NVIDIA Issues Beta Drivers for 64-bit Windows XP

The industry is inching one step closer to the broad adoption of 64-bit computing. 

Computer graphics giant NVIDIA is delivering 64-bit beta drivers for motherboards and systems based upon its nForce3 media and communications processors (MCPs). The drivers are designed for Microsoft's Windows XP 64-bit Edition for Extended Systems operating system, also currently in beta.

"Systems based on NVIDIA nForce3 MCPs and the AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Opteron processors provide a compatible, stable, and reliable computing platform for users who wish to exploit the benefits of both 32-bit and 64-bit computing environments," said Dwight Diercks, vice president of software engineering at NVIDIA.

"With the release of our beta 64-bit drivers, NVIDIA, along with AMD and Microsoft is delivering a computing platform with the leading-edge features, performance, and stability that content developers require to develop stunning next-generation games, tools, and video with an extraordinary level of realism and 3D images," continued Diercks.

NVIDIA nForce3 MCPs are optimized for the AMD64 processor family.

The company recently let loose its next generation GeForce 6800 models of graphics processing units (GPUs) for high-performance desktop computers, which it claims more than doubles the performance of its current GPU. The GeForce 6800 series supports the Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 feature set, as well as an on-chip video processing engine to enable high-definition playback of DVDs and digital video.