ASUS Designs Monster Dual-GTX285 4GB Graphics Card

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ASUS Designs Monster Dual-GTX285 4GB Graphics Card

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday May 29, 2009 @06:12AM from the nvidia-get-back-in-the-kitchen-and-bake-me-a-gpu dept.

suraj.sun writes to mention that ASUS has just designed their own monster graphics card based on the GeForce GTX 295. While the card retains the GeForce GTX 295 name, same device ID, and remains compatible with existing NVIDIA drivers, ASUS has made a couple of modifications to call its own. "the company used two G200-350-B3 graphics processors, the same ones that make the GeForce GTX 285. The GPUs have all the 240 shader processors enabled, and also have the complete 512-bit GDDR3 memory interface enabled. This dual-PCB monstrosity holds 32 memory chips, and 4 GB of total memory (each GPU accesses 2 GB of it). Apart from these, each GPU system uses the same exact clock speeds as the GeForce GTX 285: 648/1476/2400 MHz (core/shader/memory)."

212 comments

I surrender. by Oricalchos · 2009-05-29 06:13 · Score: 5, Funny

Does it run Linux?
1. Re:I surrender. by geminidomino · 2009-05-29 06:17 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe, but it will work better on Windows. Just ask Asus... :P
2. Re:I surrender. by Volanin · 2009-05-29 06:23 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I really miss a "Well Played Sarcarm" mod option.
  
  --
  If I clone myself, can I call it a thread?
  If a girl winks to us, can I call it a race condition?
3. Re:I surrender. by EdZ · 2009-05-29 06:43 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I wonder how long until a BIOS is added on-board modern GPU cards. It'd be like budding an extra little computer off inside your existing computer.
4. Re:I surrender. by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:44 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Yo dawg, we heard you liked computing ...
5. Re:I surrender. by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:53 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  I really miss a "Well Played Sarcarm" mod option.
  *ring ring*
  NY Times Editor: Marcus? Hi, it's Bill Keller from the New York Times and since we're all in agreement that today we put our paywalls, I just wanted to call you up and thank you again.
  Washington Post Editor: Oh yeah, Bill, we gotta do this--I mean, we just can't sustain without this revenue *snicker*.
  NY Times Editor: Alright well, I'm calling because it's 10am now EST and we had all agreed that at midnight EST our papers would switch over to paywalls.
  Washington Post Editor: Yep. That's right. *snort*
  NY Times Editor: Yeah, well, your paper is still accessible without a paywall.
  Washington Post Editor: What? Oh, man, hah, must be a bug. I'll get right on that!
  *click*
  Two hours later.
  *ring ring*
  NY Times Editor: Yeah, Marcus? It's Bill from the New York Times again, it's noon, still seeing a paywall on your site, what's up?
  Washington Post Editor: Oh yeah, it's a bad bug, we can't figure it out--might take weeks. *laughing in background*
  NY Times Editor: Really? Well, we haven't had a single person sign up for our paywall and I'm looking at an ad online right now that says, "Washington Post: Because Information Wants to be Free." And, uh, I also am reading some comments on blogs about only idiots will ever use the New York Times from this point on. Am I on speaker phone?
  Washington Post Editor: Bill, it's time I came clean. In the newspaper business, there are sheep and there are sharks ...
6. Re:I surrender. by Alzheimers · 2009-05-29 06:56 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Yes, the kind they use at Jurassic Park.
7. Re:I surrender. by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:22 · Score: 0
  
  I heard you like computers. So I... ahh nevermind.
8. Re:I surrender. by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:35 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Graphics cards have their dedicated BIOS on-board.
9. Re:I surrender. by Abreu · 2009-05-29 07:48 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Aren't we supposed to hate Asus this week?
  
  --
  No sig for the moment.
10. Re:I surrender. by PitaBred · 2009-05-29 08:06 · Score: 1, Flamebait
  
  You say that like there isn't already a BIOS in video cards.
  
  --
  My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
11. Re:I surrender. by ElektronSpinRezonans · 2009-05-29 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  t'd be like budding an extra little computer off inside your existing computer.
  Actually, this is a logical step in computer evolution. Kind of like Mitochondria in our cells. Evolutionary consequences of gaming maybe slightly controversial however.
12. Re:I surrender. by drinkypoo · 2009-05-29 09:04 · Score: 1
  
  Has there been an official announcement from Microsoft or Asus about the wacky website?
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
13. Re:I surrender. by Chabo · 2009-05-29 10:35 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  It's a Unix system! I know this!
  
  --
  Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
14. Re:I surrender. by pyrrhonist · 2009-05-29 12:11 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  No, but look on the bright side: It almost runs Crysis!
  
  --
  Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
15. Re:I surrender. by FingerSoup · 2009-05-29 13:28 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Will it blend?
16. Re:I surrender. by CrazyDuke · 2009-05-29 13:40 · Score: 1
  
  If the OS on the PC was Windows, and the video card ran it's own embedded version of Windows, would Microsoft still bitch that all the kernel instability was caused by piss poor vender supplied software for the device?
  
  --
  Any sufficiently advanced influence is indistinguishable from control.
17. Re:I surrender. by Failed+Physicist · 2009-05-29 13:53 · Score: 1
  
  Not anymore.
18. Re:I surrender. by kamikazearun · 2009-05-29 14:00 · Score: 1
  
  Now all I need is a cpu to run on it
It's really not enough. by tjstork · 2009-05-29 06:13 · Score: 1, Funny

tongueincheek:
I'm working on my game, called Titanographic, and it requires a 16GB graphics card. Ho hum, I guess I'll have to wait another fews years before I can release it!

--
This is my sig.
1. Re:It's really not enough. by pak9rabid · 2009-05-29 06:46 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I'm working on my game, called Titanographic, and it requires a 16GB graphics card.
  Coincidentally, so will directX 12 *ducks*
2. Re:It's really not enough. by James+Skarzinskas · 2009-05-29 15:07 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Oh. Always bet on Duke?
So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:14 · Score: 5, Funny

...so we can dedicate a full 2nd 1KW Power Supply Unit for the graphics card alone?
1. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:28 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  In the future, running Crysis will actually create an electricity crisis for your power grid.
2. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:31 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  Already happened:
  http://www.circotech.com/fortron-source-boosterx-3-dedicated-graphic-power-supply-unit.html
3. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by ifrag · 2009-05-29 06:33 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Take a look at Mountain-Mods. They already have several dual-PSU cases.
  
  --
  Fear is the mind killer.
4. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by EdZ · 2009-05-29 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  The P190 can fit two PSUs, as well as a lot of other 'high end' cases (i.e. built like a brick shithouse, cost an arm and a leg). Then you have double-width server chassis, or custom rackmount designs.
5. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Sycraft-fu · 2009-05-29 06:53 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Well even as hungry as this card is, a 1kw PSU would still do fine. Computers don't use as much power as people seem to think. However, there are actually larger PSUs for sale. For example E-Power sells a 2000 watt PSU. It is an external enclosure that houses the actually PSU components, and then a bunch of wires connecting to an internal patchbay that you hook your cables in to. Completely overkill, but then hey so is this GPU.
6. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by daten · 2009-05-29 08:10 · Score: 1
  
  4 ATI 4870x2 cards in Quad Crossfire would require 1480 watts for just the cards.
  
  http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4870-x2-review-crossfire/6
7. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by LUH+3418 · 2009-05-29 08:10 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Back in the day, just before 3DFX went down, the Voodoo5 graphics card had its own power brick: http://regmedia.co.uk/2006/08/10/3dfx_voodoo5_6k_2.jpg
  
  I recently had to upgrade from a 2 year old 500W power supply because it didn't have enough (6 pin?) power cables for my GeForce 9800GTX. I was honestly disappointed, but went ahead and bought a new one. I now have a 700W power supply from rocketfish, and I think that's quite insane.
  
  In the end, I think graphics card manufacturers might just go back to external power bricks. Either that, or people will get tired of ever-increasing power and cooling requirements... I think that console manufacturers, for one, would not be so happy with the idea of having to design a console that can supply 400W+ to a GPU. This might pressure GPU manufacturers into limiting the power requirements of their future chips.
8. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Vu1turEMaN · 2009-05-29 08:43 · Score: 1
  
  There are loads of cheap cases that support 2 PSUs....or you could just grab an old server case.
9. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by meringuoid · 2009-05-29 09:12 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  You jest, but the last great work of 3dfx before they gave up was a beast of a card called the Voodoo5 6000. Ludicrous design. It was nothing but two Voodoo5 5500s on one card - and the 5500 was nothing but two 4500s on one card! The idea was to outdo the high end GeForce cards, and indeed the 6000 compares fairly with the GeForce 3, but the cost would have been astronomical.
  This monster demanded vast amounts of power. So they designed an external power supply that plugged into the back of it.
  Never saw the light of day; 3dfx collapsed after only a small number had been manufactured, and now they change hands for a small fortune from time to time on the collectors' market.
  
