SLI dual-graphics technology makes the switch from PCS to laptops, with several offerings on the way

Notebooks with better graphics performance than desktops have arrived following the announcement by nVidia that its dual-graphics Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology has been extended to laptops.

SLI technology was developed for PCs, and allows two graphics cards to run simultaneously in the same system. For the first time, nVidia has developed the technology for notebooks, allowing two graphics chips to run alongside each other and increase graphics performance at very high resolutions. SLI ensures integrators can build systems with two GeForce Go 7800 GTX graphics processing units that use the nForce4 SLI core-logic solution.

The move has already been endorsed by most specialist and performance PC builders, including Evesham, Alienware, Velocity Micro, Voodoo, AJP, Gericom Rockdirect and Savrow.

Jeffrey Fisher, senior vice-president of the graphics processing business unit at nVidia, said: “Desktop PCs with SLI technology had the performance edge, which they needed because of the higher resolutions of desktop monitors. But now gaming notebooks with high-definition resolutions of up to 1920 x 1200 are here, requiring more processing power so gamers can still turn up their 3D-quality settings. SLI technology delivers that power, creating high-performance notebooks for gamers on the go.”

Notebooks incorporating SLI can now be set to the highest resolutions for gaming and high-definition video playback, using nVidia’s PureVideo and Microsoft’s DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0

Evesham is among the first to launch an SLI notebook: the Quest A630, which sports a 19in display. The system, powered by a 64bit AMD Turion64 processor and Windows XP Media Center software, comes with 1GB of RAM, an in-built 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support, a Media Card reader and a dual- DVD/RW writer.

Richard Austin, chairman at Evesham, said: “We obviously know SLI makes a big difference since it’s been very successful on the desktops. but I never expected to see it in a notebook. NVidia has been very quick to get the 7800 processor into a notebook format, which has surprised a lot of people and competitors. There are a lot of people out there that like the convenience of a laptop, but also want a lot of performance.”