Nvidia Quadro Plex 1000 goes nuts with 80 billion pixels-per-second

Maybe Nvidia's recent tough talk following the acquisition of ATI wasn't just talk. They're backing up those words with some serious graphics muscle: a unit called the Quadro Plex 1000 that can pump 80 billion pixels per second for pro graphics needs. Like, really pro graphics needs. Before we hurt ourselves trying to figure just exactly how many Marios that is, we'll run the rest of the specs by you. The Quadro Plex comes in a desktop (pictured) or 3U rackmount configuration, and is designed for working with 12-megapixel HD video, 3D graphics, scientific visualization, simulations and whatever else needs that type of GPU power. One node involves eight Quadro FX cards, jammed into two Plex 1000 systems and paired up via SLI, all of which is hosted by a 32-bit Intel or 64-bit AMD machine running Windows or Linux. All that juicy Quake II power (we keed! we keed!) can be yours starting at a mere $17,500, and should be available beginning next month.

[craig @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:02AM]

One word: wow.

[Guy Via @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:05AM]

The major question is, will it be able to run Vista?

[Intrepid @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:06AM]

AMD, good move.

[dextro @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:06AM]

I wonder how many frames I can get out of quake 2 on that? LOOOL :P

[Intrepid @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:09AM]

"The major question is, will it be able to run Vista?"
I would say it could run 10 copies simultaniously! :p

[Revrant @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:10AM]

Damn, this should certainly help developers with the dough to spend, maybe ATI can finally dig into the Professional market and challenge nVidia now that they have AMD at their back.

[jared @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:14AM]

Pardon my ignorance, but is the lack of SLI support on Apple boxes the fault of the hardware or the operating system?

[Jeff2 martone @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:15AM]

But can it play doom....

sorry i had too

[Zach @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:26AM]

@ jared,

The quad macs support SLI.

[K MAN @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:42AM]

Simple.

NOT - Cost Effective.

Same reason why Next failed.
Same reason why SGI is no longer heard of.
Same reason why the G4 Cube failed.

[schmod @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:49AM]

yes, but it's not their *only* product.

that said, this is a little ridiculous.... what applications take advantage of this sort of hardware?

I always thought that high-end raytracing (ie. renderman) and such was still done in software due to superior quality

[popbot @ Aug 2nd 2006 9:53AM]

If I mount this on my Saturn, will I finally have a Euro-luxury car.

[Mister Smith @ Aug 2nd 2006 10:15AM]

KMAN:
Not quite...

The entire NeXT line was overpriced, hence, failure

The entire SGI line is now overpriced (commoditization), hence, failure

The G4 Cube was a pro machine priced above and specced lower than the other pro machines, hence, failure

The Quadro Plex is the highest of the high-end pro line. There is nothing else like it. If you want to edit 12 megapixel HD video, this is it. Ergo, it will sell. WHen you are making feature movies or IMAX movies, 18 grand is a drop in the bucket.

[englishmen @ Aug 2nd 2006 10:45AM]

If i had the £££££££££££££ i so would.

[Keith @ Aug 2nd 2006 10:47AM]

@ jared:

It's mostly hardware. Multi-card GPU support is at the chipset level, so Apple would have to use an ATI Crossfire or Nvidia NForce chipset. Since they're using Intel chipsets, SLI is no-go. It may be possible for Apple to support the Nvidia 7950 GX2, since it puts two both "cards" on one x16 connection. As long as the Mac's firmware supported the PCIe switch Nvidia uses as a go-between for the cards and the motherboard, the hardware side would be covered. Drivers, on the other hand, would probably be an issue because no Mac has supported SLI before. There would be quite a few kinks to work out.

@ K MAN:

I wouldn't say Next was a failure. It just mutated into today's Apple. The G4 Cube was just style trumping substance. The Mac mini is a better-engineered expression of the same principle. And SGI failed because their best and brightest all jumped ship to work for... wait for it... NVIDIA!

If you're Pixar or ILM, $17,500 is chump change for that kind of horsepower. A bit expensive for that ultimate Oblivion rig, though.

[PW @ Aug 2nd 2006 10:47AM]

cool. but does it go to 11?

[yuppicide @ Aug 2nd 2006 10:52AM]

From the Nvidia website:

"Not only will this do things you never thought possible, but the Quadro Plex 1000 will also make something as simple as viewing adult movies more pleasurable. You will almost feel like you're in the film. Imagine an Imax theater in your living room times ten."

[Mike @ Aug 2nd 2006 11:07AM]

I'd like to see some benchmarks on this thing just for fun with it running all the standard programs they use to test normal video cards.

[drivebybiped @ Aug 2nd 2006 11:21AM]

Oh man my terminal is gonna redraw so fast now!

[Brian @ Aug 2nd 2006 12:47PM]

"cool. but does it go to 11?" IT GOES TO 12!!!

