Many medical imaging, training and simulation, and industrial automation OEMs leverage Nvidia’s commercial graphics cards to achieve high-level 3D performance. The transition from the GeForce GTX 10×0 series to the new GeForce RTX 20×0 series has been long anticipated and is finally here. It was suspected that shortages driven by the crypto currency market may have contributed to the delays and uncertainty around the timing of this launch. That is now clear.
The primary updates of the GeForce RTX platform are the addition of ray traced graphics that enhance photo-realism, and Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), which makes machine learning and artificial intelligence possible. The cards run on Turing GPU Architecture, offering a 10-20 percent performance bump compared to the 10×0 series.
Consumer tech website, The Verge, calls Turing and ray tracing, “the biggest jump in graphics since [Nvidia] CUDA arrived in 2006.” Ray tracing mimics how light reflects off of objects, including rendering mirrors and detecting color in real time, making graphics and animation look as realistic as possible.
Ray tracing has been available in embedded technology applications before Nvidia GeForce. But, at more than 10x the price of the new RTX cards, it was not a cost-effective option for most OEM applications. Initial pricing comes in slightly higher if one compares the RTX series to the GTX. Longer term pricing is likely to be determined by the demand from unpredictable crypto mining rigs.
The 3D performance upgrade from the GeForce GTX series is typical of a next generation platform. The RTX 2070 performs slightly better than the GTX 1080. The RTX 2080 performs slightly better than the GTX 1080 Ti.
For those looking to leverage ray tracing in their 3D graphics, the transition from the 10×0 series graphics cards to 20×0 will be similar to typical generational updates by Nvidia. The 2080 Ti, 2080, and 2070 are available now. Check out Forbes and Digital Trends for more reviews.
