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NVIDIA launches industry's first 4GB graphics card

NVIDIA is one of the biggest players in the graphics market and has a full line of GPUs and graphics cards for different needs including those of the general consumer, business user and gamer. NVIDIA's line of Quadro graphics cards are some of the most popular cards in the business market and today NVIDIA has introduced its latest Quadro graphics card.

The card is called the Quadro FX 5800 and its biggest feature is the first time in the industry that a graphics card has featured 4GB of graphics memory. Even NVIDIA's dual GPU enthusiast video cards like the 9800 GX2 only sported 2GB of RAM.

NVIDIA's Jeff Brown, GM of professional solutions said in a statement, "The size and complexity of data is growing at an exponential rate. The challenge for today's professional is to make sense of the mountain of data by distilling it into a form they can comprehend, analyze, and use to make impactful decisions.”

“At stake can be billions of investment dollars, or even people's lives. The Quadro FX 5800 has advanced features to allow massive datasets to be viewed beyond traditional 3D enabling professionals to make fast and accurate decisions."

In addition to the massive amount of RAM, the FX 5800 offers up to 240 CUDA programmable parallel cores. The card supports interactive 4D modeling with time-lapse capability. Memory bandwidth is up to 102 GB per second and fill rates exceed 52 billion texels per second. Geometry performance is reported to be 300 million triangles per second. The card also features 10-bit color.

The FX 5800 supports both Open GL and DirectX 10 applications. Multi-system and multi-device virtualization is supported with Quadro G-Sync II. NVIDIA says that the levels of performance the FX 5800 offers is needed for demanding environments like oil/gas exploration, medical imaging, and styling/design applications.

The Quadro FX 5800 is available now at an MSRP of $3,499. NVIDIA saw its profits drop significantly in Q3 so it needs a popular product to help it regain its former glory.

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I'll Take 2!
By pauldovi on 11/10/2008 11:10:41 AM , Rating: 2
I think even a business person who does intensive graphical design would have a hard time justifying this. Current hardware is plenty sufficient, for a fraction of the price.




RE: I'll Take 2!
By StevoLincolnite on 11/10/2008 11:18:23 AM , Rating: 2
Not to mention people have had allot of success in the past of modding there Geforce/Radeon into Quadro/FireGL cards with a BIOS change or modded drivers.


RE: I'll Take 2!
By theapparition on 11/10/2008 12:10:36 PM , Rating: 2
Ha....unfortunately, those BIOS tweaks are long gone.

I remember soldering zero-ohm resistors on Geforce2 cards to make true Quadro2 cards. No difference.
Than came the BIOS tweaks for the Geforce 3 and 4 cards. While performance increased sporatically, it was nowhere near the performance of a true Quadro4 card. Stability went down, and that's a major no-no in a business enviroment.
Even now, there may be some silly way to trick the Quadro drivers onto the system, but in reality, the GPU is different and it lacks the hardware to take advantage of the Quadro features.


RE: I'll Take 2!
By Cypherdude1 on 11/10/2008 11:36:18 PM , Rating: 1
There's another new nVidia product which is cheaper and can connect up to four (4) digital monitors or TV's, the $500 nVidia Quadro NVS 450:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_nvs_45...

nVidia made some improvements from its aging NVS 440 design. I guess too many people were opting for 2 ATI 4850 performance cards instead of one 2D NVS 440. The NVS 450 has 4 separate connectors and can now handle video. While it isn't meant for playing games, it can be used for business applications, especially Wall Street applications. Although the $500 NVS 450 didn't make any headlines as the $3,500 Quadro FX 5800 did, the NVS 450 will certainly be a big hit with traders. The NVS 450 will outsell the FX 5800 by at least 10-1.


RE: I'll Take 2!
By Cobra Commander on 11/10/2008 11:19:27 AM , Rating: 2
By graphical design you're referring to, "...demanding environments like oil/gas exploration, medical imaging, and styling/design applications."?


RE: I'll Take 2!
By theapparition on 11/10/2008 12:01:51 PM , Rating: 2
I actually put several of these on order today before even reading the article.
When dealing with complex 3D models in an engineering/analysis enviroment, even small increases in performance can lead to signifigant increases in productivity.


