NVIDIA has released new WHQL certified ForceWare drivers for Windows XP, with separate drivers for GeForce 8-series cards and all other GeForce cards. The 8-series driver has been updated to version 158.22, with the main improvements listed by NVIDIA being increased performance in 3D applications and numerous game and compatibility fixes. Meanwhile, the new 94.24 driver for Windows XP and 2000 users running non-8-series GeForce cards can also be found on NVIDIA's website, although you will need to follow the link below because NVIDIA's site still directs users to the old version when you chose your card on the driver download page. The release notes are not yet available, but it is looks like a complete version of the driver with one of the only changes listed being added support for the GeForce 7200 GS.

ForceWare 158.22 driver for GeForce series-8 cards - download
ForceWare 94.24 driver for most other GeForce cards - download

Nvidia got a license from Intel to produce 1600MHz FSB products. This is quite logical, since Intel themselves never really made the gaming community happy. With Nvidia making the chipsets Intel makes sure this market stays satisfied. Secondly, just like Intel used ATI chipsets on their boards some time ago Intel will now use Nvidia chipsets in their products.
More surprisingly Nvidia also got a license to use CSI and produce Xeon chipsets. This is quite a major thing since the Xeon chipset market never has been really big. The current platform has some downsides like the memory subsystem and no official SLI/Crossfire support. If the memory issues get fixed by NV (ie dropping FB-DIMMs) is just wishful thinking at the time being, SLI support sounds very obvious though.

NVIDIA Corporation, today announced a new family of mobile GeForce 8 graphics processors targeted at the newly evolved notebook PC market. The new GeForce 8600M and GeForce 8400M versions are available now from the top PC makers such as HP, Toshiba, Acer, Samsung, and ASUS. NVIDIA today also launched the professional NVIDIA Quadro GPU graphics for notebook computers. The new line of mobile video cards, which includes NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M, Quadro FX 570M and Quadro FX 360M, is designed to solve complex professional visual computing challenges in a mobile form factor. The Quadro FX 1600M, available with up to 512MB GDDR3 memory, and the Quadro FX 570M, offering up to 256MB GDDR3 memory, feature a 128-bit memory interface, support for OpenGL 2.1, DirectX 10, and adaptive power management tools. The Quadro FX 360M, designed for thin and light, entry-level mobile workstations, offers similar features as its bigger brothers, with up to 256MB GDDR3 memory and a 64-bit memory interface. NVIDIA Quadro FX mobile solutions are also available starting today, through leading OEMs such as HP, Fujitsu Japan, and FSC as well as leading mobile workstation system integrators. For more information about the entire GeForce 8 Go and Quadro series of video cards, please click here.

Today NVIDIA Corporation introduced the NVIDIA GeForce 7200 GS graphics processing unit, a new, faster, entry-level GPU. GeForce 7200 GS is designed to offer a low-cost upgrade from integrated graphics solutions and is built for Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. The NVIDIA GeForce 7200 GS performs up to 50% faster than the latest integrated graphics solutions in common 3D benchmark tests. The GeForce 7200 GS GPUs provide full support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0, Shader Model 3.0, high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting support for advanced 3D realism, and NVIDIA PureVideo technology. Graphics cards equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 7200 GS GPU are available today from e-tailers and retailers worldwide at aggressive prices under $50 and are being offered in PCs from leading OEMs and system builders.

Apparently NVIDIA has pulled out new ForceWare BETA driver version 160.03 right after the major official drivers update last Thursday. The new 160.03 will work with Microsoft's Windows XP, 2000 and XP Media Center and supports the GeForce 6, 7 and 8 series. The driver's release date is 27/04/07. Download the new ForceWare 160.03 from here and remember that this is a BETA version. Use at your own risk.

NVIDIA has released new ForceWare drivers today for all the major Windows operating systems. The updated package of the original U.S. English driver kit adds support for GeForce 8800 Ultra. Please note that this driver currently only supports GeForce 8 Series. Read the release notes for more information on product support, bug fixes, feature limitations, and known compatibility issues.

ForceWare Version 158.22 for Windows XP / 2000 / Media Center Edition (33.5MB)
ForceWare Version 158.22 for Windows XP Professional / Server 2003 x64 Edition (42.1MB)
ForceWare Version 158.18 for Windows Vista 32-bit (30.4MB)
ForceWare Version 158.18 for Windows Vista 64-bit (43MB)

Today NVIDIA introduced the world's fastest graphics processing unit (GPU), the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra. The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra performs an average of between 10 and 15% faster than the GeForce 8800 GTX GPU. Here is a preliminary list of NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra reviews currently on the net.

