NVIDIA worked 2.5 years on SLI drivers

Posted on Tuesday, October 12 2004 @ 18:18 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
The Inq spoke with a driver developer from NVIDIA and they were told that it took NVIDIA 2.5 years to develop SLI drivers.
If we did the sums right that means that Nvidia decided to followed up with SLI almost immediately after acquiring 3Dfx back in December 2000. Well, it did take some months off this Voodoo legacy but returned surprisingly fast to the idea.

This means that there are lot of software engineering hours invested into this development and that such a complex thing simply takes much time and planning.

Nvidia is still proud of its SLI stuff and we will all see some numbers after Nforce 4 SLI introduction that is scheduled after the Nforce 4 Ultra/plain introduction.

Let's wait and see how those drivers will turn out. Oh yes I was told that 65 drivers with support for SLI cards will get an WHQL certificate. If you are using two cards and SLI mode it's twice as hard to get that stamp of approval but Nvidia is sure that it can get it.
It would not be that unlikely if ATI also decides to launch their own version of SLI, they could always ask their friends at Alienware to help them with their Video Array technology. But drivers will still be the hard part..

More info about the development of NVIDIA's SLI here


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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