NVIDIA, in response to recent demanding for driver support for Windows Vista, has launched a new web page dedicated to this issue. The site also features a link for all Windows Vista users to report bugs and issues.

Over the coming weeks NVIDIA and our partners, along with the industry, will continue to update Windows Vista drivers to ensure maximum performance on 3D applications and add feature support.

While NVIDIA is currently in (figurative) hot water with developers and gamers for an utter lack of WHQL Vista drivers for the G80, they are working on something for the rest of the industry. Mac OS X has for a long time been disadvantaged with a lack of Direct3D games. NVIDIA recently announced that they will work with Trans Gaming to develop very fast (and very supportive)Direct3D emulators for Mac OS X. NVIDIA's CgFX API engine, as well as their shader libraries of known developers, will compliment Trans Gaming's Cider very nicely. This means that as NVIDIA and Trans Gaming really get something out in the public, they will allow Mac users to play modern games.

NVIDIA is set to release one more nForce 680i variant that is slightly cheaper than the nForce 680i SLI. The cut-down nForce 680i will carry the nForce 680i LT SLI name and target extreme gamers. NVIDIA will manufacture the nForce 680i LT motherboards for various motherboard manufacturers. Unlike the heat-pipe endowed nForce 680i SLI motherboards, nForce 680i LT SLI-based motherboards will have active cooling. Instead of support for DDR2-1200 memory, NVIDIA has limited the memory controller to DDR2-800. Front-side bus speeds up to 1333 MHz remains supported. The nForce 680i LT SLI will continue to support NVIDIA's SLI multi-GPU technology, but only one Gigabit LAN and eight USB 2.0 ports instead of ten will be presented. NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI-based motherboards are expected to ship in early March.

DailyTech has revealed new details of NVIDIA's upcoming MCP72 single-processor chipset. This will be NVIDIA's first HT3(HyperTransport 3.0) compatible chipset and a successor to the current nForce 500-series MCP and the upcoming AMD MCP68 chipsets. MCP72 will support AMD's socket AM2 and HT3 enabled AM2+. Socket AM2+ will house AMD's upcoming Athlon 64 Agena and Opteron Budapest quad-core processors. Unlike the nForce 500-series, the upcoming MCP72 is a single-chip solution similar to the previous nForce 3-series and early nForce 4-series. It will also offer a small footprint and have low power consumption. MCP72 will also be NVIDIA's first PCIe 2.0 equipped chipset, making it ideal for next-generation PCIe peripherals and graphics cards. Other notable MCP72 features include support for six SATA 3.0Gbps and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports like the current nForce 500-series. As with all NVIDIA chipset architectures, expect MCP72 to spawn SLI and Ultra variants. There's also the possibility of MCP72-based integrated graphics offerings too. Expect MCP72 to launch in time for AMD's upcoming Agena and Budapest quad-core processors.

NVIDIA Quadro solutions improve creative workflow, as well as the delivery of real-time photorealistic graphics, for an upcoming super bowl ad.

Visual effects studios dream of rendering photo-real images in real time. SWAY Studio of Westwood, Calif., realized the dream by integrating NVIDIA Quadro based solutions from NVIDIA Corporation, the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, into its production pipeline for the creation and delivery of a :60 commercial for GM, which will debut during Super Bowl XLI on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2007.

The commercial follows a small robot that accidentally drops a bolt while working on the GM vehicle assembly line. The mistake causes the line to shut down, and the robot is ultimately banished from the company premises. Forlorn and uncertain of his future, the robot does his best to move on with life.

Many people are very unhappy with the lack of good/WHQL certified drivers for their very expensive G80 video cards. A thread on NVIDIA forums has been swarming with lots of flames and FUD toward the G80, and has been closed by one of their moderators. And so, instead of protesting the only (or so they are accusing) way NVIDIA really lets them, G80 users are trying to get enough research/evidence together to start a class action lawsuit against NVIDIA. Anyone who wants to help support this lawsuit, please visit NVidiaClassAction.org. NVIDIA Class Action wants evidence such as screen shots and box covers claiming Vista compatibility in some way.

The site motto is rather catchy.

The surprise we've all been waiting for - a $650 coaster.

NVIDIA today released new version of the ForceWare Vista 32/64bit drivers. This time the new BETA ForceWare version 100.59 should enable SLI support for DirectX9/OpenGL with GeForce 8800 GPUs. DX10 NVIDIA SLI support will be available in a future driver. Click here to read the full v100.59 Release Notes.

