NVidia unveils Quadro FX 3000s

Assault on the workstation graphics arena continues with two high-end cards

NVidia has stepped up its assault on the workstation graphics arena with the release of two high-end cards and the creation of a strategic alliance with IBM.

The Quadro FX 3000 and FX 3000G come with 27.2Gbps memory bandwidth, more than twice that of nVidia's existing Quadro FX 2000 cards.

The cards also feature twice the on-board memory of the FX 2000 series, with 256MB of DDR2 graphics memory.

They support resolutions of up to 3840x2400, required by applications used in the oil and gas, medical and satellite imaging industries.

NVidia's new cards will be boosted by a deal with IBM, which will see the FX 3000 ship with the IntelliStation Mpro workstation.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is expected to ship the top-end FX 3000G with its xw6000 and xw8000 workstations in the autumn.

"We have selected the Quadro FX 3000 for its superior performance and ability to help propel our systems to the top of the workstation market," said Matt Wineberg, product manager at IBM IntelliStation.

The FX 3000G comes with extra features such as Framelock, which lets users link systems in a cluster and scale power to allow for life-sized visualisation.

Another feature called Genlock supports synchronisation with standard signal formats and house-sync signals for video post-production, broadcast, compositing and editing.

Speaking about the FX 3000G, Jim Zafarana, vice-president of worldwide marketing at HP's workstation business unit, said: "Auto and aerospace engineers, for instance, can review, collaborate and visualise their designs with photo-realistic quality at a level of performance that keeps pace with their thought processes."

Vicky Burgoyne, general manager at card manufacturer and nVidia distributor PNY Technologies, said: "We have been waiting for Genlock for a while now. We expected it originally with the FX 2000. It will open whole new markets in the digital content and film industry for us."