Is adding SLI on X58 that simple?
 

ntel’s next generation processor has already been previewed to the point where there probably won’t be any surprises when it launches in October of this year (OK, maybe one ;o ). Of course the processor has been shown to be phenomenal. It’s Intel we’re talking about, after all. Intel, the company that just three short years ago was being so thoroughly trounced by AMD in the processor market that it was hard for anyone not on the inside to think they would ever be able to snap out of it. Intel, the company that for three years has not been able to do wrong. Yes, it’s the very same Intel we’re talking about. Nehalem is going to be amazing. Let’s put that to rest right now.

If NVIDIA could make their own chip to replace the IOH, they could fairly easily create their own chipset mimicking the setup of X58. However, in order to do this they would need to have a chip with a QuickPath link on it so it could communicate with the Nehalem processor. When news hit that X58 would support SLI, many believed that NVIDIA had received a QPI license from Intel in exchange for their nForce 200 chip. Intel would put the nForce 200 chip on their board to run SLI, and NVIDIA would have a slice of the Nehalem pie. Well, that wasn’t exactly the case. There was no QPI license given by Intel. NVIDIA simply released their nForce 200 chip into the marketplace. Now, motherboard manufacturers had the option to put nForce 200 on X58 boards to enable SLI support.

http://www.fpslabs.com/features/tech...58-that-simple

Dead wrong. I will never use an NVIDIA chipset in my main PC and have no desire to ever do so, even if they could fix the stability, bugs, and greater number of hardware conflicts they still suffer from.

If you mean negative reputation, then yes. :D


I think most of that article wasn't needed. The N200 chip is NOT NEEDED for SLI on X48, P45, or X58. The only reason it is there is to sidestep NVIDIA's lack of a license and Intel's unwillingness to offer SLI directly. If the board can support Crossfire, then it can support SLI if given the proper drivers.