nVidia unwraps heavy-hitter

Games chip maker promises GeForce FX5900 will succeed where 5800 series failed

NVidia has finally taken the wraps off its heavy-hitting GeForce FX 5900 graphics processing unit, promising it will succeed where the 5800 series failed.

The top-end processor, previously referred to as NV35, has been developed using the 0.13 micron manufacturing process and goes to market with a great deal riding on it.

Its predecessor, the 5800 series (NV30), was beset by design problems and delays that left the company without a decent high-end card for much of last year.

Those problems directly contributed to nVidia losing ground to rival ATI in the performance stakes and its recent disappointing first-quarter results.

Apart from design issues, the 5800 suffered because it was nVidia's first processor to be moved over to the 0.13 micron manufacturing process. The company has claimed that this time all of those hitches have been ironed out.

"There have been major changes this time around," said Alain Tiquet, director of marketing EMEA for nVidia. "With the 5800 processor we used 0.13 micron technology for the first time.

"With the 0.15 micron process it took about 50 days from pressing a button to getting product at the other end. When we moved to the 0.13 micron process it took 150 days. It took us time to figure out how to do it properly."

The 5900 will use double data rate 1 instead of DDR2 memory, which the 5800 uses.

It will feature nVidia's CineFX 2.0 engine for advanced pixel shading, UltraShadow for faster rendering of light and shadows and Intellisample HCT for anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing.

As well as support from the key graphics card manufacturers, nVidia has claimed more than 50 of the top PC original equipment manufacturers and system builders will supply systems with 5900-based cards.