NVIDIA Technology Partners Bring Low-Cost SLI-Ready PCs to Mainstream Segment; GeForce 6600 GPUs Now SLI Ready

After dominating the high-end enthusiast PC category, and winning hundreds of editorial awards worldwide, NVIDIA Corporation, a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media processors, today announced that NVIDIA SLI technology - the ability to use two graphics cards in tandem for unparalleled graphics performance - is now available to users in the mainstream market.

Starting today, mainstream users can take advantage of NVIDIA SLI technology through the use of:
• NVIDIA GeForce 6600 standard graphics processing units ( GPUs )
• New lower priced, full-featured NVIDIA nForce™4 SLI-based motherboards for the mainstream market
• The newly released and WHQL-stamped NVIDIA Release 75 ForceWare™ graphics driver

In addition, NVIDIA has worked with the world’s leading OEMs and system builders to enable fully-equipped SLI-ready systems at a starting price of $799 for the mainstream user.

“SLI technology is a must have feature in the enthusiasts segment, so it is only natural for this awesome technology to trickle down to the mainstream segment,” said Richard Austin, chairman at Evesham Technology ( UK ). “Ultimately, consumers have the choice on how much they want to spend, and how much performance they can afford today, and we are providing them a safe, sensible upgrade path for the performance levels of tomorrow.”

These new low-cost SLI solutions bring the revolutionary NVIDIA SLI capability to new price points, allowing the casual gamer to “future proof” their PC by being SLI-ready with NVIDIA technology and having a platform that allows them to add in a second SLI-ready graphics card at a later date.

“For the casual gamer who is looking to make the transition to NVIDIA SLI technology, today’s announcement means they can also make the jump to an SLI-ready PC and be assured of a viable graphics upgrade path in the future,” said Ujesh Desai, general manager of GeForce GPUs at NVIDIA. “The GeForce 6600 GPU is the perfect entry-level product for the mainstream market, and the combination with new lower-cost NVIDIA nForce4 SLI motherboards provides mainstream users with an ideal platform that won’t break their budget.”

The new Release 75 ForceWare graphics driver, released today on the Company’s Web site at www.nvidia.com/drivers adds support for NVIDIA SLI technology to the current installed base of over two million GeForce 6600-based graphics cards. NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GPU-based add-in cards are currently for sale at online retailers starting under $100 USD.

NVIDIA motherboard partners, including Albatron, ASUSTeK, Biostar, ECS, Foxconn, Gigabyte, MSI, and others, have recently introduced new NVIDIA nForce4 SLI-based motherboards to the do-it-yourself mainstream markets, for both AMD and Intel CPUs.

Worldwide system builders who have low-cost, SLI-ready PCs for sale today, include: ABS Computer, Alienware, Arlt Computer, Bow.it, Cyberpower Inc., Evesham, iBuyPower Computer, IHDE, Hypersonic, Komplett, LDLC, Maingear, Monarch Computers, Planet Computers, Scan Computers, Totally Awesome Computers, Velocity Micro, @XI Computer, and many more.