Palit's subsidiary Gainward has a low-profile GeForce GTS 450 graphics card in the making, much like Palit's card. Both these are yet to ship to major markets. In the mean time, Korean website Brainbox.com did a picture preview of Gainward's card, called GTS 450 GOOD Low-Profile. The pictures reveal a neatly-designed PCB and cooler assembly modeled along the lines of high-end graphics cards in which hot air is directed right out of the case. The assembly includes a blower, a shroud that directs air-flow, a large heatsink with densely packed aluminum fins that channel air through, and a heatsink over the MOSFETs.

The PCB seats the GF106 GPU right in the middle. While it looks long, it's only because the PCB is half-height to give that illusion. In reality the PCB is 7.4" long, not longer than the full-height NVIDIA reference PCB, and should fit in most SFF cases that have two expansion slots. The PCB uses a simple 4-phase VRM driven by an ON-Semi controller, there are four GDDR5 memory chips on either sides of the PCB, totaling 1 GB. The clock speeds stick to NVIDIA reference: 783/1566/900(3600) MHz, display outputs include and are limited to one DVI and an HDMI. Power is drawn in from one 6-pin PCI-E power connector facing downwards à la Radeon HD 4870 X2. Gainward's card may charge a slight premium over the full-height cards, for the convenience it offers. More pictures at the source.

Barely a week after pictures of AMD's "Barts" prototype surfaced, it wasn't long before a specifications sheet followed. The all-important slide from AMD's presentation to its add-in board partners made it to sections of the Chinese media. "Barts" is a successor to "Juniper", on which are based the Radeon HD 5750 and HD 5770. The specs sheet reveals that while indeed the GPU looks to be larger physically, there are other factors that make it big:

Memory Controller
Barts has a 256-bit wide memory interface, which significantly increases its pin-count, and package-size. The "Pro" and "XT" variants (which will go on to be HD 6x50 and HD 6x70, respectively), have memory clocked at 1000 MHz and 1200 MHz, respectively, so that's nearly 100% increase in memory bandwidth .

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today announces the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 2GB - the first ZOTAC graphics card powered by NVIDIA Fermi architecture with 2 GB of graphics memory. The new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 2 GB delivers best-in-class performance with unmatched features for a superior gaming experience gamers can rely on.

High-resolution gaming receives a performance boost with the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 2 GB and the large 2GB graphics memory. Paired with an ultra-wide 256-bit memory interface, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 2 GB can communicate between the GPU and 2 GB of graphics memory at lightning-fast speeds to transfer ultra-quality textures for phenomenal in-game details that blur the line between the virtual world and reality.

AMD released the FirePro V9800 professional graphics card. This is the company's top professional offering, based on the 40 nm Evergreen architecture. The GPU features 1600 stream processors, 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface connecting to 4 GB of memory, and display outputs that include six mini-DisplayPort connectors. The card supports the latest industry-standard 3D APIs including Microsoft DirectX 11, OpenGL 4, and includes support for OpenCL GPU-compute API. The card is meant for mission-critical environments such as oil and gas exploration, 3D medical imaging, design and engineering, and 3D content production. Apart from supporting the ATI Eyefinity6 technology, it also packs support for stereoscopic 3D technologies. The card will be sold directly under the AMD brand by board partners, it is priced at US $3,500.

Palit is indeed working on a low-profile GeForce GTS 450 graphics card, apart from the full-height model which was pictured earlier. While this card is low-profile (half-height), it occupies two expansion slots, and looks somewhat longer than the full-height card. Other than its size and shape, the card sticks to NVIDIA reference specifications and clock speeds, that's 789/1566/900(3600) MHz core/shader/memory, 192 CUDA cores, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. It draws power from one 6-pin PCI-E power connector. Palit's low-profile card could cost a small premium over standard cards.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has expanded its 'Green Memory' initiative going beyond DRAM and solid state drives (SSDs) to include several memory products for PC and mobile application areas. At the seventh annual Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum being held here today, Samsung announced that its 'Green Memory' initiative will now include Samsung LPDDR2 and GDDR5 green memory as well as its GreenDDR3 and Green SSDs.

Stepping up its efforts to increase worldwide interest in Green IT products and eco-friendly solutions, a new website has been launched to promote the expanded initiative to OEM customers and consumers. It provides detailed information on Samsung's green product strategies and green-focused partners, for all three market areas, as well as industry-wide green IT trends.

New from ASUS Republic of Gamers, G53 and G73 gaming notebooks now ship with the just-released NVIDIA GTX 460M graphics engine, utilizing hardware optimized for DirectX 11, with full support for high definition 3D gaming. They also feature a gaming-dedicated design, with rear vented cooling and an ergonomic keyboard surface.

