MSI claims it wasn’t the first company to show one of the new GeForce 9800GX2 dual-GPU board monster boards. Since a competitor was already displaying Nvidia’s new top model, which was originally slated to launch at the end of March, MSI didn’t want to wair any longer. Its N9800GX2-M2D1G model is based on Nvidia’s reference design and comprises two G92 graphics chips (GeForce 8800 GT) with a total of 1 GB of GDDR3 memory.

This takes Nvidia another step closer to Quad-SLI, since the GeForce 9800GX2 already runs in SLI mode without any special hardware. Unlike dual-card solutions that require two similar Nvidia graphics cards and an SLI-compatible PCI-Express motherboard, the new GeForce 9800GX2 will even work in motherboards that don’t support SLI.

In addition to the familiar two DVI ports for digital signal output, the new cards also feature an HDMI interface and an HDTV output. In all likelihood, the card will set new performance records - provided SLI-optimized games are used. Expect to see an in-depth review of this card and its underlying technology at Tom’s Hardware shortly.