Nvidia has officially unveiled its highly anticipated and greatest graphics processing unit (GPU) based on the company’s Fermi architecture, the GeForce GTX 580. According to the California-based GPU maker it’s the world’s fastest performing DirectX 11 (DX11) graphics card.

 

At the beginning of November two Chinese websites leaked specs and photos of what they claimed to be Nvidia’s latest and greatest GPU. These did turn out to be real as the new king of Nvidia’s GPU hill does indeed sport 512 CUDA cores, as well as a new vapor chamber thermal solution, making it the quietest GPU in its class. 

 

According to Nvidia it features an increase of up to 35% in performance per watt and performance that is up to 30% faster than its former top dog, the GeForce GTX 480.

 

 

The GTX 580 also boasts 16 PolyMorph engines to gain more graphical rendering power for games and to deliver massive tessellation, which is an advanced feature of DirectX 11, allowing for the creation of smoother curved surfaces, resulting in more life-like images. 

 

When it comes to the most recent games that feature tessellation, the company states that the GeForce GTX 580 is up to 160% faster than the closest competitive product, ATI’s Radeon HD 5870. While playing DX9 and DX10 games such as StarCraft II the GeForce GTX 580 is also up to 62% faster.

 

“For Crysis 2, we’ll take advantage of what NVIDIA’s new GeForce GTX 580 GPUs bring,” said Cevat Yerli, president and CEO of Crytek. “A supersoldier that needs to save NYC from an alien invasion needs the best tech possible. That’s not only his Nanosuit, but also stunning DX11 geometric realism that a GPU like the GeForce GTX 580 can offer for our PC gamers.”

 

“At Epic, we’ve standardized on NVIDIA GeForce GPUs for Unreal Engine 3 development,” said Tim Sweeney, founder, Epic Games. “The GTX 580 offers even more rendering and compute power than NVIDIA’s previous high end GeForce GPU but thanks to its new cooling system it’s also much more quiet. Whether you’re an engineer working with the Unreal Technology or a gamer who wants the ultimate Bulletstorm experience, the GTX 580 delivers.”

 

The GTX 580 also offers full support for Nvidia 3D Vision as well as Nvidia Surround technologies, meaning users will be able to play games and watch high-definition (HD) Blu-ray movies in stereoscopic 3D. Nvidia said that the card is available immediately in the States at an estimated retail price of $499 (about R3 400). Local pricing or availability info isn’t available as of yet.