  --
  Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
10. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Creepy · 2009-05-29 09:57 · Score: 1
  
  I remember an nVidia SLI configuration that required something like 1350 watts, as well (I believe OC'd 8800 GTX's a couple of years ago). The 260GTX I have requires 500W, so I can only assume this will need 900-1000W at bare minimum (it has more stuff, but 500W includes other components, so its not a doubling from a single GPU to a double).
  The real scary thing is a 1480Watt draw on my wall would nearly blow a fuse by itself (120V*15A=1800Watts), God forbid adding a laser printer like I have on that wall (it's an older color model which draws about 400 Watts when printing), the two server machines, or the TV (and yes, I blow fuses sometimes already).
11. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Nethead · 2009-05-29 10:32 · Score: 1
  
  Well, the circuit breaker box shouldn't be too far from your room in your mom's basement so adding another circuit should be easy.
  
  --
  -- I have a private email server in my basement.
12. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 11:36 · Score: 0
  
  FYI, the HD 4870X2 is a dual GPU card, and neither ATI or nVidia cards support more than four GPUs in one system. Hence, the maximum number of HD 4870X2s that can be used in one system is two. Also note that the figure noted in the article that you linked was the power consumption of the ENTIRE system, not just the video cards. This means that the total power consumption of the most graphically powerful ATI based system you can build is only 740 watts. This card could not possibly consume much more power than the HD 4870X2, so there is no way a system running two of these cards for quad SLI would need a power supply with more than 1000 watts (unless the system is massively overclocked, or cooled with a peltier, or something else excessive).
13. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 12:06 · Score: 0
  
  ...so we can dedicate a full 2nd 1KW Power Supply Unit for the graphics card alone?
  Wouldn't that mean you need to plug each power supply into a different circuit in the house to avoid throwing a breaker/blowing a fuse? Or upgrading to a 20 amp circuit just for your computer?
14. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by petermgreen · 2009-05-29 13:32 · Score: 1
  
  only if you live in a country with horriblly wimpy power circuits ;)
  but in general I agree the power consumption of higher end PCs is getting kinda crazy. Just as CPU power consumption stabalised and even dropped slightly (with the move from P4 to core 2) graphics power consumption started going thorugh the roof.
  
  --
  note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
15. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 16:28 · Score: 0
  
  Your GTX260 does not require 500 Watts. 500 Watts is what is "required" (recommended, more accurately) for an entire computer with a GTX260.
16. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by mathman47 · 2009-05-29 17:30 · Score: 1
  
  Actually they have quad PS cases. My new nVidia card takes up so much room it is the only thing that fits on the PCI express bus. This new card might take up all the slot space in a mid-tower.
  
  --
  "There are good ships, and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships, and ma
17. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by Sycraft-fu · 2009-05-29 18:14 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Except you can't do that. A 4870x2 is already crossfired on the card itself. Quad crossfire involves two of those cards. Four of them would need 8 way crossfire, which ATi does not have support for.
  Nor, for that matter, would such a thing be useful. You do not get linear scaling with multiple SLI/crossfire cards. As you start tacking more on, your gains rapidly decrease. About the only case where it would be useful is for extremely high resolution displays, but we are talking beyond 2560x1600.
  You are also misreading their benchmarking. They are measuring the system power draw. So that means the power figure is for the total consumption of all hardware, including CPU and such, not the GPUs alone. Also, this is wall power draw. PSUs are not 100% efficient, they are about 80-85% efficient when you have a good one. So for every 100 watts they draw from the socket, they output only 80-85 watts to the PC. However the ratings they give are output ratings, not input ratings. So a 1000 watt PSU would, under full load, would draw around 1250 watts, perhaps more (PSUs are less efficient at full load than half load).
  Thus their system in that example is asking the PSU to supply about 600 watts with 2 4870s.
  A 1kw PSU really will do the trick for any system you are likely to build, even high end ones. Yes you can find hardware that if put all together would need more. No you aren't going to put that in your desktop. 1000 watts will do you fine for an OC'd quad core, two high end video cards, a bunch of disks, and so on.
18. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by bemymonkey · 2009-05-29 21:21 · Score: 1
  
  "only if you live in a country with horriblly wimpy power circuits ;)"
  I was just wondering this myself - what if you need more power for something? Are there usually two circuits to a room in the US? Or do you have three-phase sockets in every room?
  In fact, forget computers, what about musicians? My "practice PA" is about 2kW already (doesn't run at max power, of course, but I'd assume it's relatively inefficient, so maybe 1kW at the volume we need), and each stage light is 500W... A few guitar and bass amps at ~50W power usage each. So basically in the US we'd be able to run a single light? That would suck...
19. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by DarkOx · 2009-05-29 23:56 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think the console manufactures have much to be concerned with. The upper limint on the resolution they are going to want to run for the next generation or two is going to 1920x1080. 1080p is going to be the accepted standard resolution of televisions for some time. There is little reason for the console makers to go after display resolutions greater than 90% of their audience will never connect a capable display for.
  
  --
  Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
20. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by DarkOx · 2009-05-30 00:03 · Score: 1
  
  Most residential building here in the USA are wired with 14 or if you are lucky 12 gage wire. Often most of a home will be wired with 14 and you have 12 in basement or garage spaces to support power tools and things. Newer homes are tending toward larger values. Most places (probably the entire country) code is not more than a 15A breaker on 14 gage wire, and 20A on 12. We usually have large appliances, washer/dryer, central air conditioners, etc on dedicated 10 gage circuits and usually run them on two phase, about 208-220 volts at most locations. These may be 12 or even 10 gage runs and breakers accordingly. I would say with the exception of the large appliances most building have a density of one circuit per room or less, but that is changing in more modern homes for obvious reasons.
  
  --
  Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
21. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by rant64 · 2009-05-30 00:28 · Score: 1
  
  While display resolution must be a major factor in power consumption, in my opinion the whole issue started back when VGA designers and game designers began thinking: "Hey, we can offload that processing to the GPU!" (if there even was the concept of 'GPU' back then).
  
  Ever since, the complexity and features of these GPUs has increased tremendously, obviously resulting in higher scene complexity and better looking games/graphics. But man... Those chips need to be fed.
  
  I don't know if there is any such thing as 'demand for scene complexity' beyond the "Oooh! Shiny!" factor, but if there is you can't hold the GPU manufacturers responsible for jumping that market.
  
  --
  MMO Vampire Role Playing
22. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by TheThiefMaster · 2009-05-30 02:31 · Score: 1
  
  I have a 2.8GHz AMD dual-core, 4GB of ram, a GTX 285, three hdds and two optical drives in my pc. How big of a PSU do I need?
  The same Tagan 480W PSU I've been using for ~ 5 years.
  Just because your 500W psu didn't have enough power connectors doesn't mean 500W isn't enough. Just make sure you have one capable of sustaining its max output, instead of only being able to sustain half of what is on the box (and being able to do 1ms spikes of the power output they advertise). The 80% and 85% efficiency certifications are a great way to confirm this, as well as getting you an efficient PSU.
  I can see PSU requirements being much higher for multiple graphics chips (the top end ones use 200W when going flat out), but do you really need multiple (for example) GTX 285s? I run all my games at max res, with HDR, AA, AF, and all the game's own options on max, and I can still put vsync on afterwards because the framerate's so high. And that's on one GTX 285.
23. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by TheThiefMaster · 2009-05-30 02:38 · Score: 1
  
  Mod parent informative. I would, but I'm out of points.
  Many people don't understand power requirements, and if you're building your own pc you really should.
  Also, if you get an 85% efficiency certified PSU, not only is that proof that it can actually manage its advertised output, but it is also at least 85% efficient at any power draw between 10% and 100% of its rating. High efficiency will save you a lot of money in the long run, and the build quality needed for that efficiency also means the PSU lasts much longer.
24. Re:So, when will be be getting dual-PSU cases... by WasteOfAmmo · 2009-06-01 03:01 · Score: 1
  
  Regarding the circuits per room... although for general lighting and plugins there is not a requirement it is highly recommended that no room has all of the lights and plugs on the same circuit. Having all on the same circuit makes it difficult to work in the room... you turn off the electricity to work on the lighting and you have nowhere to plug in tolls, or you want to work on the plugs but have no light.
  Another factor that has recently affected the number of circuits per room is Arc Fault breaker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc-fault_circuit_interrupter) requirements for bedroom plugs. With these, typically you put the plugs on the circuit with the AFCI and the lights on a separate circuit.
  Regarding the GP's questions: In Canada you are allowed up to 12 devices (plugs or lighting fixtures) per branch circuit (15A 14 gauge as DarkOx pointed out). Typically you only see two phases run into a house with most branch circuits running on one phase or the others (ones that are 110-120 V). I think this is the same in the US.
Imagine a beowulf cluster by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:17 · Score: 0, Troll

of these
I feel nerd-emasculated by Toe,+The · 2009-05-29 06:22 · Score: 4, Funny

Oh dear. My primary computer has half as much RAM as a graphics card.
(Hangs head in shame.)
1. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Daniel_Staal · 2009-05-29 06:37 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  A true nerd looks at this card the way an off-roader looks at an H2: It's bigger than it needs to be, costs more than it should, and is at best no better at what it's supposed to be good at then something a third the price. Oh, and only rich posers actually own one.
  It's not tech for the sake of tech. It's tech because you can do something cool with it that makes you a nerd. And there's not really much you can do with this that you can't do just as well while spending less money.
  A nerd can get his computer, with half as much RAM and less processor power, to do everything this card can do. And do it better.
  
