SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVIDIA Corporation , the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced the immediate availability of NVIDIA(R) MAXtreme(TM) 9 D3D and POWERdraft 2007, new performance drivers, developed in close collaboration with Autodesk, for 3ds Max 9 software and AutoCAD 2007 software. Recent tests show MAXtreme 9 drivers increased performance up to 100% when coupled with the NVIDIA Quadro FX 5500 graphics solution,(i) while POWERdraft 2007 running on Quadro FX 5500 graphics improved AutoCAD 2007 performance by as much as 73%. (ii)
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The MAXtreme 9 Direct3D performance driver enhances 3ds Max 9 user productivity by allowing professionals to control the application's viewport display quality and real-time rendering speed. MAXtreme 9 is optimized for use with the full line of NVIDIA Quadro FX graphics solutions supporting Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 2000/XP.
POWERdraft 2007, a performance driver for AutoCAD 2007, provides 3D hardware acceleration for Quadro FX graphics solutions running under Windows 2000/XP, replacing the existing driver for improved 3D hardware acceleration.
"NVIDIA continues to invest in digital content creation and is a strong partner for Autodesk, as well as the AutoCAD and 3ds Max communities," says Ken Pimentel, senior product manager at Autodesk. "The new NVIDIA MAXtreme 9 and POWERdraft 2007 drivers provide our joint customers with the performance muscle they need to boost productivity in the creative pipeline."
Benchmarking Performance
Recent performance tests on both MAXtreme 9 and POWERdraft 2007 drivers coupled with NVIDIA Quadro FX 5500 graphics delivered extraordinary performance improvements over standard software drivers. When benchmarked using the SPECapc particle test for 3ds Max, MAXtreme delivered a phenomenal 14X performance increase, while the Scene Creation subcategory showed a performance improvement of more than 100%. Overall, the 3ds Max graphics composite delivered a performance improvement of more than 16%. (i)
POWERdraft 2007 tests using the Cadalyst06 benchmarks running on NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 and 3500 graphics solutions yielded substantial performance improvements of more than 73% in the 3D Gouraud Index and a performance increase of 61% in the 3D Wireframe Index. The total Cadalyst06 benchmark Index using POWERdraft 2007 reveals a 22% performance improvement over preloaded application drivers. (ii)
The NVIDIA MAXtreme 9 and POWERdraft 2007 performance drivers are currently available as free downloads at the NVIDIA web site http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp .
NVIDIA Corporation
NVIDIA Corporation is the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies. The Company creates innovative, industry-changing products for computing, consumer electronics, and mobile devices. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For more information, visit http://www.nvidia.com/.
Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to the features, uses, capabilities and performance of NVIDIA MAXtreme 9 D3D and POWERdraft 2007 drivers are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: loss in performance when products are integrated; use of different system configurations and applications; software defects; the impact of technological development and competition; general industry trends; changes in industry standards and interfaces as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2006. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on our Web site and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
NOTE: All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.
(i) Based on testing the MAXtreme 9 6.14.10.9147 driver against the standard preloaded driver 6.14.10.9147 on a system comprised of an NVIDIA Quadro FX 5500 GPU and an Intel Xeon 5160 CPU (3.00 GHz) using the Greencreek chipset with 2816MB of RAM on Windows XP 5.1.2600 SP 2 at a resolution of 1280 x 1024. The SPECapc 3ds max benchmark is designed to run 3ds Max version 8.0 software. NVIDIA obtained theses results by running the unmodified benchmark on 3ds Max version 9.0 on the foregoing system.
(ii) Based on testing the POWERdraft 2007 driver against standard shipping driver 6.14.10.9136 on a system comprised of an NVIDIA Quadro FX 5500 GPU and an Intel Core Duo Xeon 2X CPU (2.66 GHz) using the Glidewell chipset with 2048MB of RAM on Windows XP 5.1.2600 SP 2 at a resolution of 1280 x 1024. Performance tests running the Cadalyst06 performance benchmark for AutoCAD 2007 on systems consisting of NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 and 3500 GPUs (and the same system specs referenced under footnote ii less the Quadro FX 5500 GPU) delivered a 22% performance increase over preloaded AutoCAD drivers.
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