PC graphics chip maker Nvida held a big press event this week to introduce folks to what you see above. That is their all new GPU architecture that they have code-named "Fermi". With 512 CUDA cores inside, the technology behind the Fermi architecture will be the basis for the next generation of GeForce-based graphics cards.

Which is all well and good but where are those cards? As we reported recently rival AMD has begun shipping their own next-gen cards which are the first to have true DirectX11 support. HardOCP posts up a quote from Nvidia's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang who states, " Nobody likes when the competition has a product. I don't like keeping our enthusiast waiting on our next generation processors. I would rather be shipping today, but we will ship when the product is ready to ship." However speculation on many hardware web sites state we may have to wait until sometime in the first quarter of 2010 before Nvidia has an actual shipping card with the Fermi technology. That gives AMD a pretty big head start.