PC Perspective | Legit Reviews | bit-tech.net | [H] Enthusiast | HotHardware | Guru 3D | iXBT(Russian) | HardwareZone | HEXUS.net | AnandTech

Today is the official launch day of NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics card and Sparkle is one of the first companies revealing final silicon. It comes in two flavors, an 'ordinary' GeForce 8800 Ultra and a beefed up version named Calibre P880 ULTRA. While the first one features 612MHz/2160MHz core and memory clock respectively, the thermoelectric cooled (TEC) P880 got super fast 650MHz/2250MHz instead. The prices of these cards are unannounced yet.

NDAs about the GeForce 8800 Ultra will expire on the 2nd of May. The final speeds of the card will end up at 612 MHz for the core and 2160 MHz for the memory. The original plan was to have the chip running at 650 MHz, but it looks like NVIDIA didn't push the limits as far as expected.

The shaders of this card will run at 1.5 GHz, which will make them faster than the R600 shader units. The card should end up with a $900 price tag.

NVIDIA has released new WHQL certified 8 Series ForceWare driver version 158.18 that adds support for GeForce 8600 GTS, GeForce 8600 GT, GeForce 8500 GT, GeForce 8400 GS, and GeForce 8300 GS GPUs. This version offers increased performance in 3D applications. Please read the release notes for more information.

Windows Vista 32-bit (30.4 MB)
Windows Vista 64-bit (43MB)

So we all know that there are signs of a GeForce 8800 Ultra everywhere and PCINLIFE now has a picture of it. The picture you see below has appeared at PCGH with no direct link to the source. The card is much longer than a GeForce 8800GTX and features a massive heatsink.A membership at PCINLIFE is required to view the picture in their forums.

NVIDIA Corporation, today announced a new version of the NVIDIA Quadro Plex visual computing system (VCS), which incorporates the unified architecture and GPU computing capability of NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 GPUs. This new Quadro Plex VCS pushes visual computing to new extremes, boosting workstation and cluster performance for a wide range of high-performance, graphics-intensive styling and design, oil and gas, and scientific applications.

NVIDIA has released new beta 100.14.03 Linux driver that adds support for the newer GeForce 8 series graphics cards. Specifically, the NVIDIA 100.14.03 display driver adds official support for the GeForce 8600GTS, 8600GT, 8500GT, 8400GS, and the 8300GS. Download the new Linux 100.14.03 driver from here.

NVIDIA's latest Windows XP ForceWare release notes on page 26(now fixed), appeared to reveal yet another new video card, the GeForce 8800GS. NVIDIA responded immediately to the rumours of this 8800GS model:

The initial release notes for the NVIDIA ForceWare 158 Driver had a typo that referenced a product that does not, and will not exist. NVIDIA has no plans to release a GeForce 8800 GS. We have corrected the mistake and will be replacing the document on our website.

NVIDIA is working on its 45 nanometre part. This year, the company plans to migrate to 65 nanometre as much as possible, but by the end of 2008 it should have 45 nanometre parts ready.

The company first has to shrink its 65 nanometre chips to 55 nanometre as this is the optical shrink and later it will go for 45 nanometre. Intel announced it will go 45 nanometre in late Q4 07 / early Q1 2008, AMD said that for its CPUs it will be able to do it by the mid of 2008.

The good thing about 45 nanometre chips is that on 15x15 square millimetres die you can put 1,350 millions of transistors or roughly twice as much as you can do with 65 nanometre.

After that the next big step is 32 nanometre scheduled for 2010.

We told you about NVIDIA's the updated Windows Vista drivers yesterday. It came to our attention that the driver suite for Windows XP, the Media Center Edition and Windows 2003 was updated as well and leads in the term of version number. It now officially supports the recently released 8300/8400/8500/8600 cards and delivers increased 3D performance as usual. Please remember this driver is still in a beta state!

Windows XP / Windows XP Media Center Edition 32-bit (39.2 MB)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition /Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (39.2 MB)

If you've been paying attention to techPowerUp! news for the past few days, you know that NVIDIA and its partners have recently released the GeForce 8600 series. I won't bore you with the details, as you've probably read them at least fifty times by now (though if you'd like a refresher, please click here). However, prospective customers of this new graphics card have asked themselves: Where can I get it? And as of today, the answer is one of the most loved computer part providers in the USA: Newegg. If you live in the USA, and want an 8600, you'll be very happy to know that they are quite available on Newegg. The 8600GT series starts at $170, and the 8600GTS series starts at $200.

