by Brooke Crothers
August 28, 2008 12:01 AM PDT

Nvidia is extending its support for Intel's upcoming Core i7 processors while it prepares to announce next-generation integrated graphics silicon. The announcement marks an effort to expand Nvidia offerings on Intel's next high-end desktop platform, which had previously been referred to as "Bloomfield."

Intel branded it Core i7 prior to the company's developer forum last week. Nvidia has already said that it has no intention to build a chipset for Intel's next-generation interconnect technology called QuickPath Interconnect or QPI. Nvidia said Thursday that it will license its Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology for Intel's next-generation "Nehalem" Core i7 platform. Nvidia's technology will work in tandem with Intel's X58 chipset, the supporting silicon for the Core i7 processor, which is due to ship in volume in the fourth quarter.

SLI is an Nvidia technology that allows systems to be configured with multiple graphics boards. So, for example, system builders and users can build systems with two, three, or four Nvidia boards. In essence, Nvidia is offering what it calls "native" licensing of SLI to its partners and system builders. Native licensing will not require the use of Nvidia's nForce 200 bridge chip. To date, Nvidia has only offered nForce 200 "which is basically an SLI chip that acts like a PCI Express bridge.

That's been the only solution and that's been a very high-end solution. We'll continue to offer this," said Tom Peterson, director of Technical Marketing for MCP production at Nvidia. PCI, or peripheral component interface, is the most common interface inside a PC for add-in boards. The distinction between native and nForce 200 is that the nForce solution targets higher-end Nvidia graphics chip configurations, said Bryan Del Rizzo, an Nvidia spokesperson.