Nvidia brings Cuda to the notebook

Parallel GPU processing goes mobile

NVIDIA HAS UNVEILED a new series of Cuda based graphics cards designed for top of the range notebooks.

The Quadro FX Notebook Family will include a Cuda parallel computing processor for those users who need to run oil and gas exploration simulations or design a bridge while out and about.

The flagship is the Quadro FX 3700M, which boasts 128 Cuda cores, 1GB of DDR3 memory, a 256-bit memory interface and 51.2 GBps graphic memory bandwidth.

Slightly lower down the pecking order will be the Quadro FX 2700M, with 48 Cuda cores and 512 MB of GDDR3 memory, which are supposed to be just right for the likes of 3D modellers working on 17in laptops while sitting in Starbucks.

There is also the more modest Quadro FX 1700M with 32 Cuda cores, the Quadro FX 770M also with 32 cores and the Quadro FX 370M with just eight cores, for the less demanding 14 and 15-inch notebooks.

Nvidia said the chips will start tipping up shortly in high end offerings from the likes of Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, HP and Lenovo.