Future Promise for Graphics: PCI Express

Bridge It - NVIDIA's HSI Bridge

Of course, most of the following is theoretical argumentation, just like everything that has to do with PCI Express, since there simply aren't any products available in the market at the moment. After ATi attacked its strategy at IDF using shirts with the slogan "GO NATIVE - PCI Express Done Right!" at IDF, NVIDIA is now defending its approach. There are some good arguments in favor of NVIDIA's plan. After all, a bridge isn't by definition a bad thing - consider that the northBRIDGE on your motherboard is also nothing more than a bridge...

The NVIDIA HSI bridge chip on a prototype card.

Overview of the card. The bridge sits below the graphics processorGPU and is cooled by its own heatsink.