Hear that noise? It's the sound of DirectX 10 (and 10.1) failing to make much of an impact on the PC gaming scene. The slow adoption of DX10 can't be blamed on a lack of hype or anticipation, and gamers might need to prepare themselves for round 2. ATI, stil the only videocard manufacturer to offer DX10.1 compliant silicon, is casting an eye towards 2009 and telling whoever will listen that DirectX 11 is on the horizon.Currently showing off next-generation technologies at Ceatec, ATI said it expects to launch DX11 GPUs within the next 12-14 months. It's far too early to tell what impact that will having on the gaming community, but on the plus side, DX11 is expected to raise the bar in terms of GPGPU functions and multithreading, as well as bringing support for hardware tessellation for the first time.ATI also says its on track to release GPUs based on a 40nm manufacturing process, though the company stopped short of offering a specific time frame.
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WidowPC announced today that it is shipping its first notebook based around NVIDIA's 512MB GeForce 8800M GTX GPU.
The new Sting 517D2 pairs the GeForce 8800M GTX GPU with a 17" (WSXGA+ or WUXGA) display. Intel's Core 2 Duo processors power the notebooks and up to 4GB of DDR2 memory and 1GB of Intel TurboMemory can be added to enhance the gaming experience.
"The new GeForce 8800M GPUs allow gamers to have the ultimate gaming experience on a mobile platform," said Joshua McClure, General Manager at WidowPC. "These new 8800M video cards are exactly what the doctor ordered to play Crysis at advanced levels of visual realism. We’re proud to be the first in North America to ship this incredible performance enhancer."
The Sting 517D2 has a base price of $2,799 and comes standard with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 processor, WSXGA+ display, 1GB of DDR2 memory and a GeForce 8700M GT 512MB GPU. The GeForce 8800M GTX GPU can be added for a whopping $738. Another notable option is the MTRON 32GB SSD which can be had for an additional $1,137.
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