How would it affect design if it were possible to completely eliminate off-lining rendering to a centralized cluster or an outsourced-company? NVIDIA Maximus lets users design and simulate or render at the same time on the same workstation. The technology features intelligent GPU job allocation; a single unified driver; full independent software vendor (ISV) application certification; and it works with a range of OEM workstations, including Dell. The technology uses the 3D graphics capability of NVIDIA Quadro GPUs combined with the high-performance computing power of NVIDIA Telsa GPUs The Telsa co-processors automatically perform the heavy lifting of rendering or CAE computations, freeing the Quadro GPUs to enable interactive graphics.
In this scenario, designers will be able to work with components and assemblies and get real-time feedback on the structural dynamics acting on them. Consider this: Automotive stylists can make important decisions based on how things look but traditionally have not been able to understand the impact their decisions will have on airflow around the car and what the drag or wind noise results will be until much later in development. In contrast, Maximus computational horsepower callculates and displays fluid dynamics simulations in real time. This lets designers make educated decisions that affect the look of a vehicle and its performance in an intuitive, visual way. In addition, Maximus' interactive raytracing is making reality-based design possible. Users of CAD applications like SolidWorks or Inventor can be interactive while performing photorealistic renders on the same system. And applications such as Dassault's CATIA V6 with its GPU-powered Live Rendering provide interactive raytracing that lets users work through design revisions and get to a final design in less time, so core engineering can begin sooner.