  --
  'Sensible' is a curse word.
2. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Lord+Ender · 2009-05-29 06:52 · Score: 1
  
  2GiB RAM? What are you doing on slashdot?
  
  --
  A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
3. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Joce640k · 2009-05-29 06:58 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  How can you compare something that costs $80,000 (plus running costs) to something that costs $800?
  The other big difference is that this thing will be "normal" in a couple of years and only cost $100. Mid-range PCs will have this as standard.
  A Hummer, OTOH, will still be just as expensive and just as stupid.
  
  --
  No sig today...
4. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by nsayer · 2009-05-29 07:10 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  How can you compare something that costs $80,000 (plus running costs) to something that costs $800?
  You're on /. and you're questioning a car analogy?!
5. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by wjh31 · 2009-05-29 07:11 · Score: 1
  
  but to buy an '09 Hummer in a few years will be much cheaper, the same as your analogy that a card like this will be cheaper in a few years
6. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Skuld-Chan · 2009-05-29 07:16 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  I was told by a NVidia scientist that the memory that these video cards comes with actually is more a result of the kinds of parts available at the speeds needed for the amount of address lines they need to connect rather than a requirement for an application.
7. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Kjella · 2009-05-29 07:20 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Says the nerd who can't afford it. I think it would have been awesome to put this in a liquid cooled quad SLI setup, even though it'd require it's own power circuit, AC unit and noise-isolated room in the basement. You can't say that's NOT nerdy...
  
  --
  Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
8. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Spatial · 2009-05-29 07:21 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  How can you compare something that costs $80,000 (plus running costs) to something that costs $800?
  He didn't compare them, he used their few similar traits to illustrate a point. A common use of analogies.
9. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Ephemeriis · 2009-05-29 07:23 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  A true nerd looks at this card the way an off-roader looks at an H2: It's bigger than it needs to be, costs more than it should, and is at best no better at what it's supposed to be good at then something a third the price. Oh, and only rich posers actually own one.
  It's not tech for the sake of tech. It's tech because you can do something cool with it that makes you a nerd. And there's not really much you can do with this that you can't do just as well while spending less money.
  A nerd can get his computer, with half as much RAM and less processor power, to do everything this card can do. And do it better.
  Sort of... But not really.
  I mean, I understand where you're going with this, and I generally agree. I usually buy a $100 video card and put the extra money into RAM and CPU. Generally that works out pretty well for me. But my needs are relatively low...
  I play things like WoW and EVE on at 1280x1024. I don't have a ginormous monitor, and I don't play a whole lot of visually-impressive high-speed games. If I had a big ol' monitor and wanted to play something like Crysis at 2560x1600 it just wouldn't happen. I'd get a slideshow at best. And that's without even pondering whether I'd turn on anything fancy like HDR or whatever.
  No, you probably don't need a card like this. And you can probably get away with something less expensive. But it isn't like they just stuck a bunch of gold and diamonds on the card to jack up the price... It does actually do more than my budget card.
  
  --
  "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
10. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by director_mr · 2009-05-29 07:26 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Not trying to be offensive, but you are wrong. A GTX285 card is the most powerful single-GPU processor for gaming out there right now. 2 GTX 285 processors in SLI are the only thing that can play some games in 2560x1600 resolution at the highest quality settings. So to make your analogy more appropriate, its like the way an off-roader looks at a car designed to win the Baja 1000. Here is a benchmark that makes my point: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3501&p=6
  
  The article doesn't mention the price, but I suppose it would cost more than the GTX 295, so this card would be expensive. The advantage of it though, is you can stick enough graphics power in a single slot to power a 30 inch monitor at the highest settings with playable framerates in almost any game. So while I can not speak for every nerd, this is surely not tech purely for the sake of tech. No one could get something with half the RAM, less processor power to do everything this card can do that I know of. Perhaps you could prove me wrong on that point?
  
  So while some think your post is insightful, I think you have no idea what you are talking about. This card was made to fill a niche in the high end gamers market, pure and simple.
11. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:33 · Score: 0
  
  can you imagine the guys from Pixar working with a GeForce FX 5200 ???
12. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Mr.+Flibble · 2009-05-29 07:37 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  How can you compare something that costs $80,000 (plus running costs) to something that costs $800?
  The other big difference is that this thing will be "normal" in a couple of years and only cost $100. Mid-range PCs will have this as standard.
  A Hummer, OTOH, will still be just as expensive and just as stupid.
  His analogy with the offroad makes sense... If you are familiar with off roading. My old First Generation 1989 4Runner will destroy a Hummer H2 offroad, and I am in the process of buying another rolling chassis for it today. Total cost? $500.00 off of Craigslist.
  A H2 is something that APPEARS to do well off road, but in reality it does not. Plus, when parts come flying off of your offroading vehicle (and if you are doing real off roading, THEY WILL FLY OFF) replacing those parts on a old 4Runner is cheaper than a H2.
  So, his analogy is valid. A offroad nerd can get much more out of a 1st gen 4Runner than an H2, in the same way an IT nerd can get more out of a non-4GB card than the twit that likes to drop $800/month on his gaming system.
  
  --
  Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
13. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:42 · Score: 0
  
  No, All offroaders look at H2's as if they were jokes. Hell a 90's suzuki Sidekick can kick the crap out of a H2 off road. I mean the small 4 banger and kicking the crap out of it really REALLY hard. The H2 is a utter and complete joke offroad. We regularly laugh at the idiots that try to take the trails in those idiotic things. They are a Hummer in name only, just like the useless H3.
  The Funny part is that gaming and 3d tech has stagnated. A $129.00 card can do everything you need prefectly, this monster is useless in every way. It cant even get traction on dry flat pavement. It's a H2 sitting on 13" low profile racing slicks. It's useless and looks retarded.
14. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:46 · Score: 0
  
  I see you haven't heard of Crysis.
15. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by hairyfeet · 2009-05-29 07:49 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  It's not nerdy, it's poser. it is no different than those supercharger ricers you see doctor's kids driving, that they have tricked all to hell on daddy's credit card, and then wrap around a telephone pole. Anybody with the bucks to buy this thing has more bucks than brains and probably won't know what to do with it, other than brag about his FPS in Crysis.
  Nerdy is like my former boss, when he found it would take 2 PSUs to power all the SCSI drives he had. He stripped two towers down to the frames, put the mobo and SCSI cards in one along with half the drives, mounted the other half along with a second PSU in the second skeleton, picked them both up and went to the auto body shop down the street and had them spot weld those bitches together. It was fugly as hell but gave him an insane(at the time) 500Gb of nice fast SCSI storage on the LAN. He had the drivers for pretty much every piece of hardware built for over a decade at his fingertips. Now THAT was nerdy!
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
16. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by sexconker · 2009-05-29 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  GiB is a term made-up by a consortium of fools.
  GB is proper.
17. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Mal-2 · 2009-05-29 07:56 · Score: 1
  
  No problem, feel free to buy one and use it to the fullest, with the blessings of the rest of us. It's the high-end buyers and early adopters that subsidize the rest of us. Without them, there would be no sub-$100 cards that were worth a damn. They spend way too much for what they get, but the rest of us win.
  Mal-2
  
  --
  How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
18. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by ground.zero.612 · 2009-05-29 08:04 · Score: 1
  
  I offer you this challenge:
  
  Build this cheap PC you allude to, then compare it to some real world tests using this new Asus beast.
  
