These two new product families represent the hardware foundation that allows users to start building their own definitive gaming PC platforms to experience high-resolution, high-performance gaming and stellar high-definition visuals.
"We set out to build the ultimate platform for PC gaming and high-definition video," says Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO at Nvidia."There is no better way to experience Windows Vista, DirectX 10, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray than with a PC powered by GeForce 8800 and nForce 680i SLI. Our announcement is the culmination of four years of research and development and represents the biggest technological leap we have ever made. Gamers are going to be blown away."
The GeForce 8800 GPUs are the world's first to support Microsoft DirectX 10, the next-generation programming interface that will be introduced with the upcoming Microsoft Vista operating system.
The GeForce 8800 GPUs feature a number of technologies including:
-- A revolutionary new unified shader architecture comprised of up to128-parallel, 1.35GHz stream processors that deliver amazing floating-point processing power for unmatched gaming performance
-- NVIDIA Quantum Effects physics processing technology that ushers in a new generation of visual effects and graphics realism
-- Simultaneous 16x anti-aliasing and 128-bit High Dynamic Range (HDR) lighting for unparalleled image quality
"The raw performance and visual effects of the new GeForce 8800 GTX is just going to knock your socks off," says Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president, general manager, Digital Enterprise Group at Intel. "Intel's Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo combined with the GeForce 8800 GTX and SLI technology deliver the most compelling visual experience the world has ever seen."
Throughout the GeForce 8800's development process, Nvidia worked in close partnership with top game designers to develop next-generation DirectX 10 titles on next-generation Nvidia GPUs, enabling them to take advantage of the increased performance and new features. As a result, more than 20 next-generation titles, including Crysis, Hellgate: London, World in Conflict, Company of Heroes, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, and Age of Conan were on display at the Company's official unveiling which took place in San Jose, Calif. running on new GeForce 8800 GTX GPUs.
"Nvidia has placed the industry's first DirectX 10 graphics processors into the hands of the world's leading game developers, representing a significant milestone in the DirectX 10 game-development cycle," says Peter Moore, corporate vice president, Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainmentand Devices Division at Microsoft.
The other half of the gaming platform is the new Nvidia nForce680i SLI MCP, which was designed to deliver the highest performance for Intel Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo-based PCs. Aimed squarely at the hard-core enthusiast, the Nvidia nForce 680i SLI MCP is a motherboard solution that provides extensive support for the latest cutting-edge technologies, including enhanced support for Nvidia SLI multi-GPU technology. With its dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and advanced storage features, the Nvidia nForce 680i SLI MCP can, in about one second, send a 30-minute television show between PCs and store hundreds of high-definition movies.
The Nvidia nForce 680i SLI MCP can more than double the front-side bus (FSB) speed of many Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs. Also included is support for SLI-Ready high-performance memory DIMMs, and a third PCIe graphics slot for extended multi-display environments or future physics processing.
Nvidia also announced it has started to design and manufacture its own line of enthusiast-class Nvidia nForce 680i SLI-based motherboards, which are being offered as a turnkey solution for select channel partners. This "Designed by Nvidia" program allows Nvidia partners, such as EVGA and others, to bring Nvidia nForce 680i SLI-based motherboards to market faster, and lets consumers know that the motherboard they are purchasing fully supports all of the hardware andsoftware features that are offered with the Nvidia nForce 680i SLI MCP.