Hardware enthusiasts – mark the day in your calendar! Several hardware sources are reporting Nvidia will be hosting a super secret stream on October 21, supposedly to make an announcement of sorts. This is exciting news indeed; however, no one can say for certain what the announcement will be.
Rumours are running rampant, with some hoping for the announcement of the GTX Titan Ultra and some claim it will be related to the new “Tesla K40” GPU card (Source). Others are hoping for the release of more information on the new GeForce GTX Battlebox certified systems. Whatever the announcement is, it will be of interest to any and all hardware enthusiasts.
GTX Titan Ultra? What is This Madness?
(Anyone who has been in the market for a new graphics card will have heard about the beast which is the GTX Titan. Most likeley, you will have heard about the raw power it offers, gone to check its price, cried a little bit at said price, and then navigated away. At around $1000, the card is one of the most powerful single-card solutions on the market.
Even with the steep price point, the card has sold very well, with many PC Gamers demanding the very best hardware for their rigs. It is rumoured that Nvidia has taken this into account, and decided to release both a slightly cheaper GTX Titan LE, and an even more monstrous GTX Titan Ultra (or Titan II). The Titan Ultra would use the same GK110 architecture, but would unlock the card to use all 2,880 Cuda Cores (Source). The card would be insane and many gamers are eager to hear more about it.
Tesla K40? Wut?
If you haven’t heard of the Tesla series of Nvidia cards, don’t feel bad, it’s not exactly meant for gaming per se. The Tesla cards are more for computing, and as such they are not a part of the GTX series meant for gaming.
Either way, it is fun to marvel at the power of such a high-end card. The Tesla K40, codenamed Atlas, will be the newest addition to the tesla family, sporting a crazy 12 gigs of GDDR5 RAM on Nvidia’s GK180 architecture. As if this were not enough, the card will have approximately 200 additional Cuda Cores compared to the previously reigning champ Tesla K20X (Source).
GeForce Battlebox? Sounds Sexy!
(The new GeForce Battlebox program is basically Nvidia’s stamp on computers meeting certain hardware specifications. The Battlebox seal of approval will let customers know that the rig they are purchasing will be of the highest quality, able to play the latest games at the highest settings and the highest resolutions.
It is also a way for Nvidia to take a step towards 4K gaming, which is touted as the new “in thing” for PC gaming. Although 4K monitors provide absolutely stunning visuals at a high-resolution, many such monitors are being sold at outrageous prices. Give it some time and they will surely become more affordable (Source).
Nvidia has partnered with select hardware and systems providers to create Battlebox stamped systems, which will feature a minimum of 2 GTX 780’s in SLI with the option of using 2 GTX Titans instead.
These will be paired with the latest range of CPU’s in the i7 processor family, to ensure the systems run as fast as they possibly can. Although these Battlebox certified systems will be amazing, the price attached to them will put a sizeable dent in one’s bank account (Source).
2 GTX Titans in SLI alongside the latest core i7? Yes please! Barclays is going to hate me for this one.
Keep an eye out on Oct 21 to see what Nvidia has up their sleeves.
Published: Oct 16, 2013 09:45 am