SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MSC.Software, a leading global provider of simulation software applications and related services, today announced an alliance with NVIDIA to leverage the CUDA(TM) architecture of its Tesla(TM) graphics processing units (GPUs) in a way that will transform simulation-driven product design and development, providing computer-aided engineering (CAE) analysts with dramatically faster results.

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MSC.Software's finite element analysis (FEA) software, known as Marc, has demonstrated performance gains, with Tesla GPUs, of up to 5x for typical complex models compared with the latest dual-core CPUs.

"Our customers will achieve new levels of simulation fidelity and product innovation using this breakthrough technology," said Ash Munshi, CEO of MSC.Software. "This successful collaboration with NVIDIA is the beginning of an alliance that will ultimately add value across a broad range of simulation products from MSC.Software."

In addition to dramatic speed ups, NVIDIA® GPUs offer significantly greater compute density, so that typical simulation times require just a few GPUs as opposed to tens of CPUs. This advantage provides significant cost advantages in hardware savings, but also substantial reductions in power consumption and space requirements.

"Whether an organization is designing an aircraft or power tool, simulation is the bottle neck in the design and development process, taking days or even weeks to complete," said Monica Schnitger, president of CAE market analyst Schnitger Corp. "Manufacturers are increasingly turning to GPUs to speed their processes, turning week-long computations into days and days into hours."

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) awakened the world to the power of computer graphics when it invented the graphics processing unit (GPU) in 1999. Since then, it has consistently set new standards in visual computing with breathtaking, interactive graphics available on devices ranging from portable media players to notebooks to workstations. NVIDIA's expertise in programmable GPUs has led to breakthroughs in parallel processing which make supercomputing inexpensive and widely accessible. Fortune magazine has ranked NVIDIA #1 in innovation in the semiconductor industry for two years in a row. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, features, impact, performance and capabilities of NVIDIA Tesla GPUs and CUDA architecture and their effect of MSC.Software's products 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: development of more efficient or faster technology; design, manufacturing or software defects; the impact of technological development and competition; changes in consumer preferences and demands; customer adoption of different standards or our competitor's products; 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 including its Form 10-Q for the fiscal period ended July 26, 2009. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on our 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.

© 2009 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, Tesla, 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.

SOURCE NVIDIA