NVIDIA Quadro Graphics Line Expanded

By DE Editors

NVIDIA has announced the expansion of its NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics solutions based on the NVIDIA Fermi architecture. The mid-range Quadro 2000 with 192 NVIDIA CUDA processing cores and the entry-level Quadro 600 with 96 CUDA processor cores now bring Fermi architecture to more segments of the market.

The Quadro 2000 delivers 1.5 times the geometry performance of the previous Quadro graphics processing unit (GPU) mid-range solution,  according to the company, and uses the new NVIDIA Scalable Geometry Engine technology to deliver higher performance across CAD and DCC applications, such as SolidWorks and Autodesk 3ds Max.

“We believe the technology that NVIDIA has built into their new Quadro professional graphics, namely the new NVIDIA Fermi architecture, will provide an exceptional solution for SolidWorks users worldwide,” says Nick Iwaskow, manager, Alliances, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. “With our expected certification of the Quadro 2000, SolidWorks anticipates the newest Quadro solutions will empower designers and engineers with the finely detailed geometry, real-time simulation and analysis, and high visual fidelity they demand.”

The new entry-level Quadro 600 is a half-height solution that NVIDIA says features the industry’s best performance per watt for applications such as Autodesk AutoCAD 2011, and empowers professional designers to interact with models that are twice the size and complexity compared to previous entry-level solutions.

“At last month’s GPU Technology Conference, the world learned all about the power of our Fermi architecture and how NVIDIA Quadro GPUs are being used to solve some of the world’s most complex problems,” says Jeff Brown, general manager, Professional Solutions Group, NVIDIA. “With these new Quadro solutions, we’re making this computational horsepower available for all users of professional CAD and content creation software applications.”

Both the Quadro 2000 and Quadro 600 feature 1GB of graphics memory and are compatible with the new NVIDIA 3D Vision Pro active shutter-glasses solution, providing visualization and analysis in a stereoscopic 3D experience.

The newest line of Quadro GPUs leverages the CUDA parallel processing architecture and NVIDIA Application Acceleration Engines. Additionally,  these new solutions feature NVIDIA Mosaic Technology, which the company says will enable any application to use one or more Quadro professional graphics solutions to scale across up to eight high-resolution displays.

The Quadro 2000 ($599 MSRP) and Quadro 600 ($199 MSRP) are available from workstation manufacturers, including Dell, HP and Lenovo, as well as authorized distribution partners.

For more information, visit NVIDIA.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.