(PR) NVIDIA Intros Hybrid SLI Technology

[Hardware Canucks]

PC users love the visual realism that high-performance graphics processors give their PCs, but would rather do without the noise and power consumption typical of modern entertainment and gaming PCs. Starting today, however, they can have the best of both worlds, thanks to the new NVIDIA platforms based on the company’s Hybrid SLI technology. These new platforms are the foundation for a new breed of PCs that deliver a richer visual experience while reducing energy consumption and costs, fan noise, and even heat. The new technology is available immediately with new NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI and GeForce 8 Series based motherboards.

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[Eldonko]

This is a great article, I think the key part is:

Designed for PC enthusiasts and hard-core gamers, the HybridPower feature completely powers down the discrete graphics cards and switches graphics processing to the motherboard GPU in applications where major 3D horsepower is not required, such as e-mail and Web surfing. Users will appreciate the lower energy consumption, quieter PC operation, and less heat.

Eight models, including a newly available nForce 780a SLI motherboard, are available:
- nForce 780a SLI, nForce 750a SLI, nForce 730a, and nForce 720a
- GeForce 8300, GeForce 8200, and GeForce 8100

I dunno why it took so long to get this going, too bad the Intel boards arent till Q3 tho. :(

[encorp]

Yeah it was more readily available thanks to the AMD/ATI thing, AMD has been pushing for this on their own anyways and I think we'll see some from ATI soon too. I'm actually Surprised Nvidia did this first.

[CMetaphor]

Um, AMD has already done this. Hybrid Crossfire on 780G boards exists and is working Now (when paired with a 3400 or 3600 series video card i believe). It was the first to allow the discrete card to be turned off (and the monitor is plugged into the motherboards VGA/DVI always as well). This is old news in terms of ATI, so Nvidia is just trying to save face and not loose too much of the market.

[encorp]

Yeah that's right, I knew that too - I did just read about someone testing this out too lol. Half awake = me!

[Eldonko]

Yeah no one knows about it bc its on AMD platform hehehe.

[Taichan]

i'm confused.... since when do SLI motherboards come with onboard graphics that seems somewhat ****** up to me....

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by CMetaphor

Um, AMD has already done this. Hybrid Crossfire on 780G boards exists and is working Now (when paired with a 3400 or 3600 series video card i believe). It was the first to allow the discrete card to be turned off (and the monitor is plugged into the motherboards VGA/DVI always as well). This is old news in terms of ATI, so Nvidia is just trying to save face and not loose too much of the market.

This certainly takes it up a step though.

AMD's current solution doesn't work with cards designed for gaming, and I don't remember anything about it powering down the discrete card automatically based on GFX load.