  I'll take any and all bets against your budget PC. FFS my new laptop has core2duo, 4gb ram, and a 9600GT 512mb, and there is no way in hell I would bet against it with my desktop p4, 2gb ram, and 6800gt. Well, unless I was retarded *cough*.
  
  --
  "Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
19. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by DirtyCanuck · 2009-05-29 08:07 · Score: 1
  
  Well friend, some people go offroad as a hobby. Some people go off road because they need to. If you live in rough terrain this becomes a means of living. Same goes for gaming. I am looking to get a 120hz monitor (when they come out) and a pair of 3d Glasses from Nvidia. This card is going to be absolutely necessary for my day to day gaming, same as my 4x4 for getting in my 2 mile long driveway.
20. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 08:11 · Score: 0
  
  > The other big difference is that this thing will be "normal" in a couple of years and only cost $100. Mid-range PCs will have this as standard.
  Nope. That's the thing about high end graphics stuff - it never becomes "normal", its performance is instead matched by the low end version of the next generation of cards. Mid-range PCs get single card solutions that are as capable as last year's hideously overpriced dual-slot monstrosity.
  And that's why the dual slot monstrosities are silly.
21. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by alta · 2009-05-29 08:13 · Score: 1
  
  And here you thought you just had to upgrade to be a good nerd. According to this post you have to make that piece of shit you already have perform miracles!
  Good luck with that!
  
  --
  Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
22. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by alta · 2009-05-29 08:21 · Score: 1
  
  If you're expecting him to get anywhere NEAR the FPS in crysis with his POS model that someone with that rig is getting you're smoking crack. I don't care HOW tweaked your computer is, if it doesn't have a comparable video card it's not going to happen.
  Now, if he uses his nerddom to hack and sabatoge the fast computer, maybe.
  Or if he uses his supreme skills to write an oldschool demo that performs better on his particular kit than the supercard.... yeah.
  Or maybe if you set up the competition to where the computer can only be ran off of power generated by the friction generated heat of rabbits humping...
  But unless you set up a rediculous(sp) scenario, a high end video card is almost always going to beat a low end or old one. The same is NOT true for a 4runner vs H2. Car analogy FAIL ;)
  
  --
  Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
23. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by BikeHelmet · 2009-05-29 08:24 · Score: 1
  
  Heck yes. I played Left4Dead on a PC from 2002, and was getting 30fps!
  But I did finally succumb and pick up a brand new 8800GS... for $45CAD... about $35 USD.
  True geeks don't need a monster card like this. ;)
24. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by jandrese · 2009-05-29 08:26 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  If your liquid cooled rig needs sound proofing you've done it wrong.
  
  --
  
  I read the internet for the articles.
25. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by tnk1 · 2009-05-29 08:28 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  True enough, but think of what a nerd could do with this?
  I have a GTX 295. It is by far the most monstrous card I have ever put into a machine since the early PC days. I can't begin to imagine what its big brother looks like or how much power it will suck down.
  As to the point about getting the most out of your equipment, there are people who have the skills to do things like modify and fix cheap or old cars and equipment. Personally, I find that neat. However, I never do that. The closest I get is buying all my computer parts and assembling them myself. But that's mostly to get the specific options I want without having to pay some integrator extra money to get something that don't want to stock. It also avoids labor costs, but I find that I'd almost rather pay someone rather than have to screw around with cable/wire management in my tower cases. Almost.
  I pay a premium to have top quality and never have to screw with my shit. I could buy a used car and modify it to be like my new car, but I know people who do that and I find that I'm the guy who takes them to the shop all the time or picks them up when their car breaks down.
  I never want to break down on the side of the road, and I want my top end card to be top end without ever causing me to lose a second of time due to the potential of problems due to my fiddling. My computer is my primary tool, as well as source of enjoyment, and I insist that it be both fast and reliable. No professional or serious amateur should compromise on the quality of their primary tools. I'll save the duct tape for my software creations.
26. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by GooberToo · 2009-05-29 08:36 · Score: 1
  
  How can you compare something that costs $80,000 (plus running costs) to something that costs $800?
  Its called an analogy - WHOSH!
  Big expensive video card "with status" is to computer nerd that doesn't know any better as big expensive four wheeler "with status" is to wanna-be off-road driver that doesn't know any better. Seemed pretty cut and dry to me.
27. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Joce640k · 2009-05-29 08:37 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I meant the performance, not the physical construction.
  My job is 3D-graphics programming but I never pay more than about $150 for a graphics card. It's pointless trying to stay ahead on the graphics performance curve.
  
  --
  No sig today...
28. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Red+Flayer · 2009-05-29 08:40 · Score: 1
  
  He didn't compare them, he used their few similar traits to illustrate a point.
  He used a few similar traits to illustrate a point?
  
  That IS comparison. Textbook comparison.
  
  If I examined the similarities between my ass and a hole in the ground, that would also be a comparison. But I still wouldn't be able to tell the difference between my ass and a hole in the ground, because I only compared, and did not contrast.
  
  Speaking of which, if you compare something, you've made a comparison. If you contrast something, you've made a contrastison? A contrastion? A contrasticity?
  
  The English language is bothering the hell out of me today.
  
  --
  "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
29. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Joce640k · 2009-05-29 08:43 · Score: 1
  
  Nope. In reality they sell very few of these cards, they mostly make them to get their brand name in the headlines. Any actual sales are just a bonus
  
  --
  No sig today...
30. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Lord+Ender · 2009-05-29 08:43 · Score: 1
  
  The only fools were the ones who thought they could redefine kilo, mega, giga, etc.
  
  --
  A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
31. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by crtreece · 2009-05-29 08:46 · Score: 1
  
  A common definition of analogies. FTFY
  
  --
  file: .signature not found
32. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by youn · 2009-05-29 08:53 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, imho... with the fans that are probably on the video card, with increased needs for cooling with increased processor power, I would be more likely to go for a helicopter analogy :)... but that's my opinion
  
  --
  Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that :p
33. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by drinkypoo · 2009-05-29 09:06 · Score: 1
  
  If the card is cheaper than a pair of the card it's made of plus the price differential for a SLI motherboard then it's a massive win for anybody who wants that level of graphics. Not only could it be really useful in that context but there's lots of "professional" applications where the Quadro feature set is unnecessary, but this card might come in nicely, if the price were right.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
34. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by sexconker · 2009-05-29 09:32 · Score: 1
  
  The only fools are the ones who don't understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative measurements.
35. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Lord+Ender · 2009-05-29 09:36 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Well, since numerical prefixes are by definition quantitative...
  
  --
  A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
36. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by eharvill · 2009-05-29 10:29 · Score: 1
  
  A H2 is something that APPEARS to do well off road, but in reality it does not. Plus, when parts come flying off of your offroading vehicle (and if you are doing real off roading, THEY WILL FLY OFF) replacing those parts on a old 4Runner is cheaper than a H2.
  So, his analogy is valid. A offroad nerd can get much more out of a 1st gen 4Runner than an H2, in the same way an IT nerd can get more out of a non-4GB card than the twit that likes to drop $800/month on his gaming system.
  Take this link with a grain of salt, but apparently the 2008 H2 is a pretty damn good offroad vehicle (comparable to the 2008 4Runner) - http://autos.aol.com/gallery/top-10-off-road-suvs
  HUMMER H2 (with optional air suspension) Ground Clearance: 9.7" Approach Angle: 42.8 degrees Departure Angle: 40.0 degrees
  
  The toughest-looking SUV on the market is also one of the most capable off-roaders out there. The impressive H2 can climb a 60 degree grade -- a feat even a mountain goat would appreciate.
  
  --
  At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me
37. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Nutria · 2009-05-29 10:38 · Score: 1
  
  This card was made to fill a niche in the high end gamers market, pure and simple.
  Or any other industry that needs huge uber-FPS, uber-high-def video. I'm thinking military, medical and "content creation" applications, but certainly there are others.
  And CUDA apps would certainly scream on such a card...
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
38. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by sexconker · 2009-05-29 10:49 · Score: 0
  
  So you COUNT the number of inches your epeen is? Or do you MEASURE it?
  I've gone through this hundreds of times with ignorant morans. The guys in their garages got it right. We COUNT bits because of their quantum nature and the intrinsic usefulness of computing and calculating things in terms of ranges and combinations.
  We use "classical" measurements because we can NOT (yet) count things in such a way. Bits are logical units are are therefore easy to count. You can't count how many Planck lengths tall you are, and if you could, we don't know that the Planck length is indeed the fundamental quantum length of the universe.
39. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by RiotingPacifist · 2009-05-29 12:06 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  But unless you set up a rediculous(sp) scenario, a high end video card is almost always going to beat a low end or old one.
  
