EVGA is set to announce the X58 Classified motherboard. The Intel Core i7 compatible motherboard is set to be one of the most feature-rich and expensive LGA-1366 motherboards till date. The design focus of this motherboard is based on the power-circuitry that fuels its various components. A 1.33 MHz 10-phase digital PWM circuitry with dual 8-pin 12V inputs, along with 4-phase circuit for the DDR3 memory, and 3-phase NB power. Four PCI-E x16 slots driven by the Intel X58 chipset in conjuction with NVIDIA's nForce BR-03 chipset adds 3-way SLI + an additional slot for a GeForce accelerator dedicated to process PhysX. Elaborate heatpipe-driven coolers over the board's northbridge and VRM areas keep temperatures under check. The X58 Classified is priced at US $449, and will start selling shortly. The product has made it to EVGA's catalogues and its product page online. A demonstration video of the product by EVGA can be viewed here.

EVGA's Precision tool becomes more of an NVIDIA driver, a new version is being released almost every day. Well, you've probably downloaded what you thought is the latest version a week ago, but a new and updated release 1.51 is up for grabs now. This program allows you to fine tune your graphics card (your EVGA card in particular) for the maximum performance possible, with Core/Shader/Memory clock tuning, real time monitoring support including in-game, Logitech Keyboard LCD Display support, and compatibility with a vast number of graphics cards. A reminder, you need to make a registration and log in here, to download the program.

EVGA today introduced an update for its popular graphics card performance control software, the EVGA Precision 1.5.0. The software facilitates adjusting graphics cards' clock-speeds, fan-speeds and provides real-time monitoring of some of the parameters of the cards. The new version brings in a host of changes that include independent adjustment of cards' parameters in setups with multiple GPUs, regardless of SLI being enabled or disabled, monitoring in the same mode, and an updated On-Screen Display Server that works well with SecuROM-protected games.Registered EVGA users can download the software from here.

EVGA today also updated its video card line-up to include a full gamma of GeForce GTS 250 cards. A total of four GTS 250 cards were released:

• GeForce GTS 250 512-P3-1150-TR - 756 MHz/ 1836 MHz / 2200 MHz core/shader/memory clock speed, 512 MB GDDR3 memory, MSRP: $149.99 USD
• GeForce GTS 250 Superclocked 512-P3-1151-TR - 771 MHz/ 1890 MHz/ 2246 MHz core/shader/memory clock speed, 512 MB GDDR3 memory, MSRP: $159.99 USD
• GeForce GTS 250 01G-P3-1155-TR - 756 MHz/ 1836 MHz / 2200 MHz core/shader/memory clock speed, 1024 MB GDDR3 memory, MSRP: $169.99 USD
• GeForce GTS 250 Superclocked 01G-P3-1156-TR - 771 MHz/ 1890 MHz/ 2246 MHz core/shader/memory clock speed, 1024 MB GDDR3 memory, MSRP: $179.99 USD

Very shortly after its third update, EVGA's SLI Enhancement utility has been updated to version 03.03.09. Once again, this unofficial patch enables temporary SLI support in the latest games. Now the EVGA SLI Enhancement supports Windows XP and adds a few new games (see below). To download the tool you need to make a quick registration here.

EVGA recently released a third version of their SLI Enhancement patch, based on the NVIDIA GeForce 182.06 driver. This unofficial patch enables temporary SLI support in the latest games. The EVGA SLI Enhancement patch version 02.26.09:

• Enables SLI support for The Last Remnant Demo and Benchmark
• Enables SLI support for Grand Ages: Rome Demo
• Enables SLI support for Codename: Panzers Cold War Demo
• Enables SLI support for Men Of War Beta
• Improved SLI support for Burnout Paradise
• Enables SLI support for NecroVision Demo (DX10 Mode)

You need to make a registration on EVGA's web site here to access the download links. The patch works on Windows Vista only, both 32-bit and 64-bit.

EVGA is proud to announce the availability of the EVGA Hydro Copper Waterblock for the GTX 285 graphics card. With this product, EVGA continues to show that it cares about its buyers and wants to offer them premium products only. The Hydro Copper design consists of a full cover copper water block with black acetal top that cools the card's core, memory chips and power regulators. Also included are 3/8-inch and 1/2-inch barbs for maximum compatibility with all water loops. The EVGA Hydro Copper is offered both as standalone water-block (Part Number: 200-CU-HC85-B1) or coupled with an EVGA GeForce GTX 285 graphics card (Part Number: 01G-P3-1290-AR). The combo variant comes with the card overclocked to 720 MHz/1620 MHz/2772 MHz core/shaders/memory. Both products are available for pre-order now. The card and the block are priced at $549.99, while the Hydro Copper waterblock alone costs $129.99.