RE: I'll Take 2!
By headbox on 11/10/08, Rating: 0
RE: I'll Take 2!
By rykerabel on 11/10/2008 4:02:08 PM , Rating: 2
Seriously.

Even this will still be slow when trying to visualize scientific data that we have here.


RE: I'll Take 2!
By The0ne on 11/10/2008 5:44:29 PM , Rating: 2
I'm not sure if your scientific data is 3D intensive enough to warrant these types of video cards. While I'm not a CAD user myself I have and know plenty of mechanical engineers that work on complexed 3D models. As someone said within this thread, on very complex task that does require the power from these cards, seconds matters a whole lot.

Even my modeling analysis don't require the high end cards. But still nice to have one that runs things "smoothly." :)


RE: I'll Take 2!
By The0ne on 11/10/2008 1:27:01 PM , Rating: 2
No doubt most users here have never used or had the need to use these types of video cards


RE: I'll Take 2!
By VaultDweller on 11/10/2008 1:34:11 PM , Rating: 2
Nay, I say. If current hardware is sufficient, why do people use things like render farms?


So it's a GTX280...
By DanoruX on 11/10/2008 1:38:06 PM , Rating: 2
...with 3 more gigs of ram. At $1000/GB. How do you justify this?




RE: So it's a GTX280...
By theapparition on 11/10/2008 2:17:50 PM , Rating: 5
Because it's not just 3GB of extra RAM.

It's also extra hardware based features (the GPU is diferent than the consumer based one) that can drastically speed up certain applications. Games, however, have absolutely no benefit from these features and they are omitted from the consumer level cards.

You also get different drivers, that must pass through more rounds of testing than the consumer ones and generally get certified for your hardware and applications.

Plus you get actual direct support, something you'll never get with a consumer level card.

If the above features mean nothing to you (like most), than save your $3K. For some business, however, that $3K can be money well spent.

FYI, my hardware budget PALES in comparison to my software one. Who cares about spending $10K on a machine that has over $100K worth of software loaded on it?


RE: So it's a GTX280...
By Lord 666 on 11/10/2008 4:50:19 PM , Rating: 2
Have you tried to run a VMWare converter tool to make a copy of rendering rig? Would be interesting to see if it worked.

Assuming you are in the oil industry or other GIS based gig.


RE: So it's a GTX280...
By theapparition on 11/11/2008 6:59:28 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Assuming you are in the oil industry or other GIS based gig.

Nope, I own a design engineering/analysis firm.

quote:
Have you tried to run a VMWare converter tool to make a copy of rendering rig?

Never tried. What would be the benefit, trying to get a pseudo GPU hyperthreading?


RE: So it's a GTX280...
By emboss on 11/11/2008 4:41:02 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
the GPU is diferent than the consumer based one


The GPU itself on a Quadro card is and has always been the same as some GPU in the consumer line. There are usually some small differences at the board level (such as when the Quadros had two DVI ports vs a VGA and a DVI on the Geforce cards).

It used to be that there was just a quick check in the Quadro drivers to limit them to only work on Quadro cards. However, NVidia has now added fuses in the die to prevent the Quadro features from working on Geforce cards. Basically the same as Intel using fuses to limit the maximum multiplier on non-Extreme CPUs. ATI, AFAIK, still relies solely on driver checks.

The rest of your post is right though - you're basically paying for the drivers and the support.


RE: So it's a GTX280...
By theapparition on 11/11/2008 7:05:14 AM , Rating: 2
Yes, but the end result is the same. You cannot enable Quadro features on a Geforce card, no matter what driver you are able to install.

I don't know much about the ATI cards, since for OpenGL applications, the Radeons have been severly lacking in performance compared to the Quadro line. Until I see that change, I'm sticking with nVidia.


RE: So it's a GTX280...
By King of Heroes on 11/11/2008 9:43:19 AM , Rating: 3
Actual, tested, not-beta, certified-to-work drivers? Competent tech support?

