Looks like 2008 is going to start off with a bang!

Here's some information on the upcoming Geforce 9800 GX2 video card(s), which is rumored to be coming out in February.  It looks like this monster is shaping up to be two 512MB G92 (AKA 8800GT/GTS) cards mashed together, similar to the 7900 GX2 from back in the day.  There is some speculation that the 8800GTX will be replaced by the single GPU/single PCB 9800GTX, and will show 30% improvement over the current 8800GTX in March.  If the rumors hold true, ATI/AMD will again be in the position of being non-competitive on the super high end, but it appears ATI will hold a definite price advantage in the mid/high end $450-ish video card segment.  So, both NVIDIA and ATI are planning to put two of their current GPUs on one video card in order to establish a new high end.  The 9800 GX2 is supposed to bring performance improvements of 30% over the current 8800 Ultra.  We will see.  The 9800GX2 and AMD's new card, the Radeon 3870 X2 are shaping up to be pretty similar...both of them will have 512MB per core (1GB total) and 256 bit memory busses, but ATI's card will be on one PCB whereas NVIDIA's will take two PCBs.  The major disadvantage to this approach is these new cards will rely upon SLI or Crossfire drivers to enable effecient use of dual (or quad) GPUs.  So, in cases where SLI/Crossfire don't work well(aka Crysis), these cards will provide little (or no) performance increase over single cards. It's a shame we aren't seeing more innovation in the GPU industry than that. 

In order to make all that video bandwidth possible, motherboards will use PCI-express 2.0 slots.  There's an explanation of that technology here. 

At CES 2008, there's a bit of buzz about Intel's upcoming 45nm CPUs.  XBit Labs got their hands on a couple of the dual core models (aka Wolfdale), and overclocked the $266 E8500 to 4.37GHz quite easily!  While running tests at that speed, they said the CPU "retained quite acceptable thermal mode of only 70°C" under load.  Though you will be able to buy a CPU that will overclock to 4ghz and beyond for $200-$266, my question is, why would anybody buy a dual core CPU at that price when the quad cores fall into the same price point?  You won't get the insanely high clocks (quads will probably max out somewhere around 3.5ghz), but the writing is on the wall that core number will be king in the future.  I will probably never run a dual core CPU in a primary machine ever again. 

Also at CES, Alienware showed off a 2880x900 panoramic display.  I think most gamers will be drooling over that one. 

Finally, NVIDIA also showcased the new "Hybrid SLI" technology at CES.  The idea here (similar to ATI's Crossfire) is to combine an integrated GPU on the motherboard with a stand-alone video card.  There are two uses for this technology:

1.  On the low end, the integrated video can be combined with a low end video card to add additional SLI performance.  This is great for your aunt/cousin/brother who doesn't need the BEST performance, but wants to play the latest games on the family Dell or HP.  The PC comes with the Geforce 8-level integrated video, and you help them install a 8300GT or something, to double their gaming performance. 

2.  On the high end, the integrated video can be used to manage power consumption.  High end video cards consume between 100W and 200W just at idle.  With Hybrid GPU technology, the high end video card can be completely shut down when not needed and the integrated GPU will handle the Windows desktop duties. 

The part of Hybrid SLI that sets NVIDIA apart is they have announced every (yes EVERY) motherboard they produce will have integrated video in it, without adding additional cost to the consumer.  This is a bold move by NVIDIA, and I have to applaud them for their commitment to bringing this technology to the mainstream.  Now, let's see Intel and AMD follow suit, and we might actually have some innovation on both the high end PC in terms of power savings and low end PC in terms of gaming performance.

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