Following launches of its GeForce GTX 660 and GTX 650 graphics processors earlier this day, NVIDIA released the latest stable version of its GeForce driver suite. GeForce 306.23 WHQL was released for Windows 7/Vista and Windows XP. This is NVIDIA's first WHQL-signed driver launch after GeForce GTX 660 Ti was launched last month. Hence, it includes official support for GeForce GTX 660 Ti, GeForce GTX 660, and GeForce GTX 650. The company also notified that the next WHQL-signed drivers will remove support for legacy GeForce GPUs such as 6-series and 7-series.

GeForce 306.23 WHQL also adds GPU and game-specific performance improvements. Along with the latest patch by its developer, Total War: Shogun 2 will see up to 60% performance improvement with GeForce GTX 680. Performance is also significantly improved for games such as Batman: Arkham City, Dragon Age II, STALKER: Call of Pripyat, and Battlefield 3 (in SLI). SLI profiles were added or improved for a large number of games. The drivers provide early support for applications built with CUDA 5 Preview.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 306.23 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

A list of changes follows.

NVIDIA will expand its new generation of graphics processors into cost-effective price points with the launches of GeForce GTX 660 Ti, GTX 660, and GTX 650, in the August-September time-frame. According to a DonanimHaber report, the products the three are replacing, the GeForce 560 Ti, GTX 560, and GTX 550 Ti; will closely follow launches of the new GPUs. When a product discontinuation notice for a particular product is issued, distributors are set a last day for placing orders for it.

After fulfilling the last orders, the product's status is changed to End of Life (EOL). To consumers, this news comes as a heads up, if they plan to buy any of the three SKUs on the chopping block, at their currently-attractive prices. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti is available on US retail website Newegg.com for as low as $179.99 (after rebate), the GTX 560 goes for as low as US $149.99 (after rebate), and the GTX 550 Ti for as low as $114.99. One can also deduce that NVIDIA will have healthy inventories of the new GPUs on launch.

NVIDIA released the GeForce 304.48 Beta software suite, which include game-specific performance improvements, and fixes for bugs related to recently launched hardware. To begin with, GeForce 304.48 Beta claims performance improvements as high as 18%. The improvements are tested on GeForce GTX 680 and GeForce GTX 560, and are specific to game titles such as Batman Arkham City, Dragon Age 2, Lost Planet 2, STALKER: Call of Pripyat; SLI profiles were improved for games such as Battlefield 3 and The Witcher 2. The exact performance improvement numbers claimed by NVIDIA are charted below.

In addition to performance improvements, NVIDIA released fixes for outstanding issues, such as micro-stutter noted by some GeForce GTX 600 "Kepler" users in games with v-sync enabled; under-clocking of factory-overclocked graphics cards by certain manufacturers; and a performance issue with Total War: Shogun 2, with its latest patch enabled. NVIDIA also added and improved SLI profiles for a large selection of games.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 304.48 Beta

The complete change-log follows.

The past week has been chocked full of intense competition as Europe's best League Of Legends team's have been battling it out to earn their spot at the grand finals of MSI NVIDIA Trophy. A number of teams qualified through alternative factors; however, many of Europe's top teams still needed to qualify for the grand finals, which will take place at Gamers Assembly in France at the beginning of April. Four qualifiers was just the ticket those teams needed - and one week later, we have six new teams qualified for the grand finals.

That leaves us with one more qualifier to go. Teams will have to step up their game if they want to earn one of the last two spots earning them a seat at Gamers Assembly in April.

Yeston unveiled the GeForce GTX 560 SE GameMaster graphics card. The Chinese AIC partner went completely out-of-specifications with its new card, and delivered what's essentially a GeForce GTX 560 (non-Ti). While the GTX 560 SE is supposed to have 288 CUDA cores, the GTX 560 SE GameMaster has 336 (same as GTX 560), and we suspect 256-bit wide memory interface (although it's marked 192-bit). If Yeston was piggy-backing two memory chips over single 32-bit wide paths, the piggy-backed chips would be on the reverse side of the PCB, not obverse. The card is clocked at 820/1640/1002 MHz (core/CUDA cores/memory).

