Here's MSI with its GeForce GTX 480 offering, the MSI N480GTX. While it's clear that all GeForce GTX 400 series graphics cards, at least initially, will adhere to NVIDIA's reference designs, each manufacturer is throwing in a little something unique. MSI's offering speaks of "Military-class" components, though it's likely that NVIDIA's own choice of components fit MSI's definition of military-class, and the MSI Afterburner software. The software is advertised to work with the card to provide voltage control, advertising up to 15% of performance gains using it. Usual features include DirectX 11 support, support for PhysX, CUDA, 3D Vision Surround, 480 CUDA cores, 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit memory interface, and connectivity which includes two DVI-D and a mini HDMI.

Leadteak is one of the many NVIDIA partners ready with its offering of GeForce GTX 470 and GeForce GTX 480 graphics cards, pictured ahead of its launch. As with every other GeForce 400 series SKU in the making, these cards stick to NVIDIA's reference design. The Leadtek GeForce GTX 480 is DirectX 11 compliant, has 480 CUDA cores, and 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit memory interface, while the GeForce GTX 470 has 448 CUDA cores, and 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 320-bit memory interface. Both are 3-way SLI capable. The two are expected to be launched later this week.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced the SPARKLE GeForce 210 1GB Graphics Card with 128-bit video memory design, bringing impressive graphics processing power to your PC at an incredible value.

Based on NVIDIA's next generation G210 architecture, the SPARKLE GeForce 210 1GB Graphics Card adopts innovative unified architecture, dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up to 2x the gaming performance of prior generation GPUs. Built upon technologies such as NVIDIA Lumenex Engine, providing support for DirectX 10.1 Shader Model 4.0, NVIDIA Quantum Effects technology for physics computation and GigaThread Technology for extreme processing efficiency in advanced, next generation shader programs.

Exactly a week ahead of releasing its GeForce GTX 400 series accelerators, NVIDIA held meetings with the press discussing the company's newest technologies, including GeForce GTX 400 series. Some lesser known details about the GeForce GTX 480 and GeForce GTX 470 surfaced, among more known and established ones. To begin with, the GeForce GTX 480 is confirmed to have a CUDA core (shader core) count of 480. The GF100 core operates at 700 MHz, its shader domain at 1401 MHz, and the memory operates at 924 MHz (actual, 1848 MHz DDR, 3700 MHz effective). With a GDDR5 memory bus width of 384-bit, the effective memory bandwidth would be 173.4 GB/s.

The GeForce GTX 470, on the other hand, has 448 CUDA cores, clock speeds of 607 MHz core, 1215 MHz shader domain, and 837 MHz memory (actual, 1674 MHz DDR, 3348 MHz effective). With a GDDR5 memory bus width of 320-bit, the effective memory bandwidth would be 130.7 GB/s. While the GTX 480 has a board power of 295W, the GTX 470 has a board power of 225W. Another piece of information the source reveals is that internal testing by NVIDIA showed that the performance level to expect from the GeForce GTX 470 should be 5-10% higher than that of the ATI Radeon HD 5850. The GeForce GTX 480 should be expected to be just that much faster than the ATI Radeon HD 5870. It is also expected that the target price of the GeForce GTX 480 should be typically US $499, while the GTX 470 should go typically for US $349. Detailed reviews of the two should be up by this time, next week.

ZOTAC International, the world's largest manufacturer graphics cards, mini-ITX motherboards and mini-PCs in the channel, today unveils the world's first ION Upgrade Kits featuring a ZOTAC small form factor motherboard and ZOTAC ION graphics card for a combination that delivers phenomenal value with premium graphics and outstanding user experience.

A ZOTAC ION graphics card with 16 unified shaders and 512MB of DDR3 memory empowers the ZOTAC ION Upgrade Kits with high-end features such as NVIDIA CUDA and PureVideo HD technologies, DirectX 10.1, DirectCompute, OpenGL and OpenCL compatibility for a high-performance and feature rich experience.