EVGA updated today its GPU Voltage Tuner utility to version 1.1.2.1. This little program allows you to set a custom voltage level for your GeForce GTX 295, 280 or 260 graphics card. Support for GeForce GTX 285 video cards is still missing in this version, though. It is said to only add the "Apply at Startup" feature which will now hide the utility to the system tray on bootup. Download the EVGA GPU Voltage Tuner version 1.1.2.1 from here.

ASUS is reportedly preparing a new variant in its GeForce GTX 285 lineup: the ENGTX285-UL/HTDI/1GD3 "Ultimate". ASUS seems to have done away with using the "TOP" branding to denote the fastest variant in a given graphics card series. ASUS stuck with the NVIDIA reference design for this variant, while looking to squeeze out the most factory overclocking the reference design has to offer.

The ASUS GeForce GTX 285 Ultimate boasts clock speeds of 712/1620/1380 MHz (core/shader/memory). The card finds competition in EVGA's GeForce GTX 285 FTW, which has similar, albeit slightly higher clock speeds. The rest of its specifications remain standard, having the 55 nm G200b core, 240 stream processors, 1 GB of GDDR3 memory across a 512-bit wide memory bus, and support for 3-way SLI. ASUS may look to price it in the US $449 price point.

Just under a week ago we covered the release of a driver add-on from EVGA which adds SLI profiles to the 182.05 driver from NVIDIA, for some of the latest released demos and games. It seems that EVGA have now released a second version of their SLI Enhancement patch, this could end up being a regular occurance, as games and demos are frequently arriving on the market, faster than NVIDIA can release fully fledged drivers. Unfortunately, they are not available to all NVIDIA SLI users, as you must be a registered member with EVGA to access the download links. The patches are available for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions Windows Vista, changes in this version are as follows:

• Enables SLI support for Grand Ages: Rome Demo
• Enables SLI support for Codename: Panzers Cold War Demo
• Enables SLI support for Men Of War Beta
• Improved SLI support for Burnout Paradise
• Enables SLI support for NecroVision Demo (DX10 Mode)

You can find more information along with the download links here.

The guys over at Fudzilla have got hold of a photo showing a watercooled variant of EVGA's GTX 285. The card is said to clock in at 720 MHz on the core, 2.77 GHz effective memory clock and a shader clock of 1,620 MHz. These are the same factory overclocked speeds as the recently released FTW edition of the GTX 285 from EVGA, yet being watercooled the HydroCopper version should perform much cooler. There is currently no word on pricing but the card is expected to ship soon.

EVGA today announced a new piece of value-added feature for its customers: the EVGA SLI Enhancement. The feature forms as a part of NVIDIA Forceware drivers that has an expanded SLI profiles list. To make full use of two or more GPUs teamed in an SLI setup, games and 3D applications need "SLI profiles". The general Forceware driver isn't necessarily in tune with the frequency at which new games are released. EVGA has taken the initiative to release SLI profiles for games before NVIDIA does.

The company released the first release of the SLI Enhancement (version: 02.11.09), which is based on NVIDIA Forceware 182.05 driver suite, and supports the entire range of graphics products EVGA currently sells. When installed, the software intends to boost performance in SLI setups for Burnout Paradise and Necrovision Demo (DX10 Mode), apart from all the applications Forceware 182.05 already has profiles for. The software is exclusive for registered EVGA customers. Visit this page for more.

NVIDIA's 55nm GeForce GTX 200 series cards seem to be doing well at the markets. Cashing in on their success, EVGA plans to release GeForce GTX 285 and GTX 295 accelerators which are ready for water-cooling. While not much is known about the specifics of water cooling the GTX 295 part comes with, the GTX 285 SKU comes in the form of cards with factory-fitted water blocks.

NVIDIA made several changes to the PCB of its single-GPU G200 PCB, making GeForce GTX 280 water blocks incompatible with the GTX 285 PCB. The new PCB has a rearranged memory layout, with all its memory chips positioned on the business-area of the PCB, and a re-arranged VRM area. The new EVGA Hydro Copper block is designed to be a monolithic full-coverage block with a copper base. The SKU most likely to be carved out using this block could be the EVGA e-GeForce GTX 285 Hydro Copper. The company could take advantage of this superior cooling to set extremely high factory-overclocked parameters to the GPU and memory. This is the same company that released the GeForce GTX 285 FTW with audacious clock speeds of 720/1,620/2,772 MHz (core/shader/memory) using the NVIDIA reference design cooler. As with all water block-fitted graphics cards from EVGA in the past, the company could charge a premium over all its air-cooled GeForce GTX 285 models.

