Nvidia Goes All Out at PAX East 2011

PAX isn’t what most would consider a hardware show by even the longest stretch. But more and more hardware companies are making a showing at PAX to reach gamers at an intimate level. PAX is different from E3 in that the show is geared directly towards end-users and consumers, whereas E3 is an industry-insider only event.

The biggest area on the exhibition floor belonged to Nvidia, who also loaned some of its floor real-estate out to other vendors, such as Gigabyte, Maingear, etc. But the graphics giant itself made an impressive showing with demos of Tegra 2 gear, desktop gaming solutions, and games.

One tidbit we picked up on while at PAX was Nvidia’s launch of the GTX590. However, unlike previous releases, the GTX590 will be limited to just two vendors in the U.S.—mainly ASUS and EVGA. Other manufacturers will be making GTX590 products but those will only be available outside of the U.S.

We pressed for reasoning behind the selective vendor choice but was given no reason other than “it was planned this way.”

  • rohitbaran
    "it was planned this way.”
    Yeah, with their handpicked GPU strategy for the GTX 590, they cannot have many distributors in a region or it will be like 10 cards per distributor!
    Reply
  • Ciuy
    ASUS? I HATE ASUS!!!
    Reply
  • mt2e
    To me its a sign of an underwhelming product that they don't expect to sell enough units to justify a broad spectrum launch.
    Reply
  • rmmil978
    mt2eTo me its a sign of an underwhelming product that they don't expect to sell enough units to justify a broad spectrum launch.
    Are you kidding?! The Radeon 6990 sold out INSTANTLY on Newegg and other sites, and this card will be no different. High end card or not, high price or not, there are enough former GTX 295 owners who will be very eager to pick up this card...it's pretty stupid on their part not to make more, because they could probably sell 10x as many as they will. High price or not, there are enough rich high end enthusiasts to pay the price tag.
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    CiuyASUS? I HATE ASUS!!! why? in all my years ive never had a bad product from asus, and most others will attest to that.
    Reply
  • Memoscorp
    iam2thecrowewhy? in all my years ive never had a bad product from asus, and most others will attest to that.
    Personal preference.
    Reply
  • Assmar
    You was only given that reason? Shitty dude.
    Reply
  • LuckyDucky7
    "why? in all my years ive never had a bad product from asus, and most others will attest to that."

    200-dollar M2N32-SLI Deluxe mainboard dead, in warranty (some extension I wasn't informed of until it was 'convenient'), lasted 2.5 years, RMA denied.

    I'll still use them, but only after the alternatives are too expensive/not available/not enough features.

    I'd only consider ASUS for this if they offer a lifetime warranty as good as EVGA's.
    Reply
  • geekapproved
    They gonna run so hot, only Asus and EVGA agreed to warranty them.
    Reply
  • chickenhoagie
    CiuyASUS? I HATE ASUS!!!Hmmm as the other guy said, I too have never had bad experiences with Asus. I believe that they're truly the Apple of PC's..except they price everything right. They're up with technology, make very sturdy designs, very crisp and good architecture for their products, and great pricing..Never had a problem with tech support either. I love Asus:)
    Reply