Visual computing technology manufacturer nVidia has announced the industry’s first hybrid technology for PC platforms–Hybrid SLI–that addresses two critical issues: increasing graphics performance and reducing power consumption.
The nVidia Hybrid SLI technology will be incorporated into a wide variety of graphics and motherboard desktop and notebook products that the company is rolling out for both AMD and Intel desktop and notebook computing platforms throughout 2008.
First disclosed in June 2007, nVidia Hybrid SLI technology is based on the company’s GeForce graphics processor units (GPUs) and SLI multi-GPU technology. The Hybrid SLI enables nVidia motherboard GPUs (mGPUs) to work discreetly with nVidia GPUs (dGPUs) when paired in the same PC platform. It also provides two new technologies– GeForce Boost and HybridPower–that allow the PC to deliver graphics performance for today’s applications and games when 3D graphics horsepower is required, or transition to a lower-powered operating state when not.
The new Hybrid SLI-capable products include the upcoming nVidia nForce 780a SLI, nForce 750a SLI, and nForce 730a media and communication processors (MCPs) for AMD CPUs, which will be released next month, as well as the new GeForce 8200–the industry’s first micro-ATX motherboard solution with an onboard Microsoft DirectX 10-compliant motherboard GPU. nVidia Hybrid SLI notebooks as well as desktop products designed for Intel CPUs will be available next quarter.