Nvidia launches Fermi-based Quadro workstation GPUs

Matthew DeCarlo

Posts: 5,271   +104

Nvidia entered the DirectX 11 workstation graphics segment today, announcing several Fermi-based Quadro products. The new parts include the Quadro 6000, 5000 and 4000 cards, the Quadro 5000m mobile chip, and the Quadro Plex 7000 external visual system.

Nvidia claims its new GPUs are up to five times faster for 3D performance and eight times quicker for computational simulation than their predecessors. They also pack more VRAM, and the 5000 and 6000 series units have ECC memory. Here's a breakdown of the specs:

Product CUDA
Cores
Memory
(GDDR5)
Memory
Interface
Memory
Bandwidth
TDP
Quadro 4000 256 2GB 256-bit 89.6GB/s 142W
Quadro 5000 352 2.5GB 320-bit 120GB/s 152W
Quadro 6000 448 6GB 384-bit 144GB/s 225W
Quadro 5000M 320 2GB 256-bit 76.8GB/s 100W
Quadro Plex 7000 896 12GB 384-bit 144GB/s N/A

The Quadro 4000 and 5000 are already available with an MSRP of $1,149 and $2,249, while the 6000 and Quadro Plex 7000 will ship later this year for $4,999 and $14,500. Workstation OEM partners include Dell, HP, Lenovo, Boxx Technologies, and NextComputing, and HP has already announced that its 17-inch EliteBook 8740W will soon be updated with the Quadro FX 5000M.

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Wow, Three hour old story and no-one has posted "Will it play Cr...

If the baby of the family 5000 is anything to go by it looks like nvidia are still the go-to guys for the workstation crowd, although the launch seems to have woken up the AMD driver team. According to this...however, the new driver will add 63% performance and 81% to the SPECviewperf 11 to (some) of the numbers in the PC Per review...so either the numbers are best-case scenario, the driver team have worked miracles, or the previous driver was complete sh...rubbish. Seems a little lackadaisical considering the AMD's drive to improve market share.
 
Yeah, but will the 5000M play Crysis @ 1080p @ Max settings @ min 40FPS?? LOL

Seriously though, the TDP of 100W is a real concern.
Heat issues aside, a 17" laptop with this sort of muscle would require at least 220W.
And to be on the safe side, that would probably require 240W Power Supply, which is quite a heavy brick to carry.

A powerful GPU is considered powerful only when the Performance/Watt ratio is acceptable.
I would say that a 60W TDP should be the upper limit.
Agree?
 
No.
The laptop that uses workstation or enthusiast gaming graphics is usually considered to be a desktop replacement.
When was the last time you saw someone toting around a 17" laptop using AutoCAD ?
 
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