[Mike @ Aug 2nd 2006 12:58PM]

625 MMPS (Millions of Marios Per Second)

***Assuming that Mario is one sprite on the NES console he would take up 8x16 pixels or 128 pixels.
80 billion / 128 or 625 million Marios per second

[bluemonq @ Aug 2nd 2006 2:28PM]

Cool feature of the Quadro Plex: bonus built-in front-mounted USB hub.

;)

[Loque @ Aug 2nd 2006 3:23PM]

Seriously. If anyone buys this for a gaming rig, can I have your babys?

[Darth Poo @ Aug 2nd 2006 3:41PM]

Remember when evryone said that ATI would never be able to make external graphics cards because it just would be unfeasible. Have you seen how this connects? Its a 2 meter cable that goes to teh PCI slot.

[Dan @ Aug 2nd 2006 3:45PM]

ok so here is the question: car or video card??
never thought I'd have to make that choice

[Kickace @ Aug 2nd 2006 4:48PM]

Wii is for babies! Get an Xbox 360!

[robothouse91 @ Aug 2nd 2006 5:55PM]

:-0 Me wantee.

[plake @ Aug 2nd 2006 6:48PM]

$17,500?

np.

[Derek @ Aug 2nd 2006 7:39PM]

Keep in mind these are not really ever used for gaming ;)

[Shadyman @ Aug 2nd 2006 8:05PM]

I'd say it could MAYBE run a half of Vista. Only if Vista ever gets released, though.

[Rob Wienk @ Aug 2nd 2006 10:50PM]

Firstly, wow.

Secondly, I think this in combination with a quad-core/proc type computer, can easily be a replacement for some super expensive film postproduction hardware such as Autodesks' 'Discreet' line of products. And probably a lot cheaper as well. Power to the desktop :)

[polux @ Aug 2nd 2006 11:40PM]

nothing a good old 9800 O.C. couldnt pump out. :)
nvidia prolly found a way to even fuck this one up.

[PAC-3 @ Aug 3rd 2006 1:16AM]

External GPUs = The Future?

[AudieMurphy @ Aug 3rd 2006 5:02AM]

So this thing costs the same as 2 PS3's? Bad joke, besides it'll never support "real" HD on 2 monitors at the same time!

[vbalink @ Aug 4th 2006 5:33PM]

Some serious BOX that is. Time for modders to tune it UP :)

[SandmanX @ Aug 5th 2006 5:24PM]

Can it run Duke Nukem?

[Brennan @ Aug 6th 2006 1:01AM]

this is.......wierd.....but its n external video card.......looks like ATI is going to have another competition on next-gen graphics cards. Since AMD bought ATI, i rather get ATI now, they claim that there video card they r working on will be the best DirectX9 graphics card ever made n i guess support DirectX10 if Vista ever comes out...........*coughnever*.

[A_Pickle @ Aug 9th 2006 1:39AM]

It's not external.

[Rath @ Aug 12th 2006 6:06AM]

i recently bought this, and now im having trouble with red alert 95...apparently it doesn't have the processing power O.o

[Matt W @ Oct 3rd 2006 10:42PM]

As an owner of a $32K video card, I appreciate this kind of dedication to the cutting edge.

My card is a Digital Equipment Corp. Powerstorm 4D60T that runs on a 64-bit Alpha 500MHz personal workstation.

This is the type of system used in the creation of the movie "The Titanic", which was cutting edge for it's time.

The powerstorm uses two 66MHz PCI busses, has 32MB of texture memory and was manufactured by Intergraph for D.E.C.

It was originally purchased for Lightwave 3D development.

These are also the same systems used to develop everyone's favorite first person shooters, doom and quake!

The nVidia system seems like a pretty good deal to me.

[TRIXTA @ Jun 21st 2007 9:00AM]

You People you are all fools you can bring your ATI GIGABYTE you Name it believe me N-VIDIA QUADROPLEX 1000 4TH MODEL IS INSANE THE THING IS RUNNING ALL MY GAMES EXTREME HD GAMES X-BOX 360 PLAYSTATION 3 IMAGINE THE POWER THAT IT HAS IT IS SO CLEAR IN A WAY THE WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH TO EXPLAIN IT YOU CAN NEVER COMPARE THE THING WITH X-BOX 360 AND PLAYSTATION 3 IT IS SOMETHING ELSE ALL I CAN SAY THERE IS NO GPU THAT CAN BEAT N-VIDIA QUADROPLEX 1000 NOTHING BUY AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT I MEAN OOH IT IS A MUST TO SEE

E-MAIL ME ON

[e-mail]

[da Housetian @ Oct 16th 2007 1:57PM]

Folks, you're seeing one option in the future of videocards, as they pass the gig-mark. There's this option, making the card/s outboard, cluttering up your desk next to your outboard modem, outboard HDD. BUT, that frees the manufacturer from the restrictions imposed by fitting inside a case and into a mobo.
I'm waiting to see a vidcard with expandable memory...thats the other direction. Buy 1 card and just add GDDR to it.
Either way, this damn thing'll make a puter levitate!