Press Release

18 March 2008

SPARKLE Unleashes Highest Performance DirectX 10 Graphics Card For Gamers
 

Taipei, Taiwan – March 18, 2008 - SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today proudly announced  the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card, the world's fastest graphics processing weapon on the planet  for today's DirectX 10 gamers.

The SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card extends the award-winning GeForce 9 Series product line by using NVIDIA latest GeForce 9800 GX2 architecture, which have two graphics chips inside. Now the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card performs twice faster than the GeForce 8800 GTX, previously considered the fastest GPU on the planet, across a wide range of top games and applications. The SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card embraces 600MHz core speed, 2x256-bit 1024MB 2GHz GDDR3 memory speed and 256 stream processors with 1500MHz. So the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card is the perfect  choice for top DirectX 10 titles, including Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Crysis, Age of Conan, Hellgate: London, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, World in Conflict, BioShock, Gears of War. The SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card includes all required hardware functionality defined in the Microsoft Direct3D® 10 specification, with full support for the DirectX 10 unified shader instruction set and Shader Model 4 capabilities. DirectX 10 is included with Microsoft Windows Vista and delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects for games, all rendered in real-time on the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card.

    Using NVIDIA second generation  PureVideo HD technology, the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card can fully offload most of Blu-ray and HD DVD H.264 video decoding from CPU, its video processing unit can free the CPU for other tasks and significantly reducing power consumption, heat and noise, providing the highest quality High-Definition video for the ultimate home theater experience.

Ahead for next generation data transportation standard, the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card complies with PCI Express 2.0 standard,it can maximize the usage of 5GT/s bandwidth (twice that of first generation PCI Express) provided by PCI Express 2.0, to be full ready for future games and applications which have strict requirements on bandwidth.At the same time, the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card is also compatible with present PCI Express 1.1 motherboards with widest scope of support.

“The DirectX 10 gaming platform is built around the fastest components available and today SPARKLE proudly provides  the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card, the most important components to DirectX 10 gamers. It delivers double stunning performance gains today and supports the key features that will facilitate an awesome visual experience on DirectX 10 titles." Said Allen Wu, sales manager of SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd. "Also consumers will be able to experience high-resolution, visually rich gaming and high-definition video playback with support for Blu-ray and HD DVD content. "

GeForce 9800 GX2 Features and Benefits :

• NVIDIA® unified architecture

  Fully unified shader core dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up to 2x the gaming performance of prior generation GPUs
  
  

• Full Microsoft® DirectX® 10 support

  DirectX 10 GPU with full Shader Model 4.0 support delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects
  
  

• Quad NVIDIA® SLI™ technology¹

  Industry leading Quad NVIDIA SLI technology offers amazing performance scaling by implementing 4-way AFR(Alternate Frame Rendering),for the world’s fastest gaming solution under Windows Vista with solid ,state-of-the-art drivers.
  
  

• NVIDIA HybridPower™ Technology²

  HybridPower technology automatically switches from the GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics card to the motherboard GeForce GPU when running non graphically-instensive applications for a silent,low power PC experience.
  
  

• PCI Express 2.0 support

  Designed for the new PCI Express 2.0 bus architecture offering the highest data transfer speeds for the most bandwidth-hungry games and 3D applications,while maintaining backwards compatibility with existing PCI Express motherboards for the broadest support.
  
  

• GigaThread™ Technology

  Massively multi-threaded architecture supports thousands of independent, simultaneous threads, providing extreme processing efficiency in advanced, next generation shader programs
  
  

• NVIDIA® Lumenex™ Engine

  Delivers stunning image quality and floating point accuracy at ultra-fast frame rates:

  16x Anti-aliasing Technology: Lightning fast, high-quality anti-aliasing at up to 16x sample rates obliterates jagged edges 128-bit floating point High Dynamic-Range(HDR) Lighting:Twice the precision of prior generations for incredibly realistic lighting    

  effects-now with support for anti-aliasing  
  
  