  Unless you pick a rediculous scenario (e.g who can get the highest FPS on crysis with full detail on everything, 32x antialiases, etc) a medium and high end card will always give you the same key features (being able to play most modern games in high detail), while the high end card will draw more power and make more noise. The end result is a true geek will never guy this monstrosity but a poser will, Hummer analogy win!
  
  --
  IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
40. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by sourICE · 2009-05-29 13:35 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Not trying to be offensive, but you are wrong.
  
  ...I think you have no idea what you are talking about.
  Actually, he's correct in most aspects and has at least some idea what he is talking about. The cheaper machine and cards can do everything this card can do, just smaller.
41. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 15:14 · Score: 0
  
  I've gone through this hundreds of times with ignorant morans.
  Maybe you should get a fucking life. Get out, date a woman, quick blinding yourself with science (and your right hand).
42. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Lord+Ender · 2009-05-29 17:18 · Score: 1
  
  I'm sorry, but that's nonsense. A bit is a discrete unit. Bits are countable. Quantum physics doesn't enter into it. It's math. Just math.
  
  --
  A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
43. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 17:31 · Score: 0
  
  That may be true, but it just means that they aren't bothering to to look and see what the games can benefit from. Right now 1GB per GPU is ideal for most systems with newer LCDs.
44. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by m50d · 2009-05-29 20:44 · Score: 1
  
  Most FPSes are designed for the cards a few generations down the line; the detail increase you can get from a ridiculous-rather-than-good card really does make for a noticeable quality increase on launch day (because the devs will have tested it on the ridiculous cards, because what's ridiculous today will be commonplace in a few years). That and high framerate does make a significant difference to some people (I have the misfortune to be quite sensitive to jerky motion, it seems). Sure, this card is for those with plenty of money, and someone geekier would probably match its performance by some custom cooling/overclocking setup on a cheaper card, or some such. But pushing the maximum possible power is still a worthwhile (and indeed geeky) thing.
  
  --
  I am trolling
45. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by director_mr · 2009-05-29 22:33 · Score: 1
  
  But thats simply not true. The cheaper machine and cards cannot do what this card can do. They can only do smaller things. That's like saying your car can do everything an F1 race car can do, only slower. Or that your Cessna 172 can do everything a passenger jet can do, only smaller and slower. If your car is slower, it cannot do what the F1 race car can do. If your Cessna is small and slow, it cannot do what the passenger jet can do. And for some applications, namely the ones I and a couple others have pointed out, there are things this card setup could do other things could not.
46. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-30 11:33 · Score: 0
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HScYuRhgEJw
47. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by KillerBob · 2009-05-30 15:37 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Build this cheap PC you allude to, then compare it to some real world tests using this new Asus beast.
  
  That wasn't his point. The point was that for somebody who actually knows what the heck he's doing, it's overkill. By a wide margin. On a par with the Killer NIC. Yes, it will perfrom a little better. But for a real world application, it's really not worth the added cost.
  Case in point, my laptop has a Core 2 Duo @ 1.66GHz, 2GB of RAM, and a 256MB GeForce 8600M GT. It's driving a 1680x1050 LCD. The lappy is getting a little long in the tooth... it'll be 2 years old in September. But it's still plenty powerful enough for every game I play. There's not a game on the market that won't run on the laptop, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when I say that the game mechanics and fun factor are what keeps me playing a game, not the poly count or photo realism.
  You can play any game out there on a $100 video card. Why on earth would you spend $1000 on one, if not for bragging rights?
  
  --
  If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
48. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by sourICE · 2009-05-31 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  You can not compare electrical signals interpreted by graphics cards sent in a higher resolution to the difference between an F1 Race Car and a Cessna.
  The two graphics cards are able to compute the exact same calculations sent to them by the software. One of them simply does it faster which allows you to both compute and output at a higher resolution.
  I could beef up a Cessna and make it go as fast as an F1 car, but it would not compute and handle the turns in the same way because the F1 is modeled on a completely different architecture and frame than the Cessna.
49. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by director_mr · 2009-05-31 08:32 · Score: 1
  
  You are right, that is why I compared a Cessna 172 to a passenger jet. I compared an F1 race car to a normal car. The reason I feel the comparison is valid is because your car can do everything an F1 race car can do, only slower. And a Cessna 172 can do everything a passenger jet can do, just slower, lower, and with less capacity.
50. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by sexconker · 2009-06-01 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly. Bits are logical units you count.
  It is inherently useful to use powers of 2 in computer science for many reasons.
  There is no reason aside from stubbornness to stick with 1000 as a major scalar. The use of 1000 in classical sciences is completely arbitrary.
  If you can come up with an actual REASON KB should mean 1000 bytes, by all means, I'll listen (and then laugh). Anyone working in the field knows the difference and knows that it is inherently useful to use 2^10 as opposed to 10^3. For those outside the field, such as they laymen consumers, the two are close enough.
  If you want to bitch about "standards", then go ahead and tell me who established the standard and what authority they have, as well as why the hell a bunch of guys in garages doing actual science (instead of dictating how science should be done) should listen to them.
51. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by Lord+Ender · 2009-06-01 05:55 · Score: 1
  
  Yes. Base two is useful in much of IT. Therefore, a prefix which applies to base 2 numbers is a good idea. The base 10 prefixes should not be used to refer base 2.
  This is your mistake.
  
  --
  A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
52. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by sexconker · 2009-06-01 10:00 · Score: 1
  
  We do have such a prefix.
  K, M, G, T, etc all indicate a scalar multiplier of (2^10) ^ 1, 2, 3, etc. when followed by a b or B.
  K M G T etc are all fine meaning 1000.
  KB MB GB TB etc are all fine meaning 1024 1048576 etc.
  WHERE IS THE CONFUSION?
53. Re:I feel nerd-emasculated by ground.zero.612 · 2009-06-03 05:07 · Score: 0
  
  Some people can see a difference in frame rates. I know not everyone can as I argue with people all the time about what I can see that they cannot. For someone that actually knows what they are doing, I would rather overkill it than end up sub-par. As the margin increases, so does the lack of information in the difference. 20 frames might not mean anything to you, but to me it might mean that I now have 20 frames to out think and out maneuver you.
  
  Yes, you can in fact play any game out there with no hardware video acceleration too. Your definition of play is obviously very loose compared to mine. Video games are not playable for me unless they consistently exceed 60fps.
  
  --
  "Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
GDDR3 by LanMan04 · 2009-05-29 06:23 · Score: 3, Interesting

Bleh on the GDDR3. Radeon HD 4870 I just picked up for $200 has GDDR5, just smoking fast memory.

--
With the first link, the chain is forged.
1. Re:GDDR3 by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:26 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  If your GDDR5 alone made your card faster people would care. It doesn't.
2. Re:GDDR3 by ifrag · 2009-05-29 06:37 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  You do realize the bus width on the Nvidia cards is wider?
  
  --
  Fear is the mind killer.
3. Re:GDDR3 by LanMan04 · 2009-05-29 07:16 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Ah, 448-bit vs 256-bit on the 4870. Didn't catch that, thanks for the correction.
  
  --
  With the first link, the chain is forged.
4. Re:GDDR3 by electrosoccertux · 2009-05-29 07:17 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  You do realize the bandwidth of DDR5 is twice DDR3's? The 512bit DDR3 bus bandwidth is equal to a 256bit DDR5 bus' bandwidth.
5. Re:GDDR3 by frank_adrian314159 · 2009-05-29 07:18 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, but ATI's is longer (this, of course, actually being what the discussion is all about).
  
  --
  That is all.
6. Re:GDDR3 by LanMan04 · 2009-05-29 07:19 · Score: 1
  
  Hmmm, maybe I was right:
  http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=1
  "The Radeon HD 4870 and 4850 both use a 256-bit memory bus like the 3870 before it (as well as NVIDIA's competing GeForce 9800 GTX), but total memory bandwidth on the 4870 ends up being 115.2GB/s thanks to the use of GDDR5. Note that this is more memory bandwidth than the GeForce GTX 260 which has a much wider 448-bit memory bus, but uses GDDR3 devices."
  Different card, but you get the idea.
  
