Joystiq

PSA: Tomb Raider gets another patch, Nvidia updates beta drivers

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:45:00 EST

Tomb Raider on PC got another patch this weekend, launched in conjunction with new beta drivers from Nvidia for GeForce GPUs. Download the latest GeForce 314.21 drivers direct from Nvidia.

Since its launch, GeForce Tomb Raider players have seen "major performance and stability issues" trying to play the game at max settings. Complaints include problems with TressFX and tessellation tripping the game up, at least for those with 600-series cards.

There are more Tomb Raider patches incoming from Crystal Dynamics, based on ongoing player feedback.

PSA: Tomb Raider gets another patch, Nvidia updates beta drivers originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tomb Raider PC patch addresses hairy Nvidia issues

Sinan Kubba — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:30:00 EST

Tomb Raider received a PC patch this weekend, with fixes for the Nvidia-associated stability issues high on the agenda. The patch notes mention corrections for "some stability and startup issues on machines that have both Intel and Nvidia graphics hardware" and "some small improvements to TressFX hair rendering." These chief issues led to Nvidia apologizing for the game's unstable performance at maximum settings on its GeForce cards.

Going by the Steam and Eidos forums, the patch does provide significant improvement for some of the stability issues, although by the sounds of it TressFX is still somewhat flaky.

Tomb Raider PC patch addresses hairy Nvidia issues originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nvidia, Crystal Dynamics looking into Tomb Raider PC performance issues

Sinan Kubba — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:45:00 EST

Graphics powerhouse Nvidia is working with developer Crystal Dynamics to address the "major performance and stability issues" occurring with GeForce cards playing Tomb Raider on max settings. A number of users on the Nvidia, Steam, and Tomb Raider forums complained about a range of GeForce-related issues, with common complaints including the game repeatedly crashing to desktop on 600-series cards, and AMD's TressFX hair rendering tech taking a chunky toll on performance.

Following no mention of Tomb Raider in its post on the latest GeForce beta drivers, Nvidia's Andrew Burnes took to the comments to explain the situation, revealing the company only received a final version of the game a few days ahead of launch.

"Unfortunately, Nvidia didn't receive final code until this past weekend which substantially decreased stability, image quality and performance over a build we were previously provided," said Burnes. "We are working closely with Crystal Dynamics to address and resolve all game issues as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we would like to apologize to GeForce users that are not able to have a great experience playing Tomb Raider, as they have come to expect with all of their favorite PC games."

Nvidia, Crystal Dynamics looking into Tomb Raider PC performance issues originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Borderlands 2 bundled with GeForce GTX 660 Ti, Nvidia's cheapest Kepler card yet

Ludwig Kietzmann — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:30:00 EST

Borderlands 2 will accompany Nvidia's latest graphics card, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, as a PhysX-enabled freebie in the US and Europe. The bundle should be shipping to stores today in multiple SKUs, and the included code will enable a free download of the game when it's released on September 18 (September 21 in Europe). Prices may vary between Nvidia's manufacturing partners, but the GTX 660 Ti is meant to hover around $300 - a hundred bucks below the more powerful GTX 670.

The GTX 660 Ti shoots for a sweet(er) spot between affordability and Nvidia's Kepler architecture, which has been praised for its brutish performance and energy efficiency. The company claims the 660 Ti trumps ATi's $350 Radeon HD 7950, and outperforms the GeForce GTX 560 Ti by 41 percent. It runs at a base speed of 915 MHz (boosting up to 980 MHz), carries 2GB of GDDR5 RAM and probably emits a mighty fine whirr.

Kepler also makes a case for TXAA (Temporal Approximate Anti-Aliasing), a rendering technique that examines visual output and then attempts to predict and compensate for jagged edges in upcoming frames. According to Nvidia, TXAA is superior when it comes to producing anti-aliasing for scenes in motion. The first game to make use of TXAA is Funcom's new flagship MMO, The Secret World (demonstrated after the break.)

Nvidia didn't announce TXAA support for Borderlands 2, but did peg the cel-shaded shooter's maxed-settings performance on the 660 Ti at an average of 78 frames per second, on a high-end rig and a resolution of 1080p. The video above highlights the physics-driven flair added by PhysX, though not nearly as well as the insightful quote from Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, which we've taken verbatim from the press materials: "you can get some crazy awesome physics simulations."

Continue reading Borderlands 2 bundled with GeForce GTX 660 Ti, Nvidia's cheapest Kepler card yet

Borderlands 2 bundled with GeForce GTX 660 Ti, Nvidia's cheapest Kepler card yet originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nvidia's GRID platform hopes to dramatically improve cloud gaming

Richard Mitchell — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:00 EST

Using words we don't quite understand, Nividia has announced a new platform that will conceivably make cloud gaming a much more viable prospect. The Geforce GRID platform features "dedicated ultra-low-latency streaming technology and cloud graphics software" and the company believes it will "fundamentally change the economics and experience of cloud gaming."

