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).

Feeling lucky? Want to win a GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card, an NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI motherboard, or perhaps 2GB of high performance DDR2 system memory? Starting December 22nd, you have 365 chances to WIN SLI-Ready hardware! It's simple, easy, and open to everyone who has an SLI-Ready or SLI-enabled PC (in qualifying countries*). Prizes include an XFX 8800GTX, a BFG nForce 680i SLI motherboard, a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 Quad, and 2GB of OCZ DDR2 PC2-7200 SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel RAM.

To register for the giveaway, simply go here if you own an SLI ready desktop, and here if you own an SLI ready notebook.

After [H]ard|OCP has published an article that discusses NVIDIA's nForce 680i chipset problems, NVIDIA stated that they have a BIOS for the reference 680i motherboards design that they "believe resolves the SATA problem." EVGA and others are working with 680i motherboard owners to validate if the fix actually works for all of those folks having issues. The P23 BIOS for EVGA motherboards can be found here for download.

PC Partner is a very large manufacturer of ATI (AMD) cards, and has a huge name in Asia for themselves, as well as their own factories. While PC Partner is known for being a long time maker of only ATI cards, they have decided to begin making NVIDIA cards. PC Partner now offers NVIDIA cards that range from a low profile 7100 to the latest G80s. You can get the latest PC Partner cards with NVIDIA chips here. NVIDIA has not yet convinced Sapphire, the sister site of PC Partner, to make NVIDIA cards.

NVIDIA Corporation, today announced that the Adobe Acrobat 8 product family and Adobe Reader 8 now offer a new page display rendering mode, which uses the graphics processing unit (GPU) to accelerate the drawing and display of pages in PDF format. Building upon the recent performance improvements of Adobe Acrobat 8 and Adobe Reader 8, Adobe has leveraged the power and programmability of the GPU to further turbocharge the display of 2D content in PDF documents.

NVIDIA Corporation, the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced that the Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA) presented the Company with the "Most Respected Public Fabless Company" award during the annual FSA Awards Dinner on Thursday, December 7, 2006 in Santa Clara, Calif.

When NVIDIA first released the G80 series, they forbid all manufacturers from factory overclocking the cards. With the coming of ATI's R600 cards, NVIDIA has decided to allow manufacturers to overclock the G80 series. There is no mention on how high manufacturers will be allowed to overclock the cards.

According to the Inquirer, NVIDIA, ATI and AMD could be in trouble for apparently conspiring to keep prices high. Allegedly executives of the companies have met to discuss the price of graphics processor units and therefore have received a summons by the Department of Justice, being asked to present data going back into the 1990s.

NVIDIA Corporation, today introduced the immediate availability of the new NVIDIA nForce 680a SLI media and communications processor (MCP), designed specifically for the new AMD Quad FX Platform with Dual Socket Direct Connect Architecture. The exclusive core-logic launch partner for AMD Quad FX processors, the NVIDIA nForce 680a SLI MCP provides processing capabilities on a massive scale, by allowing multimedia and megatasking users to harness the power of up to 4 GPUs, 8 displays, 12 SATA hard drives, and 4 gigabit Ethernet connections, all from a single consumer desktop PC.

It was only a matter of time before ATI starts losing market share after the AMD acquisition. According to Jon Peddie Research, ATI's share of the computer-oriented graphics market dropped from 28 per cent in Q2 to 23 per cent in Q3. Market leader Intel's share remained at 40 per cent, but NVIDIA, VIA and SiS all recorded rises, reaching 22 per cent, ten per cent and five per cent, respectively. NVIDIA's market share rose two percentage points. NVIDIA also grew its share of the desktop graphics market, to 25 per cent, JPR said. ATI still holds leader position in the mobile market. Its share fell to 24 per cent, while NVIDIA reached 19 per cent in the quarter.