In several of its communications about Fermi as a GPGPU product (Next-Gen Tesla series) and GF100 GPU, NVIDIA mentioned the GF100 GPU to have 512 physical CUDA cores (shader units) on die. In the run up to the launch of GeForce 400 series however, it appears as if GeForce GTX 480, the higher-end part in the series will have only 480 of its 512 physical CUDA cores enabled, sources at Add-in Card manufacturers confirmed to Bright Side of News. This means that 15 out of 16 SMs will be enabled. It has a 384-bit GDDR5 memory interface holding 1536 MB of memory.

This could be seen as a move to keep the chip's TDP down and help with yields. It's unclear if this is a late change, because if it is, benchmark scores of the product could be different when it's finally reviewed upon launch. The publication believes that while the GeForce GTX 480 targets a price point around $449-499, while the GeForce GTX 470 is expected to be priced $299-$349. The GeForce GTX 470 has 448 CUDA cores and a 320-bit GDDR5 memory interface holding 1280 MB of memory. In another report by Donanim Haber, the TDP of the GeForce GTX 480 is expected to be 298W, with GeForce GTX 470 at 225W. NVIDIA will unveil the two on the 26th of March.

ASUS today announced the launch of the new ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer motherboard which maximizes transmission speeds by integrating the industry's latest I/O technologies such as USB 3.0, SATA 6G storage interface, and IEEE 1394b FireWire standard. Additionally, the ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer is equipped with the LGA1156 socket and the latest Intel 3450 chipset with onboard graphics. For extreme gaming enjoyment, up to four ATI CrossFireX cards or 3-way/2-way NVIDIA SLI cards can be accommodated to generate smoother and sharper visuals. It also leverages NVIDIA CUDA parallel computing architecture to support up to four NVIDIA Tesla cards with Clarkdale Processors for intensive high-performance computing.

The ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer is the best choice for providing comprehensive I/O support. It includes USB 3.0 ports-the latest connectivity standard with 4.8Gb/s speeds-to support next-generation components and peripherals. USB 3.0 transfers data ten times faster and is backward compatible with USB 2.0 components. Additionally, the ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer includes Serial ATA (SATA) 6Gb/s storage interfaces for 6.0Gbps data throughput, thus enhancing scalability, accelerating data retrieval, and doubling the bandwidth of current bus systems. To support FireWire-enabled digital video recorders and computers, the ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer also includes two IEEE 1394b ports supporting up to 800 Mb/s speeds-doubling the previous IEEE 1394a speeds.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today unveils the SPARKLE GeForce 210/GT220/GT240 Low Profile Silent Series Graphics Cards with low profile design, addressing, fulfilling and exceeding the HTPC users' demand on silent working, power consumption and HD video in small HTPC cases.

The SPARKLE GeForce 210/GT220/GT240 Silent Series Graphics Cards are a half-height video cards suitable for small form-factor, book size and home theatre PCs users that desperately want a dedicated HDMI jack on the cheap.The SPARKLE GeForce 210/GT220/GT240 Silent Series Graphics Cards can be easily installed in narrow space HTPC chassis. So the SPARKLE GeForce 210/GT220/GT240 Silent Series Graphics Cards not only can easily meet the HD video playback and DX10.1 gaming demand from HTPC users, but also can easily satisfy the requirements from SSF, mini-chassis and industry PCs which demand compact and practical graphics cards.

Czech technology website PCTuning confirmed a few details about NVIDIA's upcoming performance graphics accelerator, the GeForce GTX 470. It was found out that a beta driver by NVIDIA, GeForce 196.78 supports GeForce 400 series accelerators, and was able run a qualification sample of GeForce GTX 470. The card was using A3 revision GF100 silicon. The driver's System Information dialog revealed that the card indeed has 448 CUDA cores (SIMD units). Further, it has 1280 MB of memory, and a 320-bit wide memory interface. NVIDIA also changed the way it represents memory clock speeds. Since it is using GDDR5 memory, while the memory has an actual clock speed of 1000 MHz, the data rate (DDR speed) is represented first, as 2000 MHz, and "effective speed" next, which is 4000 MHz.

