Introduction

Since the release of the GTX 400 series I haven't had an opinion on the models and how they go in SLI for the simple reason I hadn't tested them yet. While I could've formed an opinion of others results, the simple fact is that I knew it was only a matter of time 'till I played with the cards in SLI form and was able to base an opinion on how the models go when it comes to this technology myself.

While today I'll only be playing with the baby GTX 400 cards, the bottom line is that as the weeks have gone on and companies have taken the time to attack this model with new cooling, we've really been able to see the model for what it is.

In its reference form it's an overpriced model that runs too hot, too loud and gets beaten by the HD 5850 at higher resolutions. In the Palit and Galaxy forms, though, the cards have become quieter and cooler overclocking beasts thanks to companies like Galaxy and MSI with their overclocking software Xtreme Tuner HD and Afterburner, respectively.

Today we'll be seeing how our non-reference cards play with each other in SLI. We're hoping for no bumps in the road and some good performance gains. We'll also be setting a starting point for SLI which really hasn't been tested in months here. From then on out it'll no doubt be time for some mean SLI and CF throw downs. Of course, if everything goes well here today we'll also be attacking the models with more voltage and a bump in speeds to hopefully yield even more performance.