NVIDIA Lumenex Engine

The NVIDIA Lumenex Engine in the GeForce 8 series allows for 128 bit HDR and up to 16x CSAA which translates into some very nice image quality. Both ATI and NVIDIA optimized speed in various ways in the past, at times with a small cost in image quality.

Quantum Effects Technology

The Quantum Effects Technology finally brings GPU based, real time physic calculations. This is something that has been in the works for some time and there are nForce 680 & 680 LT boards out there sporting an additional PCIe x8 slot for just this purpose. This basically means that a PPU like the Ageia PhysX is getting direct competition from the GPU makers, which have the advantage of a wide range in cards at different price points, which can be used for the purpose of such calculations.