Given these speeds, at 1000 MHz GDDR5, the GPU has a memory bandwidth of 160 GB/s. Without compromise on looks and quality, NVIDIA kept the cooler design basic. It has a matte finish. Display outputs include two DVI-D, and one mini HDMI. It supports NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround (a technology competitive to ATI Eyefinity, to span a display head across multiple physical displays), just that NVIDIA requires at least two accelerators in SLI to use it. NVIDIA's GeForce 400 series graphics accelerators will be launched on the 26th of this month.

ZOTAC International, the world's largest channel manufacturer, today redefines the mini-PC experience with a new generation of eco friendly small form factor platform powered by next-generation NVIDIA ION technology - the new ZOTAC ZBOX HD-ID11 mini-PC. The new ZOTAC ZBOX HD-ID11 mini-PC supercharges the eco friendly computing experience with premium graphics processing, complete high definition playback capabilities and a premium Windows 7 experience with Aero user interface.

Premium graphics processing power forms the heart of the ZOTAC ZBOX HD-ID11 mini-PC with a new Next-Generation NVIDIA ION graphics processor with 16 unified shaders and 512MB of DDR3 graphics memory complete with NVIDIA CUDA and NVIDIA PureVideo HD technologies for a superior eco friendly computing experience that goes well beyond simple web browsing.

A little earlier this month, NVIDIA tweeted that it would formally unveil the GeForce GTX 400 series graphics cards, NVIDIA's DirectX 11 generation GPUs, at the PAX East gaming event in Boston (MA), United States, on the 26th of March. That's a little under a month's time from now. In its run up, sources that have access to samples of the graphics cards seem to be drawing their "performance expectations" among other details tricking in.

Both the GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 graphics cards are based on NVIDIA's GF100 silicon, which physically packs 512 CUDA cores, 16 geometry units, 64 TMUs, 48 ROPs, and a 384-bit GDDR5 memory interface. While the GTX 480 is a full-featured part, the GTX 470 is slightly watered-down, with probably 448 or 480 CUDA cores enabled, and a slightly narrower memory interface, probably 320-bit GDDR5. Sources tell DonanimHaber that the GeForce GTX 470 performs somewhere between the ATI Radeon HD 5850 and Radeon HD 5870. This part is said to have a power draw of 300W. The GeForce GTX 480, on the other hand, is expected to perform on-par with the GeForce GTX 295 - at least in existing (present-generation) applications. A recent listing by an online store for a pre-order, put the GTX 480 at US $699.

TechPowerUp today released GPU-Z version 0.3.9, our graphics subsystem information and monitoring utility. The new version brings with it some important user-interface changes that make it accessible to various locales and language settings. It adds support for over 32 new graphics processors by AMD and NVIDIA, and a host of new technical improvements that make it more stable and accurate.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.3.9

A list of changes are as follows:

A tweet on NVIDIA's Twitter account reveals that the company's first DirectX 11 compliant consumer graphics products will be named GeForce GTX 480 and GeForce GTX 470, against popular opinion that they could make for the GeForce GTX 300 series. The most likely reason for this could be that the company has released mobile graphics products under the GeForce GT 3xx series which are based on its GT21x series GPUs which are DirectX 10.1 compliant. It would be hence easier to make out that DirectX 11 products start in the 400 series.

The two are based on NVIDIA's GF100 GPU which physically has 512 CUDA cores (shader units), a 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, and DirectX 11 compliance. While the GTX 480 is likely the full-featured part, it remains to be seen how NVIDIA carves out the GTX 470 SKU. An enquiry by AnandTech confirmed the authenticity of the Twitter account.

NVIDIA today let loose of GeForce 196.34 beta driver suite. The beta release comes after the recently-released GeForce 196.21 WHQL drivers, and corrects a severe bug which prevents GPU overclocking. It retains the rest of the feature-set of its WHQL predecessor. Being a beta release, its use is unsupported by NVIDIA, though a WHQL-signed version can be expected soon.

The GeForce 196.34 beta driver suite provides system software for NVIDIA GeForce desktop and mobile graphics processors, NVIDIA ION platform, along with Graphics Plus components such as CUDA, PhysX, 3D Vision, etc.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 196.34 BETA

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today proudly announced the Calibre CUTi, a revolutionary small form factor PC providing high definition 1080p playback and digital surround sound for a variety of multimedia formats displayed right on a user's HDTV. Calibre CUTi push the envelope on thin and light design as one of the world's thinnest PC while extending the entertainment experience with support for HD video. In addition, the Calibre CUTi has excellent energy-saving features, idle power consumption is only 14 watts, lesser than an energy-saving lamp power consumption.

