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Gigabyte 3D1 GeForce 6600GT SLI Review |
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Written by Mavke
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Tuesday, 01 February 2005 |
HardOCP has published a review on the Gigabyte 3D1 graphics card. NVIDIA SLI on one video card? It is possible, and Gigabyte shows us how it's done. See how the Gigabyte GeForce 6600 GT SLI stacks up to the competition and find out which is better performing - a 6600 GT SLI solution, or a single GeForce 6800 GT. Dual core video cards are nothing new. Back in their prime, 3dfx succeeded in producing gamer-oriented video cards with multiple cores and chipsets. The famous Voodoo 1, 2 and 5 were all multiple chip configurations. The Voodoo 5 5500 contained two VSA 100 graphics cores on one board connected via SLI (Scan Line Interleave).
 Gigabyte 3D1 GeForce 6600GT SLI Review
Remember, 3dfx's SLI and NVIDIA's SLI are two completely different technologies. The only likeness they share is the idea of increasing performance using multiple video cards, and the fact that the name for the technology can be made into the same acronym. 3dfx's SLI stood for Scan Line Interleave and operated by having one card (or one chip) render the odd number of lines on the screen, while the other card (or chip) rendered the even number of lines on the screen. NVIDIA's SLI stands for Scalable Link Interface and has two different modes of operation. One mode is Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) where one card renders one frame, and the second card renders the next frame. The other mode is Split Frame Rendering (SFR) where the cards load balance portions of one frame between both cards at the same time. NVIDIA tests to see which mode works best in individual games and then programs this into game profiles in their drivers. Therefore, SLI operation is completely transparent to the end user. You just enable SLI in Windows, and off you go.
So what exactly is the Gigabyte GV-3D1? If you hop on over to Gigabyte's webpage you will see they have a page showing you the specifications. Unfortunately, these specifications are a little misleading. Although the Gigabyte 3D1 is comprised of two GeForce 6600 GT GPUs on one board, it does not mean the memory is a shared 256MB framebuffer on a 256-bit memory bus. What Gigabyte is doing here is simply adding the fact that there are two sets of 128MB memory for each GPU and adding the memory bus width. In fact, the total framebuffer is still only 128MB – the same as putting two 128MB GeForce 6600 GT video cards in SLI. Furthermore, the memory bus is also still a 128-bit memory bus, just as it would be putting two physical GeForce 6600 GT cards in SLI. This video card does require a PCI-Express x16 slot and does use all 16 lanes split up by 8 lanes for each GPU.
We have to commend Gigabyte for being very innovative here and creating a product that does work out of the box without any problems. It is very appealing to reduce two physical cards in SLI into one video card. The card works with standard NVIDIA reference drivers and requires no special software. What we would really like to see is two GeForce 6800 GT GPUs in SLI on one video card, however. That would be a highly appealing product to many hardcore gamers.
There are a few key points that we feel are a bit lacking regarding this bundled deal though. Firstly, the Gigabyte 3D1, "officially", only works on the Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI motherboard. If they really wanted to make a bigger splash in the market with this card, they would need to make it work on any PCI Express SLI motherboard. Secondly, they should also sell the card separately, not as a bundle with a motherboard.
When it comes right down to it though, with the experiences we witnessed in gaming with the Gigabyte 3D1 6600 GT SLI versus a GeForce 6800 GT single, we had a more consistent and better experience with the single GeForce 6800 GT. In the times in FarCry when the SFR SLI wasn't working too well, the GeForce 6800 GT was faster. In Need for Speed Underground 2 and other games where SLI isn't enabled, a single GeForce 6800 GT is faster. When you look closely at the pricing, you'll find that a single GeForce 6800 GT with a motherboard is around the same price as the Gigabyte bundle. Again, what we would really like to see is two GeForce 6800 GTs in SLI on one board. Now that would be interesting...
If you decide after all of this that you are in the market for GeForce 6600 GTs in SLI and you also want a new motherboard, you might want to give this bundle a look. You do get a motherboard and the video card for a price that is slightly cheaper than buying everything separately. If this interests you, the Gigabyte GV-3D1 bundle should be available in retail, in limited edition supply, by the time you read this.
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