If you are underwhelmed, then the dualie card is for you. We haven't seen a code name for it officially, but NV AIBs are talking about it. Take a 55nm GT200b/206 and put two PCBs together a la the 9800GX2, and you get the idea. There is one minor problem this time... heat.

The G92 (8800GT/9800GTX/GT15x) was coolable, barely, with a single slot cooler. The GT200 is not. Even with a theoretical 20 per cent lower power draw, you would be at 290W for a dual 55nm 260 clone. If you use a 260-216 or jack the clock up, you are at 300+W in an instant, and we can see 350W without trying hard.

Normally, you would do what ATI did with the 3870X2 and downclock it a bit. Not much, just a little, and take the power savings. The problem is that the 260 loses already to the cheaper 4870, and two of them wouldn't be much of a fight against the 4870X2. At a minimum, you need 2 260-216s, or better yet two upclocked 260-216s to pip the 4870X2 and claim a hollow victory.

NV is in a real bind here, it needs a halo, but the parts won't let it do it. If they jack up power to give them the performance they need, they can't power it. Then there is the added complication of how the heck do you cool the damn thing. With a dual PCB, you have less than one slot to cool something that runs hot with a two slot cooler. In engineering terms, this is what you call a mess.