The world of desktops has now also taken a step up with the introduction of the Calibre CUTi. It's a computer of reduced dimensions and at a lower cost than traditional PCs which are ideal for satisfying all basic requirements of surfing the Internet, downloading and watching rich content, playing videos and games , running typical office programs or communicating with VOIP using the optional webcam. The Calibre CUTi is introduced to meet the pursuit for micro-volume, low-cost energy-saving computers from consumer. This revolutionary PC product provides an impressive all-round performance to users around the world.

"We've had great success with our existing ZOTAC GeForce Eco series graphics cards but many users wanted a higher end model, and thus we engineered the ZOTAC GeForce GTS 250 Eco series," said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International. "Using our experience from the existing ZOTAC GeForce Eco series, we were able to optimize and reduce energy consumption of the award-winning GeForce GTS 250 architecture by a noticeable amount."

Powered by NVIDIA Unified Architecture with 128 unified shaders, the ZOTAC GeForce GTS 250 Eco series deliver compatibility with Microsoft DirectX 10, OpenGL 3.2, NVIDIA PhysX and CUDA enabled games and applications. High-performance DDR3 memory connected via 256-bit memory interface feeds the high-performance graphics processor with maximum energy-efficiency for a visual computing experience that's loaded with stunning realism and performance while maintaining optimal energy-efficiency.

Support for the latest generation of Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 takes the ZOTAC H55-ITX WiFi to performance levels previously unattainable by the mini-ITX form factor. The ZOTAC H55-ITX WiFi supports Intel QuickPath technology for lightning-fast communications to high-speed dual-channel DDR3 memory for superior bandwidth and quicker memory access that delivers the chart-topping performance enthusiasts and performance-hungry users desire.

"Since Intel announced its latest generation of Nehalem CPUs, there's been great demand for a mini-ITX platform for the CPUs, unfortunately the power consumption and heat output of the original Intel Core i7 900 series would've been too high for such a small form factor," said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International (MCO), Ltd. "With the latest generation of Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors, greater energy efficiency and improved thermal management, the ZOTAC H55-ITX WiFi is able to deliver a mini-ITX platform capable of accommodating the new high-performance processors with no compromises."

PNY announced today that it is premiering its new NVIDIA Quadro FX 380 LP (Low Profile) by PNY professional graphics solution at the NVIDIA booth (#319) during Autodesk University. PNY will be demonstrating the NVIDIA Quadro FX 380 LP powering Seneca Data's Nexlink workstation running Autodesk AutoCAD. Design professionals attending the show will experience how the Quadro FX 380 LP and its optimized performance drivers for AutoCAD can increase their productivity, with up to a 10X acceleration in AutoCAD 2009 versus consumer graphics cards.

"Seneca Data prides itself on delivering the most powerful and cost-effective CAD solutions in the market. With the introduction of the entry-level NVIDIA Quadro FX 380 LP by PNY graphics solution, our Nexlink systems can deliver performance, stability, ISV certification and display quality at an affordable price," said Mike Smith, VP of OEM and Engineering Services, Seneca Data.

Just over a day after releasing it in the beta form, NVIDIA released the WHQL-signed version of its GeForce 195.62 driver package. The package provides drivers and related software for GeForce GPUs and the ION chipset. Usually, a WHQL-signed driver that trails a beta release has a different version number and includes some minor changes. With this release however, there are no changes whatsoever, except of course the WHQL certification. As a quick recap, this is what is new with GeForce 195.62:

• Added GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta.
• Added support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language) for all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
• Added support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements
• Added SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more
• Includes numerous bug fixes

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 195.62 WHQL Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit

NVIDIA released a beta version of its GeForce driver suite. Version 195.62 beta provides driver support for GeForce 6 series, 7 series, 8 series, 100 and 200 series GPUs, along with support for the NVIDIA ION chipset. This release also bundles PhysX version 9.09.0814 system software. Important changes include:

• Added GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta.
• Added support for GeForce GT 240.
• Added support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language) for all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
• Added support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements.
• Added SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.

