Tag Archives: NVIDIA

Microsoft And NVIDIA Announce Expansive New Gaming Deal

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Microsoft posted “Microsoft and NVIDIA announce expansive new gaming deal” on its Microsoft News Center:

On Tuesday, Microsoft and NVIDIA announced the companies have agreed to a 10-year partnership to bring Xbox and PC games to the NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming service, which has more than 25 million members in over 100 countries.

The agreement will enable gamers to stream Xbox PC titles from GeForce NOW to PCs, macOS, Chromebooks, smartphones and other devices. It will also enable Activision Blizzard PC titles, such as Call of Duty, to be streamed on GeForce NOW after Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision closes.

“Xbox remains committed to giving people more choice and finding ways to expand how people play,” said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spenser. “This partnership will help grow NVIDIA’s catalog of titles to include games like Call of Duty, while giving developers more ways to offer streaming games. We are incredibly excited to offer gamers more ways to play the games they love.”

“Combining the incredibly rich catalog of Xbox first party games with GeForce NOW’s high-performance streaming capabilities will propel cloud gaming into a mainstream offering that appeals to gamers at all levels of interest and experience,” said Jeff Fisher, senior vice president for GeForce at NVIDIA. “Through this partnership, more of the world’s most popular titles will now be available from the cloud with just a click, playable by millions more gamers.”

The partnership delivers increased choice to gamers and resolves NVIDIA’s concerns with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. NVIDIA therefore is offering its full support for regulatory approval the acquisition.

Microsoft and NVIDIA will begin work immediately to integrate Xbox PCgames into GeForce NOW, so that GeForce NOW members can stream PC games they buy in the Windows Store, including third-party partner titles where the publisher has granted streaming rights to NVIDIA. Xbox PC games currently available in third-party stores like Steam or Epic Games Store will also be able to be streamed through GeForce NOW.

Visit the GeForce NOW website for more information on the service and follow along every GFN Thursday for the latest news, including release dates for upcoming Microsoft game titles coming to the GeForce NOW service.

The agreement was announced today at a Microsoft press conference in Brussels, Belgium. Microsoft also star today that it finalized a 10-year agreement to bring the latest version of Call of Duty to the Nintendo platforms following the merger with Activision.

CNBC reported that the announcement comes after Microsoft President Brad Smith met with European Union officials on Tuesday in a bid to convince them that its planned $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard will be good for competition.

According to CNBC, Microsoft is offering the olive branch to stop the takeover from being blocked and thereby expand its gaming unit, which represents 9% of its total revenue. Microsoft President Brad Smith said if the Activision deal closes, it will bring all Activision Blizzard titles to GeForce Now.

Personally, as much as I’d love to see Microsoft acquire Activision Blizzard, I’m not entirely certain that the company will be able to appease all of the regulators who have examined this merger. Perhaps the offering of ten years of access to Call of Duty to NVIDIA and Nintendo will convince regulators to reconsider their opinion of the acquisition. In the meantime, I looks as though Microsoft is very confident that the acquisition will go through.

EVGA Stops Making Video Cards

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EVGA, a titan in the PC component space, is getting out of the graphics card game, The Verge reported. The company posted in its community forum, saying it won’t be making next-generation Nvidia graphics cards but will continue to sell and support “the existing current generation products.” The Verge also reported that Gamers Nexus stated that EVGA doesn’t currently have plans to make AMD or Intel graphics cards.

More specifically, EVGA wrote the following:

“Hi all,

You may have heard some news regarding the next generation of products from EVGA. Please see below for a message on future products and services:

EVGA will not carry the next generation graphics cards.

EVGA will continue to support the existing current generation products

EVGA will continue to provide the current generation products.

EVGA is committed to our customers and will continue to offer sales and support on the current lineup. Also, EVGA would like to say thank you to our great community for the many years of support and enthusiasm for EVGA graphics cards.”

Kotaku reported that EVGA, one of the most prominent third-party PC graphics card manufacturers, and a favorite brand among PC gamers for quality parts and reliable warranties backed by solid customer service, is terminating its longtime relationship with Nvidia. What’s more, the company reportedly said that it won’t be pursuing partnerships with competing silicon giants like AMD or Intel, either. It seems EVGA is just done with GPUs.

ArsTechnica reported that EVGA’s graphics cards have exclusively used Nvidia GPUs since its founding in 1999, and according to Gamers Nexus, GeForce sales represent 80 percent of EVGAs revenue, making this a momentous and arguably company-endangering change. But EVGA CEO Andrew Han told Gamers Nexus that the decision was about “principle” rather than financials – Han complained about a lack of communication from Nvidia about new products, including information about pricing and availability.

According to ArsTechnica, Nvidia’s pricing strategy was apparently another sore point for EVGA. Nvidia’s first-party Founders Edition cards could often undercut the pricing of cards offered by EVGA and other vendors, forcing them to either lower prices or lose sales as a result.

