Nvidia Banks on Split-Personality Chip

That leaves Nvidia's GPU computing group fishing in a small, albeit lucrative pond, say analysts.

The Cell processor, jointly developed by Sony, IBM and Toshiba, also boasts parallel processing prowess. But besides being featured in Sony's own PlayStation 3 game console and certain medical imaging products from Mercury Computer, the chip has yet to gain much mass appeal.

However, Nvidia isn't dissuaded by fears of a limited addressable market, and believes the new GPU computing business will help its professional group grow to a $1 billion business in the next couple of years, says Michael Hara, vice president of investor relations.

Of course, the company's professional group, which currently provides traditional graphics accelerators for workstations, is already a $500 million businesses growing at 30% a year. So, the $1 billion mark would be attainable in a few years anyway at current growth rates.

However, GPU computing adds another engine to Nvidia's professional group, giving investors confidence that that business will be able to keep growing, says Stifel Nicolaus' Fischer.

"But I don't think many people have started to bake that into their estimates," Fischer says. Stifel Nicolaus makes a market in Nvidia shares.

That said, any contribution from the new GPU computing effort can only help the bottom line. Nvidia's current crop of professional products carry profit margins in the 60% range, well above the corporate average of 44%. And the forthcoming GPU computing products promise similar margin advantages, since they leverage the investments Nvidia has already made in its mainstream graphics processors.

The expectation on the Street is that Nvidia will raise its corporate gross margin target from its current level of 45% sometime in the next few quarters.

If the GPU computing business lends a hand in hoisting the margin, it will already have earned its keep.