January 8 saw NVIDIA reclaim the performance crown from arch-rival AMD/ATI with the introduction of its dual-GPU GeForce GTX 295 graphics accelerator. The company used two of its 55nm G200 graphics cores is building this accelerator. Maintaining a dual-slot construction with its reference design, the card provides a fair bit of overclocking on its stock cooler. EVGA and Zotac, two of NVIDIA's largest add-in card partners, are reportedly planning water-cooled versions of this accelerator.

It is not clear at this point if the accelerators come in the form of merely cards with factory-fitted water-blocks, or if they come equipped with dedicated water-cooling loops. The two manufacturers will take advantage of the superior cooling system to provide high, non-reference clock-speeds to the cards' GPUs and memory. The new SKUs are likely to surface at the upcoming CeBIT event held in Hannover, Germany.

EVGA Corporation, the leading-edge 3D processor graphics cards and motherboard manufacturer, announces the fastest single GPU graphics card on the market today, the EVGA GeForce GTX 285 FTW. The powerful 3D processor features the NVIDIA GeForce 285 GPU and 1GB of the fastest 0.8ns DDR 3 memory. Running at an impressive 720MHz core clock, 2,772MHz memory clock and 1620MHz shader clock, the EVGA GeForce GTX 285 FTW outperforms all other competitive products in all the three clock setting resulting in impressive performance advantages. The EVGA GeForce GTX 285 FTW will be immediately available in e-tail and retail at a recommended end user price of $449.99.

Overclocking video cards has become a child's play these days, thanks to helpful software utilities that feature simple sliders to adjust clock speeds, test and apply overclocked parameters. Those serious about overclocking take to high-end cooling, and volt-modding. EVGA picked on a gray-area, where users should be given a level of control over the GPU's voltage. The company is known for taking initiatives in making performance control accessible to most users by providing easy to use utilities such as the EVGA Precision.

Now, the company is coming up with a nifty utility called the EVGA Voltage Tuner. Exclusive for registered users of EVGA GeForce GTX 200 series graphics cards, the utility allows a decent level of control over the GPU's voltage settings, within a range permissible by the GPU's BIOS. While this utility isn't an all out substitute to volt-modding, it allows for all the voltage tuning the default state of the graphics card's electrical components allow. A simple slider allows for adjusting the GPU core voltage with a resolution of milli-Volts. The results of using this utility are impressive, with a small voltage adjustment sending the maximum core overclock up by 100 MHz, a significant amount when it comes to GPUs. The first version of this utility is said to support GeForce GTX 260 (65nm), GeForce GTX 280 and GeForce GTX 295. Suceeding versions may expand the compatibility list to include some important graphics cards, namely GeForce GTX 285 and GTX 260 (55nm). The second and third screenshots below show a before&after scene of adjusting voltages using this utility.

Trying to offer the best service for the customer, EVGA is now offering an optional backplate (model number: 401-EV-1234-01) for its GeForce GTX 295 dual-GPU cards. Although not yet priced, this backplate is said to help EVGA GeForce GTX 295 owners to lower their overall card temperature by a few degrees.

EVGA is also showing off a few very interesting items. The first being a remote thin client. This unit gives you the ability to access a PC from an outside location, while the machine itself remains in a secure location. All the data is transmitted through a network connection. This includes the display information over DVI. The thin client can drive two DVI based displays, USB and audio. Read on for information on the X58 Classified board.

NVIDIA's newest release, the GeForce GTX 285 goes on sale starting today. The graphics card was announced earlier this month along with NVIDIA's flagship GeForce GTX 295 graphics card, choosing CES as an ideal launch platform. Leading NVIDIA add-in card partners such as ASUS, BFGTech, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, XFX and Zotac, etc., put their base-model and factory-overclocked cards on sale, starting from US $379.99 for the XFX base-model, all the way up to $429.99 for the EVGA SSC model, in the US.

The GeForce GTX 285 replaces GeForce GTX 280 as the fastest single-GPU graphics card. It is NVIDIA's second-fastest graphics accelerator, sporting 240 shader cores and 1 GB of GDDR3 memory across a 512-bit wide memory bus. Essentially it resembles the GeForce GTX 280, except for the newer 55nm manufacturing process it's built on, the higher reference clock-speeds, and reduced power-consumption.

