Brief summary of GTX 480 in SLI
NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480 is the world's fastest single-GPU graphics card. Achieving this aim by using the GF100 underpinnings allied to a brute force approach, the card runs hot and needs a quality cooler to keep temperatures in check.We don't believe that NVIDIA will come to market with a dual-GPU GTX 480 card anytime soon, so the next best method for increasing performance is to strap another one into the chassis and to tie them up with an SLI connector.
Evaluated at a 2,560x1,600 resolution with high-quality settings, two GTX 480 GPUs produce decent scaling - over 80 per cent in most cases - and frame-rates hit stratospheric levels.
The real benefit of multi-GPU GeForce GTX 4x0 cards will be felt when NVIDIA releases its 3D Vision Surround driver - ForceWare 256 - next month. Driving three screens at a 5,760x1,080 resolution with full 3D support will take considerable horsepower - a task at which two, or even three, GTX 480s should be rather good at.
NVIDIA, though, isn't going to have it easy in the ultra-high-end graphics space, as AMD is busy putting the finishing touches to its Eyefinity6 multi-monitor setup and has included 3D stereoscopic support in its latest drivers.
Impressed by the SLI results? Reckon NVIDIA has some way to go? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the HEXUS.community.
