Catering to the Mac Market with the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800

NVIDIA has introduced the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 – currently the most advanced professional graphics solution aimed at users of a Mac Pro –, according to the official announcement. The new graphics card is on display from April 20-23 at the NVIDIA NAB 2009 booth: SL 7906, lower South Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

NVIDIA hopes to address Mac users' needs by introducing the 3-pin stereo connector for true 3D stereoscopic imaging, as well as the ability to dynamically allocate compute, geometry, shading and pixel processing power. Thanks to these features (and not only), the new Quadro FX 4800 GPU should become a vital asset for users of many core professional Mac applications, NVIDIA believes.

The company also mentions key features in the Quadro FX 4800 GPU for Mac, which include a massive 1.5GB frame buffer and memory bandwidth up to 76.8 GB/sec that deliver a high throughput for an interactive visualization of large models. The graphics solution also features high-performance for a real-time processing of large textures and frames, and the highest quality and resolution with full-scene antialiasing (FSAA), the maker points out. Besides the Dual Dual Link DVI and Stereo Connectors, the 4800 moreover boasts Boot Camp support, enabling Mac Pro users running Windows to access native Quadro GPU accelerated professional 3D graphics performance and features.

“Some of the world’s most challenging visual computing problems are solved on the Mac platform,” Jeff Brown, general manager, Professional Solutions, NVIDIA, said. “The Quadro FX 4800 provides the power and speed to meet these demanding requirements.”

Although available for both PC and Mac, NVIDIA specifically emphasizes the usability of its new Quadro FX 4800 GPU on Mac Pros. The graphics solution will be available starting next month, when it will retail for $1,799 USD. Interested parties will be able to order their own Quadro FX 4800 card through Apple.com and select Apple resellers and workstation integrators, according to NVIDIA.