NVIDIA Fall Driver Update (rel 180) and Other Treats
by Derek Wilson on November 20, 2008 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Tesla, CUDA, and the Future
We haven't been super excited about the applicability of CUDA on the desktop. Sure, NVIDIA has made wondrous promises and bold claims, but the applications for end users just aren't there yet (and the ones that are are rather limited in scope and applicability). But the same has not been true for CUDA in the workstation and HPC markets.
Tesla, NVIDIA's workstation level GPU computing version of its graphics cards (it has no display output and is spec'd a bit differently) has been around for a while, but we are seeing more momentum in that area lately. As of yesterday, NVIDIA has announced partnerships with Dell, Lenovo, Penguin Computing and others to bring desktop boxes featuring 4 way Tesla action. These 4-Tesla desktop systems, called Tesla Personal Supercomputers, will cost less than $10k US. This is an important number to come in under (says NVIDIA) because this is below the limit for discretionary spending at many major universities. Rather than needing to follow in the footsteps of Harvard, MIT, UIUC, and others who have built their own GPU computing boxes and clusters, universities and businesses can now trust in a reliable computing vendor to deliver and support the required hardware.
We don't have any solid specs on the new boxes yet. Different vendors may do things slightly differently and we aren't sure if NVIDIA is pushing for a heavily standardized box or will give these guys complete flexibility. But regardless of the rest of the box, the Tesla cards themselves are the same cards that have been available since earlier this year.
These personal supercomputers aren't going to end up in homes anytime soon, as they are squarely targeted at workstation and higher level computing. But that doesn't mean this development won't have an impact on the end user. By targeting universities through the retail support of their new partners in this effort, NVIDIA is making it much more attractive (and possible) for universities to teach GPU computing and massively parallel programming using their hardware. Getting CUDA into the minds of future developers will go a long way, not just for the HPC market, but for every market touched by these future graduates.
It's also much easier for an engineer to sell a PHB on picking up "that new Dell system" rather than a laundry list of expensive components to be built and supported either by IT staff or by the engineer himself. Making in roads into industry (no matter the industry) will start getting parts moving, expose more developers to the CUDA environment, and create demand for more CUDA developers. This will also help gently nudge students and universities towards CUDA, and even if the initial target is HPC research and engineering, increased availability of hardware and programs will attract students who are interested in applying the knowledge to other areas.
It's all about indoctrination really. Having a good product or a good API does nothing without having developers and support. The more people NVIDIA can convince that CUDA is the greatest thing since sliced bread, the closer to the greatest thing since sliced bread CUDA will become (in the lab and on the desktop). Yes, they've still got a long long way to go, but the announcement of partners in providing Tesla Personal Supercomputer systems is a major development and not something the industry (and especially AMD) should under appreciate.
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Intelman07 - Monday, November 24, 2008 - link
I most certainly do not regret switching from Nvidia to ATI. Nvidia's drivers were horrid in Vista. I've not had too many issues since. I do not mind bashing ATI as much as I mind praising Nvidia.kondor999 - Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - link
I'm running 3 GTX280's in Tri-SLI under Vista x64 and the 180.xx have made a large difference by greatly increasing the *minimum* framerate in games such as Far Cry 2 and Warhead.Of course, be advised that I'm running these at 5040x1050 using a Matrox TH2Go at 4-8x AA.
Mr Roboto - Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - link
Good for you, you poser. I know you're type. The kid at school who thought that by lying about his personal possessions he was somehow cool or that he would gain more friends. It turns out those types are just compulsive liars with NO friends. We called them lietokickits. You don't have to lie to kick it. Especially in the Anand Tech comments section.SiliconDoc - Friday, December 26, 2008 - link
It really doesn't look like you called that one correctly:Note the date, Oct. 30th 2007 kondor999 " got a copy of Vista Ultimate OEM on the day it was released, quickly discovered that performance was poor (specifically - graphics, audio, and file copying) and shelved it after struggling with it for 3 months. I'm now back to my old copy of XP Pro and it's just so much nicer. Simply put, everything works as it should. BTW, I have a nice rig: 3ghz Core2, 2gb RAM, 8800GTX, dual 150gb Raptors. If my rig chokes on Vista..."
http://www.firingsquad.com/matrix/comment_view.asp...">http://www.firingsquad.com/matrix/comment_view.asp...
