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Hardware NVIDIA Quad SLI Driver No Longer Beta
Anh Tuan Huynh (Blog) - August 9, 2006 1:01 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 14 comment(s) - last by gramboh.. on Aug 10 at 12:36 PM
Quad SLI for DIYers

NVIDIA has officially released its WHQL certified ForceWare 91.45 drivers for Quad SLI technology. The drivers were previously available in beta form on NVIDIA’s nZone site. The new drivers are placed under a new Quad SLI section instead of the usual GeForce and TNT2 driver section. Interestingly enough the latest ForceWare 91.45 only supports GeForce 7950GX2 graphics cards. Users with 7900GX2 graphics cards will have to wait for drivers from respective system builders such as Alienware, Dell, Velocity and other manufacturers of early Quad SLI systems.

The release highlights include:
  • Adds support for Quad NVIDIA SLI™ Technology on GeForce 7950 GX2 GPUs. For more information on Quad NVIDIA SLI, please visit this website.
  • Includes the new NVIDIA Control Panel. Please visit the NVIDIA Control Panel website for more information.
  • New NVIDIA PureVideo features and enhancements. Please visit the NVIDIA PureVideo website for more information on PureVideo technology and system requirements.
  • Adds noise reduction post processing
  • Adds image sharpening post processing
  • Improved Inverse telecine algorithm
  • Improved de-interlacing algorithm
  • Improved compatibility with third party MPEG-2 decoders
  • Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0c and OpenGL® 2.0 support
Users with two GeForce 7950GX2 graphics cards can grab the drivers from NVIDIA’s website.

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Is it better?
By mendocinosummit on 8/9/2006 1:32:49 PM , Rating: 2
Didn't Anandtech just do a review or was it somewhere else, that said that they were not ready for certification.




RE: Is it better?
By mendocinosummit on 8/9/2006 1:34:28 PM , Rating: 2
Tomz, I forgot that Anandtech doesn't do that many reviews for the past couple of months.


RE: Is it better?
By h0kiez on 8/9/2006 2:00:45 PM , Rating: 2
Ya...and Tom's conclusion was that it was a total waste (with current drivers)...even outperformed by a SINGLE 7950GX2 at times. There may be a use for this kind of thing at some point, but I gotta think that the small population of people who would buy this are also the ones who would actually read the benchmarks online to see what a huge waste it is right now...maybe I'm giving the "enthusiast" too much credit.


RE: Is it better?
By rushfan2006 on 8/9/2006 2:19:15 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
maybe I'm giving the "enthusiast" too much credit.


No I agree..this is a waste for now. As far as giving the enthusiast too much credit, I find that an odd statement. As the very definition (at least in my mind) of enthusiast implies near anal adherence to detail of whatever it is you are an enthusiast about....enthusiasts to a particular singer -- they generally could write a book him or her, enthusiasts to cars -- they can probably build a 9 sec street rod in a week...lol....etc. etc...

Point is the enthusiasts generally know FAR MORE detailed information on their rigs and the hardware they are putting into them than the average pc user or just casual gamer does.


RE: Is it better?
By VooDooAddict on 8/9/2006 6:10:09 PM , Rating: 3
After reading a few previews of QUAD-SLI...

It's clear that there are only 2 reasons to get it.

1) Pure bragging rights / geeky "cool" factor
2) 30" Ultra High resolution Displays when the user still wants AA.

And to all those complaining about the 7950GX2 in general there's a segment of the ethusiast market that's loving this card. Small-Form-Factor SLI.


Stability?
By Goty on 8/9/2006 1:11:56 PM , Rating: 2
So does this mean that a Quad-SLI setup will actually run more than five or ten games now? If so, count me in!




RE: Stability?
By tuteja1986 on 8/9/2006 9:46:04 PM , Rating: 3
Lol , it is still beta , Nvidia is hopping that fools will buy it and start doing beta testing for them so they could save the cost. Right now a Quad SLI can't even beat a 7900GTX SLI in most the benchmark. It has still the same stupid issues as the crappy 7900GTX QUad SLI launch.


shame
By One43637 on 8/9/2006 2:37:55 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Users with two GeForce 7950GX2 graphics cards can grab the drivers from NVIDIA’s website.


it's a shame that the driver only applies to people that have two of these cards. i have a 7950, but i wouldn't mind downloading the driver to improve on the noise. granted the card already is quieter then my old 7800GT, but it would still be nice to improve upon that.




RE: shame
By rrsurfer1 on 8/9/2006 3:06:28 PM , Rating: 2
"noise reduction post-processing" means video noise, not physical "sound" noise. ;)


RE: shame
By One43637 on 8/9/2006 3:35:56 PM , Rating: 2
oh well then nevermind. thanks for the clarification :)


RE: shame
By SunAngel on 8/9/06, Rating: -1
Even if it was beneficial
By exdeath on 8/9/2006 2:27:06 PM , Rating: 3
I still wouldn't fall for this ploy to sell off G70 inventory at the last minute before G80 comes out. I'd rather wait and get quad SLI from the start with a new chip.

Is anyone else tired of all the 'best' stuff only coming out near the end of a product cycle rendering it obselete anyway?
Always seems companies introduce 'new technolgy' like this quad SLI at the end of a product cycle just before something new comes out, as if they are just trying to stretch sales.




RE: Even if it was beneficial
By SunAngel on 8/9/06, Rating: -1
RE: Even if it was beneficial
By gramboh on 8/10/2006 12:36:03 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed on the lifecycle issues. I was just thinking in my head that $650CDN for a 7950GX2 isn't that bad a deal for the performance then thought it would be worth under $500 in a matter of months.

ATI X1900XT for $400CDN is the best deal in Canada right now. 7900GTX seems to be 500-550 everywhere I look.


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