nVidia SLI and Penryn don't play nice together

[Praz]

It appears that there are issues between Intel's 45nm processors and nVidia's chipsets (680i/780i). As always speculation is running wild but neither Intel nor nVidia are commenting yet as to the incompatibility.

 

It seems it can be attributed to one of the following. Just an unlucky set of circumstances surrounding the method of communication between the processor and chipset, Intel's answer to no SLI licensing or nVidia's lack of planning for future processors.

 

While there are plenty of users that would like it to be because of Intel, given the lack-luster performance to date of the 680i chipset and the 780i being practically the same chip it will most likely be a design issue with the chipset itself.

 

While a BIOS update may circumvent the problems, as of now it appears it will be more of a masking of the issue then a fix. Manufacturers are not hopeful of a true fix at this time. To date HP stands alone as publicly acknowledging this issue exists.

 

We haven't launched Intel's 45 Nanometer processor as planned. We, like many, were hoping that it would work flawlessly on certain chipsets - and well, unfortunately it doesn't - not yet anyways. Even though we were getting close to qualifying it - last week we received some really bad news. The bottom line is we're working on a solution for Nvidia SLI, but at the moment there isn't one.

 

Interestingly enough there are those out there configuring this processor in configurations which we *know* are unstable. I think their customers will be in for major disappointment based on current issues. ..although there are certain configurations which do work, the question is whether they deliver a decent value to the customer.

 

That said, it's not an issue of Intel's chip reliability, it's an issue of platform stability on certain current non-Intel platforms.

 

I don't want to get into the details, it's not a pretty situation. There is much confusion surrounding this launch -- it's somewhat unbelievable.

 

http://www.rahulsood.com/2007/11/intel-45-...t-happened.html

[Yukon Trooper]

Good thing I won't ever go SLI.

 

Hopefully for SLI lovers AMD will have the best 45nm processor. I'm sure Nvidia would get a fully compatible Penryn chipset out the door ASAP though. Too much money to lose.

[Angry_Games]

I'd still rather have an Intel chipset on Intel processors as the truth is, no one can make a chipset for a processor better than the processor mfg themselves.

[Praz]

No longer is this issue unconfirmed. Part of an email from EVGA.

 

For the moment, any 45nm CPU's are not compatible with the 680i SLI motherboard. Once we find if this is a simple BIOS update then we will post it on our forums and download drivers page.

Notice the word if. Their chipset business is so screwed if this is Intel's way of showing how much they want SLI compatibility. What's interesting is apparently the ES chips sent out for validation worked fine with the chipset. There was a change made to the retail stepping.

[Yukon Trooper]

Very screwed. Especially with the way things are looking for AMD's new chips. Time to pony up your tech Nvidia and collect royalty.

[Praz]

Well nVidia may still be doing a song n' dance about this issue but EVGA has said today that retail Yorkfield chips will not work on the 680i chipset. Anyone that wants Yorkfield and SLI will need to buy a new board.

 

EVGA 680i users,

 

The EVGA 680i SLI motherboard will support 45nm Wolfsdale (dual core) CPU's with an upcoming BIOS update. 45nm Yorkfield (quad core) CPU's will be supported on upcoming nForce 700-series SLI motherboards.

 

Thanks,

 

http://evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=167016&mpage=1&key=𨱨

[dr_bowtie]

good info to know....

[railmeat]

sigh weres all the hackers at this is unreal,why is this happening....money?