computer components & hardware - ATI Multi Rendering: ATI's Answer to Nvidia SLI

http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews...03_134217.html

ATI's answer to Nvidia's SLI: Multi Rendering

November 3, 2004 - 13:42 EST

According to a report at The Inquirer, ATI apparently is planning to
introduce its own version of SLI to offer customers the ability to run
multiple ATI graphic cards in one system. The technology was the named
"Multi Rendering" the article said.

ATI declined to comment on the report. Spokesman Chris Evenden however said
that ATI was "investigating" this topic and already has a "strategy" for
such a solution in place.

Nvidia's SLI successfully has stirred up marketing for high-end graphics
even before the official announcement of availability which is expected to
be made by mid of this month. Board and graphic card manufacturer already
praise the technology, with Asus claiming a speed record in 3DMark 2005.

Industry sources expect ATI's variant of SLI to be proprietary for ATI
products, users soon will get another choice with Alienware's video array
technology: Instead of using a simple bridge chip to connect to graphic
cards, Alienware will use another card to combine and coordinate the signals
from two or more graphic cards. In contrast to Nvidia's SLI technology,
Alienware said that its video array will support cards from any
manufacturer.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/d...105071257.html

ATI Preps Multi-VPU Technology

Sources Say ATI's Multi-VPU More Advanced Than NVIDIA's SLI
by Anton Shilov
11/05/2004 | 07:18 AM

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.

Timeframe when ATI Technologies is likely to offer its Multi Rendering is
unclear. NVIDIA said its SLI is a complex of hardware, GPU and core-logic
products, and software, ForceWare drivers, technologies. It is unclear
whether ATI has chipsets that sports special logic to allow Multi-VPU
operation inside, but it known that all ATI's graphics processing units are
able to work in parallel, as the company supplies them to companies like E&S
for high-end graphics systems.

NVIDIA's SLI is a technology that enables two NVIDIA-based graphics cards to
operate in a single workstation or PC delivering higher graphics horsepower.
A special mainboard with two PCI Express x16 is required for such
configuration. According to NVIDIA's estimates, typical performance
advantage dual NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra bring is about 75% - 80% when
operating on a system running NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset that boasts special
enhancements for Multi-GPU technology. NVIDIA's approach requires special
circuitry to be incorporated into GPUs and, for extra speed gain, into
core-logic. Alienware's Video Array technology does not require any special
logic to be incorporated into graphics or system chips.

Officials from ATI did not comment on the story.

http://theinquirer.net/?article=19449

ATI's SLI brand to be called Multi Rendering

Double your graphics

By Fuad Abazovic: Wednesday 03 November 2004, 13:32

WE MANAGEd TO GET a few extra details about ATI's secret SLI programme.
The Canadian based company chose Multi Rendering as the brand name for its
marchitecture, to be introduced next year.
We are unsure whether ATI will stick with this name, but we know that ATI
still hasn't told most of its partners about it.

Some of the VIP people even outside of ATI knew all along about this
project, and ATI certainly told the investor community about its plans. It
had to, since Nvidia was very noisy about its SLI technology and investors
were raising many questions about ATI's next step. You also have to bear in
mind that Nvidia SLI is working and performing and is soon to be shipped.

ATI may change the name in the second quarter of 2005, butfor now this is
the name that it is using to tell the people that it wants to tell.

Multi Rendering is rather an ordinary name, so we suspect ATI will do better
than that before launch time. µ