Be cautioned, these are beta drivers, the use of which is not covered by product warranties.

DOWNLOAD: GeForce 196.62 BETA

Multimedia-minded consumers who prize the portability of netbooks but lament the typical lack of processing muscle now have a reason to rejoice. ASUS has launched the Eee PC 1201N, a multimedia netbook sporting an Intel Atom 330 dual core processor and an NVIDIA ION graphics processor that delivers a level of performance never before seen on netbooks. The stylish Eee PC 1201N also offers exceptional typing comfort through a full-sized ergonomic chiclet keyboard, and comes with a total of 750GB hybrid storage to house and host massive multimedia collections.

The Eee PC 1201N marks a radical departure from other netbooks that usually feature single core Atom processors. With its Intel Atom 330 dual core processor, NVIDIA ION graphics, and two-DIMM, dual-channel DDR memory architecture, the Eee PC 1201N will set new netbook performance benchmarks. More importantly, this combination shatters today's netbook conventions by delivering a rich multimedia experience.

Club 3D, European market leader for graphics cards, today introduces with the Club 3D GT 240 graphics card the next GPU manufactured in 40nm process technology. Your perfect choice for professional graphics and also suitable as dedicated PhysX graphics card to run your games 50% faster. Turn your photos and home videos into materspieces at the clock of a button, view flawless Adobe Flash 10.1 video in full screen HD. Energize your multimedia with Club 3D GT 240 graphics and equip your PC for the digital world. Enjoy 3D Vision and 3D Photos to play your games and view your photos in 3D.

EVGA announced the EVGA GT 240 series. Upgrade today to the EVGA GT 240 and experience picture-perfect photos, vibrant videos and great games like Borderlands, WoW, Sims 3 and Darkest of Days. GPU Accelerated Flash means flawless HD videos on websites like YouTube and Hulu with the new GPU-accelerated Adobe Flash 10.1, and of course crystal-clear BluRay in 1080p with True-Fidelity 7.1 Surround Sound are 100% supported.

Experience NVIDIA PhysX technology on Batman: Arkham Asylum, Darkest of Days, and other GPU PhysX titles with speeds 2x faster than the competition. Enjoy 40% faster HD gaming on other popular titles like Borderlands and Darkest of Days. Leverage 96 processor cores to run the latest GPU-accelerated applications like MotionDSP vReveal, Cyberlink MediaShow with Face tagging, and many more at speeds up to 50% faster than prior generation.

Punch up your digital experience with a blast of power. The XFX NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 graphics card gives you an across-the-board speed and performance boost that takes you from "mundane" to "insane". NVIDIA PhysX technology adds speed to your game, so that you can play Batman: Arkham Asylum or Darkest of Days 2X faster than the competition. Transform it into a dedicated PhysX card by pairing it with another NVIDIA based graphics card and enjoy up to 50% pop in performance.

Ninety-six NVIDIA CUDA cores enable you to run the latest GPU-accelerated applications, many at speeds 50% faster than prior generation. Maximize your YouTube- and Hulu-viewing experience in full HD with new GPU-accelerated Adobe Flash 10.1. Enjoy all of the great Microsoft Windows 7 features, including drag and drop video conversion, as well as full support for DirectCompute, OpenGL 3.2 and PC Express 2.0. Available in a 1 GB GDDR5 or 512MB DDR3, put the power of the XFX NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 graphics card at your fingertips.

POINT OF VIEW, premier NVIDIA partner for GeForce Graphics cards, is launching today the first GDDR5 GeForce graphics card, the GeForce GT240. Built from the ground up, the latest GeForce 200 series graphics card is a big step forward. Built on 40nm the GPU will consume less energy and have less heat production. This allows better clock speeds, a higher overclocking potential and lower temperatures. The smaller die-size together with the support for DirectX 10.1 and Shader model 4.1 really adds a future proof coating to the GT240.

Another major improvement is the support of GDDR5 which literally multiplies the possible memory clock by two! The new PCB design also has integrated HDMI audio so no additional SPDIF cable is required for rerouting the sound to the HDMI cable.