GPU

Nvidia is again at the center of a graphics tempest in the media, this time surrounding performance issues of Apple's new 17-inch MacBook Pro. Two little pesky questions haven't been answered yet, however. Are Nvidia graphics chips really the problem? And are the issues really that widespread?

Postings in an Apple discussion forum cite a smorgasbord of problems: Some cite the Nvidia GeForce 9600M, while others point to issues with fan speed. Another post points to faulty wiring and another to the main processor (i.e., Intel). But this is just one forum. Does this really indicate widespread … Read more

Nvidia is in at Apple. So, what's the connection between Apple's graphics-fortified lineup and Snow Leopard OS X?

First a quick canvass of the state of Apple's graphics. Low-performance Intel integrated graphics have been booted from MacBooks, replaced by Nvidia. And, earlier this week, Apple updated the iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro with Nvidia graphics across the board and didn't mince words on its Web site: "Ultrafast Nvidia graphics" ad copy is prominently displayed for the iMacs. ATI graphics are also promoted for the Mac Pro and offered on the iMac.

Then, there'… Read more

A new report says the longstanding integrated graphics chip market will disappear--a market that Intel currently dominates.

In a report entitled "Integrated graphics chip market to disappear by 2012," Tiburon, Calif.-based Jon Peddie Research forecasts the end of the market for "the popular integrated graphics processor chipset...after 15 years of stellar growth."

Many low-end and mainstream consumer and business laptops sold over the last five years use Intel graphics built into the chipset, a low-performance but cheaper alternative to discrete graphics chips from Nvidia and ATI. That's made Intel, ironically enough, the market … Read more

Updated at 11:50 a.m. PST with additional information on Nvidia and ATI graphics in Mac Pro

Apple's rollout of new Macs Tuesday was a vote of confidence for Nvidia: its graphics chip have now become as ubiquitous as Intel's processors across the Mac line.

Apple's entire Mac lineup now features Nvidia GeForce GPUs. "If you go into a retail store, it's (Nvidia) top to bottom," said an Nvidia spokesperson today. "The message is that Apple is differentiating itself, investing in the GPU," he said.

The GPU, or graphics processing unit, … Read more

As Intel took its case against Nvidia to court, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang could not resist making the oft-repeated assertion that the GPU is in, and CPU is out--a thinly veiled reference to the graphics chip maker's credo that PC processor mind share is shifting from Intel to Nvidia.

Here is the statement that Huang inserted into the Thursday Nvidia release about the Intel court filing. "At the heart of this issue is that the CPU has run its course, and the soul of the PC is shifting quickly to the GPU. This is clearly an attempt to … Read more

Correction, 2:44 p.m. PST: This story initially misstated the day Nvidia slashed its revenue guidance by up to 50 percent. It was January 13.

Nvidia posted a fourth-quarter loss of just under $148 million and a 60 percent drop in revenue as demand plummeted.

On Tuesday, the largest graphics chip supplier reported a loss of $147.7 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with a profit of $257 million, or 42 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company posted revenue of $481.1 million, down 60 percent from the $1.2 … Read more

Here's the silicon scuttlebutt of the weekend, if not the week: Sony will use Intel's Larrabee graphics chip in its upcoming PlayStation 4. (Let's not forget the other tantalizing piece of speculation this week: the Nvidia-powered Microsoft smartphone rumor, which Microsoft apparently put to rest.)

We know for a fact that Jeffery Katzenberg at DreamWorks likes Larrabee--a lot. That apparently was one of the reasons DreamWorks dropped Advanced Micro Devices.

So, chalk that up as one big win for Intel's somewhat-murky next-generation graphics chip due late this year or 2010. Now Sony? A report this week in the U.K.-based technology Web site The Inquirer … Read more

Intel is back, pitching its processors for gaming graphics.

The chipmaker will attempt to promote its silicon for sophisticated game effects at the upcoming Game Developers Conference in March, as it strives to make a case for quad-core processors in lieu of graphics chips from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

The pitch goes like this: "Learn how to easily add real-time 3D smoke, fog and other fluid simulations to your game without using up the GPU." That's according to an Intel Web page entitled Intel at Game Developers Conference. (The CPU is the central processing unit, or … Read more

Nvidia on Wednesday named the chairman of Stanford University's computer science department as its new chief scientist, a particularly important position for the world's largest graphics chip supplier as it wages a technological war with Intel.

Bill Dally, who will be vice president of Nvidia Research, has been a professor of computer science at Stanford since 1997 and chairman of the computer science department since 2005. He will replace David Kirk, a renowned scientist in his own right, who will become an Nvidia fellow.

"Bill is legendary in the computer industry," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and … Read more