Nvidia On Optimus: No Comment
Nvidia said "no comment" about the news that Optimus is a new name for a new and improved Hybrid SLI.
Just before CES 2010 back in January, Nvidia updated its official blog with a teaser about an upcoming mobile technology called Optimus. Set for a Q1 release, the new "revolutionary" technology will only work on laptops powered by Nvidia GPUs.
Without offering in-depth details, the company said that Optimus is completely seamless, transparent, and will enable a Nvidia-branded integrated GPU to reach the same performance level as a conventional GPU, but without a heavy draw on the laptop's battery. This may indicate that Optimus controls a single GPU in a hardware or software sense, and scales the overall performance when needed.
However, since Optimus is an unannounced product, Nvidia refused to divulge additional details, and basically handed out "no comment" notices. Instead, queries are linked back to the pre-CES 2010 blog.
X-bit Labs seems to have acquired additional information however. According to the site, Nvidia will reveal the Optimus technology on February 9. It's also believed that the company is re-launching its older-yet-improved Hybrid SLI (or Hybrid Graphics) technology under the Optimus name. X-bit said that this could help Nvidia compete with microprocessors with a built-in graphics core.
With Nvidia keeping such a tight lid on the project, most of the information is speculative. Hopefully we'll know more next week. What's your take on Nvidia's Optimus?
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
-
apache_lives Optimus = Transformed GTS250! LOOK AT ME IM SOMETHING ELSE YET IM NOTReply
Also get the feeling Fermi is going to be a hot power hungry monster and will require another basic card/igp to counter the idle power/heat levels etc meaning as originally thought, optimus will be a renamed hybrid sli like design for it. -
coolronz i think nvidia is out of breathe here.... sounds like a rebranding scheme to me.. alot more of nothing! way to go Nvidia... ;)Reply -
dheadley I'm on my 6th SLi gaming rig now, but I am not sure I am going to stick with them on my next build. They seem to have decided the tegra and ion lines were more important than the desktop market now and their attention is there for the moment. Seems like Fermi is going to come whenever they are done with those other platforms and have spare time to get it out the door.Reply -
eklipz330 surrept420ATI Fanboys ftl.im gonna give u a plus only because i agree with you.Reply
too bad there aren't any ati fanboy's here... i only see logical criticism. -
tacoslave joeman42I think Megatron would be more apt.intel launching that next month along with ati and their new "bumblebee".Reply