  --
  With the first link, the chain is forged.
7. Re:GDDR3 by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:49 · Score: 0
  
  But the Nvidia one goes to 11
8. Re:GDDR3 by LanMan04 · 2009-05-29 08:13 · Score: 1
  
  Funny you should mention that; the 4870 is the first "good" video card I've ever owned.
  Before this one I was on an AGP Mac circa 2003 with a Radeon 9000 Pro (32MB version). :)
  
  --
  With the first link, the chain is forged.
9. Re:GDDR3 by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 08:19 · Score: 0
  
  My Erdos number is 5.
  I know you are a bit dizzy from smoking memory, but I hope you do realize 5 is the most common Erdos number...
10. Re:GDDR3 by LanMan04 · 2009-05-29 09:09 · Score: 1
  
  Oh yes, I'm aware. Actually, the most common Erdos number is null, since 99% of the population doesn't have one.
  
  --
  With the first link, the chain is forged.
11. Re:GDDR3 by DerWulf · 2009-05-29 22:46 · Score: 1
  
  You actually link to the wiki entry and are presumably a mathematician or statician and yet do not know that the only person with an Erdos number of 0 is Erdos? How is that?
  
  --
  
  ___
  No power in the 'verse can stop me
12. Re:GDDR3 by Urthwhyte · 2009-05-30 02:08 · Score: 1
  
  And you do realize that null is different from zero?
  
  --
  Base 13 FTW!
13. Re:GDDR3 by DerWulf · 2009-05-30 07:03 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty sure it isn't seeing how the german-derived null literally means zero.
  
  --
  
  ___
  No power in the 'verse can stop me
Batteries not included by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:25 · Score: 5, Funny

Customers who bought this also bought:
Delonghi PAC C100 Portable Air Conditioner 10,000 BTU
1. Re:Batteries not included by j79zlr · 2009-05-29 07:58 · Score: 1
  
  Customers who bought this also bought: Two (2) Delonghi PAC C100 Portable Air Conditioner 10,000 BTU
  Fixed that for you :p
  
  --
  I'm not not licking toads.
2. Re:Batteries not included by Esteanil · 2009-05-29 09:42 · Score: 1
  
  Customer who bought World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King also bought...
  
  --
  I'm a dreamer, the world is my playpen. But hey, I'm a serious person, I can't dream all the time.
So... by pHus10n · 2009-05-29 06:26 · Score: 0

I'll be able to finally run Crysis at full effects? :)
1. Re:So... by CambodiaSam · 2009-05-29 07:48 · Score: 1
  
  Yup, feel free to crank it from 640x480 all the way to 800x600!
2. Re:So... by cptnapalm · 2009-05-29 07:53 · Score: 1
  
  Dude, don't get your hopes up.
Dual GPU card by crow · 2009-05-29 06:29 · Score: 1

So if I'm reading this right, they've taken what would normally be a dual-card solution and put it on a single card. This should have been an obvious next step.
1. Re:Dual GPU card by Alzheimers · 2009-05-29 06:41 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  So what happens when you SLI two of these badboys together?
2. Re:Dual GPU card by Kugala · 2009-05-29 06:46 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  The circuit breaker trips.
3. Re:Dual GPU card by Jamamala · 2009-05-29 06:56 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  So what happens when you SLI two of these badboys together?
  The card supports quad-SLI, so I guess you just end up with 4 285s in SLI.
4. Re:Dual GPU card by DarrenBaker · 2009-05-29 07:02 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  The government opens up the taps on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as lights dim from Key West to Keokuk.
5. Re:Dual GPU card by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:43 · Score: 0
  
  So what happens when you SLI two of these badboys together?
  your power merer spins real fast
6. Re:Dual GPU card by Zantetsuken · 2009-05-29 08:29 · Score: 1
  
  So I take it when you put 4 of em in a motherboard with 4 pci-x 16 slots, which normally be quad-sli, and now octo-sli (?), the power company takes you off the grid having made the assumption you're trying to run a particle accelerator?
Does this mean I can run Solitaire in FULL RES? by smackenzie · 2009-05-29 06:32 · Score: 5, Funny

...I love that game. All the cards and the colors and stuff.

Someone had to say it. I bet a Minefield comment will beat me to the punch...
1. Re:Does this mean I can run Solitaire in FULL RES? by DCstewieG · 2009-05-29 07:15 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Minefield? No, this thing still doesn't have enough memory for Firefox.
Re:oblig. by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:35 · Score: 1, Insightful

Yeah, it plays Tux Racer hella fast.
might work for GPU by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:40 · Score: 0

I can't think of a game it would work with but for GPGPU this has got to have some power
1. Re:might work for GPU by psycho12345 · 2009-05-29 09:16 · Score: 1
  
  Indeed. For gaming only Crysis on a 30 inch monitor would justify this monster. Folding@Home on the other hand.... I can't even imagine the ppd this will get.
Space heating. by Kaptain+Kruton · 2009-05-29 06:40 · Score: 1

The furnace and space-heating industries may have new competition.
Title by jimboisbored · 2009-05-29 06:41 · Score: 1

Monster's gonna sue...
I wonder... by DaMP12000 · 2009-05-29 06:48 · Score: 2, Interesting

what would happen if you try to plug that on a 32bits vista system... Since the operating memory for the OS is something like RAM - GRAPHICS RAM - (a little bit of other stuff...), that should leave about a negative amount of RAM for the OS. Good luck with that...
1. Re:I wonder... by EkriirkE · 2009-05-29 06:52 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  You create a singularity
  
  --
  from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
2. Re:I wonder... by mkaushik · 2009-05-29 07:07 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  No graphics card maps the entire framebuffer into the physical address space, even on 64-bit OSs. I'll just use up a few 10s of MBs for BAR0, a few more for BAR1, and so on. The driver will manage all the framebuffer memory for you, all the client has to do is call the equivalent of malloc().
3. Re:I wonder... by EvilToiletPaper · 2009-05-29 07:31 · Score: 1
  
  Do you have to enable anything to do that in Windows XP? I know in Linux you can use a BigMEM kernel to map physical memory bits to pages of higher memory.
  
  On my 32-bit XP machine with 4 GB physical memory and 2 512 Mb 8800 cards, it shows up as 3 Gb memory. Remove one card and it shows up as 3.5 Gb, so it looks like the OS is mapping then entire VRAM framebuffer to physical address space?
4. Re:I wonder... by Kayden · 2009-05-29 07:33 · Score: 1
  
  Isn't the 4GB mark a limit of how many addresses the CPU can address? It's been my experience with 32bit XP that when you put in a 512mb card, your available system ram goes down by 512. I knew a guy that put in some beefy cards in sli and wound up with less than 2GB of 4 available.
5. Re:I wonder... by wgoodman · 2009-05-29 07:38 · Score: 1
  
  closer to 4GB max 32bit RAM -~700MB of misc device reservations -4GB of video RAM..
  
  your calculation was slightly off, but this is the first thing that popped into my head as well.
6. Re:I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 08:05 · Score: 0
  
  That's because 32bit x86 is limited to 4Gb address space. You want something like PAE - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension - to sort it out. From memory, none of the XP-series kernels do..
7. Re:I wonder... by mkaushik · 2009-05-29 08:33 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  No, Windows can only access 3.5GB of system memory, the remaining 0.5GB will be mapped above 4GB in the physical address space. When you have lots of PCI devices in the system, they take up some space in the physical address space. So if your PCI(E) devices take up 1GB of space, the BIOS will fit less of that 4GB of RAM into the 4GB physcial address space. Your PCI devices would would already be allocating BARs like I said earlier. Like AC said, you can enable PAE to reclaim some of that lost space. I know there is a flag in XP (Run:msconfig, Advanced:) to enable PAE, but I don't know if that has any effect.
8. Re:I wonder... by mkaushik · 2009-05-29 08:47 · Score: 1
  
  Nope. GPUs stopped mapping the entire video memory into physical memory a long time ago as their video memories increased (except Intel GPUs, maybe, since they still have little). Should be a lot less than 1GB per GPU now IMO. They use hw magic to make the entire memory accessible.
9. Re:I wonder... by EvilToiletPaper · 2009-05-29 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  Ah, so if I remove all video cards it will still show up as 3.5g. Have to try that sometime. PAE was what I tried first, didn't seem to help much but I think I recovered like 200Mb, started showing up as 3.2G with 1GB VRAM.
  
  Thanks for the info :D
10. Re:I wonder... by Nethead · 2009-05-29 10:55 · Score: 1
  
  You create The Singularity
  There, fixed that for you.
  
