On the bright side, the CUDA and the first applications to benefit from this technology are of course celebrated. The best example is most likely the software TMPGEnc 4.0 (for Windows) whose encoding has been speed up 4.5x thanks to the use of a GeForce GTX 260, compared to the result obtained with a Core 2 Quad 2.66 GHz.
On the dark side, the company is facing the issue originating from its defective material used in recent generation of GPUs. At the entrance of the NVision, a group of users were distributing prospectus:
This group asks NVidia to launch a general recall for all defective GPUs-based hardware. According to the last information about this issue, the problem is originating from the material used to solder the silicon chips to its substrate and its support used as the interface with the motherboard. Due to temperature variation, this material could be aging much faster than expected, cracked and lead to GPU death.
All chips manufactured till the end of July are plagued by this defective material, as NVidia only changed it for a new one (fully validated?) from beginning of August. All GPUs dedicated to desktop or notebook are affected, in other words 75 millions units. However, the problem might be a serious issue mostly for notebook-dedicated models, so potentially for 15 million units. Exchanging the defective GPU will cost computer company between 150 and 250 USD. By budgeting only 200 million USD, NVidia is expecting to have to cover for only 1 million defective GPUs. Let's hope it will be true, otherwise, this issue might simply send the company to bankruptcy.
OEM and other users of NVidia GPUs are not fully convinced that the new material will be problem-less in the future, especially considering that it might not have been fully validated, and current issues might re-appear in couple of months/years.
