GeCube started to ship new PCI Express cards based on the Radeon X850 XT and X800 XL chips as part of its Uni-Wise series. This line features a single slot fan promising noise level under 20 dB and a copper heatsink with heatpipe technology. The GC-RX850XTS-VIVO is clocked at 540 MHz and features 16 pixel pipelines, 256 MB of GDDR3 memory at 1.18 GHz and VGA, DVI, HDTV-Out and VIVO connectors. The GC-RX800XL-D3 256MB is clocked at 400 MHz and also sports 16 pixel pipelines and 256 MB of GDDR3 (at 1 GHz), but lacks VIVO funcionality.
Nvidia has completed its GeForce Go 6 series with the mid-range Go 6600 GPU. The PCI Express chip is available in standard (clocked at 375 MHz with memory at 600 MHz) and Ultra versions (450/700 MHz). They have eight pixel pipelines and 128-bit memory interface while consuming 18 watts and 26.5 watts respectively. Companies like AOpen, ASUS, Clevo, MSI and Toshiba will market notebooks featuring the GeForce Go 6600.
Gigabyte has released a new top of the line PCI Express card, the GV-RX85X256V-B, based on the Radeon X850 XT Platinum Edition GPU. The card, clocked at 540 MHz, features 16 pixel pipelines and processes up to 810 M vertices/sec with 6 vertex pipelines. It packs 256 MB of GDDR3 memory at 1.18 GHz. The GV-RX85X256V-B supports HDTV resolutions up to 2048x1536 dpi and includes Dual DVI, VIVO and HDTV-Out connectors. The retail package includes three games: Joint Operations, Thief and SpellForce.
Matrox has announced a PCI Express version of its Millennium P650 graphics card aimed at content creators. It includes 128 MB of DDR memory and features dual 400 MHz RAMDACs for fully symmetric DualHead resolutions up to 1920 x 1440 per display and advanced Dual-DVI technology for resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 per digital flat panel. Supported output configurations include: DualHead independent, DualHead stretched, DualHead Clone, DualHead Zoom and Portrait mode. The card will only be available in April with a list price of USD 249.
ATI began to ship the FireGL V5000 workstation graphics accelerator which promises to bring high-end functionality to a wider range of design professionals. The card sports eight pixel pipelines, six geometry engines, 128 MB of GDDR3 memory, dual DVI connectors for multi-display applications and dual link support for 9 megapixels displays. Suggested price is USD 699.
ATI has introduced its new Mobility Radeon X700, featuring eight pixel pipelines and six vertex engines and aimed mainly at thinŽnŽlight notebooks. The PCI Express part promises to offer longer battery life through the POWERPLAY 5.0 power management tool and other improvements. It also includes features such as LRTC and LCD-EE for high-quality video playback and Automatic Display Configuration technology for simplified setup of external displays.
ATI released its first 2005 update to its Catalyst driver. Version 5.1 brings a variety of fixes, dealing with bugs involving dual head systems, video playback, PCI Express, XVideo overlay and a range of games. It also includes support for 64-bit architectures under XFree86 4.3 and X.org 6.8 Linux. The Control Center version now works with all Radeon GPUs and has pause and stop buttons in 3D preview. The download files have 22 MB and 28 MB (Control Center).
HIS announced that its Excalibur Radeon X850 XT and X850 XT Platinum Edition cards with Dual DVI and VIVO have finally hit retail. The higher-end X850 XT PE is clocked at 540 MHz and uses 256 MB of GDDR3 memory at 1,180 MHz. Numbers for the X850 XT model are 520 MHz and 1,080 MHz. Both PCI Express cards have 16 pixel pipelines and 256-bit memory interface. The retail package may include an optional Platinum Pack with Dungeon Siege, Counter Strike and ARX Fatalis.
Dutch company Point of View is one of the first VGA card makers to launch a GeForce 6800 with PCI Express interface. The GeForce 6800 Ultra PCX is clocked at 425 MHz and features 16 pixel pipelines, 256-bit interface and 256 MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 1.1 GHz. It includes two DVI-I and one TV-Out connectors. Simultaneous use of multiple cards is supported through SLI. The company will release a GT PCI Express model soon.
ATI launched the TV Wonder Elite, a new TV capture card based on the company own Theater 550 Pro chip that promises high-end TV image quality on PCs. The card can receive up to 125 PAL and SECAM channels in addition to FM radio. The Theater 550 Pro integrates a 12-bit video decoder that features 3D comb filtering for NTSC and PAL and 5-line 2D Comb filtering. The bundle includes a new Remote Wonder Plus control. Suggested retail price is USD 149.