Then there's the age match > " http://www.ageod.com/forums/member.php?u=4951">http://www.ageod.com/forums/member.php?u=4951
Age
42
Join Date
June 18th, 2008
Total Posts
5
" I'm an older gamer (42) and I remember when games like Longbow 2 and F-15 came with big ring-bound manuals that ensured you *wanted* to buy the physical game " (from the first link)
Then there's this:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2626829">http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2626829
Looks like the money is there.
__________________________________
Oh well, better luck next time.
george1976 - Monday, November 24, 2008 - link
Well, talking about stability, i have problems now with NFS Undercover with this new driver, problems i never had with 178.24.... So much for treats...fausto412 - Monday, November 24, 2008 - link
Every driver after 178.13 breaks AA in Battlefield 2142. I just downloaded 180.48 drivers and they make left 4 dead stutter so much it is unplayable. I try new drivers and go back to 178.13 everytime. what gives Nvidia? Anyways, perhaps Anandtech can question Nvidia on the stability of their drivers.rocky1234 - Sunday, November 23, 2008 - link
Wow big deal Nvidia releases a driver & everyone goes crazy yay. They add a few small features & make a big stink about it yippy. Have they fixed the Vista issues yet don't know because I gave up waiting 6 months ago & switched to the red team. PhysX is a nice feature but even a Owner of a ATT card & windows XP can go out & buy a cheap Nvidia card slave it & install these magic drivers & get PhysX in the supported games that is if you got a second PCI-E x16 slot. At least that is what I heard people are doing I own a 9800GTX it is sitting on the floor here I may try it to see it it works...lol. Now if MS would come out with a patch for Vista that would allow you to do it there too that would rock.Mr Roboto - Saturday, November 22, 2008 - link
Am I the only one who seems to see through Nvidia'a bullshit? Why is Anand praising them for un-crppling their drivers after five YEARS! When the only reason they're doing it is because AMD is handing them their ass!Nvidia is in a free fall so they finally start to pull out all the stops and release features that they should have given their users years ago. I mean it only took ATI to essentially kill their profit margins on the GTX series for them to release dual monitor SLI.
I'm a long time Nvidia owner (8800GTX) but even I see the way Anand lays on the bullshit real thick. Quit playing nice for Nvidia. Are you afraid they won't send you review hardware or return your phone calls?
Well since Anand won't do it I guess the readers must.
Nvidia's Vista drivers were nothing short of fucking atrocious for YEARS (there's that word again). Only in the last 3-4 months have they gotten a little better, coincidence? (4800 launch). Nvidia even had SLI working on the Quadro setups for YEARS. Now that they're falling fast they decide to un-cripple their desktop drivers. This goes hand in hand with gouging their customers, pushing flaky hardware out into market (G92-94), IMAP bullshit, the fucked up, confuse the noobs naming scheme and broken, buggy and just all around shitty drivers.
Fuck Nvidia and fuck their shit motherboards. I was a loyal Nvidia owner for as long as I can remember but they have taken greed and screwing their customers to another level. I hope
Mr Roboto - Saturday, November 22, 2008 - link
I hope ATI takes them to the brink of bankruptcy but only for the sake of competition. Otherwise I could care less about Nvidia and their busted hardware.JonnyDough - Friday, November 21, 2008 - link
Is a simple email informing me of new driver release with a link to the page and what it fixes/changes. A VERY simple email. I don't care WHEN they release the driver, but more importantly that it works and that I know it's available for download. Too many releases just gets to be a hassle, not enough means I have to wait forever for my favorite application or game to work properly. Communication between graphic card companies and software companies probably could use some improvement as well. The way I see it, AMD/NVidia/Intel need to get on board with a standardized support of their products using the email method. Software developers should have a single website to access all three in regards to drivers, and end users should have a standardized email platform from all three. When companies get together and provide good support for their products, everyone wins. As long as they don't lie in bed together on making money, hardware and software can advance at a faster and more complete pace than they have previously...and that means smoother computing for all.