If you want to combine a pair of GeForce graphics cards with a new Core i7 processor from Intel later this year, you're in luck. Just after the grand finale for its Nvision conference, Nvidia gathered reporters to inform them of a somewhat surprising and apparently very recent decision: the firm plans to enable its SLI multi-GPU scheme to work with Intel's X58 chipset—without the need for an nForce 200 PCI Express bridge chip on the motherboard.

The fate of SLI support on the X58 chipset—intended for Core i7 processors, which are code-named "Nehalem"—has been a question mark for some time now. Nvidia has said that it won't be making chipsets that work with the Core i7's QuickPath Interconnect (QPI), and it had instead proposed that motherboard makers use its nForce 200 chip on their boards. The presence of that bit of Nvidia hardware would then make the mobo kosher for SLI support. However, the company said today that it realized such a silicon solution would limit SLI to a small number of very high end motherboards, effectively roping off SLI from the mainstream of the enthusiast PC market. Rather than be forced into that situation, Nvidia has elected to allow SLI on the X58 chipset—under certain circumstances.

Motherboard makers who wish to have their X58 boards certified for SLI will have to submit their products for testing in Nvidia's Santa Clara certification lab, and those boards must pass basic testing for functionality, slot placement, and the like. Certification will not be free, either. Board makers will have to select from a menu of licensing options available to them. Certified boards will also be required to display an "SLI Certified" logo on their boxes and other marketing materials.

You can read the entire article at The Tech Report.