NVIDIA to reveal next-gen GPU later this month
Graphics hardware specialist NVIDIA is set to hold an event in San Francisco on June 21st where it will take the wraps off its next-generation PC graphics part, the G70 - which it claims shares some features with the PlayStation 3's GPU.
Graphics hardware specialist NVIDIA is set to hold an event in San Francisco on June 21st where it will take the wraps off its next-generation PC graphics part, the G70 - which it claims shares some features with the PlayStation 3's GPU.
In fact, some of the demos which were used to show off the power of the PS3 at Sony's conference at E3 last month were reportedly running on prototypes of the G70 board, rather than on the as-yet unfinished RSX (Reality Synthesiser) chip which will power the PS3's graphics.
NVIDIA's current top of the range boards are the GeForce 6800 family (high end versions of which were also used to run some PS3 demos), and the company recently introduced functionality which allows two 6800 boards to run together for extra performance, a configuration called SLI. It's believed that the G70 boards will offer this functionality from the outset.
Meanwhile, rival graphics chipset firm ATI is expected to launch its own next-generation part, the R520, a month later on July 26th. While NVIDIA is supplying a design for the graphics chip in PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Xbox 360 will be powered by a variant of ATI's next-gen part.