According to a report at The Inquirer, ATI apparently is planning to introduce its own version of SLI to offer customers the ability to run multiple ATI graphic cards in one system. The technology was the named "Multi Rendering" the article said.

ATI declined to comment on the report. Spokesman Chris Evenden however said that ATI was "investigating" this topic and already has a "strategy" for such a solution in place.

Nvidia's SLI successfully has stirred up marketing for high-end graphics even before the official announcement of availability which is expected to be made by mid of this month. Board and graphic card manufacturer already praise the technology, with Asus claiming a speed record in 3DMark 2005.

Industry sources expect ATI's variant of SLI to be proprietary for ATI products, users soon will get another choice with Alienware's video array technology: Instead of using a simple bridge chip to connect to graphic cards, Alienware will use another card to combine and coordinate the signals from two or more graphic cards. In contrast to Nvidia's SLI technology, Alienware said that its video array will support cards from any manufacturer. (THG)