Nvidia Corp has said its new graphics chips would double the performance of their predecessors, offering gamers more realistic images at the speed they demand.
The new Ampere range is the second by Nvidia that uses ray-tracing technology to simulate how light interacts with virtual objects in video games and other computer graphics.
The new top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 3090 is to go on sale for US$1,499 and head a list of graphics cards that start at US$499, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said in a video briefing from his kitchen at home in Silicon Valley.
Photo: Reuters
Wearing his signature leather jacket, the executive unveiled the product by taking it out of an oven.
Ray tracing has taken a while to catch on in the video game industry, but Nvidia said more than 100 games use the approach or would take advantage of it soon.
While the technology makes images more lifelike, it requires a lot more computing power, Huang said.
That has slowed the frame rate, or how fast images are updated in video games.
The new Ampere design would address this, he added.
Nvidia is trying to stay ahead of renewed challenges from Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) and Intel Corp, while keeping PC gaming competitive with new consoles from Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp later this year.
In its most recent quarter, Nvidia had games-related sales of US$1.65 billion, up 26 percent from a year earlier. It is predicting a similar expansion this quarter.
PC gaming has become a widespread pastime and billion-dollar sport, creating a market with millions of consumers who would pay more for one Nvidia component than most people would spend for a whole computer.
As the largest maker of graphics chips, Nvidia has ridden this wave of growth, while expanding into other markets such as data center processors.
That has fueled a surge in its stock. Nvidia shares ended 2010 at just more than US$15 and closed at US$534.98 in New York on Monday.
The top-end Ampere product would have 28 billion transistors and the chips would be manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co using its 8-nanometer process.
Nvidia remains a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) customer for its outsourced production as well, executives said.
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