• NVIDIA® Quantum Effects™ Technology

  Advanced shader processors architected for physics computation enable a new level of physics effects to be simulated and rendered on the GPU –all white freeing the CPU to run game engine and AI
  
  

• NVIDIA® ForceWare® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)

  Delivers a proven record of compatibility reliability and stability with the widest range of games and applications

  ForceWare provides the best out-of-box experience for every user and delivers continuous performance and feature updates over the life of NVIDIA GeForce® GPUs
  
  

• OpenGL® 2.1 optimizations and support

  Ensures top-notch compatibility and performance for OpenGL applications
  
  

• Dual 400MHz RAMDACs

  Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh rates –up to 2048x1536@85Hz.
  
  

• Dual Dual-Link DVI Support
  Able to drive industry’s largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600 and with support for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection(HDCP).
  
  

• HDMI Output:

  Integrated HDMI connector enables sending both high-definition video and audio signals to an HDTV via a single cable.
  
  

• NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology³
  The combination of high-definition video decode acceleration and post-processing that

  delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image

  scaling for movies and video.
  
  

• Discrete, Programmable Video Processor
  NVIDIA PureVideo is a discrete programmable processing core in NVIDIA GPUs that

  provides superb picture quality and    

  ultra-smooth movies with 100% offload of H.264 video decoding from the CPU and   significantly reduced power consumption.
  
  

• Hardware Decode Acceleration
  Provides ultra-smooth playback of H.264, VC-1, WMV and PEG-2 HD and SD movies.
  
  

• Dual Stream Decode Acceleration
  Hardware acceleration for HD picture-in-picture enables a complete HD movie playback

  experience.
  
  

• Dynamic contract Enhancement
  Provides post-processing and optimization of High Definition movies on a scene basis for   spectacular picture clarity
  
  

• HDCP Capable⁴
  Designed to meet the output protection management (HDCP) and security specifications

  of the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats,  

  allowing the playback of encrypted movie content on PCs when connected to HDCP-

  compliant displays.
  
  

• Advanced Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing
  Sharpens HD and standard definition interlaced content on progressive displays,

  delivering a crisp, clear picture that rivals high-end home-theater systems.
  
  

• High-Quality Scaling
  Enlarges lower resolution movies and videos to HDTV resolutions, up to 1080i, while

  maintaining a clear, clean image. Also provides downscaling of videos, including high-

  definition, while preserving image detail.
  
  

• Inverse Telecine (3:2 & 2:2 Pulldown Correction)
  Recovers original film images from films-converted-to-video (DVDs, 1080i HD content),

  providing more accurate movie playback

  and superior picture quality.
  
  

• Bad Edit Correction
  When videos are edited after they have been converted from 24 to 25 or 30 frames, the

  edits can disrupt the normal 3:2 or 2:2  pulldown cadence. PureVideo uses advanced

  processing techniques to detect poor edits, recover the original content, and display

  perfect picture detail frame after frame for smooth, natural looking video.
  
  

• Noise Reduction :
  Improves movie image quality by removing unwanted artifacts.
   
  

• Edge Enhancement:
  Sharpens movie images by providing higher contrast around lines and object

   

  1 - NVIDIA SLI certified versions of GeForce PCI Express GPUs only. A GeForce 9800GX2 must be paired with another GeForce 9800GX2, regardless of graphics card manufacturer.
  2 – Requires NVIDIA HybridPower-enabled motherboard.

  3–Feature requires supported video software. Features may vary by product.
  3 - Requires other HDCP-compatible components.

   

About SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd.
SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd, established in 1982, is a high-end VGA card manufacturer and supplier to mainly provide NVIDIA series VGA card. With its strong R&D ability and investment in both hardware and software, Sparkle aims to provide the most price-competitive products while with best-in-class quality and service. Not only launch partner, Sparkle is also one of the certificated vendors of NVIDIA. Currently, SPARKLE products sell in more than 80 countries and on the web at www.sparkle.com.tw