Quadro doing Shader model 4.0 is something that many have requested. Finally the card is there, fully DirectX 10 compatible and incredible expensive. Nvidia just announced three more Quadro cards, Quadro FX 4600, Quadro FX 5600 and Quadro Plex VCS Model IV. The last one has the name that puts C3PO in shame.
All cards have G80
inside and that is the coolest chip around. All of the cards have Next
generation Vertex and Pixel programmability also known as Shader model 4.0 to
all the mortals. The catch is that on Quadro these things work under DirectX 10
and OpenGL processional applications.
The Quaro's are the
same as any G80 but it will have a better cooler and a special driver. That driver costs you a lot of extra money
but if you make a new movie with it you don’t care much about the budget. This card also
supports Nvidia CUDA, GPGPU rendering stuff has insanely 1.5 GB memory and
ability to do extraordinary FSAA.
The card supports
3D texture and can process 8Kx8K textures and it even works in SLI. The common
suspects will ship the cards such as HP, Dell, IBM and the holly Sun and PNY,
Leadtek and Elsa will sell these cards as to retail market.
The Quadro FX 4600
should sell for about $1995 while the Quadro FX 5600 has an minimal suggested
retail price of only $2999. Cheap as beans.