ATI: "Multi Rendering" UPDATE

[Netrat33]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20041105071257.html

Sources close to ATI Technologies said the company was preparing a technology that is similar to NVIDIA’s Multi-GPU Scalable Link Interface, but offers additional flexibility and enhancements not presently available on NVIDIA’s approach to graphics multiprocessing.

The multi-GPU technology from ATI will presumably be branded as Multi Rendering and will have a number of fundamental shifts from technologies of this kind, sources said. The main thing ATI is currently working on is how to enable two different graphics cards to work in pair, providing enhancements to gamers who use the technology. NVIDIA’s SLI technology only allows two very similar graphics cards to work in parallel, which puts some restrictions with deployment of multi-GPU graphics sub-systems by end-users. It is unclear whether there are any other advantages ATI’s Multi Rendering technology may offer in addition to higher average framerate.

Interesting. Sounding pretty cool if it pans out

 

[Brent_Justice]

I think it would be cool to say buy a high end card lets say you got an X800Pro, and you wanted to increase the framerates a bit in your favorite game, so you go out and buy just a $100 video card to throw in to add to it and increase performance, and then if you wanted even more you could get another $100 video card, and just keep getting them to increase performance, hell, have a whole array of em combined with your high end card, kinda like adding more RAM or Hard Drives in RAID0, you'd just be adding more video cards

i think that'd be cool

but what i'd really rather see is multiple GPU video cards, several GPU chipsets on one piece of silicon, or dual core GPU's like they are doing with CPU's

 

[Trepidati0n]

ATI will have a longer term advantage over nVidia with a dual core. How. Lets see you can remove the cost for the PWB, Connectors, additional die bonding, chips, etc, etc. It becomes a simplier process.

Think of the $50 cost reduction by not needing SLI! I think dual core will make SLI short lived in terms of "two badass" vidcards. I think it will become a reason for bragging rights...not what the average consumer will shell out for. However two 8x PCIx slots could be nice for having horsepower to two displays (two boxing EQ2 come to mind).

-tReP

 

[Netrat33]

I think it would be cool to say buy a high end card lets say you got an X800Pro, and you wanted to increase the framerates a bit in your favorite game, so you go out and buy just a $100 video card to throw in to add to it and increase performance, and then if you wanted even more you could get another $100 video card, and just keep getting them to increase performance, hell, have a whole array of em combined with your high end card, kinda like adding more RAM or Hard Drives in RAID0, you'd just be adding more video cards

i think that'd be cool

but what i'd really rather see is multiple GPU video cards, several GPU chipsets on one piece of silicon, or dual core GPU's like they are doing with CPU's

That's what I thought. Nice little flexibility there

 

[obs]

ATI will have a longer term advantage over nVidia with a dual core. How. Lets see you can remove the cost for the PWB, Connectors, additional die bonding, chips, etc, etc. It becomes a simplier process.

Think of the $50 cost reduction by not needing SLI! I think dual core will make SLI short lived in terms of "two badass" vidcards. I think it will become a reason for bragging rights...not what the average consumer will shell out for. However two 8x PCIx slots could be nice for having horsepower to two displays (two boxing EQ2 come to mind).

-tReP

Well except that ATI already scrapped dual-gpu cores/multi-gpu cards for now at least in favor of using two cards.

 

[mohammedtaha]

i believe what ATI is really after is doubling or atleast providing a huge difference in performance not just improving it slightly!!!

Although they haven't come up with an attractive name for it yet , I believe they are waiting for their project's success to unleash it with an attractive marketing name that will burn nVidia !!!


I believe that there is a very good reason they are lagging behind in this technology cause as you can see not all technology leaders pave the way for us crazy o/c and fps hungry vultures.

AMD came in late with an incredible force and maybe Ati will be the new force !!

 

[gmkmay]

ATI will have a longer term advantage over nVidia with a dual core. How. Lets see you can remove the cost for the PWB, Connectors, additional die bonding, chips, etc, etc. It becomes a simplier process.

Think of the $50 cost reduction by not needing SLI! I think dual core will make SLI short lived in terms of "two badass" vidcards. I think it will become a reason for bragging rights...not what the average consumer will shell out for. However two 8x PCIx slots could be nice for having horsepower to two displays (two boxing EQ2 come to mind).

-tReP

I see SLI as more of a very inticing upgrade path than the "biggest and baddest"...and even then why not just SLI two multi-gpu cards. I think SLI is a fantastic idea and its about time the two vid card solution came back...stupid AGP

 

[mulpsmebeauty]

I dunno too much about the technical sides of graphics processing, but would ATI's approach make it feasible to (say) buy a graphics card that's a good all-rounder and then to buy extra cards tailored to (e.g) specific lighting tasks that come out with new versions of DX, or to provide 8xSAA without impacting the ability of the main card to do its stuff?

Or is it all so integrated now that I'm talking bollocks?

 

[geekcomputing]

i really see nvidia leading the SLI movement.

1. they have 3dfx tech w/ sli.
2. they have a huge jump on ati sli wise

3. putting in 2 different cards to do sli like a 9600 and a x800 or a 9700 and a x700 is really interesting but at the same time can you imagine the driver nightmare and possible conflicts?

 

[osirus35]

being able to use two different ATI cards is very nice but doesnt makt quite sense. Having two cards with different rendering powers wont do to well because they it will be limited in perfomance of the lesser of the 2. Kinda like how ram runs as fast as its lowest speed chip if you have different speeds of ram in your comp.

 

[gordon151]

i believe what ATI is really after is doubling or atleast providing a huge difference in performance not just improving it slightly!!!

What I think ATI is after is selling their damn chipsets! Somehow I think we're gonna be forced into buying their chipset for this .

 

[Netrat33]

being able to use two different ATI cards is very nice but doesnt makt quite sense. Having two cards with different rendering powers wont do to well because they it will be limited in perfomance of the lesser of the 2. Kinda like how ram runs as fast as its lowest speed chip if you have different speeds of ram in your comp.

Assumption: I'm guessing they are meaning two different cards of the same chipset
x800pro and x800xt If nvidia did the same it would be equal to 6800 ultra and 6800 NU or 6800gt and 6600. Something like that.

 

[Elledan]

being able to use two different ATI cards is very nice but doesnt makt quite sense. Having two cards with different rendering powers wont do to well because they it will be limited in perfomance of the lesser of the 2. Kinda like how ram runs as fast as its lowest speed chip if you have different speeds of ram in your comp.

Unlikely.

ATi's approach to 'multi-GPU' appears to be based more on load-balancing, whereby each card in a dual-card setup is always used to its full capacity. It's not such a crazy concept, but it would require excellent drivers, as these would probably be what makes this idea work.

Basically the drivers would need to consider the task at hand (e.g., rendering operations in a 3D-game) and the available (installed) videocards. Then, depending on the capabilities of those cards, the tasks would be divided between them.

Of course, my assumption about what this technology really is about could be completely off the mark

 

[retardedchicken]

of course then the ultimate thing would to have a universal multi-card solution that would work with ATI and Nvidia brand cards, like a 6600gt focusing only on rendering lighting with HDR or something while an x800xt would do everything else

but, very improbable, its cool that you can use two different ATI cards for their multi-ard solution though