EVGA, having launched its X58 3X SLI motherboard which received raving reviews for its features, performance and price-point, looks to up the ante with a new flagship motherboard based on the Intel X58 platform for the Core i7 processors. While X58 motherboards start at the US $200 point, over a period, there has been a faint seggregation of the motherboards based on the prices and features, starting with a $200~240 range sans SLI support, $250~300 with SLI and >$300 enthusiast-grade range.

EVGA's upcoming motherboard fits into the top-range of motherboards, which finds competition in the likes of ASUS Rampage II Extreme and MSI X58 Eclipse Plus. VR-Zone conducted a detailed preview of this upcoming motherboard dubbed "X58 SLI Classified", with "classified" meaning that its brand name is yet to be announced. Looking at the way EVGA has been branding its flagship motherboards in the past, it could be safe to speculate it that it could be something along the lines of "FTW".

About a week into its market introduction, EVGA today made its 55nm GeForce GTX 260 graphics cards lineup official. The company also introduced a premium Super-Superclocked (SSC) variant of the said card. While having identical reference clock speeds to those of the 65nm GeForce GTX 260 Core-216 lineup, the new lineup offers higher energy efficiency and improved thermal characteristics.

The SSC variant introduced has clock speeds of 675 MHz (core), 1,458 MHz (shader) and 2,304 MHz (memory). It is backed by the EVGA limited lifetime warranty. EVGA also disclosed the suggested retail prices for the entire lineup (North American region) in its press-release, so you know which prices to buy them at: US $259.99 for the base model (896-P3-1255-AR), $269.99 for the Superclocked model (896-P3-1257-AR) and $289.99 for the SSC model (896-P3-1258-AR).

EVGA has released a new revision of its EVGA Precision overclocking utility for NVIDIA based graphics cards. Version 1.40 adds new skin engine for easier skin modification, and some minor enhancements:

• EVGA On-Screen Display Server has been updated to version 3.0.0. New server supports skinned user interface (more skins coming soon!) and provides more quick and easy beginner friendly access to On-Screen Display customization features. The server's On-Screen Display profiles are upgradable now and no longer lost after installing new version of Precision.
• Now the first graph is automatically selected when opening monitoring tab in advanced Precision settings to make On-Screen Display, G15 LCD and tray icon monitoring settings more simple for beginners.

To download the program or seek for additional info, please click here.

With NVIDIA being ready with variants of the G200 graphics processors based on the 55nm manufacturing process, a fleet of new graphics cards are in the line for launches. The range starts with a sub-$300 offering, the GeForce GTX 260 55nm. You now have three SKUs that share the name "GeForce GTX 260". The GeForce GTX 260 comes with the 216 SP configuration with 896 MB of GDDR3 memory. EVGA for one, is aiming to be one of the first NVIDIA partners to be out with the new GeForce GTX 260, with a standard and Superclocked models ready for launch, already listed in European and North American online stores.

The EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR comes with NVIDIA reference clock speeds of 576 MHz (core), 1242 MHz (shader) and 999 MHz (memory), while the Superclocked EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR model is factory-overclocked with 626 MHz (core), 1350 MHz (shader) and 1053 MHz (memory). EVGA is further planning a SSC variant that could come with a core clock speed of 666 MHz. For now, American retailer ZipZoomFly has listed the reference speed card for $289.99 and the Superclocked variant for just $4 more. Both cards are listed as "pre-order".

EVGA has announced that it would be giving away free 21-day trials of the popular MMORPG, EVE Online. Owners of EVGA graphics cards and motherboards (products listed below) are eligible for the offer. To activate the 21 day trial, EVGA products must be registered. Users must proceed to My Products page to get your CD-Key. After that, visit the EVGA EVE Online link and input the CD-Key.The list of Eligible EVGA products is as follows:

NVIDIA has had a fair bit of success with its MCP7A, MCP79 chipsets. Where the Intel-compatible nForce 730i/740i embeds a GeForce 9300/9400-class IGP, the AMD compatible nForce 730a embeds a GeForce 8200-class IGP. EVGA has released its offering based on the 730a (model 113-M2-E113-TR). The motherboard uses the typical EVGA colour scheme. It has an AM2+ socket, supporting the latest AMD processors with the HyperTransport 3.0 system interface.

The board features a single PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. It supports Hybrid Power with compatible graphics cards. Display output from its IGP comes in the form of DVI, D-Sub and HDMI connectors. It provides 8-channel audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs. Depending on the processor used it supports DDR2 memory, with speeds of up to PC2-8500 (1066 MHz). The CPU is powered by a 5+1 phase power circuit. Six SATA II ports with RAID support are provided. For a complete list of specifications, please refer to the company whitepaper. The motherboard is available from the EVGA store for US $94.99 +shipping.