NVIDIA Gamer's Day held in collaboration with five add-in card partners
NVIDIA Gamer's Day held in collaboration with five add-in card partners
On 1st Octobers, NVIDIA held its largest Gamer's Day event in Singapore with the support of five add-in card partners for HardwareZone members. Most notably, the world leader in GPU technology showcased the different features and technologies offered by the second generation Maxwell architecture. The add-in partners, which consists of ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, Palit, and Zotac, were also given the chance to showcase their GeForce GTX 900 series cards. Each manufacturer had a dedicated demonstration area to highlight a key NVIDIA technology that will enhance gameplay for PC game titles.
NVIDIA G-Sync Surround: ASUS
At the ASUS booth, the NVIDIA G-Sync Surround was demonstrated with a 3-way display setup made up of a triplet of ROG Swift P278Q G-Sync monitors. The setup was primarily driven by two Strix GTX 980 cards in SLI configuration.
For a quick recap, the G-Sync technology "synchronizes the rate at which the monitor refreshes to the rate at which the GPU finishes rendering a scene." This is possible as the monitor has a G-Sync controller that times the monitor’s refresh rate so that it’s in tune with the GPU’s rendered frame rate, ensuring a much smoother gaming experience. With G-Sync Surround, just imagine the same butter-smooth game play over the visual expanse of multi-display setups! However, we all know that due to the prohibitive price of the Swift P278Q, such a visual treat will not come cheap. However, if you've deep pockets, you might like what the ASUS Swift P278Q monitor delivers as we found out from our detailed review. Tip: you could invest in one monitor first and then build up funds to by two more at a later date.
Voxel Global Illumination (VXGI): Gigabyte
Speaking of expensive, we all know that creating photo-realism for computer graphics is taxing due to the need for complex computation. One important aspect of recreating real-life scenes on our computer displays is the use of effects of indirect lighting. NVIDIA researchers have managed to come up with the Voxel Global Illumination (VXGI) technology to recreate such effects of dynamic global illumination possible in realtime on a single GPU.
Gigabyte was appointed to demonstrate VXGI’s visual effects with its GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming card. In fact, its entire demo rig was powered by a single card! Gigabyte also took the opportunity to showcase the its improved Windforce 3x cooler, and highlight its proprietary Flex Display technology that allows for more flexibility in display options.
Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR): Zotac
Fret not if you aren’t able to upgrade to an Ultra HD 4K display now as the company’s Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR) feature is touted for its ability to “enhance” the visual quality of a rendered scene despite the limitations of your non-4K display! The company claims that by rendering graphics at higher resolutions, say 4K, and "using appropriate filtering” to scale down the render content to fit a lower resolution display, will result in better image quality. This technology was demonstrated at Zotac’s booth, and the GTX 980 AMP! Extreme edition card is the center of attraction. Due to its svelte profile, it was able to fit into a mini-ITX chassis that powered the DSR demo kit.
GeForce ShadowPlay: MSI
Besides focusing on better gameplay visually, a gamer’s experience can also be enhanced if he’s able to stream 4K video recordings of his gameplay without too much compute overheads, courtesy of the improved GeForce ShadowPlay technology. This was seen at MSI’s booth where the gaming kit was powered by a pair of MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G cards!
The company has also debuted the new Twin Frozr V cooling system, in line with the introduction of the second generation Maxwell architecture. Twin Frozr V features the new Torx cooling fans, as well as an improved heatsink with SuperSU Pipe for better heat dissipation. The fan control too has been advanced to incorporate independent and efficient control to reduce noise and power consumption while maintaining a decent temperature level.
GameStream: Palit
To break away from the confines of your gaming PC, GameStream allows you to use the Shield handheld device or their Shield gaming tablet, as an intermediary, to stream your gameplay on it. For Palit’s setup, GameStream was used to stream ongoing gameplay, powered by its stock GTX 980 card, to an Android tablet. According to the spokesperson, the Palit GTX 980 with its JetStream cooler will be available here very soon!
Participants had the chance for more immersive gaming experience as they tried their hands on the Oculus VR DK2.
Five lucky winners walked away with GeForce GTX 970 cards as prizes; they had successfully completed a quiz by answering technical questions posed by staff members at each respective add-in partners’ booth. Last of all, a bevy of pretty NVIDIA ladies were present to grace the event. If the whole event looks fun and exciting - it was. So look out for more event invites and act fast as slots fill up pretty fast!