Based on the latest generation of graphics cards from NVIDIA, known to media and the public as Fermi, the NVIDIA GTX 460M offers extreme graphics performance tailored to portable PCs. It employs DirectX11 graphics with effects such as real time ray tracing and advanced tessellation. This offers the most sophisticated graphics engine from NVIDIA ever on a notebook PC.

NVIDIA is just a couple of weeks ahead of launching its new GeForce GTS 450 mid-range graphics processor. After the recent exposé of the ASUS GTS 450 DirectCu, another set of pictures have surfaced, this time of Chinese AIC partner Manli's GeForce GTS 450. Manli's card seems to suggest what could be the NVIDIA reference design of the GTS 450. The card superficially looks nearly identical to the GeForce GTX 460 reference design, except for its green-colored PCB. It carries NVIDIA reference clock speeds of 789/1566/900 MHz (core/CUDA core/memory), and features 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide interface, with a bandwidth of 57.7 GB/s. It is reportedly priced at US $130.

Well placed sources seem to have finally pieced together specifications of NVIDIA's GeForce GTS 450 graphics card, the company's mid-range offering that competes with ATI Radeon HD 5700 series products. In the run up to this, we've come across reports showing that the SKU is based on a GPU codenamed GF106, then we came across NVIDIA reference design PCB drawings, followed by clock speeds, and finally, pictures of the GPU itself revealing quite a bit about the die size. The most recent report affirms the specs we know till now, plus revealed the CUDA core count, which is 192. The CUDA cores are clocked at 1566 MHz, and that the memory is clocked at 902 MHz (3608 MHz effective).

So as a quick recap of the tech specs of the GeForce GTS 450, it's based on the new 40 nm GF106 silicon, the die area is roughly 240 mm². The GPU has 192 CUDA cores, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface holding 1 GB of memory. The core is clocked at 789 MHz, and memory at 902 MHz (3608 MHz effective), translating into 57.8 GB/s of memory bandwidth, CUDA cores at 1566 MHz. It supports 2-way SLI, and gives you access to the latest PC graphics technologies, including support for DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.x, along with support for a wide range of NVIDIA-exclusive technologies. NVIDIA's GeForce GTS 450 will be released by mid-September.

Gigabyte is readying a new passively-cooled Radeon HD 5770 graphics card called the Gigabyte HD 5770 Silent Cell, carrying model number GV-R577SL-1GD. This 100% non-reference design card is built using Gigabyte's Ultra Durable VGA technology (comprising of 2 oz copper PCB, ferrite-core chokes, Low RDS (on) MOSFETs, and binned high-performance memory chips. What's more peculiar is its large GPU cooler that covers the length and height of the card, and extends a couple of inches over the length of the card. At its end, the heatsink also extends a good couple of inches over the height of the card, some of its fins even protrude out of the rear panel. The heatsink is a densely-packed aluminum fin array to which heat is conveyed by four 6 mm thick heat pipes.

Cooling assembly aside, the card sticks to AMD reference clock speeds - 850 MHz core, 1200 MHz (4800 MHz effective) memory, and uses 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. The 40 nm Juniper GPU packs 800 stream processors, and supports the latest PC graphics technologies including DirectX 11. The card can pair with up to three more of its kind for CrossFireX. Display connectivity options include one each of DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Gigabyte did not give out a price.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today announced improved gaming performance for HTPC gamers. The PowerColor HD5750 Low Profile Edition is specifically designed for those with HTPC systems or limited space chassis' who desire the upgraded graphics performance without having to compromise their system size.

The PowerColor HD5750 Low Profile Edition is equipped with a dual fan design and heatsinks that fully cover GPU, memory and MOSFET. The design cools temperatures and dissipates heat for vital components within a limited space. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the low profile design, this unique solution can be used for small form factor and slim systems, maximizing the rig's performance in a limited space.

There seems to be a single-slot ATI Radeon HD 5700 series trend going on, with XFX designing two single-slot ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics cards, a base model (HD-577X-ZMF3), and an Eyefinity-5 model (HD-577X-Z5F3). Both cards use PCB and cooler designed by XFX. The cooler particularly looks familiar in design to the countless single-slot GeForce graphics cards designed by the company, one of the recent ones being a GeForce 9800 GT. The cooler makes generous use of copper.

Both cards stick to the reference AMD clock speeds, 850 MHz core and 1200 MHz (4800 MHz effective) memory, and feature 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. Power is taken in from a single 6-pin PCI-E input. While the base model has display outputs which includes two DVI and one mini-DisplayPort, the Eyefinity-5 model features five mini-DisplayPort connectors. The cards will be released around the middle of this month, and Japan prices (which tend to be higher than US/EU prices) indicate 17,500 JPY (US $202) for the base model, and 18,000 JPY ($208).