Download: ForceWare 100.59 Vista 32bit (33.4 MB), ForceWare 100.59 Vista 64bit (45.9 MB)

Finally, all GeForce 8800 users can download the latest Windows Vista 32bit/64bit BETA ForceWare drivers directly from NVIDIA. The bad news:
- DirectX 10 NVIDIA SLI support for GeForce 8800 GPUs will be available in a future driver
- DirectX 9 and OpenGL NVIDIA SLI support for GeForce 8800 GPUs will be available on January 31, 2007 in a new driver from NVIDIA

Download: ForceWare 100.54 Vista 32bit (29.4 MB), ForceWare 100.54 Vista 64bit (41.8 MB)

In the recent DX10 graphics card war, NVIDIA has gotten a very long headstart. Not only has NVIDIA had enough time to develop watered-down versions of their G80 for selling as entry-level and midrange cards, but they've also had time to develop "G81". The current specs of what G81 could be are currently unknown, but it does have one major goal- a shrink to a 65 nanometer process. This would represent a gigantic step in the graphics card world, as GPU makers have barely made the step to 80nm GPU's recently. It would also, like most die shrinks, decrease power input and heat output.

G80 owners worldwide are probably wondering why they do not have even a beta driver for their high-end expensive graphics card. The reason is very simple: the driver is not stable. Games that are stable on any other video card using any other driver are great on Windows Vista. However, once the G80 was plugged in with the current driver, the test system was prone to frequent and unpredictable reboots. With Windows Vista launching in a matter of days, we sure hope NVIDIA can make a stable driver for the launch of Microsoft's brand new operating system.

Finally, LaptopVideo2Go.com has leaked one of the most anticipated NVIDIA ForceWare drivers for GeForce 8800 Series working with Windows Vista 32/64bit. According to other users the driver performs really well, but be carefull because it is not WHQL certified. Use at your own risk. Click here to download the NVIDIA ForceWare X 100.30 Vista driver for 8800 Series of video cards.

Nordic Hardware has posted some very detailed lists of hardware details regarding what will be entry-level and midrange DX10 cards from the green camp (NVIDIA).

• The 8600 Ultra card will come with 64 Shaders, clocked at 500MHz. It will also have up to 512MB of 256 bit memory clocked at 1400MHz DDR. It is expected to retail for around $179.
• The 8600 GT will come with 48 shaders, clocked at 350MHz. It will have up to 256MB of 256-bit memory, clocked at 1200MHz DDR. It should retail for $129.
• The 8300 GT will have 32 shaders at 500MHz, along with no more than 256MB of 128-bit memory clocked at 1200MHz DDR. It is expected to cost around $99.
• The 8300 GS will "only" have 24 shaders, clocked around 500MHz. It will have up to 256MB of 128 bit memory, clocked at 1000MHz DDR. The card shouldn't cost much more than $79.

While AMD/ATI presented a lot of interesting things at CES 2007 (such as an R600 prototype), NVIDIA had nothing there except for three closed-to-public booths. There is much speculation as to why NVIDIA did not show off any new technology (excluding working G80 drivers for Vista), but chances are they want to show a lot more stuff at a later trade show.

NVIDIA Corporation, the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced that the National Academy of Television Arts and Science has recognized the Company's innovation in graphics processor development with a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award.

One of the biggest technology mergers of 2006 was between AMD and ATI, but this was very nearly not the case. According to the Inquirer, a senior source claims that AMD was inch close to acquiring NVIDA instead, before changing its decision. Apparently AMD had decided to buy one of the two graphics processor giants by late 2005, but the NVIDA deal was called off and ATI chosen instead. Why AMD chose ATI over NVIDIA is not yet 100% clear given that NVIDIA would have been a good choice considering its nForce chipsets, but the largest semiconductor takeover ever could have turned out very differently.

NVIDIA is demonstrating spectacular next-generation DirectX 10 gaming content running on NVIDIA GeForce 8800 graphics processors at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. NVIDIA GeForce 8800 graphics processing units (GPUs) and NVIDIA nForce 680-series media and communications processors (MCPs) will demonstrate dozens of cutting edge PC games at the show including Microsoft's Games for Windows space in the Central Hall, Booth #7144, at CES.