For more information, you can watch the YouTube video by Gamers Nexus and/or the YouTube video by JayzTwoCents. Those of you who want to pick up some of the remaining EVGA graphics cards might want to do that as soon as possible. It certainly looks like the company is absolutely done making video cards.

NVIDIA Fined $5.5 Million For “Inadequate Disclosures” About Cryptomining

Information

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced they had settled charges against technology company NVIDIA Corporation for inadequate disclosure concerning the impact of crypto mining on the company’s gaming business. The press release includes the following:

“The SEC’s order finds that, during consecutive quarters in NVIDIA’s fiscal year 2018, the company failed to disclose that crypto mining was a significant element of its material revenue growth from the sale of its graphics processing units (GPUs) designed and marketed for gaming. Cryptomining is the process of obtaining crypto rewards in exchange for verifying crypto transactions on distributed ledgers. As demand for and interest in crypto rose in 2017, NVIDIA customers increasingly used its gaming GPUs for cryptomining.

“In two of its Forms 10-Q for its fiscal year 2018, NVIDIA reported material growth in revenue within its gaming business. NVIDIA had information, however, that this increase in gaming sales was driven in significant part by cryptomining. Despite this, NVIDIA did not disclose in its Forms 10-Q, as it was required to do, these significant earnings and cash flow fluctuations related to a volatile business for investors to ascertain the likelihood that past performance was indicative of future performance.

“The SEC’s order also finds that NVIDIA’s omissions of material information about the growth of its gaming business were misleading given that NVIDIA did make statements about how other parts of the company’s business were driven by demand for crypto, creating the impression that the company’s gaming business was not significantly affected by cryptomining….”

CNBC reported that NVIDIA will pay $5.5 million as part of a settlement with the SEC that it did not properly inform investors about how cryptocurrency miners were stoking demand for its graphics cards. According to CNBC, NVIDIA failed to disclose how cryptocurrency mining drove growth in the second and third quarters of 2018, which took place in 2017, the SEC said in a filing.

In 2021, NVIDIA announced a change to their RTX 30 series cards. The purpose was to nerf them so that the card would be less desirable to people who use them for mining cryptocurrency. According to NVIDIA, their GeForce RTX 3060 graphic cards were shipped with a reduced Ethereal hash rate.

At the time, I wrote that this change could make it easier for gamers to not only obtain NVIDIA cards, but also to use them for their intended purpose – playing video games. I remember people being very frustrated that they could not find the NVIDIA cards they wanted in stores – and that the price for them (when found) was too high.

ArsTechnica reported about the aftermath of the 2017-era crypto bubble, when NVIDIA missed earnings expectations and lost billions in stock market value because of a collapse in demand for GPUs. The popping of that cryptomining bubble also led to a glut of inventory that retailers had trouble moving, even after price cuts.

Nvidia Nerfs GeForce Cards to Deter Cryptocurrency Miners

Gaming,

Nvidia announced a change to their RTX 30 series cards. The purpose is to nerf them so that the cards will be less desirable to people who use them for mining cryptocurrency. To me, it sounds like this could make it easier for gamers to not only obtain Nvidia’s cards, but also to use them for their intended purpose – playing video games.

…To help get GeForce in the hands of gamers, we announced in February that all GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards shipped with a reduced Ethereum hash rate.

Today we’re taking additional measures by applying a reduced ETH hash rate to newly manufactured GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070, and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards. These cards will start shipping in late May…

Nvidia clarifies that because these GPUs originally launched with a full hash rate, they want to ensure that customers know exactly what they’re getting when they buy GeForce products. To help with his, Nvidia pointed out that their GeForce partners are labeling the GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070, and RTX 3060 Ti cards with a “Lite Hash Rate” or “LHR,” identifier. The identifier will be in retail product listings and on the box.

The reduced has rate does not apply to cards that have already been purchased. It will apply to newly manufactured cards with the LHR identifier.

The purpose of this change is to reinforce that GeForce is made for gaming. Nvidia says it believes this additional step will get more GeForce cards at better prices into the hands of gamers everywhere.

My hope is that this change will deter people who want to use GeForce cards for mining Ethereum cryptocurrency. It is abundantly clear that the Nvidia doesn’t want its cards used by crypto miners, especially as it appears that the result is that gamers can’t access the cards.

That said, The Verge reported that Nvidia tried to nerf mining with the RTX 3060, and accidentally released a beta driver that unlocked hash rates and increased performance. The Verge said that’s been reinstated with more recent drivers, but the beta drivers are “out in the wild now.”

The Verge also reported that Nvidia’s move to nerf new cards will drive up the prices for existing 30-series GPUs that don’t have those restrictions in place.

NVIDIA Announced Quadro RTX-Powered Mobile Workstations

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NVIDIA announced at the annual Computex conference in Taipei a full range of Turing architecture-based Quadro GPUs for mobile workstations from global system providers such as Dell, HP and Lenovo.

