NVIDIA GeForce Motherboard GPUs Power New Lines Of Smaller, More Visual Consumer PCs

GeForce 8200 Lets Acer Create Aspire Small-Form-Factor PCs with Stunning Visual Performance.

SANTA CLARA, CA.—Suppliers of corporate and business PCs have had success in marketing small-form-factor PCs, but to date the demand for smaller PCs in the consumer market has not appeared because these PCs lacked the visual processing power to meet consumers’ increasingly visual application demands. But this may be changing as consumer PCs are moving from the desktop to the living room and great visual processing technology moves more and more into the mainstream. To meet this nascent demand, PC makers like Acer are using NVIDIA® motherboard GPUs to deliver new lines of consumer-oriented, small-form-factor PCs that have the performance, functionality, price, and visual performance of full-sized desktop machines. The Acer Aspire x1200 and x3200 line of PCs use the NVIDIA GeForce® 8200 GPU to deliver stunning visual performance while solving many of the thermal, noise, and cost issues traditionally associated with designing smaller machines.

To date, small-form-factor PCs have relied on integrated graphics chips, but with the explosive growth of visually intensive applications, integrated graphics don’t deliver the performance that consumers are demanding. A dedicated GPU is needed for optimal performance.

NVIDIA GeForce motherboard GPUs are single-chip solutions that combine the performance and DirectX 10 compatibility of a GeForce GPU with the functionality of NVIDIA nForce® core-logic. The GeForce 8200 GPU’s superior performance for a given thermal envelope, plus its full support for standard desktop PC components, give PC makers a cost-effective solution for creating smaller, quieter, and energy efficient PCs that pack a visual punch using the full range of AMD CPUs.

The GeForce 8200 GPU also gives Acer, other PC makers, and system builders flexibility in creating a line of products that are optimized for particular customer requirements. The motherboard GPU can be used in low-cost machines targeted at a mainstream audience, delivering the graphics performance needed for today’s visual computing applications, like Windows Vista, and casual gaming. The motherboard GPUs also feature a dedicated PureVideo® HD video process that delivers superior Blu-ray and HD video performance and the GPU can be used to transcode video to play on portable devices. Or an additional GeForce graphics card can be added using NVIDIA’s Hybrid SLI® technology with GeForce Boost. GeForce Boost combines the processing capabilities of the GeForce 8200 motherboard GPU with select GeForce 9 Series graphics cards for more graphics horsepower when running games and visually intensive apps and providing power savings when using less visually demanding functions.

“Small form factor is the direction the consumer PC market is taking,” says Allen Jong, Director of Stationary Computing Business Unit, ITGO, Acer. “We chose to base our new Acer Aspire X1200 and our X3200 on the GeForce 8200 because it allows us to deliver the best performance-space ratio on desktop PCs, at a desktop price, with room for possible future expansion. The result is a line of modern, compact PCs that have the performance needed for today’s visually-oriented applications.”

“Industry trends are clear,” says Manoj Gujral, General Manager, Platform Business of NVIDIA. “Small-form-factor PCs are going to play an increasing role in the consumer market. And motherboard GPUs like the GeForce 8200 chip are a key part to providing the visual computing power that is vital requirement for the consumer PC market.”

Worldwide demand for small-form-factor consumer PCs is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.4% between 2006 and 2011.1 The GeForce 8200 is NVIDIA’s first of many motherboard GPUs targeted at this growing market.

The Acer Aspire X1200 and X3200 with the GeForce 8200 GPU are now available for purchase from retailers. Small-form-factor PCs based on GeForce motherboard GPUs are anticipated to be announce by other top PC makers in coming months. For more information on the Aspire line of PCs visit www.acer.com For more information on NVIDIA GPUs visit www.nvidia.com