NVIDIA Dramatically Simplifies Parallel Programming With CUDA 6

Unified Memory, Drop-In Libraries Among New Programmability Features to Empower Next Wave of GPU Developers


SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 14, 2013) - NVIDIA today announced NVIDIA® CUDA® 6, the latest version of the world's most pervasive parallel computing platform and programming model.

The CUDA 6 platform makes parallel programming easier than ever, enabling software developers to dramatically decrease the time and effort required to accelerate their scientific, engineering, enterprise and other applications with GPUs.

It offers new performance enhancements that enable developers to instantly accelerate applications up to 8X by simply replacing existing CPU-based libraries. Key features of CUDA 6 include:

  • Unified Memory -- Simplifies programming by enabling applications to access CPU and GPU memory without the need to manually copy data from one to the other, and makes it easier to add support for GPU acceleration in a wide range of programming languages.
  • Drop-in Libraries -- Automatically accelerates applications' BLAS and FFTW calculations by up to 8X by simply replacing the existing CPU libraries with the GPU-accelerated equivalents.
  • Multi-GPU Scaling -- Re-designed BLAS and FFT GPU libraries automatically scale performance across up to eight GPUs in a single node, delivering over nine teraflops of double precision performance per node, and supporting larger workloads than ever before (up to 512GB). Multi-GPU scaling can also be used with the new BLAS drop-in library.

"By automatically handling data management, Unified Memory enables us to quickly prototype kernels running on the GPU and reduces code complexity, cutting development time by up to 50 percent," said Rob Hoekstra, manager of Scalable Algorithms Department at Sandia National Laboratories. "Having this capability will be very useful as we determine future programming model choices and port more sophisticated, larger codes to GPUs."

"Our technologies have helped major studios, game developers and animators create visually stunning 3D animations and effects," said Paul Doyle, CEO at Fabric Engine, Inc. "They have been urging us to add support for acceleration on NVIDIA GPUs, but memory management proved too difficult a challenge when dealing with the complex use cases in production. With Unified Memory, this is handled automatically, allowing the Fabric compiler to target NVIDIA GPUs and enabling our customers to run their applications up to 10X faster."

In addition to the new features, the CUDA 6 platform offers a full suite of programming tools, GPU-accelerated math libraries, documentation and programming guides.

Version 6 of the CUDA Toolkit is expected to be available in early 2014. Members of the CUDA-GPU Computing Registered Developer Program will be notified when it is available for download. To join the program, register here.

For more information about the CUDA 6 platform, visit NVIDIA booth 613 at SC13, Nov. 18-21 in Denver, and the NVIDIA CUDA website.

About CUDA
CUDA is a parallel computing platform and programming model developed by NVIDIA. It enables dramatic increases in computing performance by harnessing the power of GPUs. With more than two million downloads, supporting more than 240 leading engineering, scientific and commercial applications, the CUDA programming model is taught in over 700 universities and institutions worldwide and is the most popular way for developers to take advantage of GPU-accelerated computing.

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About NVIDIA
Since 1993, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has pioneered the art and science of visual computing. The company's technologies are transforming a world of displays into a world of interactive discovery -- for everyone from gamers to scientists, and consumers to enterprise customers. More information at http://nvidianews.nvidia.com and http://blogs.nvidia.com.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the performance, benefits and availability of NVIDIA CUDA 6 are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to our existing product and technologies; market acceptance of our products or our partners' products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including its Form 10-Q for the fiscal period ended July 28, 2013. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company's website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

© 2013 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, and CUDA are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.

Contact Information:

For further information, contact:
George Millington
NVIDIA Public Relations
(408) 562-7226
gmillington@nvidia.com