From what Sharky Extreme's sources have learned, system integrator Alienware will be the first and only company who produces a PGP configuration with two video cards in tandem, based on the Metabyte driver technology.

Alienware is no stranger to high performance, they've consistently offered some of the industry's fastest gaming rigs, complete with only the highest quality parts and peripherals available.

It's not a surprise then to find that Alienware, who had been a strategic partner of Metabyte's the past year anyway, were interested in the PGP technology suite, specifically in an exclusive variant of the driverset for their own PCs.

Sources close to the two parties have told Sharky Extreme that Alienware paid Metabyte somewhere in the area of one to two million dollars for the exclusive technology licensing of the PGP driverset. What the PG driverset package includes isn't exactly known, nor are the different ways that the Metabyte drivers can be utilized at this time. (Multi-Monitor Setups come to mind as a possibility as well as the native PGP function)

Details regarding the marketing of the new Alienware PGP products are hazy, as even their own leadership isn't sure according to sources outside the company what the final form of their own PGP products will take.

At this point the leading candidates for the now Alienware owned PGP driverset technology supposedly consist of two Voodoo3 PCI cards working together via PGP, and possibly down the road, two TNT2 PCI cards working together in tandem.

Again, details about the way that the PGP kit's sales and support will be performed by Alienware are still unknown, including whether the innovative company will offer the video packages only with new Alienware PCs, or in a separate format that anyone can call up and order for their own rigs.

A couple of things have been verified though, the PGP cards will need a hardware modification in order to work with the drivers (most likely a simple connector port for the two cards to link). Also, Alienware will have to reach agreements with whatever card's manufacturers they want to use for their kits, whether it be 3dfx, Creative, Diamond or whoever, due again to the hardware change required of the boards. Two Diamond Viper770s would be our personal pick for PGP heaven…..