A single GRID unit houses two GPUs based on Nvidia's Kepler technology, which the company says are capable of maintaining eight separate game streams simultaneously, an attractive prospect for gaming service providers. Additionally, "fast streaming technology" will supposedly drop server latency to "as little as 10 milliseconds," which, as we understand it, is pretty fast. So fast that GRID could potentially stream very high-end games to virtually any device, from phone to TV to toaster. Furthermore, Nvidia is working with smart TV manufacturers to reduce ethernet input lag so that, in theory, Gaikai could have latency on par with a console connected via HDMI (or slightly lower latency, if you believe the graph above).

Of course, we'll have to wait and see how everything works out in practice, but the possibilities are, in a word, crazypants.

Nvidia's GRID platform hopes to dramatically improve cloud gaming originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Crysis 2 can run on a $600 PC

Richard Mitchell — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:50:00 EST

You've bought all the components, inserted tab A into slot B and tightened lord-knows-how-many thumbscrews. Your handcrafted PC is finished, and all for less than $600. "But can it run Crysis?" your friend asks? If you followed a handy guide from GeForce, the answer is yes.

Starting with its own $150 GeForce GTX 550 Ti graphics card, the company has compiled a list of parts needed to competently run CryTek's GPU-hungry Crysis 2. Assuming you've got the basics covered (mouse, keyboard, monitor, etc), the whole rig will only run you $599.92. While this setup won't allow maximum settings, it still kicks out a decent frame rate using above average graphical configurations.

As a bonus, it should also shut your snarky friend up.

Crysis 2 can run on a $600 PC originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nvidia announces GTX 470 and 480 cards

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:50:00 EST

The opening day of PAX East in Boston was capped by a fairly humongous presentation from PC gaming hardware manufacturer Nvidia, representatives from which introduced two new graphic cards: The XLR8 GeForce GTX 480 1536MB and XLR8 GeForce GTX 470 1280MB. The new pieces of hardware are priced at $500 and $350, respectively, and have a tentative release window of mid-April.

In addition to being capable of rendering some impressive visuals -- as seen in the presentation's 3D, multi-monitor demos of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Metro 2033 -- the two devices come loaded with some neat bonuses. Among these are a handful of download vouchers for high-def films from Sony Pictures and two tech demos titled Design Garage and Supersonic Sled. We really, really hope the latter can be fleshed out into a full-length game.

Nvidia announces GTX 470 and 480 cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Buy Nvidia graphics card, get Arkham Asylum free

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:00:00 EST

If you're planning on beefing up your compy's visual capabilities any time soon, you might want to turn your attention to this fairly amazing offer: If you buy a graphics card containing Nvidia's GeForce GTX 260, GeForce GTX 275 or GeForce GTX 285, then you'll get a coupon for a free download of the PC version of Batman: Arkham Asylum.

This partnership between Nvidia and Eidos isn't that surprising -- the PC version of Rocksteady's surprisingly wonderful stealth-action title was delayed to September 15 to allow for the implementation of Nvidia's PhysX technology. However, interestingly enough, Bruce Wayne is actually a 30 percent stockholder in AMD. Scan-da-lous.

[Via Big Download]

Buy Nvidia graphics card, get Arkham Asylum free originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guys, let's cool it with these graphics cards

David Hinkle — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:00:00 EST

We don't usually cover graphics cards here on Joystiq, but every now and then, something so crazy hits our radar, we're forced to talk about it. Enter the GeForce GTX 285 H2O+ and GeForce GTX 295 H2OC, a pair of liquid-cooled graphics cards from BFG (you're right, Engadget; best company name ever) that run 30°C cooler than traditional air-cooled cards.

There's no word on price at the moment, though it's best to keep in mind that this is computer hardware we're talking about and likely more expensive than you wish.

[Via Engadget]

Guys, let's cool it with these graphics cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

NVIDIA offers PhysX and CUDA support to GeForce 8 and higher

Ross Miller — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:00:00 EST

Filed under: PC

Assuming your NVIDIA GeForce graphics card isn't broken, the company has added PhysX and CUDA support to its GeForce 8, 9 and 200-series via the free Power Pack download, found on its Force Within page (via press release). The company is also offering a few Unreal Tournament 3 PhysX-enabled maps, the full Warmonger game, Folding@Home, demos of Metal Knight Zero and Nurien and various tech demos. Each game has to support PhysX before you'll notice a difference (here's a list of supported titles). Once we download the update, we'll let you know just how much more awesome our copies of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakening are. (Answer: so much more awesome.)

