In the run up to its 7th August launch, MSI GeForce GTX 780 Lightning got teased by the company's Europe office some more. Adding to the abstract "I can hear thunder" video presentation from earlier this month, MSI posted three new pictures. The first one depicts the "Lightning" engraving onto the cooler shroud. The second one reveals a new GPU Reactor module that isn't an unforgivable color mismatch this time around. Lastly, there's one that gives us a glimpse of its cooler, particularly its fan, which borrows a few design ideas from NVIDIA, and its metal fan hubs in use since GeForce GTX 690, GTX Titan and some other reference design boards.

ORIGIN PC has officially launched their most powerful small form factor (SFF) chassis yet, the Silverstone SG10, to their award-winning desktops. Designed as the ultimate SFF with full support of standard size components such as ATX power supplies, full tower CPU coolers and up to DUAL NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690's in QUAD-SLI, the SG10 has the ability toplay any PC Game, including popular AAA titles CRYSIS 3 and METRO: Last Light at a visually stunning 2560x1600 resolution with buttery smooth frame rates.Who says power can't be achieved with at small footprint? With the new SG10 you can now experience the performance of a full-size desktop, but at a fraction of the size.

Ahead of its April 24 launch, AMD board vendors has been distributing marketing materials to their retail partners. One such retailer in Japan revealed the flagship graphics card's specifications sheet, revealing details such as clock speeds and GPU core configuration.

To begin with, AMD isn't compromising much on clock speeds on the HD 7990 "Malta," in an effort to lower power draw. The card features GPU core clock speed of 1000 MHz, which puts it above the single-GPU Radeon HD 7970, but not much lower than the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, with its 1050 MHz. The memory is clocked at 6.00 GHz, on par with the HD 7970 GHz Edition, which yields a cumulative memory bandwidth of 576 GB/s.

EVGA unveiled its LED Controller software v1.0.0.11 for GeForce GTX Titan. Similar to the one that works for the GTX 690, the software tinkers with the voltage of the 2-pin connector that powers the glowy GeForce GTX logo on the top of the card. The software gives you either static manual control, or adjusts the logo's brightness according to GPU utilization, clock; or produce a groovy "breathing" effect. The tool is also compatible with older GeForce GTX 690 graphics cards.DOWNLOAD: EVGA GTX Titan LED Controller 1.0.0.11

Specifications of NVIDIA's upcoming high-end graphics card, the GeForce GTX Titan, which were reported in the press over the last couple of weeks, are bang on target, according to a specs sheet leaked by 3DCenter.org, which is allegedly part of the card's press-deck. According to the specs sheet, the GTX Titan indeed features 2,688 out of the 2,880 CUDA cores present on the GK110 silicon, 6 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface, and draws power from a combination of 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

The GeForce GTX Titan core is clocked at 837 MHz, with a GPU Boost frequency of 876 MHz, and 6.00 GHz memory, churning out 288 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The chip features a single-precision floating-point performance figure of 4.5 TFLOP/s, and 1.3 TFLOP/s double-precision. Despite its hefty specs that include a 7.1 billion-transistor ASIC and 24 GDDR5 memory chips, NVIDIA rates the card's TDP at just 250W.More slides and benchmark figures follow.

When we first heard of NVIDIA launching its GK110-based consumer graphics card by as early as February, it took us by surprise. Intimidating naming (GeForce Titan 780?) aside, the graphics card is hoping to better NVIDIA's current-generation flagship, the dual-GPU GeForce GTX 690, in a single-GPU package, but does the graphics card market really need NVIDIA to launch its card at the moment? Perhaps not, but the answer lies not with AMD and competition in the graphics card market, but Sony, and competition between PC and console platforms.

Over the weekend, it surfaced that Sony would introduce its next-generation PlayStation console (codenamed "Orbis") later this month, and it would mark the beginning of the next-generation of game consoles. PlayStation 4 features an updated hardware feature-set, and promises to raise the bar with graphics detail that the console industry held with an iron fist for the past half decade. This presents a challenge for not only NVIDIA, but PC gaming in general. Here's how.

