NVIDIA G80 To Launch in November
DigiTimes reports that graphics card vendors have informed them that NVIDIA will be launching the industry's first DX10 compliant GPU in mid-November. Codenamed G80, this new GPU will have complete support for Shader Model 4.0 as well as for Microsoft's new Vista Operating System. Given the fact that DX10 will be available only on Vista, the launch of the GPU will be somewhat premature in terms of showcasing the latest and greatest features. However, history would suggest consumers will see some healthy gains in performance and image quality with their current crop of games as well.
Since DirectX 10 is positioned as a Vista-only solution, with presumably no ability to work with previous Windows versions, Nvidia's move to launch the GeForce 8800 in November should rather be considered as a symbolic step, said industry sources. So far, Microsoft only promised that Windows Vista will run DirectX 9.0, allowing to later upgrade it to DirectX 10 via Windows Update, the sources indicated. When Microsoft releases a DirectX 10-capable OS, ATI will perhaps catch up with the competition, the sources added.
