NVIDIA Marketing Kicks Into High Gear - Part 2
Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:16 pm
The marketing team over at NVIDIA is putting out more and more marekting e-mails, so I guess this will be a regular thing. I'm passing them along to you as you, the community, should see what companies are doing. The last blast NVIDIA sent out can be seen here.
Intel integrated claims DirectX 10…try it out…
Intel promised to have a DirectX 10 driver by yesterday, so keep your eyes peeled.
Last week a new Intel motherboard came out and along with it Intel claimed that their GMA X3500 was DX10 capable. “The DG35EC Classic series board is built with integrated graphics based on GMA X3500 integrated graphics. It includes HD video playback for movie clips and media streams without the need for an add-in video card and is the first to have integrated Microsoft DirectX 10 capability with OpenGL 2.0 support.”
Even though you can see Intel claiming DirectX 10 support as far back as June 2006 for their 965 chipset (NOTE: wouldn’t that make those motherboards the first ones to support DirectX 10?) they still have not released the long, long, long delayed driver, only offering a driver with no DirectX 10 support on their website. The good news for anyone who may have mistakenly believed they could actually use DirectX10 on all the Intel products they claim it for is that a driver leaked on the web.
Since Intel states it is DirectX 10 capable, we decided to try it out on the available DirectX 10 titles that are shipping today, as a preview to the official release of their driver:
Call of Juarez @ 1280 x 1024, no AA/AF -- 1.8 fps
Crysis @ 1280 x 1024, no AA/AF -- 4.4 fps
World in Conflict @ 1280 x 1024, no AA/AF -- 5 fps
BioShock @ 1280 x 1024, no AA/AF -- 3.7 fps
Company of Heroes @ 1280 x 1024, no AA/AF -- 3.6 fps
5 fps or less on the DirectX 10 titles available today at the meager setting of 1280 x 1024 with no AA/AF. Sounds fun. GMA X3500 does not seem very “capable” to me, in fact it seems downright incapable of being used with actual DirectX 10 applications. Now consider that DirectX 10 titles will only get more stressful on the graphic subsystem as the API matures and game developers continue to add more impressive visuals.
Saying GMA 3500 is DirectX 10 capable is kind of like saying Styrofoam is “nutrition capable.” I guess Intel’s definition of capable is a lot different than our definition...a lot.
Intel DirectX 10, FTL.
System info:
ASUS P5E-VM HDMI
Intel G35
7.14.10.1451
Intel Core2 Duo CPU E6550 @ 2.33 GHz -Conroe
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
2337.6 MHz (7.0 x 333.9 MHz)
2x1024 MBytes (2048 MBytes)
Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 32-bit
PicLens = cool
I have been using PicLens from Cooliris to view images on my Google searches. I am impressed. We are excited about this technology because it is a non-gaming application that uses 3D. We think this is the tip of the iceberg for visual application interfaces. PicLens uses FSAA, mipmapping, motion blur for selection animation, radial glow around pictures and new selection lighting. Download the application and check it out yourself. Here is a nice overview on video.
PS3 is Gaining on Them
NVIDIA worked closely with Sony on PlayStation 3 development and provided the graphics processor for the PlayStation 3. PopSci says it may win the console war yet: “Although Nintendo's user-friendly Wii has been outselling the ultra powerful Sony PlayStation 3 since they were each released late last year, many analysts expect the PS3 to break away in the end.”
Niko Bellic > Tony Stark
You’re building a chip for what? That was the common reply when the founders of NVIDIA communicated they were going to build a chip for computer games. 15 years later it seems like a good call. Games are big business. So much so that Hollywood fears that the release ofGrand Theft Auto IV could kill Iron Man the movie and a video game review leads off the NY Times Arts section.
3DMark Vantage is Out
The synthetic benchmark producer known as 3DMark has released its latest installment, 3DMark Vantage. They say:
3DMark® Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware. 3DMark® Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.
You can use it to estimate how games will play on a PC or a component…
ESWC Grand Final @ NVISION 08
Hundreds of the world’s top video game players from over 50 countries will take part in the 6th Electronic Sports World Cup™ (ESWC) Grand Final at NVISION® 08, the premier event for visual computing professionals and enthusiasts. NVISION 08 is hosted by NVIDIA and will be held August 25-27, 2008 in San Jose, California.
A new CUDA story is up on Dr Dobb’s
Check it out.
Google drops to new depths
First they mapped the earth. Then they mapped the sky. No Google will map the ocean floor using 3D technology.
“The tool--for now called Google Ocean, the sources say, though that name could change--is expected to be similar to other 3D online mapping applications. People will be able to see the underwater topography, called bathymetry; search for particular spots or attractions; and navigate through the digital environment by zooming and panning.”