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NVIDIA introduced its latest GPU – the GeForce 8800 Ultra to the current line-up. The new video cards based on 8800 Ultra will be available starting May, 15th 2007, at a recommended price of 699 EUR for Europe and $829 for USA. Basically the new card comes with a bit higher operating frequencies of the GPU and the RAM than the cards using the previous top model – the GeForce 8800 GTX. Otherwise than the higher frequencies the new video cards will feature 128 stream processors and 768MB video memory with 384-bit bus.
The latest in the most powerful line of graphics processors on the market, GeForce 8800 Ultra includes faster core and memory clocks to set a new bar for killer DirectX 10 gaming. GeForce 8800 Ultra is also SLI capable so you can pair two of these cards together for even better performance, especially if you have a high-resolution display and play games at resolutions or at least 1600×1200…
Technical specifications
Stream Processors: 128
Core Clock (MHz): 612
Shader Clock (MHz): 1500
Memory Clock (MHz): 1080
Memory Amount: 768MB GDDR3
Memory Interface: 384-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 103.7
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec): 39.2
Cascades is an official DirectX 10 demo by Nvidia showing off the capabilities of the new GeForce 8800 series video cards that come with full DirectX 10 hardware support (the first graphic cards to offer that). In order to run it you’ll need a GeForce 8800 GTX/GTS videocards with the latest Forceware drivers running on Windows Vista OS.
Explore a fantastic new world of endless rock formations and exhilarating detail. Watch majestic waterfalls cascade down the rock, while buzzing swarms of dragonfly-like inhabitants dive and play. Zoom in close to examine the vibrant surface detail, or move the camera up or down to explore the rock’s infinite outcroppings, cliffs, and caves.
Sit back and watch as the camera follows the water down as it flows over the rock, falls through the air, and crashes back onto the rock below in a cloud of mist. Or, take control and interactively place your own waterfalls on the terrain to create a beautiful personalized dreamscape just the way you want it.
Features
– Microsoft DirectX 10: Every aspect of the Cascades demo demonstrates next-generation features enabled by DirectX 10, including the generation of content, dynamic particle systems, and the high quality rendering of the scene.
– Procedural Geometry Creation: Rock structures are not only rendered, but also constructed by the GeForce 8800. This permits the user to move up or down forever, with the GPU continuously streaming out colossal chunks of rock in a wide variety of random shapes.
– Dynamic Particle Physics: The GeForce 8800’s geometry shaders perform all the physics calculations for the water, allowing the waterfalls to collide with the rock surface and to form rivers flowing around the features of the rock. Water particles are generated, propagated, and retired on the GPU, leaving the CPU free to perform other tasks.
– Displacement Mapping: Improved displacement mapping techniques use a simple height map in a complex pixel shader to display detailed cracks and bumps that are able to occlude each other, resulting in an extremely high level of realism on the rock surface.