyte out there already, what I am concerned is the future. Though I am an Nvidia fanboy I would gladly switch over to ATI and its crossfire solution if it is the only way I can BUILD MY OWN SLI system. Sorry about the rambling but I am quite worried about the future of SLI and all us tiny non-professional computer builders that get a big fat kick out of building our own systems. Is SLI in the cards for private, non-commercial computer builders, or will the SLI experience be reserved for the obnoxiously wealthy? Plz answer if you have the know-how.

 

[ikjadoon]

If this IS true, I don't understand the reasoning, the "complexity" of it? What BS is that? Hell, if Dell is allowed to put one of those together, why can't I? I'm still confused, though. Is nVidia not going to support it, or what? Then what is the point of even marketing the card retail??? If it cannot be built by the community, why would they go retail? All those companies will gladly by OEM, but why even market retail then?

~Ibrahim~

 

[PCcashCow]

I don't see any point of a unsupported productd?

Have you seen this card yet? SLI in one meaty card?

 

[ikjadoon]

I think that the 7950 GX2 will be marketed as a "dual-core" card rather than a Quad-SLi setup...Stupid marketing decision: Too Complex. Well, Phase Change is expensive and somewhat complex, but we don't see that as a "OEM-Builders" only thing.

I don't get how they "won't" support it, I mean is it drivers? Also, is this the same card that'll be used in Quad-configs in OEM-builders? Because it has only one SLI-bridge thingy and that is between the two cards.

~Ibrahim~