I think it sucks that you have to pay such an enormous premium to get stuff that SHOULD be standard to all the products they sell. Just the driver part alone angers me. I have to pay over $3,000 just to get a guarantee that the drivers I need to use my new card actually work? Shouldn't I be getting that no matter what card I buy?


What's in a name
By AmberClad on 11/10/2008 11:42:07 AM , Rating: 3
What is it with both Intel and Nvidia dredging up old product names that were better off left forgotten?

Intel: Pentium D EE 965 --> Core i7 965EE
Nvidia: GeForce FX 5800 (aka Dustbuster) --> Quadro FX 5800




RE: What's in a name
By Cobra Commander on 11/10/2008 11:56:32 AM , Rating: 2
Do you fault BMW for have a 335i and a 535i? even though 75% of the model's names are identical?

Similary "Pentium D" is not = "Core i7" just as "GeForce" is not = "Quadro". There's plenty dissimilarity here to not be a problem.

NVIDIA has not dredged anything up, they've been using "Quadro FX" for about 5 years now.


RE: What's in a name
By omnicronx on 11/10/2008 3:24:17 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Do you fault BMW for have a 335i and a 535i? even though 75% of the model's names are identical?
Worst example ever! That's the engine size.. a 328 is a 3 series with a 2.8 liter engine, a 330 has a 3.0 engine a 535 is a 5 series with a 3.5 liter engine and so on.. They are not re-using model names..

I agree with the OP, first thing I thought of when I read fx 5800 is the P.O.S dustbuster. Very bad marketing on Nvidias part regardless if it is a different line of video card. Why on earth would you want people to remember possibly their worst line of video cards ever.


RE: What's in a name
By Dribble on 11/11/2008 6:30:07 AM , Rating: 2
So how big is the engine in a 320, or a 318, or a 316 then?
(hint, it's not 2.0L, 1.8L, and 1.6L).


RE: What's in a name
By Innocent Hawk on 11/10/2008 4:46:11 PM , Rating: 2
GeForce FX is a retired gaming card line. (Loved my FX 5700 Ultra back in the day hehe.)

Quadro FX is a still-in-use rendering card line.


The card also features 10-bit color.
By ViroMan on 11/10/2008 9:50:34 PM , Rating: 2
Did I miss something there? I thought 16 bit was the minimum now a days.




RE: The card also features 10-bit color.
By spartan014 on 11/11/2008 3:12:42 AM , Rating: 2
That is 10 bits for each R,G and B.. So 30 in total compared to the 16-bit high color or 24-bit true color modes..


RE: The card also features 10-bit color.
By ViroMan on 11/12/2008 5:36:39 AM , Rating: 2
if that is the case, how the hell do they get 16 bit color? 16 = 3*5.33~. Where did that .33~ bit come from?


By joos2000 on 11/17/2008 8:08:45 AM , Rating: 2
16 bit colour is divided up in Red (5 bits) Green (6 bits) and Blue (5 bits), ending up in a total of 64k colour. Some graphics cards could do 15 bit colour as well, 32k colours total, divided up over 5 bits per colour channel.

Why choose green as the most detailed colour channel? Well, I think it has got to do with that green affects all hues more than red or blue does. For example, green-screens have replaced blue-screens in the film industry, because it is easier to isolate, but this just guessing on my part.


How wide is the memory interface?
By Comdrpopnfresh on 11/10/2008 12:27:05 PM , Rating: 2
512bit?




RE: How wide is the memory interface?
By Sulphademus on 11/10/2008 5:00:07 PM , Rating: 2
240 "programmable parallel cores" yeah, this thing is an upmarket GTX280.


RE: How wide is the memory interface?
By Comdrpopnfresh on 11/10/2008 7:58:28 PM , Rating: 1
the memory interface. like... my 7600gt has a 128bit interface. maybe it's called a controller or bust or something?


RE: How wide is the memory interface?
By habibo on 11/11/2008 12:30:18 PM , Rating: 2
Sulphademus was answering your question: "yeah, this thing is an upmarket GTX280."

So yes, 512b memory interface.


