nForce3 250Gb: Faster with GeForce FX?

The Tech Report takes a look at the enhanced performance of NVIDIA’s ‘platform optimizations’ for nForce3 and GeForce FX:

Our testing shows that NVIDIA has successfully optimized its nForce3 and GeForce FX platforms to work better together than apart, at least in the case of the nForce3 250Gb and GeForce FX 5950 Ultra. Although the performance benefits associated with an all-NVIDIA setup are certainly not widespread, they’re quite impressive in a couple of the viewperf suite’s workstation graphics tests and in a handful of games. Our testing shows that the nForce3 250Gb can improve the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra’s performance by up to 35% over a K8T800, under the right conditions.

…So NVIDIA’s platform optimizations work—in some cases quite well—but they also raise some interesting issues. Should NVIDIA work with ATI to ensure that Radeons can benefit from the same nForce3 optimizations that GeForce FX cards enjoy? Could NVIDIA’s efforts to optimize the GeForce FX for nForce3 harm GeForce performance with other core logic chipsets down the road? Thus far, I see no reason to rule NVIDIA’s nForce3 optimizations as either unfair or detrimental to GeForce performance on other platforms. Platform-specific optimizations may come across as a little nefarious, but NVIDIA certainly isn’t alone in that regard. After all, you don’t see ATI extending its SURROUNDVIEW multimonitor technology beyond the Radeon 9100 IGP and Radeon graphics cards.

nForce3 250Gb: Faster with GeForce FX?
The way it was meant to be specced @ the Tech Report