Featuring Quadro RTX 5000, 4000, and 3000 GPUs – the world’s most powerful GPUs – the new mobile workstations are built to deliver desktop-level performance and capabilities in a mobile form factor.

The Quadro RTX mobile workstations ensure that professionals get the best possible experience when working with the latest design, engineering and creative applications from leading software providers such as Autodesk, Adobe, Dassault Systemes, Siemens, PTC, Chaos Group, Ansys, ESRI, Shulmberger, and many more.

They’re made possible by combining RTX-powered real-time photorealistic rendering, AI acceleration, 8K video editing and VR with massive GPU memory – up to 16GB – all packed in sleek and reliable system designs.

The new lineup of mobile workstations also feature Quadro T2000, T1000, P620 and P520 GPUs, giving professionals the flexibility to choose the right system to meet the demands of their diverse workloads.

There is a list of partners on NIVIDA’s website where you can find a laptop that works for you. Prices are not listed on the website, but individual partners might have more information about that.

I can see where the NVIDIA Quadro RTX mobile workstations will be useful and convenient for journalists who need to travel to locations in order to write about events. Bloggers who attend conventions, and must get news out quickly, might also benefit from these mobile workstations.

NVIDIA Revealed GeForce RTX Laptops at CES 2019

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NVIDIA revealed at CES 2019 that RTX is coming to laptops, starting with over 40 new GeForce RTX laptops, in 100-plus configurations, from NVIDIA’s partners around the world.

If you want a super thin, super fast laptop, there are 17 GeForce RTX Max-Q laptops debuting at CES 2019. These are designed to get maximum GPU performance from the thinnest-possible designs.

Compared to previous-gen models, new GeForce RTX Max-Q laptops are faster, slimmer, quieter and cooler, and many use NVIDIA Optimus technology to deliver up to 2x more battery life. They also feature 144Hz panels with thin bezels, and with designs available from every major OEM, gamers have many great models to choose from.

GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q laptops can deliver 2x the performance of a PSA Pro in a portable form factor, feature 8GB of GDDR6 memory, are faster than GeForce GTX 1080 desktop graphics cards, are 40% more efficient than GeForce GTX Max-Q laptops, and can play Battlefield V at 1920×1080, with Ultra settings and Ultra-quality ray tracing effects and DLSS enabled.

Max-Q laptops are also available with GeForce RTX 2070 GPUs, which feature 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and with GeForce RTX 2060 GPUs, which feature 6GB of GDDR6 memory.

All GeForce RTX laptops benefit from BatteryBoost and WhisperMode, two technologies that enhance your gaming on the go and at home.

GeForce RTX laptops will be available starting January 29, 2019, from the world’s leading laptop OEMs, including Acer, Alienware, ASUS, Dell, Gigabyte, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Razer and Samsung. They will also be available from local OEMs and system builders including Aftershock, CyberPower PC, Hasee, Maingear, Mechrevo, Mouse, Origin PC, PC Specialist, Scan, Schenker, Terrans Force and Thunderobot.

Visit NVIDIA at CES 2019 at LVCC, North Hall, Booth #6306.

NVIDIA Unveils GeForce RTX 2016 at CES 2019

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NVIDIA unveiled the GeForce RTX 2060 at CES 2019. On January 15, 2019, the $349 GeForce RTX will deliver advanced ray tracing and AI features, plus levels of performance previously available only in high-end gaming GPUs, at a price point within reach of PC gamers worldwide.

“For tens of millions go gamers everywhere, next-gen gaming starts today,” said NVIDIA founder and CEP Jensen Huang, at the RTX 2060’s unveiling at CES 2019. “Desktop gamers are demanding, and the RTX 2060 sets a new standard – an unbeatable price, extraordinary performance and real-time ray tracing that blurs the distinction between movies and games. This is a great moment for gamers and our industry.”

The GeForce RTX 2060 features 1,920 CUDA cores, 240 Tensor Cores that can deliver 52 teraflops of deep learning horsepower, 30 RT Cores that can cast 5 gigarays a second, 6 GB of the newest GDDR6 memory running at 14 Gbps, and a GPU boost clock of 1.68 GHz.

Furthermore, users can significantly boost their GPU performance with manual overclocking (NIVIDIA reached up to 2 GHz in their labs) or use NVIDIA’s one-click OC Scanner technology in custom tools such as EVGA Precision XOC and MSI Afterburner to get rock-solid overclocks.

The GeForce 2060 will be available beginning January 15, 2019, in systems built by Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo, as well as by leading system builders worldwide.

Custom boards, including stock-clocked and factory-overclocked models, will also be available starting January 15, 2019, from top add-in card providers, including ASUS, Colorful, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Innovision 3D, MSI, Palit, PNY, and Zotac.

A stock-clocked RTX 2060 Founders Edition board – designed and built by NVIDIA – will also be available on that date, exclusive from the NVIDIA website.

Visit NVIDIA at CES 2019 at LVCC, North Hall, Booth #6306.