Intel, others to use NVIDIA SLI on Core i5, i7
updated 10:20 am EDT, Mon August 10, 2009
NV SLI on Core i5 and i7
NVIDIA today broke some ground by confirming that Intel and mainboard producers such as ASUS, EVGA, GigaByte and MSI have all licensed SLI for use with upcoming Core i5 and i7 systems. The gesture gives tested mainboards based on Intel's P55 chipset support for using two or more GeForce graphics cards in tandem. Many Intel chipsets to date have focused instead on ATI's equvialent, CrossFire, though AMD's ownership of ATI is likely to help drive Intel's addition of the NVIDIA option.
Intel's agreement to support SLI for i5 and i7 is a potential warming of relations between itself and NVIDIA. Both companies have sued each other in a dispute over NVIDIA's license to make its own mainboard chipsets for Intel processors. Intel has argued that NVIDIA's license doesn't cover processors with integrated memory controllers, including desktop and mobile versions of i5 and i7 chips. NVIDIA, however, has accused Intel of deliberately excluding competition in mainboard sales and 'punishing' NVIDIA for producing much faster integrated graphics.