  --
  -- I have a private email server in my basement.
11. Re:I wonder... by mkaushik · 2009-05-29 11:21 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, Vista-32 on my laptop with 4GB RAM shows 3.5GB RAM installed. I have an 8600M with a 256 MB framebuffer so all PCIE devices including it fit in that 0.5GB. I use Linux-32 as my primary desktop though, which I think uses HIGHMEM to access memory above 896MB (more knowledgeable kernel hackers correct me if I'm wrong), which isn't too efficient. One of these days I'll install a 64-bit OS, I keep telling myself.
12. Re:I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 12:30 · Score: 0
  
  You obviously don't know how WinXP maps the cards into the address space. Why do you think alt-tab gets crashier and crashier in fullscreen games on xp, as the cards get more and more ram on them?
13. Re:I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 12:31 · Score: 0
  
  In Soviet Russia, singularity creates you.
14. Re:I wonder... by petermgreen · 2009-05-29 13:51 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe some did but not all, I have a friend with a highish end card that took over a gigabyte of address space pushing usable ram under XP down to 2.5G.
  
  --
  note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
BitchinFast3D by amoeba1911 · 2009-05-29 06:48 · Score: 4, Funny

This reminds me of the BitchinFast3D card I've seen in the late 90's.

http://www.russdraper.com/images/fullsize/bitchin_fast_3d.jpg
1. Re:BitchinFast3D by Abreu · 2009-05-29 07:44 · Score: 1
  
  I remember that one, thanks for posting it! :D
  Puerto de Graficos Acelerados Gigante!!
  
  --
  No sig for the moment.
Oblig Lowtax Quote by pak9rabid · 2009-05-29 06:51 · Score: 5, Funny

Not only will [this card] smooth out the jaggies on your screen, but it will anti-alias everybody elses's computer games within the surrounding five miles.
1. Re:Oblig Lowtax Quote by jackharrer · 2009-05-29 07:56 · Score: 1
  
  Even get rid of your wrinkles...
  
  --
  
  "an experienced, industrious, ambitious, and often, quite often, picturesque liar" - Mark Twain
It was inevitable by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 06:52 · Score: 2, Funny

I think this may actually support a higher resolution and framerate than real life.
Overcompensate much? by rob1980 · 2009-05-29 06:54 · Score: 1

First picture makes the damn thing look like a VHS tape... heh
1. Re:Overcompensate much? by Iberian · 2009-05-29 07:02 · Score: 1
  
  No, my friend you are way off. This is much bigger than a VHS tape.
2. Re:Overcompensate much? by RoboRay · 2009-05-29 07:44 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  What's a VHS tape?
3. Re:Overcompensate much? by pwfffff · 2009-05-29 08:25 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Never thought I'd feel old at 20, but there it is...
Not particularly useful even for Folding at Home by blind+biker · 2009-05-29 06:56 · Score: 1

Folding at Home GPU clients don't require all this graphics RAM. You would probably do just as well with two GTX295.

--
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Three Words... by JoeSixpack00 · 2009-05-29 06:56 · Score: 1

Playstation.3.Emulator.

(or decent PS2 emulation for that fact...)
1. Re:Three Words... by Hailth · 2009-05-29 07:27 · Score: 0
  
  It's not the hardware that's the issue, it's the emulators. I've run plenty of PS2 games at 60FPS and max quality with no graphics card. You don't actually need something vastly more powerful than the console to emulate it, you need someone who developed the console to sell out and make an efficient emulator for you, or enough geek hobbyists to spend long enough to finally get something good.
  Have faith, there are finally good PS2 emulators.
All we need now... by plut4rch · 2009-05-29 07:03 · Score: 3, Funny

... is an ASCII version! That old ATi Radeon 9500 ASC has been king of the market for too long. It's beginning to look dated. Imagine playing NetHack on this ASUS! Never will an @ look more realistic...

--
An intriguing solution to a problem that should never have existed in the first place...
1. Re:All we need now... by GenP · 2009-05-29 07:53 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  In case you didn't see it back in the day...
Fast Memory? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:04 · Score: 0

Did I just read 2400 MHz memory? When will i have 2400MHz system memory?
All white meat chicken by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:10 · Score: 0

Every time I see specs for yet another more-resources-than-god video card I cant help but remember, and laugh, at the old 3dfx comercial about curing world hunger and engineering 'all white meat chicken'.
here is the link if you're not familiar with this classic commerical
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o72T8qQr7GE
AH! so... by McNihil · 2009-05-29 07:11 · Score: 1

so this is what is needed to run Windows 7. Good work Asus!
1. Re:AH! so... by dave420 · 2009-05-30 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  No.
2. Re:AH! so... by moosesocks · 2009-06-02 11:32 · Score: 1
  
  I know you jest, but I have the Win7 beta installed on a 4-year-old laptop (IBM T42). It's actually quite good -- as a faithful user of Apple and Ubuntu, I'm extremely impressed, and regard it as being nearly on par with the others. (Both Ubuntu and Apple's most recent releases have been kind of spotty as well)
  I have no complaints about the speed or stability. It's already replaced XP as my day-to-day OS. There are a few rough edges that need to be worked out, although these are small enough that I could easily foresee them being gone in the final release.
  I've also got a copy running in a VM on my Mac. It works fine, even with just 512MB of RAM allocated to it (although XP remains faster in this situation).
  
  --
  -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Hmmmmm.... by Overfiend1976 · 2009-05-29 07:13 · Score: 3, Insightful

I'm sorry, but I see the point of purchasing something like this as sensible as spending $12,000 out of pocket for the Adobe True Type font package. It's great and all that you can make things run at a barely perceptible higher speed, but at the cost of not only the card itself, but cooling, PSU, etc., I'd rather just stay with a more affordable card.

--
This sig will self destruct in 5 seconds.
1. Re:Hmmmmm.... by dave420 · 2009-05-30 06:56 · Score: 1
  
  Hint: It's not for you.
2. Re:Hmmmmm.... by Overfiend1976 · 2009-05-30 11:12 · Score: 1
  
  Thus why I said: "I'd rather just stay with a more affordable card." I know some people will be all over it like white on rice, but I'm happy with what I have.
  
  --
  This sig will self destruct in 5 seconds.
3. Re:Hmmmmm.... by dave420 · 2009-06-03 03:13 · Score: 1
  
  Then thanks for posting a completely useless post. If it's not for you, don't post. It's that simple. Otherwise in every topic we'd have to endure every user who's not interested in the subject stating so. You can imagine that would not be good for slashdot or its users. I hate to break it to you, but no one here really cares that you don't want to use such a card.
4. Re:Hmmmmm.... by Overfiend1976 · 2009-06-03 09:27 · Score: 1
  
  Crap! I guess I forgot to read the directions on /. that only fanboi's are allowed to post on things. Sorry about that, my apologies.
  
  --
  This sig will self destruct in 5 seconds.
5. Re:Hmmmmm.... by dave420 · 2009-06-04 03:54 · Score: 1
  
  No, it's about being 'on topic'. Your private thoughts about whether the card is right for you and you alone are not on topic, as we're discussing the merits of a card, not whether Overfiend1976 wants to buy the card or not. Criticise the card for some intrinsic flaw if you want, but not because it's not what you want.
6. Re:Hmmmmm.... by Overfiend1976 · 2009-06-04 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  I was generalizing how a LOT of people won't want it for a similar reason. It was to be construed as an implication. I didn't realize I needed to state it out loud.
  
  --
  This sig will self destruct in 5 seconds.
7. Re:Hmmmmm.... by dave420 · 2009-06-05 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  Well, yes, as that's not what you said in the least.
Meh by Yvan256 · 2009-05-29 07:13 · Score: 1, Funny

My intel GMA950 is still overkill for Diablo II and Starcraft.
Please don't mention Diablo III or Starcraft II.
Will they price it right this time? by Terranex · 2009-05-29 07:16 · Score: 2, Funny

The last time I recall ASUS doing this was with a Dual 7800GT Like this one, and it did not sell very well due to being prohibitively expensive.
YES!! Just In Time For Duke Nukem Forever!!!! by CyberSlammer · 2009-05-29 07:34 · Score: 3, Funny

Wait...Ah CRAP.
All white meat chicken by e3m4n · 2009-05-29 07:34 · Score: 1

Every time I see the specs of yet another more-resources-than-god video card, I cant help but remember, and laugh, at the old 3dfx commercial 'all white meat' where they talk about curing world hunger and engineering 'all white meat chicken'. for those that dont remember the commerical, here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o72T8qQr7GE
Re:oblig. by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 07:51 · Score: 0

You know that only 3d app worth running on linux is glxgears? Gazyllion frames per second, imagine this...
Finally ! by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 08:01 · Score: 0

Something that reminds me my beloved amiga !
Can't use it all anyway by Spatial · 2009-05-29 08:19 · Score: 1

From the article:

