With new GPU in tow, Nvidia draws line in PC gaming ground

Nvidia has its own set of gaming goodness that might extend the buzz a little longer, today announcing three PC gaming-oriented oratories.

First on the block: the GeForce GTX 780, a GPU based on the same GK110 GPU used in the GeForce GTX Titan. It’s Kepler architecture and, according to Nvidia, whirs “whisper quiet.”
At 2304 CUDA cores, the GeForce GTX 780 boasts 50 percent more cores than the GeForce GTX 680 and 50 percent more memory thanks to a 3GB frame buffer. What’s more, the 780 has a 384-bit memory interface that provides 288.4GB/sec of peak memory bandwidth to the GPU for maximum screen resolution.
Stack it up to AMD’s HD 7970 (on Nvidia’s terms), and the GTX 780 runs titles like Batman: Arkham City and Shogun 2 39 percent faster, whileBorderlands 2, Battlefield 3 and Far Cry 3 run 25 percent to 30 percent faster at 2560 x 1600. The processor is also designed to support next-gen tech Nvidia has in the works, such as WaveWorks and FaceWorks, and features Nvidia’s GPU Boost. 2.0.
Game force
While the fan of the GTX 780 may be effective at cooling the machine down as any standard fan should, Nvidia wanted to ensure that the uptick hum that can often interrupt gaming scenarios was diminished with a new fan controller that uses an RPM and temperature targeted control algorithm to keep the fan at as steady a speed as possible.

In other words, the fan doesn’t over or under compensate, instead staying at as steady a stream as possible to minimize noise.
Base clock for the GTX 780 is 863MHz, with a typical boost clock speed of 900MHz and memory reaching a 6008MHz data rate.
Priced at $649 (around UK£ 431, AU$673), the GTX 780 stretches 10.5-inches and comes with display outputs including two dual-link DVIs, one HDMI and one Display Port connector.
Last but worth noting, the 780 will replace the GTX 680 in Nvidia’s offering line.

Time for GeForce
If you’ve been tooling around with GeForce Experience in beta form, you may be happy to know that today it’s buttoned up and ready to go.
GeForce, for those who don’t know, is a software from Nvidia that aims to make PC gaming more accessible and easier to use by automatically setting the optimal settings for a game after a single click of the “optimize” button.
Beta downloads since January have hit 2.5 million and now, beginning with the GTX 780, users can replace the Nvidia Update in the driver package. Eventually, GeForce Experience will become standard with every graphics driver, Nvidia noted.
Starting today, Nvidia is sending it into to production and will package it with several cards before pushing it out across all its offerings.
As the year goes on, Nvidia plans to add more game support and will roll out new features such as optimal playable settings customization, support for Shield and (drumroll please) ShadowPlay.
A nice little recording feature, ShadowPlay will be available this summer as a capture function within the larger functions of GeForce Experience. It taps into the H.264 video encoder built into all Kepler GPUs and works in the background – with the click of a hot button, users can record the last 20 minutes of their gameplay seamlessly without disrupting game play.

With new GPU in tow, Nvidia draws line in PC gaming ground