"Computers"

Generally, any device that can perform numerical calculations, even an adding machine, may be called a computer but nowadays this term is used especially for digital computers. Computers that once weighed 30 tons now may weigh as little as 1.8 kilograms. Microchips and microprocessors have considerably reduced the cost of the electronic components required in a computer. Computers come in many sizes and shapes such as special-purpose, laptop, desktop, minicomputers, supercomputers. Special-purpose computers can perform specific tasks and their operations are limited to the programmes built into their microchips. There computers are the basis for electronic calculators and can be found in thousands of electronic products, including digital watches and automobiles. Basically, these computers do the ordinary arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

General-purpose computers are much more powerful because they can accept new sets of instructions. The smallest fully functional computers are called laptop computers. Most of the general-purpose computers known as personal or desktop computers can perform almost 5 million operations per second. Today's personal computers are know to be used for different purposes: for testing new theories or models that cannot be examined with experiments, as valuable educational tools due to various encyclopedias, dictionaries, educational programmes, in book-keeping, accounting and management. Proper application of computing equipment in different industries is likely to result in proper management, effective distribution of materials and resources, more efficient production and trade.

Minicomputers are high-speed computers that have greater data manipulating capabilities than personal computers do and that can be used simultaneously by many users. These machines are primarily used by larger businesses or by large research and university centers. The speed and power of supercomputers, the highest class of computers, are almost beyond comprehension, and their capabilities are continually being improved. The most complex of these machines can perform nearly 32 billion calculations per second and store 1 billion characters in memory at one time, and can do in one hour what a desktop computer would take 40 years to do. They are used commonly by government agencies and large research centers. Linking together networks of several small computer centers and programming them to use a common language has enabled engineers to create the supercomputer. The aim of this technology is to elaborate a machine that could perform a trillion calculations per second.

Nvidia GeForce gtx 580 Video Card Review

The reinvented Fermi GF110 GPU delivers more graphical power per watt than any other DirectX-11 video card.

Everyone who waited for NVIDIA to launch their Fermi graphics architecture felt like they had held back once it was finally released. The GF100 graphics processor that was packaged into the GTX 480 used less than its full potential, and it didn't create the wide performance margin everyone expected between competitors. Seven months later, NVIDIA has returned with their updated Fermi GF110 GPU, delivering all 512 CUDA cores in the GeForce GTX 580. Featuring a tweaked graphics processor that runs much cooler and uses less power than the GTX 480, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 is tested by Benchmark Reviews against the Radeon 5970 and CrossFire 6870 video cards, along with two overclocked GeForce GTX 460's in SLI, using the latest DirectX-11 video games.

Something happened to the Fermi architecture between the time it premiered as GF100 and when it began to really turn heads as GF104: the ratio of shaders and texture units was perfected. The original GF100 GPU placed too much emphasis on tessellation, and not enough on overall graphical performance. As a result of finding the right balance, the GF104 graphics processor on the GeForce GTX 460 became an overnight sensation for gamers. Now evolved into the GF110 GPU, all 512 cores understand their purpose and propel the GeForce GTX 580 to a level only rivaled by the competition's best and most-expensive dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 graphics card. Trimmed down to a modest 244 watts of power consumption under load, the GTX 580 outperforms its predecessor in both power efficiency graphical performance.

Armed with the maximum number of CUDA cores and PolyMorph engines NVIDIA can deliver with the Fermi architecture, the GeForce GTX 580 represents their trophy effort to seize the performance market. While being similar to the GeForce GTX 480, the GeForce GTX 580 design updates the Fermi formula, improves upon the power appetite, reduces heat output, and increases graphical frame rate performance. The GF110 fixed function clock speed is tuned to 772 MHz, while the cores all operate at 1544 MHz. 1536MB of GDDR5 video frame buffer use a familiar 384-bit memory bus, clocked to 1002MHz for a 4008MHz data rate.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 competes on two levels: price point and GPU segment. At the $500 price point, it competes directly against ATI's dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 and a pair of AMD Radeon HD 6870 video cards combined into CrossFireX. In regard to single-GPU competition, the closest video cards would be ATI's Radeon HD 5870 or NVIDIA's own GeForce GTX 480.

Using the most demanding PC video game titles and benchmark software available at the time of launch, Benchmark Reviews tests graphical frame rate performance of the GeForce GTX 580. Older DirectX-10 favorites such as Crysis Warhead and PCMark Vantage are included, as well as newer DirectX-11 titles such as: Aliens vs Predator, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, BattleForge, Lost Planet 2, Mafia II, Metro 2033, Tom Clancy's HAWX2, and the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark. Built to deliver the best possible graphical experience to a performance-orientated gaming market, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580 video card delivers top-end frame rates with unmatched efficiency.