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Nvidia's Quadro CX GPU optimized for people who don't suck at Photoshop
Check it Donnie, Nvidia just launched its Quadro CX accelerator card for Adobe's Creative Suite 4. The optimized GPU fits into your PC's PCIe slot to smooth image navigation and manipulation in Photoshop while accelerating effects in Adobe's After Effects and Premier Pro. Nvidia claims that the new GPU helps encode H.264 video at "lightning-fast speeds" when using Nvidia's Cuda-enabled CS4 plug-in while giving professionals accurate video previews with uncompressed 30-bit color or 10-/12-bit SDI (for professional video equipment) before final output. The Quadro CX features a 1.5GB (GDDR3) frame buffer and 76.8GBps memory bandwidth with dual-DisplayPort connectors (up to 2560 x 1600 pixels) and a single dual-link DVI with support for panels up to 3,840 x 2,400 @24Hz. Look, we know this sounds all stupid-hard advanced to those of you using Photoshop to hotten-up your Facebook pic, but the pros are going to love it. $1,999 and available today -- video demonstration just beyond the read link. [Via InformationWeek]
ATI's Radeon HD 2900 XT benchmarked, trumps NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTS
Although preliminary testing proved that ATI's R600 architecture wasn't messing around, DailyTech added another layer of proof to the pudding as it benchmarked a bonafide Radeon HD 2900 XT against NVIDIA's 640MB GeForce 8800 GTS. The DirectX 10-capable card is a notch above the HD 2600 XT that was snapped in the wild, and the tested unit featured 320 stream processors, 512MB of GDDR3 RAM, a dual-slot "blower-type heat sink," dual dual-link DVI ports, and a serious desire to crank out impressive FPS numbers. While the marks weren't the end-all answer to the ATI vs. NVIDIA question, the Radeon managed to best its opponent in every single trial, including Call of Duty 2, Company of Heroes, F.E.A.R., Oblivion, 3DMark06, Maya 02, Cadalyst C2006, and a few more for good measure. Of course, we're sure NVIDIA will be hitting back with something of its own, but feel free to hit the read link if you take pleasure in graphical beat downs with ATI escaping victorious.[Thanks, Mathieu]
GDDR3 memory to blame for Xbox 360 delays?
Back in December we blogged about a comment made by Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, who had said, "... [with] devices based on new chips, there's always the question of what yield will you get out of the manufacturing process of the new chip. We're getting a little less, but not much less than the yields we expected, and we know that the yields we expected will probably outrun supply."We even went so far as to compare it to the RDRAM memory shortage the PS2 faced during its storied launch; unfortunately, we never took the next logical step to guess it was the 360's memory causing the shortages. Microsoft execs have tried to distance themselves from Ballmer's remarks, offering the generic explanation of general "component shortages." The 360's 512MB of high-speed GDDR3 memory is only manufactured by two companies: Germany's Infineon and South Korea's Samsung. Both companies have been contracted to supply memory for the console; however, Infineon has had trouble producing chips that meet the minimum speed requirements, some suspect leading to an overall shortage. With 200 suppliers and 1700 components, coupled with sophisticated, cutting edge technology, the launch of the 360 was destined to encounter some problems. If the memory yields are the root of the shortages, will the addition of another manufacturing partner really help alleviate the problem? Or is Peter Moore's "4 to 6 weeks" statement a sign of increasing yields out of Infineon leading to increased production?