The Yeston GeForce GTX 560 SE GameMaster features a 7-phase VRM design. The VRM makes use of NEC-TOKIN Proadlizer capacitors to deliver the cleanest power to the GPU. It is cooled by Arctic Accelero TwinTurbo Pro VGA cooler, which is renowned for top-class cooling and quietness. Display outputs include two DVI and a mini-HDMI. The card is priced at 999 RMB (US $158.45), in China.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world's leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, notebook and mobile device manufacturer will be in CeBIT 2012 in Hall 15, Booth No. D29. This time, ECS will not only present a series of innovative designs and exclusive technologies, but also display a cross-generation breakthrough.

Major Japanese OEM Mouse Computer announced a trio of high-end desktop PCs that are built specifically around Intel's SSD 520 solid-state drives, launched a little earlier this week. These include the MDV-ASG8310B-SSD, the MDV-ASG8250B, and the MDV-AGG9320S-SSD. The MDV-ASG8310B-SSD and MDV-ASG8250B are both driven by Intel Core i7-2700K processor, based on Intel Z68 motherboard, with 8 GB (2x 4 GB) memory; while the former features NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti graphics, the latter has GeForce GTX 560. The MDV-AGG9320S-SSD is driven by six-core Intel Core i7-3930K processor, with 16 GB (4x 4 GB) memory, and GeForce GTX 570 graphics.

All three are built into the same chassis, featuring the same 23-inch full-HD display and peripherals. All three feature Intel's newly-launched SSD 520 solid-state drive with 120 GB capacity, the SSD is configured to hold the OS and program files, while all three further feature a slower 1 TB hard drive that handles documents and storage. DVD-RW, gigabit Ethernet, and Windows 7 Home Premium x64 make for the rest of the commonalities. The MDV-ASG8310B-SSD is priced at 99,750 JPY (US $1,300); the MDV-ASG8250B at 109,830 JPY ($1,432); and the MDV-AGG9320S-SSD at 159,600 JPY ($2,081).

Eurocom Corporation (www.eurocom.com), a developer of long lifespan, fully upgradable Notebooks, high performance Mobile Workstations and Mobile Servers is now offering the EUROCOM Leopard 2.0, a high performance 18.4" notebook with support for dual GPU operation.

The EUROCOM Leopard 2.0 supports dual GPU technology from NVIDIA, as well as AMD. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M and AMD Radeon HD 6990M and HD 6970M GPU's power the Leopard 2.0.

AMD is on course to releasing its latest "Southern Islands" GPU family, and a fleet of desktop graphics card SKUs based on it, which will be led by a new high-performance GPU, codenamed "Tahiti", which will make up Radeon HD 7900 series; followed by performance GPU "Pitcairn", on which HD 7800 series will be based; "Thames" and "Lombok" making up the rest of the lineup. According to a report by DonanimHaber, HD 7970 (working name) is expected to be competitive with (or outperform) GeForce GTX 580, and priced at US $499. The HD 7950 will be competitive with (again, or outperform) GeForce GTX 570, being priced at US $399.

Things get interesting with Pitcairn, which is the successor of "Barts". This performance GPU is designed for sweet-spot SKUs, such as HD 7870 and HD 7850, which will be competitive with GeForce GTX 560 Ti / GTX 560, and priced at US $299 and $199, respectively. The Radeon HD 7670 will be particularly expensive, priced at US $179, followed by HD 7650 at $119. Further, it was reported that HD 7970 and HD 7950 will have a standard memory size of 3 GB.

AMD is reportedly working on a new Radeon HD 6900 series single-GPU graphics card based on the "Cayman" silicon, the Radeon HD 6930. This SKU will be designed to make things very competitive for the non-Ti GeForce GTX 560 from NVIDIA. In its most recent salvo, NVIDIA launched a limited edition GeForce GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, targeting select markets in the winter shopping season. Tests showed it to be very competitive with HD 6950 and HD 6970, and is priced accordingly, at $289. AMD's new SKU will be designed to heat things up in the sub-$200 market where GTX 560 non-Ti and HD 6870 are trading blows.

Carved out of the 40 nm "Cayman" silicon, the GPU in its HD 6930 configuration will carry the codename "Cayman-CE". It will feature 1280 advanced VLIW4 stream processors, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface that will hold 1 GB of memory. The core will be clocked at 750 MHz, and the memory at 1200 MHz (4.80 GHz effective). Most AIBs will reuse their cost-effective HD 6950 1 GB board designs with the new SKUs. The new Radeon HD 6930 is expected to be priced around $180.