NVIDIA offers PhysX and CUDA support to GeForce 8 and higher originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nvidia to acquire Ageia Technologies

Ludwig Kietzmann — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Business

Graphics whiz buys physics boffin news now, with the announcement of graphics card designer Nvidia's "definitive agreement" to purchase Ageia, developer of the PhysX middleware and corresponding PPU (physics processing unit) hardware accelerators. Ageia's PhysX solution is reportedly in use by over 140 shipping or in-development games across a range of platforms, including the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and PC.

The purchase reflects both companies' shared goal of "creating the most amazing and captivating game experiences," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia. "By combining the teams that created the world's most pervasive GPU and physics engine brands, we can now bring GeForce-accelerated PhysX to hundreds of millions of gamers around the world."

The press release makes no mention of the acquisition cost nor specific products those millions of gamers around the world can expect in the future, but the first benefits of the agreement are sure to be seen in precariously stacked, stunningly rendered crates.

[Via Engadget]

Nvidia to acquire Ageia Technologies originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nvidia drops new GEFORCE 8800 GTS 512 MB

Ross Miller — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:44:00 EST

Filed under: PC

Having already released a new, (sort of) budget-priced GeForce 8800 GT less than two months ago, Nvidia has just launched today a higher-end 8800 GTS 512 MB for the $299 to $349 price range. According to the press release (via GamesIndustry.biz), the card "offers 25% more graphics processing power than NVIDIA products previously offered at the same price point."

Our friends at Engadget have made the rest of the technospeak easier to understand: 65-nm technology, twin dual-link DVI ports, DirectX 10 support, smooth playback of H.264, VC-1, WMV and MPEG-2 HD and SD movies, and more. Sure, it'll set you back the cost of an Xbox 360 console, but you might be able to raise the graphics settings on Crysis up to a mind-blowing medium.

Nvidia drops new GEFORCE 8800 GTS 512 MB originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hail to the king: NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 Ultra

Christopher Grant — Wed, 02 May 2007 13:40:00 EST

Filed under: PC

Not content with ATI resting atop the DirectX 10 throne when their compliant cards come out this month, NVIDIA is showing off the new speed king, trumping their very own GeForce 8800 GTX, the current speed king. Behold: the GeForce 8800 Ultra! Rocking 768MB of video memory, and performing between 10 to 15% faster (on average) than the 8800 GTX, we don't even want to know what one of these overclocked beasts is going to cost when they hit retailers worldwide by May 15th. Oh, $829 and higher? And they're SLI compatible? Well, if Lost Planet at 2560X1600 is that important to you, we won't stand in your way.

[Update: The reviews have not been kind. Anandtech says, "The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra is an utter waste of money," while HardOCP says, "there [is] absolutely no reason to buy an 8800 Ultra over an 8800 GTX at this time." Ouch! Thanks for the links, guys.]

Hail to the king: NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 Ultra originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 May 2007 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nvidia's affordable DirectX 10 cards benchmarked

Christopher Grant — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:15:00 EST

Filed under: PC

If you find the lack of DirectX 10 compliant games disturbing, you probably won't be interested in ExtremeTech's review of the just released, more affordable variant of the GeForce 8800, the 8600 GT and GTS. The cards -- which range from $150-170 for the EVGA GeForce 8600 GT and $200-230 for the XFX GeForce 8600 GTS -- may have that all important DirectX 10 qualifier, but without any DirectX 10 software to test them on, the crew at ExtremeTech are unsure of how to evaluate them. They write, "Unfortunately, we don't know if these new mid-range graphics wonders are going to be "enough" for true DX10 content. Simply put, there are no real DX10 games for us to try out." Nvidia's got a full lineup of DirectX 10 cards but no software to test them on; seems like a hollow victory to us.

Nvidia's affordable DirectX 10 cards benchmarked originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

DX10 on the cheap: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 and 8500

Christopher Grant — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:35:00 EST

Filed under: PC

Despite what John Romero thinks, the PC gaming world has a long ways to go before it can match a dedicated gaming console on a dollar per graphical gewgaw basis. Thankfully, in just one week, dedicated (and subsequently cash poor) PC gamers will be able to upgrade their boxen to Microsoft's double digit DirectX 10 for a lot less loot with the introduction of the GeForce 8600 GTS, 8600 GT and 8500 GT cards. The cards, retailing at $199-$229, $149-$159, and $89-$129 respectively, help bring DX10 home for a lot less than the current (and only) DX10 card, the princely GeForce 8800. Any Vista early adopters upgrading their cards?

[Via Engadget]

DX10 on the cheap: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 and 8500 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nvidia launches cheap(er) DirectX 10 cards

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:06:00 EST

Filed under: PC, First Person Shooters

Unless you live the sort of life where you receive money for nothin' and your chicks for free, you'll undoubtedly consider a fancy DirectX 10 card as a straight plunge into financial dire straits. "Not so," says Nvidia, pointing to the launch of the 320MB GeForce 8800 GTS, a mildly nerfed but more reasonably priced entry into their DirectX 10 graphics card lineup. It's up to you to decide just how reasonable the $300 asking price is, but it's certainly a far cry from the Crysis-killing, $600 GTX models.

