Nvidia: DirectX 11 Won't Define GPU Sales

Are PC games no longer the driving force behind graphics cards? That's the indication Nvidia made Wednesday at the Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference, saying that the upcoming DirectX 11 application programming interface (API) will not be what drives future sales. Instead, Nvidia said the graphics market will pocket wads of cash from general purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU). Tools for GPGPU and software taking advantage of the technology will also propel sales, not DirectX 11-driven PC games.

"DirectX 11 by itself is not going be the defining reason to buy a new GPU," said Mike Hard, vice president of investor relations at Nvidia. "It will be one of the reasons. This is why Microsoft is in work with the industry to allow more freedom and more creativity in how you build content, which is always good, and the new features in DirectX 11 are going to allow people to do that. But that no longer is the only reason, we believe, consumers would want to invest in a GPU."

X-Bit Labs points out that Nvidia may have problems, as ATI is about to crank out its Radeon HD 5800-series graphics cards that fully support DirectX 11, and Nvidia is remaining speechless in regards to its DirectX 11-flavored plans. Nvidia's CUDA GPGPU technology is also incompatible with OpenCL and DirectCompute 11 environments, both supported by the Radeon HD 4000 and 5000 series. This could mean to computer enthusiasts that Nvidia is no longer the "technology leader."

But Nvidia doesn't seem phased, and stands firm on its belief that special-purpose software relying on GPGPU will be what drives people to the store, begging for more power, not id Software's Rage or some other PC game with insane requirements. That's too bad, as The Jerk had a special purpose but didn't need a GPGPU.

  • curnel_D
    "Nvidia says that special-purpose software relying on GPGPU will propel GPU sales, not PC gaming."

    This is as good as admiting defeat.
    Reply
  • CookYouAll
    Poor Nvidia, better fright harder! Keep Ati cards at lower price.
    Reply
  • the_one111
    Curnel_D"Nvidia says that special-purpose software relying on GPGPU will propel GPU sales, not PC gaming."This is as good as admiting defeat.GG Nvidia, it was nice knowing you...

    ATI is definitely going to be my next graphics provider now.
    Reply
  • FlayerSlayer
    Seems a little Radeon biased. Radeon supports OpenCL but not CUDA. NVidia cards support CUDA butnot OpenCL. Why is said as though OpenCL is some huge oversight on NVidia's side but not the reverse? Am I missing something?

    I admit the DX11 lack from NVidia is worrisome though.
    Reply
  • hispeed120
    Nice one Nvidia, say something you aren't developing won't make a big deal and make it sound like other people are wasting their time... Pretty weak move.
    Reply
  • sandmanwn
    Nvidia: "we haven't figured out dx11 yet"
    -nuff said
    Reply
  • chaohsiangchen
    To NVIDIA: Stop puking out crap trash talk and start to make DX11-compatible card!
    Reply
  • ChuvelxD
    Who the eff cares about DX11? Games that are compatable with DX10.1 are few and far between. The GPU tech has gotten beyond the games. You'll end up with under-used Raedeon 58xxs with 1 or 2 games that support DX11. Nvidia is going after ATI's mainstream distributor share. They are trying to cut into Dell, HP, Sony to use thier GPGPUs instead of a dx11 no one can utilize. Just like ATI is making DX11 cards to try to cut into the gaming market. Not gonna happen, people just bougt thier GTX series card or thier 4800 card, they aren't gonna upgrade just for DX11 any time soon.
    Reply
  • falchard
    nVidia: We cannot meet DX10 specifications, can you lower them?
    nVidia: DX10.1 isn't a large enough upgrade to support.
    nVidia: DX11 isn't important.

    Seems to me that if nVidia can keep the 2005 market it would be fantastic. They didn't do their R&D, now they are paying for it. My bet is that AMD buys nVidia if they go far enough down. Then AMD can claim gaming.
    Reply
  • subox247
    it appears nvidia doesn't have a direct x 11 gpu yet and is talking out there you know what. of course people buy 500 plus dollar video cards for transcoding video to there hand held devices quicker not to play video games
    Reply