TechPowerUp released a new version of GPU-Z, version 0.5.6. GPU-Z is our popular graphics card information and diagnostic utility that gives you technical details of the graphics hardware installed in your PC, and lets you monitor fine details such as clock speeds, temperatures, and voltages. The new version adds preliminary support for some of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce Kepler family GPUs. It also adds support for NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 CUDA cores, which will be launched this 29th. Support is also added for AMD Radeon HD 6320, FirePro V9800, FirePro V4900, GeForce GTX 460 V2 (GTX 460 based on GF114), Quadro NVS 420, Quadro NVS 450, and Quadro FX 380 LP. A small bug related to incorrect shader reading on "Blackcomb" is fixed.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.5.6 | GPU-Z 0.5.6 ASUS ROG Edition

Eurocom Corporation (www.eurocom.com), a developer of long lifespan, fully upgradable Notebooks, high performance Mobile Workstations and Mobile Servers is now offering a Mobile Workstation capable of supporting NVIDIA 3D Vision with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M and 560M GPUs.

Eurocom offers 3D Vision support on the Neptune Mobile Workstation through a built in-emitter, 3D active shutter technology, a 120Hz display and supported NVIDIA graphics cards. The EUROCOM Neptune comes complete with an NVIDIA 3D Vision Kit which consists of one pair of 3D Vision glasses and USB cables. Each lens of the glasses operates at 60Hz, and alternate to create a 120Hz 3-dimensional experience.

Club 3D unveils today the newest member of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 graphics core. The Club 3D GeForce GTX 560 Green Edition features high quality components that minimize power loss, as a result you will expect lower temperatures and noise.

This card shares identical gpu and memory speeds to the standard configuration but improves on energy efficiency. The GPU is clocked at 810 MHz and the memory comes along with 4008 MHz The card is backed by a 2 year warranty and will be available at leading online and in-store retailers across Europe and Asia.

KFA2, the European focused NVIDIA only graphics card partner, announced today its launch of the new series of graphics cards; the MDT series - (Multi Display Technology) The KFA2 GTX 560 Ti MDT X5 and the KFA2 210 MDT X4 is aimed at the multi-display user. This new series of graphics cards are powered by the ViewXpand VMM1400/1402 chipset enabling the end-user to stack, clone and even create a virtual single display across multiple screens without having the extra expense of having to upgrade other system components.

The KFA2 GeForce GTX 560 TI MDT X5 is the only GTX 560 Ti graphics card in the world that supports a maximum of 5 monitors simultaneously. Enjoy multiple screen gaming utilizing the virtual single screen mode, providing a virtual resolution of up to 5760x900 (1440x900 on each display) in 4-monitor mode or 5040x1050 (1680x1050 on each display) in 3-monitor mode. This single graphic card can run 5 displays providing the perfect solution for any multi-display users.

Sparkle has today announced 6 upgraded version models of high-end Calibre graphics cards catering to various needs of different consumers. As Sparkle's "Global Heavyweight Strategic High-End Graphics Card Brand" and by means of remarkable R&D competence and abundant resources, Calibre not only focuses on the ultimate performance of high-end graphics cards, but also sketches out the user experience of top high-end graphics cards for consumers including product/industrial design, packaging design and after-sales service of free 3-year warranty.

With perfection in mind, Sparkle places emphasis on the product design and style of the Calibre brand. The all new Calibre range of products adopts the innovative Mono Luxury technology and introduces ultimate fashion and style with simple grandness. The top front fan cover is made of high quality matt black aluminium which adds a more elegant touch to the cold mechanical look of graphics card. In addition, the design of the back side of the card has also set a rare new record in the industry, the boldly added bottom back panel echoes with top cover design, giving a graceful feel on the whole. More importantly, the bottom back panel creates bigger cooling surface area to improve the heat transfer efficiency significantly. Its solid structure protects PC board from impacts and also prevents graphics cards from board bending which is a problem consumers are most worried about.

