PowerColor is readying two more GameFX video cards based on the Radeon X800 GT. The Extreme Edition is overclocked to 500 MHz (core) and 1.05 GHz (memory) and also sports 1.6 ns GDDR3 chips from Samsung while the EVO model brings a new cooling technology. The mid-range Radeon X800 GT GPU has eight pixel pipelines and six vertex shaders pipelines. Both cards should be available in a few weeks.
Hexus.net reveals that the three upcoming GPUs from ATI will be called X1800 (R520), X1600 (RV530) and X1300 (RV515). All new cores are expected to be available by mid-October. According to some reports, the X1800 will be available in three flavors: the sixteen-pipeline XT, running at 600 MHz with memory at 1.4 GHz; Pro (550 MHz and 1.25 GHz); and XL (500 MHz and 1 GHz).
EVGA has announced an “affordable” VGA card with 512 MB of memory. The e-GeForce 6800 GT, priced at USD 380, is clocked at 350 MHz and sports GDDR3 memory running at 1 GHz. Nvidia’s SLI-compatible chip has 16 pixel pipelines and six vertex shaders engines. A single dual-link TMDS connector enables support for wide-aspect ratio LCD monitors.
ATI has introduced its first graphics card to support both Windows XP and Mac OS X. The Radeon 9600 Pro PC and Mac Edition, though based on a bit outdated GPU, offers dual-link capability, which allows using high-res flat panel monitors like Apple’s 30-inch Cinema Display (up to 2560x1600 pixels). The card is compatible with AGP 8x and includes 256 MB of memory. Retail price is USD 200.
IO2 Technology claims to be first in the market to develop an interactive three-dimensional display. The so-called HelioDisplay uses lasers to draw 3D displays in the air and takes input directly from TVs, computers and DVDs. The company has completed its first production unit and says it is ready to release a limited quantity of products immediately.
Gigabyte has launched a GeForce 7800 GTX Turbo Force Edition featuring T3 performance tuning and V-Tuner II overclocking tools. According to the company, it scores 17,282 in the 3DMark03 benchmark, compared to 16,123 of a standard GeForce 7800 GTX. The chip has 24 pixel pipelines and eight vertex shaders. The new GV-NX78T256VP-B includes VGA, DVI-I and VIVO (with HDTV-Out) connectors. Full-version bundles Joint Operations and Xpand Rally.
Nvidia has officially launched the second coming of its GeForce 7800 graphics chip. The GT model features 20 pixel pipelines and seven vertex engines against 24 and eight from the GTX released in June. Clock speeds – 400 MHz with GDDR3 memory running at 1 GHz – are also lower. However users should be attracted by the USD 450 price tag, considerably below the GTX’s USD 600, while still outperforming the GeForce 6800 Ultra. Several makers are already offering GeForce 7800 GT cards.
Samsung has unveiled three new high-definition plasma TVs with 42, 50 and 63-inch screens. All models are designed in a slim black casing less than 4 inches deep and feature built-in a two-way audio system comprising ten speakers. The TVs are able to display up to 549 billion colors with 10,000:1 constrast ratio. Horizontal and vertical viewing angles are 175 degrees. Retail prices are USD 4,200, USD 5,700 and USD 13,000.
HIS has launched a whole series of VGA cards based on the new Radeon X800 GT. The top of the line is the X800GT IceQ II Turbo 256MB PCIe capable of reaching 500 MHz (core) and 1 GHz (memory) through its iTurbo technology. It is also equipped with IceQ cooler featuring blue UV sensitive casing and promising noise level below 20 dB. The Radeon X800 GT has eight pixel pipelines, six vertex shaders pipelines and 256-bit interface. HIS’ card includes VGA, DVI and HDTV-Out connectors.
Club-3D has launched one of the first cards based on the GeForce 6600 LE. The SLI chip is the cheapest option available to users considering upgrading later to a dual GPU system. Club-3D’s card is clocked at 300 MHz and is equipped with 256 MB of memory running at 500 MHz. It includes VGA, DVI and HDTV-Out connectors.
EVGA is now offering a lifetime warranty for its retail graphics cards. All products bought from June 22 on are covered as long as the owner is the original purchaser. In related news, EVGA last week released the e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO Edition, clocked at 490 MHz, significantly higher than the 430 MHz from Nvidia’s reference cards. It is equipped with a new cooling tech called Asymmetric Cooling System³ (ACS³) that spreads over the entire card.
Nvidia has introduced two new workstation GPUs aimed at the ultra-high-end and high-end segments. The Quadro FX 4500 is said to offer a 50% perfomance increase over the previous flagship product (FX 4400). Its SLI technology supports 32x full-scene antialiasing (FSAA) and up to four dual-link high-resolution displays per system. The 512 MB FX 4500 reaches 181 million triangles per second and 11.3 billion texels per second. The other new item, the Quadro FX 3450, sports 256 MB of memory and achieves 150 million triangles and 5.1 billion texels per second.
Gainward has officially announced clock settings to its two PowerPack! Ultra/3500PCX XP VIVO-DVI-DVI cards based on the GeForce 7800 GTX. The Golden Sample reaches 470 MHz with 256 MB of 1.6 ns GDDR3 at 1.3 GHz. The standard model is basically identical, but is clocked at 440 MHz. Nvidia’s reference settings are 430 MHz and 1.2 GHz. The 7800 GTX chip has 24 pixel shader pipelines and eight vertex shaders pipelines and uses 256-bit memory interface. Both Gainward cards include two DVI and one VIVO (with HDTV-Out) connectors.
ASUS has introduced a new noiseless cooling solution for graphics cards called SilentCool. It promises silent operation and 104 F temperature reduction in comparison to other cooling technologies. SilentCool includes a large heatsink design and hidden heat pipe and stacked fins made of copper. The fins can be rotated 90 degrees for optimal heat dissipation. The first card to feature the solution is the Extreme N6600 Silencer (GeForce 6600).
Nvidia released a beta version of ForceWare 77.76. The new set of drivers offers support for SLI on upcoming GeForce 6600 LE cards and a new 16x antialiasing SLI rendering mode. Other features include broader SLI optimizations for more than 100 games and Unified Driver Architecture (UDA) with support for seven different operating systems and more than 250 products in total.
