Still one of the most talked about technologies would have to be SLI, a technology from NVIDIA that allows two particular graphics cards to work together. The ability to link two powerful NVIDIA graphics cards together does sound impressive. However I believe that the most important reason NVIDIA has received so much attention is because they were the first to deliver AMD followers with PCI Express technology. They did this with the nForce4 chipset series which of course does come in an SLI flavor.
This new technology called SLI (Scalable Link Interface), allows a single system to combine two NVIDIA graphics cards to scale system performance. This technology takes advantage of the increased bandwidth of the PCI Express bus. Currently the ability to operate the GeForce 6600 GT, 6800 GT and 6800 Ultra in SLI mode is possible. The power requirements for this technology are quite large, particularly when using two of the more high-end products.
While this technology has the power to almost double the frame rates when operating in SLI mode, you have to remember it will also cost twice as much to use. For example a GeForce 6800 Ultra SLI setup will cost around $1000 US for the graphics cards alone. This technology is however good value for GeForce 6600 GT setups, as it will cost no more than $400 US for the graphics cards.
These new SLI enabled motherboards are already hugely popular for a number of reasons. First of all they bring PCI Express support to the AMD64 platform and furthermore they offer a flexible upgrade path. Although SLI enabled motherboards do hold a fair price premium, their unique abilities are worth this price penalty. In order to utilize SLI technology there is currently only one chipset that will give a motherboard this support. Known as the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI, this chipset supports a whole host of new and exciting features. The nForce4 series looks to be the best NVIDIA chipset creation yet.
Already I have reviewed a number of SLI motherboards from well respected manufacturers such as ASUS, DFI, EPoX and Gigabyte. All four motherboards offer a broad range of features and retail for roughly $170 US. This being the case, it is important to make sure you are getting your moneys worth out of these boards. Therefore today's roundup will compare the performance, features, overclocking and value of all four motherboards.