TechPowerUp released the latest version of GPU-Z, our popular graphics hardware information and monitoring utility. Version 0.5.4 packs a large number of changes, beginning with faster start-up, support for the entire line of NVIDIA GeForce 500M series GPUs, new models of Intel Sandy Bridge processor graphics, a number of AMD Radeon HD 6000M series GPUs, improved support for AMD APUs, and a number of bug fixes.

GPU-Z has overcome the slow start-up issue on AMD Radeon GPUs, it loads slightly faster on NVIDIA GPUs, too. ROP count reading on AMD Radeon HD 6790, Turks & Whistler was fixed; along with sensor count on Caicos, Whistler, Turks. OpenCL detection on some NVIDIA drivers was fixed. The ability to read UMA-shared memory on AMD APU systems was added. GPU-Z has better ability to detect and warn of spurious graphics cards with faked IDs. GPU-Z 0.5.4 is available in both its standard form and the ASUS Republic of Gamers themed variant.DOWNLOAD: GPU-Z 0.5.4 | GPU-Z 0.5.4 ASUS ROG Themed

A complete list of changes with this version follows.

MSI has finally rolled out the GT780-the dream machine long awaited by gamers worldwide. It packs the Intel Core i7-2630QM quad-core processor with core speeds of 2.00GHz and NVIDIA's new generation GeForce GTX 560M discrete graphics card. It boasts 1.5GB GDDR5 of high-end, large-capacity display memory for superior performance that greatly enhances game realism for the ultimate gaming experience.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, explains that the GT780 gaming notebook comes equipped with a gaming keyboard crafted by SteelSeries. It is not only much more rugged, the Windows Start key was relocated to the right side of the keyboard and the Ctrl and Alt keys enlarged to make it harder to strike the wrong keys in the heat of battle. The GT780's keyboard features the latest LED backlighting technology. Simply depress the Gaming Mode hotkey above the keyboard to light up just the left side of the keyboard. The rest of the keyboard remains dark, allowing you to find the gaming keys quickly when the bullets are flying.

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced U.S. retail pricing and availability for the Qosmio X770 and Qosmio X770 3D series of high-performance laptops. Most ideal for demanding visual tasks like gaming and media creation, these laptops feature a high-performance blend of processor technologies from Intel and NVIDIA, while delivering ultra-fast components, entertainment-focused features and 3D technology for consumers looking for maximum mobile performance. Starting at $1,199 MSRP , the Qosmio X770 and Qosmio X770 3D Series are available at participating retailers later this month.

"Qosmio represents Toshiba's ability to make cutting-edge mobile computing technologies more accessible to the mass market," said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Digital Products Division. "With the Qosmio X770 and Qosmio X770 3D laptops, gamers, content creators and multimedia enthusiasts will be able to enjoy the latest HD content with amazing audio, even in vivid stereoscopic 3D."

Amidst all the Computex fanfare, NVIDIA released its rather silent update to the GeForce software suite, with GeForce 275.33 WHQL. The driver includes all the updates of GeForce 275.27 BETA. A performance-drop issue found on The Witcher 2 played on 275.27 BETA, was fixed. Aside from that, a number of performance improvements are carried forward from 275.27 BETA, and released in the WHQL-signed 275.33. These are specific to GeForce GTX 580 and GTX 560, and provide performance improvements by as much as 15% in some cases.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 275.33 WHQL

A list of performance improvements follows.

NVIDIA today unveiled the first gaming notebook graphics processing unit (GPU) in its award-winning GeForce 500M Series of notebook GPUs. The GeForce GTX 560M graphics processor hits the "sweet spot" for gaming notebooks by delivering a no-compromise gaming experience at full 1080p resolution in the hottest new DirectX 11 titles. For the first time, leading OEMs will also be offering GeForce GTX gaming GPUs with NVIDIA Optimus technology.

"The GeForce GTX 560M and NVIDIA Optimus mean gamers get 50 frames per second in Duke Nukem Forever and five hours of battery life in Microsoft Office," said Rene Haas, general manager of notebook products at NVIDIA. "That's real power and real portability." Available only with NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA Optimus technology enables extra-long battery life by automatically switching on and off the GPU so that it runs only when needed. The smart convenience of NVIDIA Optimus technology is designed into over 80 percent of GeForce 500M Series notebooks and is used by every major notebook OEM.

