PowerColor (Tul) has also released a Radeon X1600 Pro equipped with an HDMI connector. The low-profile card is clocked at 500 MHz and packs 256 MB of DDR3 at 900 MHz. It includes HDMI (with an HDMI to DVI cable) and VGA connectors as well as SPDIF in. The X1600 Pro chip has 12 pixel pipelines, five vertex shaders units and 128-bit interface.
HIS has added a new Radeon X1900 XTX card to its IceQ 3 Turbo lineup. The model is overclocked to 700 MHz (core) and 1.7 GHz (memory). The IceQ 3 cooling solution promises temperatures at least 11 degrees Celsius below the level achieved by the original device with low noise (20 dB) and special UV effect. Other specs include 512 MB of GDDR3 (256-bit interface), VIVO, dual DVI and HDTV-Out. The Radeon X1900 XTX GPU has 16 pixel pipelines, 48 pixel shader processors and eight vertex engines.
Sparkle has released two AGP 8x VGA cards based on Nvidia’s GeForce 7600 GS. The SP-AG76SDH Ultra2 256 MB and 512 MB are both clocked at standard 400 MHz. Other specs include DDR2 memory at 800 MHz, 12 pixel pipelines, five vertex shaders engines and 128-bit interface. The Windows Vista-ready cards are equipped with VGA, DVI-I and HDTV-Out connectors.
MSI has launched its first GeForce 7600 GS video card equipped with AGP 8x interface. The NX7600GS-TD256 is clocked at standard 400 MHz, packs 256 MB of DDR2 memory at 800 MHz and includes VGA, DVI-I and HDTV-Out connectors. The GeForce 7600 GS GPU has 12 pixel pipelines, five vertex shaders engines and 128-bit interface.
Hong Kong-based Galaxy has announced its first Masterpiece series VGA card sporting two GeForce 7600 GT GPUs. The product packs a total of 512 MB of GDDR3 (256 MB per core) and clocks at 560 MHz (core) and 1.4 GHz (memory) with 128-bit interface. Each graphics chip has 12 pixel pipelines. The card, which requires Nvidia SLI chipsets, should hit retail in August.
Sapphire has confirmed availability of its new Radeon X1600 Pro card equipped with an HDMI connector. The product ships with both standard and low-profile mounting brackets for use in standard or media center PCs and allows either an external SPDIF or internal cable to be connected for audio delivery. A standard VGA connector and a DVI dongle are also included. The card is clocked at 500 MHz and packs 256 MB of memory at 800 MHz.
HIS has released a Radeon X1300 card equipped with a PCI Express x1 interface. The product is aimed at users wanting to add monitors to their systems but having no extra PCI Express x16 slot available. Specifications are identical to those of standard X1300 cards: 450 MHz core clock, 128 MB of DDR2 memory at 500 MHz (up to 512 MB through HyperMemory), dual link DVI and HDTV-Out connectors. The X1300 (RV515) GPU features four pixel pipelines, two vertex shader processors and 64-bit interface.
GeCube last week launched the Radeon X1600 (KO) XTreme, which packs 128 MB of GDDR memory, using up to 384 MB of system memory to reach a maximum of 512 MB through HyperMemory. The CrossFire-compatible card, aimed at “performance gamers”, is clocked at 570 MHz, uses 256-bit ring bus controller and includes dual-link DVI and TV-Out connectors. Suggested online retail price is USD 80.
HIS has announced a Radeon X1900 GT card equipped with its IceQ 3 cooling solution. The X1900GT IceQ 3 2x Dual Link DVI + VIVO runs at standard 575 MHz, sports 256 MB of GDDR3 memory at 1.2 GHz and includes VIVO, dual DVI and HDTV-Out connectors. The CrossFire-compatible Radeon X1900 GT chip has 12 pixel pipelines, 36 pixel shaders engines and 256-bit interface.
An analyst from Friedman Billings Ramsey investment bank said this week that IBM has stopped producing the HSI bridge chip used by Nvidia to turn PCI Express video cards into AGP ones. The device is mainly employed in entry-level products. According to the analyst, named Chris Caso, Nvidia is likely to pick up another foundry partner, but it could create a supply chain disruption in the coming months.
Leadtek has denied the rumor that it would leave the graphics card market now that Foxconn, its longtime contractor, is entering it with own-branded products. The company stated this week that it will continue to partner with Nvidia and expand its international market at an aggressive pace. It even quoted Nvidia’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, who pledged “commitment to supporting Leadtek to its fullest”.
Sapphire has launched a new series of Radeon X1600 XT video cards, called Ultimate, sporting an inovative cooling solution mixing a passive heatsink and a backup fan. This, according to the company, holds the noise level to a maximum of 22 dB. The series initially consists of two models: the X1600 XT, clocked at 600 MHz with 256 MB of GDDR3 at 1.4 GHz, and the X1600 Pro, rated at 500 MHz with 256 MB of DDR2 at 800 MHz. The retail pack includes the recently released DaVinci Code game.
ATI has announced the Theater 650 Pro TV tuner chip, which, according to the company, improves TV reception, picture quality and PVR performance over its predecessor (Theater 550 Pro). The 125-channel device adds a new 3D comb filter, noise reduction features, modified MPEG encoder and support for ATSC (U.S., Canada, Mexico and South Korea) and DVB-T (Europe) digital TV standards. It includes MulTView (simultaneous recording and watching), ThruView (translucent video window over other desktop applications), advanced video compression and conversion settings (MPEG2, MPEG4, DivX, WMV9, H.264) and advanced electronic program guide (EPG). Retail products will be available from companies such as ASUSTeK, MSI, Sapphire, Tul/PowerColor and VisionTek.
Nvidia today officially launched its GeForce 7950 GX2, which puts two PCBs featuring one GeForce 7900 GTX GPU each into the same package, resulting in a single PCI Express slot SLI product. The graphics card, expected to sell for around USD 600, packs 1 GB of GDDR3 memory. Clocks are set at 500 MHz (core) and 1.2 GHz, slightly below those of the GeForce 7900 GTX, but total bandwidth jumps to 76.8 GB/s. According to Nvidia, the 7950 GX2 supports resolutions of up to 2,560x1,600, while mantaining high performance.
Users have until June 7 to enter Tul/PowerColor’s “Football Crazy 2006” contest, which will give away a lifetime of high-end graphics cards, starting with a Radeon X1900 XTX model. A single winner will be drawn from all entrants who correctly predict the upcoming soccer World Cup’s champion. The lucky user will then have the right to return its card each year and receive a new top of the line one for free. Participants must register in the PowerColor Club.
