NVIDIA announced availability of the NVIDIA® CUDA® 5 release candidate, the latest version of the industry’s leading parallel computing platform and programming model.

Publicly available as a free download from the NVIDIA Developer Zone website, the CUDA 5 release candidate provides a solid platform for developers to evaluate new capabilities before the CUDA 5 production release is launched later this year.

CUDA 5 provides a host of new features and capabilities to make the development of GPU-accelerated applications faster and easier than ever. Advanced features and tools in this release include GPU object linking, which allows developers to create libraries that run entirely on the GPU, and NVIDIA® Nsight™ Eclipse Edition, the world’s first integrated development environment (IDE) for developing GPU accelerated applications on Linux- and Mac OS-based systems.

CUDA 5 also includes a new integrated documentation system and all-in-one installers that make it easier for developers to get started with parallel programming. With this new release, developers are able to begin exploring ways to take advantage of the new high-performance NVIDIA GPUs based on the Kepler™ computing architecture.

NVIDIA is providing a number of CUDA 5 educational resources for developers, including a number of upcoming webinars:

· Introducing CUDA 5: Features and Benefits
Wednesday, Aug. 22 | 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. PDT (GMT-7:00)

· Nsight Eclipse Edition: High Productivity IDE for CUDA Development on Linux & Mac OS
Tuesday, Aug. 28 | 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. PDT (GMT-7:00)

· GPU Object Linking: Usage and Benefits
Wednesday, Sept. 5 | 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. PDT (GMT-7:00)

CUDA Registered Developer Program

Parallel programmers are invited to join the CUDA Registered Developer Program for early access to software releases, tools, resources, and information to maximize the potential of CUDA and parallel computing.  Visit www.nvidia.com/paralleldeveloper for more information.

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.

More information about GPU Computing is available at the NVIDIA website. To learn more about CUDA or download the latest version, visit the CUDA website. More NVIDIA news, company and product information, videos, images and other information is available at the NVIDIA newsroom. You can also follow us on Twitter (@GPUComputing).

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Today, its processors power a broad range of products from smartphones tosupercomputers. NVIDIA’s mobile processors are used in cell phones, tablets and auto infotainment systems. PC gamers rely on GPUs to enjoy spectacularly immersive worlds. Professionals use them to create 3D graphics and visual effects in movies and to design everything from golf clubs to jumbo jets. And researchers utilize GPUs to advance the frontiers of science with high performance computing. The company has more than 5,000 patents issued, allowed or filed, including ones covering ideas essential to modern computing. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.