Duke Nukem seems to be attracting as much attention from his swarm of male fans as the school uniform-clad strippers from the game. This fandom is building up obscene levels of hype with the various collectors' edition bundles available on the web, on pre-order, that give a variety of Duke Nukem memorabilia along with a copy of Duke Nukem Forever, a game that has been in production for 14 years. Some of the gamers who are going to play the game hadn't even graduated from Fisher Price when the last Duke game came out.

EVGA wants to be one of those to come out with (no pun intended) a bundle of their own, called "Duke's Fully Loaded Package". As a top-tier graphics card vendor, its bundle includes - you guessed it - a graphics card that handles the game well, in this case, a specially-branded GeForce GTX 560 1 GB clocked at 810/1620/4008 MHz (core/CUDA cores/memory), apart from a copy of Duke Nukem Forever (PC), memorabilia that includes "The History, Legacy and Legend of Duke Nukem Forever" artbook, Duke Nukem Forever mousepad, a "radioactive" belt-buckle, and a specially designed package. Those craving for Duke's fully-loaded package (again, no pun intended) from EVGA, can pre-order it from here.

Growing in popularity, Chinese graphics card designer Colorful is ready with yet another graphics card design, this time based on the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 GPU. Called the Coloful iGame560 Ymir, the card is based on a revision of the company's "shark-fin" cooler design, while retaining the GF114 PCB the company used on older GTX 560 Ti graphics cards. The iGame560 Ymir PCB uses high grade components, 6+1 phase VRM, and redundant BIOS switchable from the rear panel. The "normal mode" BIOS runs the card at NVIDIA reference speeds of 810/1002 MHz (core/memory actual), while the "turbo mode" BIOS runs the card at 850/1050 MHz.

The iGame560 Ymir comes with an optional accessory called "Air-kit", which is a detachable heat pipe that draws heat from the main heatsink out of the case through the rear panel, and on to a small heatsink that passively dissipates heat. The Ymir model uses a beefy fan-heatsink that uses a large and elaborate heatsink, which is ventilated by two fans. The card is available in both 1 GB and 2 GB variants. Apart from the Ymir, Colorful also released the iGame Ymir-U 1 GB and Ymir-U 2 GB, which use a slightly more compact cooler that uses a circular heatsink with radially-projecting aluminum fins and a copper base. The Ymir-U cooler makes do with a single fan. On the Ymir-U cards, turbo mode runs the card at 830/1050 MHz.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world's leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, and notebook manufacturer unveils the newest ECS GeForce GTX 560 graphics card with DirectX 11 solution. GeForce GTX 560 graphics card are built with an NVIDIA GeForce 560 graphics processing units (GPU) come with 336 CUDA cores and 256-bit GDDR5 1024MB at 4000 MHz memory clock to present the breathtaking calculating speed for graphics.

ECS GeForce GTX 560 graphics card designed with cutting-edge welding technology-CoolFast to connect the bottom of cooler with heat pipe; in this way, the heat will directly transfer to heat pipe without the intermediary of a piece of copper to achieve higher heat dissipation. The advanced cooler technology would help to improve 20% more cooling ability.

Point of View, the leading European manufacturer of an exclusive range of NVIDIA based 3D processor boards, advanced netbooks as well as fancy 7" and 10" Tegra tablet computers, and additional enthusiast PC products, announces today that it is first to market with a high performance NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 3D processor board family featuring 1 GB of fast GDDR5 memory, the POV/TGT GeForce GTX 560 1 GB series.

The POV/TGT GeForce GTX 560 1 GB series consists of two performance levels, "Charged" and "UltraCharged", and is based on a proprietary high-performance/wide-bandwidth hardware design. Hand-selected and carefully tuned by TGT in Germany, the POV/TGT GeForce GTX 560 1 GB series offers an optimized balance of enhanced core clock settings and supreme stability even beyond shipping specifications.

Club 3D B.V. is strengthening its current range of the NVIDIA 500 series graphics cards with the introduction of the new GeForce GTX 560 model, aimed at users who demands the latest features at a reasonable price.

Club 3D at introduction will include two models, the CoolStream Edition, which features a customized cooler design from our award winning CoolStream cooler for quiet and efficient operation and at the top of the range we have the CoolStream Overclocked Edition, which has the features of the standard CoolStream Edition but higher GPU and memory speed than the standard reference design.