Zotac is yet another AIC up with a GeForce GTX 460 based graphics card that features double the memory size, with its new 2 GB GDDR5 model. Zotac's new card uses a non-reference design PCB, and makes use of a slightly modified Accelero TwinTurbo Pro VGA cooler from Arctic. Featuring the same configuration as the 1 GB model, the card places 16 GDDR5 memory chips across a 256-bit wide memory interface to achieve that capacity.

The cooler makes use of a dense aluminum fin array to which heat is conveyed by four 6 mm copper heat pipes. Air is circulated by two 92 mm fans. Zotac used four display outputs (of which two can be used simultaneously), which includes two DVI, and one each of HDMI (full-sized) and DisplayPort. Like every other GTX 460, the GPU has 336 CUDA cores to work with, a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, and DirectX 11 support. There's no word on the availability or pricing.

NVIDIA today launched the era of the 'computational visualization workstation' for designers, engineers, researchers and animators by introducing its Quadro graphics processing units (GPUs) based on NVIDIA Fermi architecture, and by also introducing the new NVIDIA 3D Vision Pro solution. The new Quadro GPUs deliver performance that is up to five times faster for 3D applications and up to eight times faster for computational simulation, shattering previous benchmarks.

The NVIDIA Quadro Plex 7000 array, and Quadro 6000, Quadro 5000 and Quadro 4000 GPUs feature the new NVIDIA Scalable Geometry Engines and leverage NVIDIA Application Acceleration Engines (AXE) to enable the world's fastest performance across a broad range of CAD, DCC and visualization applications. Rated at an unheard of 1.3 billion triangles per second in raw performance, the Quadro 6000 enables users to interactively work with models and scenes that are five times more complex than ever before.

MSI unveiled a new low-profile graphics card based on the ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics processor. The MSI R5670-PD512 uses a half-height PCB and [apparently] single-slot design. It uses a dual 40 mm fan-based air cooler that bears some resemblance to the Twin Frozr II cooler, only a lot more compact. The card has 512 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. The Radeon HD 5670 is DirectX 11 compliant, and packs 400 stream processors. Display outputs include DVI-D, HDMI with 7.1 channel audio, and detachable D-Sub. The card utilizes "Military-grade" components, such as solid-state chokes, and all solid-capacitors. The card should be available soon.

GIGABYTE Technology Co. LTD., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to launch the latest overclocked GeForce GTX 460 series: GV-N460OC-1GI and GV-N460OC-768I. With extraordinary overclocking ability, GIGABYTE overclocked GTX 460 series deliver ultimate gaming experience. Featuring GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA quality components, GTX 460 further enhances overclocking capability and system stability. GV-N460OC-1GI and GV-N460OC-768I are equipped with GIGABYTE's latest in-house cooling design WINDFORCE 2X, which provides better cooling than reference fan sink by 11%. Also, GV-N460OC-1GI and GV-N460OC-768I feature a wide range of the latest graphics technologies, including DirectX 11, NVIDIA CUDA, 3D Vision Surround, and PhysX technologies.

With innovative products that span multiple target markets, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world's leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, and notebook manufacturer, launches the latest Black GTX 460 graphics card family with unbelievable overclocking capabilities and unmatched gaming performance to meet the requirements from critical gamers.

Targeting at the high-end segment, ECS Black GTX 460 graphics card delivers a stunning gaming effects with its genuine hardware and firmware design, which bring the critical gamers over 20% overclocking capability and boost the gaming power far more than reference designed graphics card.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 460 series Graphics Cards, which includes the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 460 768MB Graphics Card, the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 460 1GB OC Graphics Card and the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 460 2GB Graphics Card.

As a deadly weapon of Fermi Family, SPARKLE GeForce GTX460 series graphics cards provide the best performance price ratio, being the the world's best $200 graphics card, it brings a new level of DirectX 11 performance to mainstream PC enthusiasts and gamers around the world.

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, mini-PCs and small form factor platforms, today unleashes two new affordable GeForce GTX 400 series graphics cards - the new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 1GB and GeForce GTX 460 Synergy Edition. The new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 series deliver class-leading features and technology to gamers, enthusiasts and all PC users looking for a thrilling visual experience.

Stunning visuals are made possible with the powerful NVIDIA Fermi architecture that delivers superior graphics processing power and Microsoft DirectX 11 technology that powers the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 series. Hardware tessellation takes 3D games to the next level of visual realism with the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 series by enabling increased visual details in every object and environment in the latest games DirectX 11 powered games for a cinematic gaming experience that rivals the latest CGI-animated Hollywood masterpieces.

