We already shared a thing or two on this topic in our Pascal GPU reviews. Initially Nvidia would support 2-way SLI but allow 3 and 4-way SLI mode only with a 'enthusiast driver key'. As it seems though, Nvidia is abandoning that idea as well and sticking towards 2-way SLI only. Quite honestly, I tend to agree on the decision.
The news got public after Nvidia shared a statement with PC Perspective, here is that message relayed:
"With the GeForce 10-series we’re investing heavily in 2-way SLI with our new High Bandwidth bridge (which doubles the SLI bandwidth for faster, smoother gaming at ultra-high resolutions and refresh rates) and NVIDIA Game Ready Driver SLI profiles. To ensure the best possible gaming experience on our GeForce 10-series GPUs, we’re focusing our efforts on 2-way SLI only and will continue to include 2-way SLI profiles in our Game Ready Drivers.
DX12 and NVIDIA VR Works SLI technology also allows developers to directly implement and control multi-GPU support within their games. If a developer chooses to use these technologies then their game will not need SLI profiles. Some developers may also decide to support more than 2 GPUs in their games. We continue to work with all developers creating games and VR applications that take advantage of 2 or more GPUs to make sure they’ll work great on GeForce 10-series GPUs. For our overclocking community, our Game Ready Drivers will also include SLI profiles for 3- and 4-way configurations for specific OC applications only, including Fire Strike, Unigine and Catzilla.,"
In short, it means only 2-way SLI will get Nvidias support. In the drivers there will remain SLI profiles for three and four way cards in combination with special applications for shattering some benchmark records like 3DMark Fire Strike, Unigine and Catzilla. Nvidia also promises to help businesses games and VR applications who can and would like handle more than two cards, but it seems it'll stop right there. PC Perspective got the statement after an unsuccessful attempt to get four GeForce GTX 1080 cards up and running. Only in LuxMark the website managed to set a score.
While I am sure some of you might be disappointed, me personally not that much ... in my experiences anything passing two GPUs for gaming has been a struggle drivers and/or hardware wise (CPU bottlenecks and what not). Then again, some of you with three Ultra HD monitors and some serious plans might be saddened about this news.
So - does anyone remember what cards these are ? :)
Nvidia drops 3 and 4-way SLI mode starting with GeForce 1000 series