Besides sporting considerably less RAM when compared to the 768MB found in the GTX, the 320MB 8800's G80 core runs 75MHz slower at 500Mhz. Still, the card's performance should be more than adequate to handle the likes of Crysis and the tight budget of those working in less lucrative industries (microwave oven installers, for instance).

[Via Engadget]

Nvidia launches cheap(er) DirectX 10 cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Gothic 3 contest, expansion pack announced

Alan Rose — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Adventure, RPGs

Aspyr Media and Nvidia are co-sponsoring a contest to promote Gothic 3, and the top prize is a "high end" AMD-powered gaming rig that features a GeForce 7800 GTX graphics card. The game itself isn't due until November, but German developer JoWood is already planning an expansion for their third entry in the cult favorite RPG series. According to CEO Albert Seidl, "We are already working on add-on packages of SpellForce 2 and Gothic 3 series, which will partially be launched in 2007." The SpellForce 2 expansion, Dragon Storm, was announced earlier this summer, and is scheduled to ship in Europe right around the time Gothic 3 launches.

[via RPGDot]

Gothic 3 contest, expansion pack announced originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

ATI responds to Nvidia, clears up post-takeover rumors

Ludwig Kietzmann — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Business

Not too long after Nvidia CEO, Jen Hsun-Huang, described AMD's purchase of ATI as a "gift" and as a sign of their main competitor "throwing in the towel," comes this retort from the newly formed CPU-GPU monster:

"The PC market is a tough place to be without any friends. ATI now has all the resources of AMD behind it, and will be producing faster, more compact GPUs and reaching the channel more effectively than ever before. Nvidia's words are bravado, designed to confuse the market while the company tries to find a way to compete now that it's standing alone."

Oh my, such comments are in desperate need of thermal paste and an officially endorsed heatsink and fan combination! Or, um, burn. While Nvidia is hardly "alone" in the market, the point ATI makes is not entirely without merit. In a considerably competitive hardware market, combining resources and technology couldn't easily be labeled as a terrible strategy and certainly not as a white flag flapping in the wind. Both companies have valid points -- we'll see which is more convincing once they start releasing their next generation of wares.

The rest of AMD's response is aimed at several rumors that have cropped up since the original takeover announcement. They pledge to remain committed to GPUs and to support graphics solutions on Intel platforms, rubbishing the suggestion that Intel is revoking ATI's license. Perhaps that's where Nvidia and ATI can agree: having a strange PC hardware format war would be unpleasant for all parties involved.

[Via Voodoo Extreme, thanks devian!]

ATI responds to Nvidia, clears up post-takeover rumors originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 27 Jul 2006 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

More integrated graphics from Apple

Conrad Quilty-Harper — Tue, 16 May 2006 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Mac, PC, Business

Apple released the MacBook, its new consumer laptop, today. The full tech specs -- which are over at Apple's site -- mention that the MacBook features an Intel GMA950: in other words, an integrated graphics chip identical to the Mac mini. Previously we've summarized the disadvantages of integrated graphics and we've moaned about the poor graphics performance of Apple's line-up in an attempt to force someone at Apple to listen, but it was all in vain.

Apple's supposed "gaming solution" (Windows) is hardly a solution now that Apple's consumer line-up (MacBook, Mac mini) doesn't have a dedicated graphics card, the prosumer line-up (MacBook Pro, iMac) features a low- to mid-range mobile chip and the remaining top-of-the-range machine (PowerMac) is stuck with PowerPC processors, crappy default GPUs (GeForce 6600s, yuck!) and a largely unobtainable price.

If Apple one days wakes up and realizes that there are a load of potential gaming switchers sitting on the fence it would either: tell, no, force Intel to make some integrated chips that aren't "virtually unplayable for anybody that cares about gaming" or provide the option of dedicated graphics cards for gamers, even if it costs us more.

More integrated graphics from Apple originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 May 2006 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Buyer's Guide: Graphics cards compared

Jennie Lees — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 09:58:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Peripherals

Choosing a new graphics card can involve a difficult and lengthy hunt for comparative benchmarks to work out where to put your cash. Fortunately, Tom's Hardware Guide have put together a handy interactive comparison chart which can help reduce this problem to the simple act of staring at a few graphs.

It may be reasonably old, but it's useful, with a few caveats; not all of the cards were tested on identical systems, so some of the results are a little surprising -- clicking on the individual bars of the results reveals the relevant system specs. Also, although it is "updated on a regular basis", several cards are missing from the list. Still, if you're in the market for a new graphics card, this should help simplify your search.

[via digg]

Buyer's Guide: Graphics cards compared originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Apr 2006 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments