Nvidia intros 80 billion pixels/s graphics machine

Boston (MA) - If you wondered about Nvidia's business options once ATI has been acquired by AMD, here's one idea: High-end graphics.

Nvidia says it has achieved a "quantum leap" in visual compute density, packed in what the company claims is the world's first "visual computing system." Called the Quadro Plex 1000, is a professional graphics machine that is offered in a desktop or 3U rackmount configuration, which are designed to provide higher graphics performance for 12-megapixel HD video (4K) processing, 3D styling and design, scientific and medical visualization, oil and gas exploration, or visual simulation and training.

The one "node" can house up to eight Quadro FX graphics chips in two Plex 1000 systems that are connected via SLI and are supported by an AMD- or Intel-based 32-bit or 64-bit host system running Windows or Linux. According to Nvidia, a node can achieve up to 64x full scene anti-aliasing (FSAA), deliver a performance of up to 148 megapixels on 16 synchronized digital-output channels and eight HD SDI channels. The firm says that the fill rate reaches 80 billion pixels/s while the geometry performance is rated at seven billion vertices/s.

Nvidia plans to ship Quadro Plex systems beginning in September for prices starting around $17,500.