The GPGPU world is a difficult one if you're trying to extract the revenue all too soon. When nVidia launched Quadro CX, we were unpleasantly surprised to learn that RapiHD, a GPGPU accelerating plug-in for Adobe's Premiere CS4 is working only on the Quadro CX card.
This was accented by the unpleasant fact that the Quadro CX was available only for the Windows platform, with Mac users being left in the cold. Then word reached us from Kerry Tescher of nVidia fame that all things changed.
In a reaction to the recent announcement by AMD, RapiHD is now being replaced by Elemental Accelerator, available in the initial 1.2 version for Mac OSX and 2.0 for the PC platform. Besides regular formats, you can now also enjoy in GPU-accelerated output into the Flash format, de facto a standard for online video. According to nVidia, the 1.2 version should bring at least 2X performance increase over the CPUs, while 2.0 for the PC should unlock the potential that Quadro GPUs have in store. That's right - Quadro CX is no longer the only Quadro supporting Adobe's acceleration, but rather one of many [GT200-based chips, from 1800 and above].
Mac-wise, things are the same - you have to have a Quadro FX 4800 card in order to make the Elemental Accelerator 1.2 work.
The price of the plug-in was reduced from $499 to $249, and if you are a registered Quadro customer, you can now purchase GPU-accelerated plugins from Boris FX, Red Giant and ProDAD at a discount of up to 50%.