The much talked about upcoming GeForce GTX 460 GPU from NVIDIA was recently pictured and detailed. Out of its first, grainy pictures, it became clear that the GF104 core it's based on indeed supports a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, but that only six of its eight 32-bit wide channels were occupied (192-bit), yielding 768 MB of memory. Fresh reports suggest that NVIDIA indeed will release the GeForce GTX 460 in two variants, a 768 MB one, and a 1024 MB (1 GB). The 1 GB variant by design will be faster, even if an application doesn't need all its video memory, because it will have a wider 256-bit memory interface, that's 25% higher memory bandwidth. Both variants will have the same memory clock speed of 900 MHz (3600 MHz effective). The GF104 core will be clocked at 675 MHz on both models, with 336 CUDA cores. Built on the 40 nm process at TSMC, the GeForce GTX 460 768 MB will have a TDP of 150W, while the 1 GB model will have a TDP of 160W. New reports suggest that the 768 MB model will be priced at less than $200. NVIDIA will release the GeForce GTX 460 on the 12th of July.

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that it had completed development of a high-density, high-speed, low-power consumption 50nm process 2-gigabit GDDR5 using copper interconnects (product name: EDW2032BABG). The new GDDR5, the first graphics DRAM designed by Elpida, was developed at the company's Munich Design Center in Germany.

Applications for GDDR (GDDR: Graphics Double Data Rate) memory devices used with GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) are found not only in such graphic processing equipment as game consoles and PC graphics cards but also in equipment that require high-performance computing for use in such areas as science and technology, physical simulation, digital image processing and video conversion. Using 2-gigabit GDDR5 in these applications can double the frame buffer size of each GPU compared with 1-gigabit memory products.

HIS today unveiled low-profile graphics cards based on the Radeon HD 5550 and Radeon HD 5570 that make use of GDDR5 memory that doubles the memory bandwidth available to the GPU. The cards come in both 512 MB and 1 GB variants. Both have memory operating at 1000 MHz (4 GHz effective). Based on the 40 nm Redwood core, the HD 5550 card has 320 stream processors, is DirectX 11 compliant, and has a 128-bit wide memory interface that normally holds GDDR3 or DDR2 memory for the HD 5500 series SKUs. HIS went beyond the specs, using GDDR5 (which the GPU supports in its HD 5600 series SKUs). The HD 5570 has 400 stream processors, with the GPU operating at 650 MHz, while on the HD 5550, it runs at 550 MHz. The low-profile cards are also silent, with a passive cooler that occupies a single expansion slot doing the job of cooling the memory and GPU. The HD 5550 512 MB GDDR5 card goes for 89 EUR, while the 1 GB variant at 99 EUR. Pricing of the HD 5570 cards are yet to be known.

Galaxy displayed a new GeForce GTX 480 graphics card that uses non-reference design PCB and cooling. The unique selling point here is a cooler that Galaxy claims to be superior than the reference, making use of the Vapor-chamber technology for quickly transferring heat off the GPU to the heatsink. It also features a very Gundam-styled cooler shroud the company has been toying with on several of its recent designs. The GeForce GTX 480 packs 480 CUDA cores, and 1536 MB of memory across a 384-bit GDDR5 interface. Clock speeds are not known at this point.

NVIDIA today announced its latest performance-segment addition to the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series, the GeForce GTX 465. Based on the 40 nm GF100 GPU, the GTX 465 cuts some components to position the new SKU below the GTX 470. It has five streaming multiprocessors (SMs) disabled, leaving a CUDA core count of 352, and a memory bus width of 256-bit. The reference design card has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory.

The reference design board is largely based on the GeForce GTX 470, with two memory chip pads unused. The card can pair with three more of its kind for 4-way SLI. Apart from DirectX 11 compliance it features support for NVIDIA exclusive technologies like CUDA, PhysX, and 3D Vision Surround. The GeForce GTX 465 starts at US $279.

Inno3D released the non-reference design GeForce GTX 470 Hawk graphics card. The card is characterized by the large iChill heatsink which uses a large aluminum fin array that's cooled by three fans. Despite its proportions, the company claims the cooler's noise level to be only around 18 - 29 dBA (max), compared to the up to 38 dBA of the reference cooler. As far as performance goes, Inno3D claims the cooler keeps temperatures up to 22 °C lower than what the reference cooler manages, around the 70 °C mark on load.

Apart from the cooler, the Inno3D GTX 470 Hawk uses a fairly standard NVIDIA reference design PCB that is green in color, and comes with reference clock speeds of 608/1215/837 MHz (core/shader/memory). Like any other GTX 470, the card has 448 CUDA cores, and 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory installed on a 320-bit wide memory interface.