NVIDIA is becoming an even bigger player among ARM chipset makers, and is really trying to take ARM to other markets than just the mobile. CUDA developers can now pre-order a development platform that combines the company systemprocessor Tegra 3, with Quadro graphics.
We are still a few years away from the ARM architecture powering anything but mobile systems like tablets and smartphones. NVIDIA are very ambitious and intends to take ARM to PCs, but also servers and supercomputers, which it is now laying the groundwork for.
NVIDIA has designed a development platform called Carma for developers. Carma consists of the quad-core systemprocessor Tegra 3 and Quadro 1000M (96 CUDA cores at 270 SP GFLOPS). The graphics card is powered by a PCI Express 2.0 x4 connector and the platform sports Gigabit Ethernet, SATA, HDMI, DisplayPort and USB. The platform will be in limited supply from Q2 2012 and supports CUDA and runs a Ubuntu Linux-based operating system. This is the same platform that will be used in a supercomputer we mentioned earlier in November.
The platform targets mainly hardware and software developers that are working with energy efficient alternatives, but also those who wants to use ARM for servers or has plans to develop Windows 8 units powered by ARM. This is not a retail product, but certainly shows that NVIDIA has great plans and is starting to lay the foundation for future ARM products.
