Nvidia to increase 40nm orders with TSMC for 2009
May 20, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 20 May 2009]
Nvidia has moved to scale up its orders for 40nm graphics chips at foundry partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for 2009, according to sources at graphics card makers. The chip designer expects 40nm to account for 30% of its overall GPU shipments by the end of 2009.
Nvidia has recently completed the tape-out of its next-generation (GT300) GPU on TSMC’s 40nm process, indicated the sources.
Nvidia has also expressed interest in becoming an initial client of TSMC’s 28nm process, which will start initial production in first-quarter 2010, the sources noted.
Nvidia declined to comment on market speculation.
Source: digitimes
Sphere: Related ContentNVIDIA Releases GeForce 185.66 BETA Drivers
April 3, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
The day after releasing the GeForce 182.50 WHQL drivers, NVIDIA has also released a GeForce BETA driver with version 185.66, for both Windows Vista and XP.
New in Release 185.66:
- Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 275 GPU.
- Adds support for Ambient Occlusion – the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs. (Vista Only)
- Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See nvidia.com/cuda for more details.
- Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
- - Up to 11% performance increase in Call of Duty: World at War – Up to 5% performance increase Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
- Up to 22% performance increase Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
- Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror’s Edge with antialiasing enabled
- Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3. Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now!
- Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes.
DOWNLOAD: GeForce 185.65 BETA for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit
UPDATE: The day following the release of the 185.65 BETA drivers this article originally covered, NVIDIA removed the driver links and updated the BETA to 185.66, this article has therefore been updated accordingly.
Unleashing NVIDIA’s GTX 295 Graphics Card
March 23, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
CPU limitation is something that we always talk about when it comes to high-end graphics cards. When we say this, we mean that the CPU is holding back the frames that the graphics card is capable of putting out. The less intensive the game, or the lower resolution you play at; this increases the chances of hitting that bottle neck.
There are ultimately three ways to remove the bottleneck on a high-end graphics card. First, increase the settings in the game; things like turning on AA and AF help. The problem is that this might put you at an unplayable FPS level.
The second option is to buy a new monitor that offers a higher resolution, something like 1920 x 1200 or even 2560 x 1600. This can be an expensive task and again the increase in resolution might take your FPS to a level that isn’t playable.
The third and best option which doesn’t have a negative impact on performance is by overclocking. This not helps remove, or at least make the FPS limitation higher. Unlike the other two methods, this process will give you an increase in performance, which is ultimately what you want.
So what exactly have we done today? – We’ll, let’s have a look at the Test System Setup and a quick rundown on what we’re doing here.
NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GPU Offer Improved Performance
July 21, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
While the common computer and business user has started migrating largely to notebook computers from desktops, the PC gamer is still holding mainly to the desktop PC because of its upgradability and more powerful graphics and CPUs. However, NVIDIA is working on its mobile graphics offerings for gamers looking for notebooks that can play the latest video games.
NVIDIA’s latest line of graphics processors for notebooks not only promises improved gaming performance, but also promises to help save power and increase battery life with better efficiency. The GeForce Mobile line has expanded to include cards in the 9800M and 9700M families.
The NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX uses the G92 core and is the top-of-the-line mobile GPU from NVIDIA. The card has a core frequency of 500MHz and uses 112 shaders each running at 1250MHz. The card is capable of 420 gigaflops and uses a 256-bit memory interface. The 9800M GTX is capable of operating in SLI mode as well.
The 9800M GT is the next step down and runs on the G94 core. The core frequency is 500MHz with 96 shaders running at 1250MHz. The GPU is capable of 360 gigaflops. The NVIDIA 9800M GTS also uses the G94 core with a frequency of 500MHz. The card has 64 shaders running at 600MHz and is capable of 288 gigaflops.
The 9700M series includes the GeForce 9700M GTS and 9700M GT. The 9700M GTS uses the G94 core running at 530MHz and features 48 shaders running at 1325MHz. The GPU is capable of 190.8 gigaflops. The lowest end 9700M GT uses the G96 core at 625Mhz and features 32 shaders running at 1550Mhz. Performance from the 9700M GT is 148.8 gigaflops. All of these mobile GPUs are capable of utilizing NVIDIA’s Hybrid Power to save battery life.
Sphere: Related ContentSecond wave of Radeon 4850 cards to go against Nvidia’s 9800 GTX+
June 24, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
The first wave of Radeon 4850 boards is already on store shelves, with prices that already are below the MSRP of $199. In Europe, we have seen prices of 130 Euro – which is about $200 and quite surprising, as prices in Europe always have been higher than in the U.S. in the past.
Now we hear that ATI has removed all overclocking restrictions, giving add-in board (AIB) partners more room for new products. Our sources indicate that vendors are preparing a second wave of cards that will feature higher clocks for the GPU and the memory.
Senior ATI officials told us that “4850 Overclocked” cards are likely to come with a core that is clocked about 50 MHz higher, while the GDDR3 memory will be clocked to get at least 5-6 GB/s of bandwidth. Cooling will also change. Pre-announcements indicate that overclocked cards are on their way from companies such as HIS, Sapphire and Diamond.
If you are looking for a big performance jump for acceptable money, this summer is likely to be hot: The Radeon 4850 and the GeForce 9800GTX+ are aiming to attract all those customers that want the most bang for the buck.
As a side note, we also learned that the Radeon 4870 will not be tied down to its default clock speed for very long. We heard that at least one AIB vendor is preparing an overclocked 4870 card.