NVIDIA Updates Vista ForceWare Drivers

NVIDIA has updated its Vista ForceWare display drivers for all GeForce 6, 7 and 8 cards, for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the OS. This takes the version number up to 158.18 - the drivers are still listed as being beta whilst NVIDIA continues to improve them, but they are the official drivers available through the main downloads section of the site so should be stable. You can view the range of fixes below, although there are no new features in this release.

The 32-bit download is available here (30.2MB) and the 64-bit download is available here (42.7MB).

NVIDIA Corporation, the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced the extension of the award-winning NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series line-up to include three new graphics processing units (GPUs), bringing high-resolution gaming, stunning Microsoft Windows Vista graphics, and stellar HD DVD and Blu-ray video playback to virtually everyone regardless of budget. The new GPUs that complete the world's first top-to-bottom family of DirectX 10 GPUs include:
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS: $199-229
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT: $149-159
NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT: $89-129

From the latest Forceware 158.16, NVIDIA has at least four new G80 chips we haven't seen before. The first one is G80-400, then there is a G80-200 chip and finally G80-600 is listed. Last but not least the mystical Geforce 8800 Ultra makes an appearance.

The most important one is the new card ID // 0194, which is called NVIDIA Geforce 8800 Ultra. This new driver should really boost the performance of all G8X parts.

Here are the new cards.
// 0190 - NVIDIA G80-400
// 0191 - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
// 0192 - NVIDIA G80-200
// 0193 - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
// 0194 - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra
// 0197 - NVIDIA G80-600

Bennett Ring and Patch Kolan from IGN Australia had Keita Iida, Director of Content Management at NVIDIA, as their guest yesterday and he answered a couple of interesting questions. Iida is not a sales person and was quite communicative during the whole interview. The subjects discussed vary from DirectX 10 and rough performance expectations for Crysis and Microsofts Flight Simulator X over crippled Vista drivers to game development for the PS3 and PC from the performance perspective.

Get to the interview right here.

We told about NVIDIAs latest driversuite yesterday but people who actually used these new drivers report about stability problems of some sort. So be careful when installing the 101.70 with it's new control panel. It's needless to say that this is actually a leaked beta.ForceWare 101.70 for Vista 64bit and ForceWare 101.70 for Vista 32bit
Thanks to Guru3D for hosting!

AMD's ATI has a fancy name for their graphics card computing solution (Stream computing), so why doesn't NVIDIA? Since the CUDA name isn't exactly very appealing to the consumer market, NVIDIA is planning on renaming the CUDA incentive when it has something more ready for public release (such as a Folding@Home client). Rumor has it that NVIDIA will call their GPU-accelerated computing solution "GPU Computing", but we will see when NVIDIA actually releases clients to the average user.

For those of you that don't know, CUDA is a C compiler that compiles software so that it can be run/accelerated using an NVIDIA GPU as a processor.

Though the NVIDIA nForce 650i Ultra MCP was launched at the end of last year it took NVIDIA some time to come up with an actual reference design. Again ChileHardware were the first in the business to show some facts. The 650i ultra is the least feature-packed chipset out of the 600i family, with the absence of SLI being the biggest drawback. But if you don't intend to go for a SLI setup then the board will please you with full Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad support. Furthermore we are talking about dual-channel DDR2-800 (four DIMM sockets), a single PCIe x16, two PCIe x1 and three PCI (32bit/33MHz) slots, four SATA II ports and a single PATA port (HDD or optical drive).
The ATX I/O panel is not that crowded either, besides the obligatory PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports there are four USB 2.0 ports, the Gigabit Ethernet connector and the eight-channel audio connectors.
The mentioned Gigabit port supports NVIDIAs FirstPacket prioritizing technology in order to deliver the lowest pings possible while gaming. The SATA ports support Raid arrays (Raid 0, 1, 0+1 and 5) and onboard you will find four additional USB2.0 pinouts to be used with a USB bracket. Its price will be in the 50-100 US$ range, companies like EVGA, XFX, ECS, Biostar will soon adopt this design to their product family. All in all very nice budget solution mainboard that has its strengths.

Relating to Firingsquad.com, NVIDIA will release a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. optimized graphics driver for the GeForce 8 series next week. The new optimized driver should increase the performance especially on GeForce 8800GTX cards, because these cards aren't much faster than their "little brother", the 8800GTS, when playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with current available drivers. Additionally the new driver should provide the missing SLI-functionality in the game.