FX 5800.... very strange....
By kilkennycat on 11/10/2008 1:53:54 PM , Rating: 1
Iirc, the ORIGINAL Fx5800 was the too hot, too slow GPU that almost brought down nVidia, when nVidia management took big pay-cuts amd other drastic measures to help keep the company solvent. Recovered their poise with the Fx5900. Strange that nVidia would ever revive this nomenclature again, considering the bad memories.




RE: FX 5800.... very strange....
By PrinceGaz on 11/10/2008 7:04:13 PM , Rating: 3
That's the first thing I thought of too. But most companies that buy professional Quadro cards probably never even look at the GeForce range of cards as they are not marketed at them and don't come with the features and support they require, and would have long forgotten a six or seven year old gaming card even if they did look at them.


Triangles per second?
By PaxtonFettel on 11/11/2008 3:59:29 AM , Rating: 2
Don't think I've seen that as a measure of graphics performance since it was on the boxes of voodo 3 cards, hehe.




RE: Triangles per second?
By JarvisTheGray on 12/10/2008 7:41:37 AM , Rating: 2
Yah it's been awhile.


Working...
By JonnyDough on 11/10/2008 10:45:27 PM , Rating: 2
This card could be a godsend for a lot of professionals. It still takes a good bit of time to do massive high res images. Add in the CUDA aspect, and this card is like a mini super computer all on it's own. This should sell like hotcakes in the movie industry.




What about the other FX 5800?
By alizee on 11/10/2008 1:14:18 PM , Rating: 1
I keep reading these new names, and we're just recycling old names. I just hope they release a card called the QuadroFX 5800 Ultra. It will probably lose in all the DX9 benchmarks to the Radeon 9800 Pro (Or maybe the GeForce 9800???), and have a fan that's way too loud.




But...
By LorKha on 11/10/08, Rating: -1
RE: But...
By StevoLincolnite on 11/10/08, Rating: -1
RE: But...
By talozin on 11/10/2008 11:57:18 AM , Rating: 2
Can it play Crysis?

I'm sure it can.

I used to work for a biotech company, and the nVidia "pro" graphics cards were in use there for 3D molecular modeling. (The stereoscopic imaging stuff is very cool, but at least at the time was a massive pain in the ass to get working under Linux.)

The cards we had were the pro version of the 7800GTX 512MB, back when that was the baddest card on the block. Naturally, we spent some time, um, "testing" two of them under Windows before the systems went out to users, and performance on, ahem, "demanding graphics applications" was about the same as the consumer card.

And yes, they did work in SLI. :)


RE: But...
By theapparition on 11/10/2008 12:06:00 PM , Rating: 2
That's because all workstation cards are based on thier consumer siblings.

For most cases, the Quadro varients run about 1-2fps slower than the consumer ones. That's because more features are enabled and cause a slight decrease in overall performance.

However, when it comes to features such as hardware based anti-aliased lines and clipping planes......the quadro hardware just blows the consumer ones out of the water.


RE: But...
By talozin on 11/10/2008 12:21:31 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah -- we didn't do any hard-core benchmarking, but it was "close enough" in playing, um, whatever games were popular around that time. I forget. As one would expect, because it essentially was a 7800GTX, which was fairly obvious if you looked at the specs. You could even run the bog-standard consumer drivers with it and it would work fine.

But every time a new pro card comes out, someone asks "so how's the performance on $GAME_DU_JOUR?" I thought I'd try and get ahead of the pack a little.

The performance increase from the professional cards is very valuable to the drug developers, though. The next iteration came out before we'd finished installing them all, and without blinking an eye they shelled out for a set of the new ones. For all I know, the Quadro 4500s that never got installed are still sitting in a locker somewhere.


RE: But...
By omnicronx on 11/10/2008 3:29:05 PM , Rating: 3
I'm going to hunt down and kill, rape and eat the next person who asks that question...


RE: But...
By AlvinCool on 11/10/2008 3:42:33 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah but no but yeah but no but that Apple did it behind the barn with an FX card and it was nasty


RE: But...
By xAlias on 11/10/2008 5:02:27 PM , Rating: 1
I thought the new question was 'But can it run warhead?'


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