This dual-PCB monstrosity holds 32 memory chips, and 4 GB of total memory (each GPU accesses 2 GB of it).
In normal SLI setups the video memory has to be 'mirrored' for each GPU. Being a dual-PCB card means it probably works the same way, and so it's effectively a 2GB card.
which is bigger? by wild_berry · 2009-05-29 08:43 · Score: 1

2 x 10^9 or 2^30 ?
1. Re:which is bigger? by sexconker · 2009-05-29 09:33 · Score: 1
  
  2^30. Your point?
2. Re:which is bigger? by TheThiefMaster · 2009-05-30 02:44 · Score: 1
  
  Read closer. He said 2 x 10^9 vs 2^30.
  2^30 is approx 1 x 10^9.
  Which means your answer is wrong.
3. Re:which is bigger? by wild_berry · 2009-05-31 21:44 · Score: 1
  
  My point is that there's a difference between a SI Giga (10^9) of bytes and 2^30 of bytes. As a consumer, I don't want to be ripped off by someone promising me that these things are the same, and as a programmer I also want an accurate marker for values which are 2^(10n). I'm grateful that there is this naming convention.
4. Re:which is bigger? by sexconker · 2009-06-01 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  Due to the spacing I read it as:
  2 x 10^9
  or
  2 x 2^30
  My abbreviated reply (2^30) didn't make that clear, though.
5. Re:which is bigger? by sexconker · 2009-06-01 04:08 · Score: 1
  
  Why should computer science follow SI units?
  Fields of science should use whatever makes most sense to use. Laymen don't need to know anything beyond "it's about 1000". Anyone else knows the difference.
  There are plenty of "standard" symbols that overlap in math and science. You can not avoid confusion. How many different Greek and stylized characters do we need to remember if we want to completely disambiguate?
  K M B G T P E etc followed by a B or b means binary. Simple. Yet the standards people are the one adding to confusion, trying to force KB to mean 1000 bytes, thus making all published writing on the subject ambiguous. Good job fucktards.
6. Re:which is bigger? by TheThiefMaster · 2009-06-01 05:46 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, he might have meant that :S
  Hard to know unless he replies.
7. Re:which is bigger? by wild_berry · 2009-06-06 03:14 · Score: 1
  
  K M B G T P E etc followed by a B or b means binary
  Not on my hard disk they don't. Not on my broadband bandwidth or download quota allocation, nor on my mobile phone data contract. Each example is from a business which makes more money when it claims a bigger number than is really sold, and who benefit from the confusion. So I want a way that has no room for confusion, and the MeBi/GiBi/TeBi (and other powers of 2^(10n) ) system does just that.
8. Re:which is bigger? by sexconker · 2009-06-08 04:40 · Score: 1
  
  Uh, no. There was never any confusion.
  Marketers decided to lie.
  Then the issue got taken to court.
  And they trotted out the ol' bullshit about SI units.
9. Re:which is bigger? by wild_berry · 2009-06-08 22:22 · Score: 1
  
  As a result of the court case and the claim that SI units are appropriate to use, there is confusion. And so we need a system to tell which is powers-of-10 and which is powers-of-2.
10. Re:which is bigger? by sexconker · 2009-06-09 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  Like I said:
  KB MB GB etc are powers of 2.
  KB means 1024 bytes.
  MB means 1048576 bytes.
  Kb means 1024 bits.
  Mb means 1048576 bits.
  There is no confusion.
  This is what has been used for decades by actual computer scientists doing actual science with computers.
  There is no ambiguity with the SI units.
  None.
  Zero.
  Zip.
  Zilch.
  Nada.
  You're wrong.
11. Re:which is bigger? by wild_berry · 2009-06-09 20:31 · Score: 1
  
  It's been nice playing, and we're now in the dangerous area where this becomes a last-to-post contest.
  You explain where the confusion comes from: the marketers, a (class-action?) legal case, products on shelves, and I agree with you because I have to deal with non-technical family members getting confused. On top of that, I say that I'm confused -- about which you claim I'm wrong -- and that we need a system where the 'ol' bullshit about SI units' can't cloud the issue or where 'marketers' can't lie to us -- which you claim I'm wrong about, but it's your terms and your posts that show we need this.
12. Re:which is bigger? by sexconker · 2009-06-10 03:18 · Score: 1
  
  We have a system.
  KMGTP etc followed by a B or b.
  It means 2^10^1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. bytes or bits.
  There is no ambiguity.
  The court case that let them get away with using KB MB GB etc. incorrectly is to blame for people thinking that it's an issue with SI units. The bullshit argument (used by the lawyers for the drive manufacturers) was that they were SI units, and were thus factors of 1000. They are NOT SI units, nor have they ever been, nor should they be.
  At least they still have to print "*1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes" on the box.
What about Crysis by hofmny · 2009-05-29 09:12 · Score: 3, Funny

So I buy this card with the hope my dream will finally come true...

Two G200-350-B3 graphics processors... (AWESOME)

240 shader processors enabled... (HELLS YEAH!)

512-bit GDDR3 and 4 GB of total memory... (I JUST WET MYSELF)

I put in Crysis , max out the settings, and play the game...

*Ahh just a bit Choppy*...
*Oh no, not the "Lag o' Death"*...
*Shit, now it's Freezing*...
***C R A S H!!*** (SON OF A F*CKING B*TCH)

Yes, even the best graphics card mankind has ever made can't compete to the horrible coding of Crysis!
1. Re:What about Crysis by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 16:54 · Score: 0
  
  you don't self-censor 'shit', but you do with 'fucking' and 'bitch'?
  come on. what's the point of writing "f*cking" instead of "fucking". we're not 12.
Re:Not particularly useful even for Folding at Hom by wagnerrp · 2009-05-29 09:15 · Score: 1

Protein folding isn't the only HPC application. This card has as much memory as a Tesla, about 14% faster, and will likely cost considerably less. You can continue doing pharmaceutical gruntwork. The rest of us will run our own memory intensive applications.
It doesnt beat this tho by Conditioner · 2009-05-29 09:47 · Score: 0

It doesn't beat this beast tho. http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/5844/bfastu7abtz8.jpg
well then... by zogger · 2009-05-29 10:55 · Score: 1

...appreciate the candor. What do you recommend in that sort of price range?
It deserves a host processor by Anonymous Coward · 2009-05-29 12:04 · Score: 0

Seriously, with 4 GB of high bandwidth memory and those monster (GP)GPU chips, they should have just tucked a low-power core2duo processor on the board too, so it could boot its own OS and run management functions in the background while chewing on data.
I wonder how the 32-bit Windows will use the card. by master_p · 2009-05-29 19:49 · Score: 1

Since the card has 4 GB of RAM, it will occupy the whole 32-bit process memory space, leaving no memory for normal RAM.
This card requires 64-bit Windows, except if the drivers use segmented memory.
It keeps the reference cooler?? by Gel214th · 2009-05-29 23:52 · Score: 1

The cooler internally has the same basic construction as the reference cooler, it uses a single leaf-blower.
huh? How hot will this thing run..80c under load on average?
Isn't it time we start getting more efficient designs instead of simply trying to brute force our way to better performance?

--
-Gel214th
when is over? by wild_berry · 2009-06-11 22:17 · Score: 1

Hey, thanks for your discussion. I'm not going to change my stance that the distinction made by the 2^(10n) system from the 10^(3n) system is a useful one for removing confusion, and you're going to keep insisting that SI interpretation of MB (etc.) is that it's the 2^(10n) value. I'll keep saying that what you think is a bullshit argument creates confusion and needs to be explicitly worked around, and you'll keep saying that there is no ambiguity and confusion, and I'll keep saying that your citation of the court case indicates that there is grounds for confusion and that I, as a member of the public, suffer from the confusion. Then you say "you don't have to be confused, because my way is the way it always has been." Well, thanks.
1. Re:when is over? by sexconker · 2009-06-12 04:25 · Score: 1
  
  You suffer from the confusion because of the ill-conceived notion that KB means 1000 bytes.
  You suffer from the confusion because of the ill-conceived notion that the prefixes have anything to do with SI units.
  It takes 2 seconds to explain that KB means something other than K.
  Yet your preferred solution relies on the improper claim that KB is an improper use of SI units.
  We now have the following problem:
  KB - what does it mean? Was it written before the KiB bullshit? So does it mean 1024? Or was it written after, meaning 1000? If it was after, is the person aware of KiB? Do they adhere to it?
  The idea that SI units had anything to do with KB have CREATED the confusion.
  Yet people like you who have gotten confused once, maybe made a forum post along the lines of "Why is my 100 GB hard drive only 93.1 GB?", refuse to admit that you were ignorant about something. Instead of admitting to not knowing the meaning of a technical term, you claim the term is wrong.