GIGABYTE Extends SLI Support on Entire X58 Series Motherboards

[btarunr]

GIGABYTE Technology CO., LTD., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to announce their entire range of Intel X58 chipset motherboards now officially support NVIDIA SLI technology, allowing users to take full advantage of blazing-fast NVIDIA multi-GPU performance.

With a simple BIOS upgrade from the GIGABYTE website, users can enable NVIDIA SLI support on their current motherboards for ultra smooth 3D rendering, blazing-fast frame rates and enhanced visual quality possible with a multiple graphics card solution. Whether playing current and future graphics-intensive games at max settings, or enabling multi-monitor support for enhanced productivity, GIGABYTE gives users the flexibility to design their system according to their specific needs.

GIGABYTE X58 series motherboards are designed from the ground up to unleash the awesome power of Intel's latest generation Core i7 processors. Equipped with a host of new features including the new QPI interface, 3 channel DDR3 support, Ultra Durable 3 technology and the industry's most extensive range of overclocking features, the GIGABYTE X58 Series is bringing excitement back into the high performance motherboard industry.

The GIGABYTE X58 Series is yet another example of GIGABYTE engineering at its best with its revolutionary GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 design, featuring 2 ounces of copper for both the Power and Ground layers which dramatically lowers system temperature by delivering a more efficient spreading of heat from critical areas of the motherboard such as the CPU power zone throughout the entire PCB. GIGABYTE's Ultra Durable 3 also lowers the PCB impedance by 50%, which helps to reduce electrical waste and further lowers component temperatures. A 2oz Copper layer design also provides improved signal quality and lower EMI (Electromagnetic Interference), providing better system stability and allowing for greater margins for overclocking.

To find out more, or to get the SLI BIOS upgrade for your motherboard, please visit this page.

GIGABYTE X58 Series Featuring NVIDIA SLI Support includes:

• GA-EX58-Extreme
• GA-EX58-UD5
• GA-EX58-UD4P
• GA-EX58-UD4
• GA-EX58-UD3R

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[csendesmark]

No new BIOS for my Mobo... ...yet

 

[Psychoholic]

Sweet! Now my UD3R has sli capability.. time for another 285.

 

[qwerty_lesh]

yeah, UD3 and DS4 owners are going to be pleased about this

 

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

All it took was a bios update? Isnt a chip required for SLI? I mean nf200 (correct me if im wrong) should be slapped on the board right to get sli right?

 

[SystemViper]

yeah, UD3 and DS4 owners are going to be pleased about this

BAM, now i don't need my 790i :woot:

 

[karlotta]

All it took was a bios update? Isnt a chip required for SLI? I mean nf200 (correct me if im wrong) should be slapped on the board right to get sli right?

No a sli n200 chip is not needed. The n200 chip is to "help" run tri_sli by setting the pci-e lanes 16, 8 ,8.... It took Intel to get the sli license for the x58 chip set to start the bios hacks rolling, you can hack any modern MB bios that has two or more pci-e slots for sli. Nice way to use a x48.

 

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

No a sli n200 chip is not needed. The n200 chip is to "help" run tri_sli by setting the pci-e lanes 16, 8 ,8.... It took Intel to get the sli license for the x58 chip set to start the bios hacks rolling, you can hack any modern MB bios that has two or more pci-e slots for sli. Nice way to use a x48.

Isnt there any performance penalties on this compared to those that have it natively on the hardware?

 

[h3llb3nd4]

I was wondering the same thing?? how do you do that??^

 

[Nyte]

I was wondering the same thing?? how do you do that??^

ATI and NV can do Crossfire/SLI on any PCI-e chipset with at least 2 PCI-e ports. It's a legal matter that makes us set the disabled flags in the driver/registry (ATI) whereas in NVIDIA, it's a hidden BIOS setting mapped to a register.

 

[madrooster]

DS4 won't be getting it, it seems like... all the others already have the BIOS out.

 

[Wile E]

No a sli n200 chip is not needed. The n200 chip is to "help" run tri_sli by setting the pci-e lanes 16, 8 ,8.... It took Intel to get the sli license for the x58 chip set to start the bios hacks rolling, you can hack any modern MB bios that has two or more pci-e slots for sli. Nice way to use a x48.

You have any info on SLI on X48?

 

[nafets]

You have any info on SLI on X48?

Never going to happen. Don't hold your breath.

The functionality is certainly there, but the "hacked BIOSes" aren't.

The only reason Nvidia allowed SLI on X58 is because they don't have any Nvidia-chipset Nehalem boards (or the license to produce them).

Allowing SLI on X58 keeps Nvidia a player in the Nehalem market, in terms of video card sales...

 

[h3llb3nd4]

just wondering... why dont nvidia just get over themselves and trash their mobo chipsets and start manufacturing graphics cards properly?? I don't really mind their netbooks though...

 

[nafets]

You have to remember Nvidia develops chipsets for both Intel and AMD processors; desktop, mobile, and embedded. It's a huge arm of Nvidia...

They have quite a bit of money invested on R&D, facilities, and workforce, just pertaining to chipsets.

There's just no way they'd drop all that and center on only GPUs.

Without Nvidia in the mix there would be a monopoly of sorts on both sides, with Intel and AMD chipsets being the only real options for their counterpart processors.

Monopoly may be a fun game, but it's never a good concept in the marketplace.

 

[qwerty_lesh]

DS4 won't be getting it, it seems like... all the others already have the BIOS out.

ah thats a shame, all the X58-DS4 owners miss out


edit: I was under the impression my UD5 supported SLI from the get go, its advertised on the box and all :S
Why would they list a model with existing sli support