I'm thinking about a hypothetical driver solution: A very special driver enables unlimited numbers of Voodoos (actually limited by available slots), from various versions, to be put together in your Mobo and WORKING TOGETHER in multiple, HETEROGENOUS SLI configuration.
For example, one Voodoo5 card, two Voodoo2 cards (could be either physically linked in SLI or stand alone each), and a Voodoo Graphics card, would ALL working together in some sort of "unbalanced" way, pumping out the highest frame rate and image quality possible.
What I mean by "unbalanced" is because each card is from different version and has different capabilites (for instance; different maximum resolutions, etc). The driver will detect the highest-capable Voodoo (in this case it's a Voodo5) as "main" GPU, while the other serve as "helper" GPU. For example, Voodoo5 can do FSAA while the others can't. Fine. Let's the Voodoo5 concentrates on FSAA, while the other Voodoos are helping it in pumping up the fill rate.
Technically, is this kind of "uber-SLI" solutions possible?
Just a thought.
..just imagine a car with four different wheels..
Do you even know how FSAA works? It simply increases the resolution, adjusts pixel colours and then decreases the resolution to the original one again. So your fill rate idea won't work.
Besides, Voodoo 5 is onboard SLI, V2 off-board. A V5 can't work with a V2 in SLI mode.
QuoteOriginally posted by Phalanx
Do you even know how FSAA works? It simply increases the resolution, adjusts pixel colours and then decreases the resolution to the original one again. So your fill rate idea won't work.
Besides, Voodoo 5 is onboard SLI, V2 off-board. A V5 can't work with a V2 in SLI mode.
Well, frankly I don't know whether it'll actually work or not. The FSAA was merely an illustration, though. Actually, I just got the idea from "software T/L" solution, which put the T/L job into the CPU, then I was thinking, is it possible for a software solution to distribute the rendering job to each different Voodoo board installed on the same mobo? (of course each Voodoo wouldn't get equal load, since differrent version has different capabilities)