NVIDIA Corporation, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of PortalPlayer, Inc., a leading supplier of semiconductors, firmware, and software for personal media players and secondary display-enabled computers. The acquisition of PortalPlayer is expected to accelerate NVIDIA's ongoing investment in its handheld product strategy. NVIDIA's handheld technology, which combines high-quality graphics, TV, and video with low power and a small footprint, is at the foundation of many industry-leading portable media devices, including phones from Motorola, Samsung, Kyocera, HTC, and Sony Ericsson.

The NVIDIA Forceware 90 series graphics driver user interface was accused of being ugly, inconvenient, and sometimes slow. People generally accused NVIDIA control panel of making tasks not accessed too often very hard to find, and not changing languages when installed on a non-English copy of Windows. NVIDIA heard the call of it's consumers, and decided to do something about it. The successor of Forceware 90 series will have a much better graphical interface, which will be applied to both XP and Vista versions of the driver.

NVIDIA's new DirectX10 cards should finally have the potential to take advantage of their new technology after an announcement by the company that it plans to release a Vista driver for the 8800 cards towards the end of January. Because these cards have so far been unable to run DirectX10 applications, their performance in this area has been a mystery, but hopefully this will begin the next generation of Windows based gaming. The G80 driver has suffered two month delays and this should hopefully satisfy those who purchased the cards wanting to be DirectX10 ready - although they will still have to wait for the games to be released before they can reap the benefits it has to offer.

While NVIDIA has had some trouble getting into the entry-level GPU market in the past, the company should have some better luck this time. The G84 series will be the first entry level DX10 GPU, set to replace the 7300 series as a graphics card for people who do not want to spend a fortune on graphics. It has an unknown level of pipelines, but it will be a stripped down version of the G80. The G84 will support Shader Model 4, have unified shaders and be fully compatible with SLI. The G84 should be announced at CeBIT in March.

While many G80 owners were expecting at least a beta driver for Microsoft Windows Vista, NVIDIA will not be releasing anything like it until at least January. The lack of even a beta driver for Microsoft Windows Vista is getting a lot of criticism. When anyone with a G80 tries to install Microsoft Windows Vista, they will be forced to install a "standard VGA". This means that there are no shiny Aero Glass effects, and even 2D graphics might be challenging. NVIDIA is expected to have something ready for CES 2007.

When an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 is plugged into a PCIe x16 slot, it works just fine. However, if it is plugged into an x8 slot or less, the graphics card will not boot. The Problem? Plain and simple incompatibility. Not only are they not listed in the PCI Express Integrators List, but there have been several reports of people sticking their 8800 in a PCI Express x8 slot and being sorely disappointed at the failure to boot. An X-bit labs review also showed that the 8800 series may not even be compatible with some mainboards. Basically, if you are buying an 8800 series, make sure you're not getting a second one before ensuring that you have two PCI Express lanes operating at full speed.

NVIDIA Corporation, the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced that it has teamed up with the University of Washington's Harborview Burn Center and Seattle, Wash.-based Imprint Interactive on technology related to a pioneering virtual reality system known as "SnowWorld," which mitigates pain for burn victims.

This morning, NVIDIA and its partners released a new system BIOS for the NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI "Designed by NVIDIA" motherboards. These are the motherboards designed by NVIDIA and sold by EVGA, BFG, Biostar, and ECS. This BIOS update eliminates a bug related to the operation of SATA hard disk drives experienced by some customers. The bug is specific to these "Designed by NVIDIA" motherboards, and is not present on any other NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI motherboard, nor is it present in our MCPs (chipsets). Please click here and choose the manufacturer of your motherboard to download the appropriate update. NVIDIA strongly recommends that all customers upgrade their motherboards to this new BIOS, regardless of whether or not they have experienced this bug.

Sparkle has officially beaten all the other NVIDIA manufacturers to making a card based on an 80nm GPU. The first 80nm GPU from NVIDIA is a blue 7600GT, based off of the G73 (there is no information on what NVIDIA calls the 80nm version of the G73). The card comes clocked at 650MHz, a full 90MHz faster then 7600GT stock specifications. The memory and memory controller is still the same. The memory is clocked at 1600MHz DDR, and is only 128 bit. The card comes with 12 ROP's, 256MB of memory, and a PCI Express x16 interface. The card should be available in 2007, and offers significant performance benefits when compared to the 90nm version of the same card (roughly 500 points in 3Dmark06).