New cards, familiar GPU

NVIDIA has announced a pair of workstation graphics cards – the RTX A400 and RTX A1000 – and while the cards are new they are based on the previous generation Ampere architecture. And while the amp isn't as exciting as the Ada, these are single-slot – and slot-powered cards that use 50 watts, at most.

When the RTX 2000 Ada generation launched I Commented on how confusing it can be. Concurrent Ohda and Ohmpere product lines with similar product names, but we all know that only “OhThis year is important. OhI (and of course they are being marketed as AI integration products).

Features include (by NVIDIA):

Second generation RT cores: Real-time ray tracing, photorealistic, physically-based rendering and visualization for all professional workflows, including architectural drafting, 3D design and content creation, where accurate lighting and shadow simulation can greatly enhance the quality of work.

Third generation tensor cores: AI-enhanced tools and applications such as generative AI, image rendering denoising and deep learning accelerate supersampling to improve the speed and quality of image creation.

CUDA core based on Ampere architecture: Up to 2x previous-generation single-precision floating-point throughput for significant speedups in graphics and compute workloads.

4GB or 8GB GPU Memory: 4GB of GPU memory with the A400 GPU and 8GB with the A1000 GPU accommodate a range of professional needs, from basic graphic design and photo editing to 3D modeling with textures or high-resolution editing and data analysis. The GPUs also have increased memory bandwidth over the previous generation for faster data processing and smoother handling of large datasets and scenes.

Encode and decode engine: With seventh-generation encode (NVENC) and fifth-generation decode (NVDEC) engines, the GPUs offer efficient video processing to support high-resolution video editing, streaming and playback with ultra-low latency. The inclusion of AV1 decode enables high performance and smooth playback of more video formats.