Graphics Cards being used as "supercomputer-class processing power"

[Flash]

Every serious PC gamer knows what a difference a good graphics card can make to the fun they have.

But it is not just hardcore gamers who have recognised the worth of a PC graphics card.

Increasing numbers of research scientists have woken up to their potential too.

But the scientists in question are not using the cards to appreciate the detail in PC games such as The Witcher. Instead they are using them as cheap sources of supercomputer-class processing power.

"They give a phenomenal bang for the buck," said Mike Giles, professor of scientific computing at the University of Oxford.

Prof Giles said the way that graphics cards were built made them very good at the repetitive computational tasks many scientists use to test theories, models and predictions.

Source: BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7079701.stm)

[Burner110]

Wow that cool

[NATERZ]

I find that to be funny. Using a graphics card for "supercomputer-class processing power" just doesn't make any sense to me. To me all it will do is make you have a better picture not power.

[codedigital]

I find that to be funny. Using a graphics card for "supercomputer-class processing power" just doesn't make any sense to me. To me all it will do is make you have a better picture not power.

Of course it makes sense. The GPU on these cards does calculations. At crazy fasts clock speeds and bus speeds.

[NATERZ]

Yeah I know that. I just hear graphics card and think video quality. I case that to me it doesn't matter what kind of gc you have if it's in a pos computer what does it matter. But I guess scientist have great computers so it doesn't matter what I was thinking.