Conroe + SLI a possibility?

[Marauder]

Just as the topic asks, will there be support for SLI on a Conroe board? I have been trying to find the answer on this forum and tried to google it with mixed results.


I have found word that Intel is in short partnering with ATI and excluding SLI/NF4 support. And then I have also heard that NF4 will support Conroe and will be available shortly.

I have a 7900 GT that I had purchased to build a new computer, and then halted on purchasing anything else because I wanted to wait for Conroe. Im hoping that I do not have to sell this card on eBay or some other way just to use Conroe.

 

[prozac26]

There will most likey be SLI and Crossfire on Conroe. It would be stupid not to have them both.

 

[Marauder]

There will most likey be SLI and Crossfire on Conroe. It would be stupid not to have them both.

Exactly my thoughts. But I've seen some things about some partnerships between Intel/ATI and nVidia/AMD.

 

[Ford_Prefect]

Gigabyte already have a Core Duo board with SLI on it (the GA-965P-DQ6 if I remember correctly).

 

[Ycon]

nVidia already announced a SLi chipset for Conroe, so yes.

 

[Marauder]

Gigabyte already have a Core Duo board with SLI on it (the GA-965P-DQ6 if I remember correctly).

SLI is NVidia chipset only.. SO no, it's not SLI.. and 965P chipset isn't even Crossfire.

 

[Marauder]

Well after spending another 2 hours reading forum posts and articles I've kind of formulated my own conclusion....

Intel chipset do not support SLI due to nVidia drivers. The drivers do not allow for SLI to work on Intel chipset, only NF. To get around this though, there are cracked version of the nVidia drivers which allow you to use SLI on a Intel chipset motherboard.

nVidia, supposedly, did this because they do not want to cut into their own chipset profits. This initially makes sense, but when you think about how many people are going to use Conroe on an Intel chipset when released, for supposedly better stability than the NF chipsets, nVidia stands to lose a major hold on the market.

Very sketchy on this part, but I read in a few places that NF4/NF 5 590 will support the Conroe and allow you to run SLI and should be released soon.

Dont know if this statement was true or not, but there is a statement out by nVidia claiming they dont wish to use the Intel chipsets because the memory bandwidth is too limiting. What makes this statement even more strange is the fact that Xfire uses more memory bandwidth than SLI, but the intel chipset supports Xfire...

 

[phreejak]

The Abit AW8D has crossfire capability and, if you can get ahold of the custom driver that is on the Internet, you can use SLI on it as well (the motherboard comes with an SLI connector). I'm using the AW8D right now with SLI and this is an Intel board. The driver is not "officially" recognized by Nvidia.

So, it stands to reason that the upgrade of the Abit AW8D, which is the AW9D-MAX (which is conroe ready and is supposed to come out this August) will be able to as well.

 

[jaguarskx]

Intel chipset do not support SLI due to nVidia drivers. The drivers do not allow for SLI to work on Intel chipset, only NF. To get around this though, there are cracked version of the nVidia drivers which allow you to use SLI on a Intel chipset motherboard.

nVidia, supposedly, did this because they do not want to cut into their own chipset profits. This initially makes sense, but when you think about how many people are going to use Conroe on an Intel chipset when released, for supposedly better stability than the NF chipsets, nVidia stands to lose a major hold on the market.

I wouldn't discount the gaming enthusiast market. If they want SLI, then they will probably wait for a chipset from nVidia. Not everyone is looking for a dual GPU setup though.

 

[Hyun-Woo]

nVidia has announced support for Conroe and SLI. Here are the specs from their website:
http://www.nvidia.com/page/nforce5_specs_intel.html

Now of course the question is when will a motherboard with the chipset actually be released...

 

[Marauder]

Well I guess that answers everything.. now all we need is for them to hurry up and produce the damn boards so we can all jump on the wagon and ride the tides.

 

[deuce1698]

Conroe should work on the nVidia 500 series. There are pictures at Computex showing motherboards with support.... well at least they say so....

 

[Adsman]

Fact is that some have already been seen in the wild, well not quite the wild, DFI HQ to be exact

Looks like a sweet board!

linky


Gonna get one baby!

 

[Marauder]

Did a little more digging and have found many sites that seem to take different paths concerning the NF 590 SLI motherboard being available by the Conroe launch date.

One site saying it will not:
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/06/09/nvidia_nforce_590_sli_intel_edition_pictured/

One site saying it will be. Not just one manufact. but multiple:
http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=3998

And then i was lucky enough to come across this interview with some lead nVidia employees.
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=922

 

[Marauder]

Just thought I'd add in this reply I got from nVidia (the Mad Mod Mike question box thingy). Here's what they wrote back to me after askins if there was any chance nVidia would be launching SLI on Conroe.


On the contrary Charlie!


NVIDIA launched the nForce 590 SLI MCP for AM2 and Conroe CPUs a few weeks ago. It is shipping on AM2 motherboards right now, and will be shortly for both 775 and Conroe CPUs - the chips are in the hands of motherboard partners, and all that is left to happen is for them to build the Conroe-ready motherboards featuring the nForce 590 SLI MCP. Since Conroe is not out yet, you may not see these motherboards until then, or just after the launch - it's up to the motherboard manufacturers.

But the short answer is YES - nForce 590 SLI will be available for Conroe - when the CPU launches.


-MMM




OK enough on this thread, now we need a thread that keeps an updated list of all the motherboards that have come out for Conroe using the NF 5700 and 5900 sli chipsets....