Just as the soon to launch 40nm mobile chipsets from NVIDIA are DirectX 10.1 compatible, the upcoming desktop parts including the GT218 and GT216 will also support DirectX 10.1 application programming interface. ATI has been preaching that DirectX 10.1 as a good thing for years now and NVIDIA just jumping on the DirectX 10.1 bandwagon just months before Microsoft is set to reveal DirectX 11 is quite strange really. NVIDIA was a very opponent of DirectX 10.1 since all of its currently shipping generation don't have support for DirectX 10.1 and now all of a sudden, they are quickly announcing some new generation that will completely support DirectX 10.1 technology and increase their gaming capabilities. - FudZilla

Coming NVIDIA 40nm Core With DirectX 10.1 Support!

Since mobile and desktop chips from both NVIDIA and ATI are usually the same thing, NVIDIA wanted to offer DirectX 10.1 check box technology to its potential users and with Calpella, Intel's Nehalem and Clarksfield quad core for notebooks platform. NVIDIA expects many Calpella design wins for its 40nm based DirectX 10.1 GPU's and most probably customers simply wanted to have DirectX 10.1 and not DirectX 10, something that NVIDIA offers for years. This means that they are finally seeing the need to increase their technology and change their vision to get some wins coming their ways with upcoming new products.

Naturally, in later this year or early next year NVIDIA will have a DirectX 11 chips, something that we currently call GT300, but before that you can expect dozen of DirectX 10.1 capable, all 40nm chips in both desktop and mobile flavours.