Nvidia are currently on-stage at the GPU Technology Conference (think GDC for people who really love cores). They've just announced the GeForce GTX Titan Z, a $3,000 dual-Keplar GPU graphics card that can supercharge PCs with a total of 5,760 processing cores, and 12GB frame buffer memory. To my untrained eye, then, it essentially sounds like two Titan Blacks duct taped together. I'm sure that in practice it's a little bit more complicated.
A press release from Nvidia explains why their dual-GPU solution is such an attractive prospect for super-high def gaming. "Unlike traditional dual-GPU cards, Titan Z's twin GPUs are tuned to run at the same clock speed, and with dynamic power balancing. So neither GPU creates a performance bottleneck. And that performance is delivered in a card that is cool and quiet, rather than hot and loud. Low-profile components and ducted baseplate channels minimize turbulence and improves acoustic quality."
However they're tuned, it's a serious amount of money. A single GTX Titan can be secured for around $1,000, so you'll be a paying a heavy premium for Nvidia's tweaking. The company say they're building the Titan Z for "next-generation 5K and multi-monitor gaming", so are clearly targeting those prepared to go large in their home rig.
The announcement comes ahead of AMD's own dual-GPU reveal, which is expected to be made later this week.