Nvidia Releases New Geforce 6, 7, 8 and 9 Drivers
June 24, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Forceware 175.19
Nvidia has abandoned its unified driver strategy but did it rather discreetly. You don’t want to make a big deal out of something that used to be the pride of the company when today you are not able to make it happen.
Unified drivers are history, and while we are expecting Forceware (we still like the Detonator brand better F.ed) 177.39, Nvidia has released a new Forceward 175.19 driver for Geforce 6, 7, 8 and 9 series GPU.
The new driver adds support for Geforce 9800GX2, 9800GTX, 9600GT, 9600GSO (renamed 8800GT) and Geforce 8300, 8200 and 8100, which are basically IGPs from Nforce chipsets.
It also improves performance and load times for Geforce 8 and 9 cards in some DirectX 9 and Open GL applications, and all as a result of improved Shader optimizer.
There are a few new Pure HD features for Geforce 9800 GX2, 9800 GTX, 9600 GT, and 9600 GSO, including Dynamic Contrast Enhancement, Dynamic Blue, Green & Skin Tone Enhancements and Dual‐Stream Decode Acceleration.
The driver fixed a lot of bugs, as well, and if you have XP or Vista and Geforce 9 or 8 cards you should go for this one. It supports single cards or SLI and if you have Geforce 6 to 9 card we suggest you get the new one.
Sphere: Related ContentD12U will be first Nvidia GPU with GDDR5 support
June 5, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Nvidia hasn’t even launched its D10U product yet and we’re already starting to hear whispers about the company’s next-next-next generation graphics products.
Several memory manufacturers have confirmed that the first Nvidia GPU to feature support for GDDR5 memory will be the D12U part, which is said to be currently scheduled for a late 2009 launch.
Obviously, D12U probably hasn’t even left the drawing board yet, but it’s clear that Nvidia is already in discussions with memory manufacturers about the supply of high-speed GDDR5 memory. We already know that ATI’s next-generation graphics cards support GDDR5, and we’re likely to see the new memory technology used on the RV770XT-based products.
GDDR5 is currently made on a 70nm node, but by the time Nvidia gets around to using it, it’ll be manufactured on a 55nm process – that’s expected to happen at some point during 2009. What’s more, by the end of Q1 2009, memory manufacturers expect to have doubled the density of the technology, meaning higher capacity memory kits will be available for newer graphics cards.
NVIDIA GeForce 175.16 BETA Drivers Released
May 7, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
NVIDIA has just released the latest 175.16 BETA drivers for all GeForce 6, 7, 8, and 9 video cards.
What’s New in Release 175
- Added support for the following NVIDIA products:
- GeForce 9800 GX2, including Quad SLI Technology
- GeForce 9800 GTX, including 3‐way SLI Technology
- GeForce 9600 GT
- GeForce 9600 GSO
- GeForce 8300
- GeForce 8200/NVIDIA nForce 730a
- GeForce 8100/NVIDIA nForce 720a
- Added support for NVIDIA GeForce 3D Stereo Technology (Windows Vista 32‐bit only).
- Added the following new Pure Video HD features for the GeForce 9800 GX2, 9800 GTX, 9600 GT, and 9600 GSO:
- Dynamic Contrast Enhancement
- Dynamic Blue, Green & Skin Tone Enhancements
- Dual‐Stream Decode Acceleration1.
- Microsoft Windows Vista Aero display mode compatibility for Blu‐ray & HD DVD playback
- Added the following pages to the NVIDIA Control Panel:
- Manage Custom Resolutions
- Adjust Television Color Settings
- Adjust Screen Size and Position
- Move CRT Position
- Adjust Video Image Settings
- NVIDIA Control Panel Adjust Video Color Settings page: Moved the Edge
- Enhancement, Noise Reduction, and Inverse Telecine controls to the new Adjust Video Image Settings page.
- Added support for Hybrid SLI technology on the following motherboards:
- nForce 780a SLI
- nForce 750a SLI
- nForce 730a
- nForce 720a
- GeForce 8300
- GeForce 8200
- GeForce 8100
- Added support for GeForce Boost, a Hybrid SLI Technology, on the following GPUs:
- GeForce 8500 GT
- GeForce 8400 GS
- Added support for HybridPower, a Hybrid SLI Technology, on the following GPUs:
- GeForce 9800 GX2
- GeForce 9800 GTX
What’s New in Version 175.16
- Added support for the GeForce 9600 GSO.
- Added support for Hybrid SLI technology on the following motherboards:
- nForce 780a SLI
- nForce 750a SLI
- nForce 730a
- nForce 720a
- GeForce 8300
- GeForce 8200
- GeForce 8100Added support for GeForce Boost, a Hybrid SLI Technology, on the following GPUs:
- GeForce 8500 GT
- GeForce 8400 GS
- Added support for HybridPower, a Hybrid SLI Technology, on the following GPUs:
- GeForce 9800 GX2
- GeForce 9800 GTX
Limitations in This Release
The following are features that are not currently supported or have limited support in
this driver release:
- NVIDIA SLI Antialiasing
- NVIDIA SLI Mode for GeForce 6800 Ultra and GeForce 6800 GT
- INF Support for Restricted Timings
This driver version does not support the use of Restricted Timing settings (R&T
strings) in the INF to control mode validation and/or mode setting for custom
mode/adapter/monitor combinations. This capability is planned for a later driver
release.
Links to Downloads: Windows XP 32-bit / 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit /64-bit
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