The rumor mill is spinning to galeforce (or should we say GeForce) winds. Its newest sack of flour points at what could be the first performance figure of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce Titan 780 flagship single-GPU graphics card. Circulating among various Chinese tech publications is this 3DMark 11 Xtreme Preset screenshot from the PCinLife community, in which a lucky bloke claimed access to a GeForce Titan 780 engineering sample, and a driver to get it to work. In the scribbled out 3DMark 11 Xtreme Preset score screenshot (below), the source claims the fabled graphics card can singlehandedly score X7107 points. For reference, a GeForce GTX 690 usually scores in the region of X6000 points, and a GTX 680 around X3300. If true, NVIDIA has something truly remarkable up its sleeves, maybe the second coming of 8800 GTX. From older reports, we know that the GeForce Titan is expected to ship sooner than most people think, some time in February.

NVIDIA closed its Sunday launch extravaganza by posting a new version of its GeForce software suite, a combination of drivers and software for its GeForce graphics processors. The new GeForce 310.90 introduces a much-needed security update for its driver service manager that patches a recently-discovered vulnerability. In addition, it brings improved stability and performance for the dual-GPU GeForce GTX 690, in 3D production applications. SLI profiles are added or updated for several games.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 310.90 WHQL for Windows 8/7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 8/7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

The change-log specific to this release follows.

Gaming PC introduces their latest custom gaming computer codename: "Destroyer". The newest member in the GamingPC features a custom water cooling system, an Intel processor overclocked at 4.5 GHz 32 gigs of ram and Windows 8 for $3580.

"We built this machine to be the best bang for the buck when it came to extreme gaming. This is our favorite machine. This is how we want our own at-home machines to be" said, owner of Gaming PC Company.

Gaming PC, a leading company providing high quality customized gaming computers, announces the debut of their newest type of gaming computer, "The Beast" equipped with the latest Windows 8 operating system and an Intel Core i7 3930k Six Core overclocked at 4.6 GHz.

"The Beast was built with advanced and modernized services to ensure an amazing gaming experience for its users," said owner of Gaming PC. Game fanatics can be entertained more with its high performance machine, latest operating system and the fastest hardware ever.

ASUS launches the ROG TYTAN CG8890 Desktop PC, powered by a liquid-cooled Intel Core i7-3960X processor with Turbo Gear enabling 6-core CPU instant overclocking to reach a maximum speed of 4.2 GHz. It comes equipped with the latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 graphics card that supports up to four monitors, while dual 128 GB SATA3 SSDs in RAID 0 delivers four times greater data access speeds than generic HDDs. The audio quality is further enhanced by an ASUS Xonar DX sound card, providing 35 times clearer audio than onboard audio codecs, giving gamers an audio advantage over their opponents.

On top of the aerodynamic polygonal exterior that features an intricately designed chassis that transforms when the system is overclocked, the additional DEFCON and bottom grill lighting indicator shows system readiness with blue and red LED lights. With its upgraded 10-way venting and liquid cooled CPU, the CG8890's case is a cooling behemoth engineered to deliver the most efficient heat dissipation and airflow for incredible stability in any extreme condition.

Arctic unveiled its newest graphics card cooler, the Accelero Twin Turbo 690, for NVIDIA's top-of-the-line GeForce GTX 690 dual-GPU graphics card. The cooler offers 14% lower temperatures, and more importantly, 92% lower noise output at maximum load. The Accelero Twin Turbo 690 is a complex cooler, which uses a pair of primary heatsinks that make contact with the two GK104 GPUs, in combination with a secondary heatsink that draws heat from memory, bridge chip, VRM, and other hot ancillary components, which are ventilated by a pair of 120 mm 400-1500 RPM PWM-controlled fans.

The Arctic Accelero Twin Turbo measures about 288 (L) x 138 (W) x 50 (H) mm, and weighs about 800 g. As such, it doesn't make your GTX 690 much thicker than two expansion card slots would allow. It uses as many as ten 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes to transport heat from the bases to the various heatsinks. The cooler has a maximum thermal capacity of 400W. Arctic plans to make the Accelero Twin Turbo 690 available by 10th of September, priced at US $169.95.

Some of our reliable sources passed on teaser pictures of CM Storm's upcoming case for LAN party-animals, the Scout II. The new case will retain the core design principle of portability, including the distinct handles that let you carry the case around. The new Scout II will pack features that make its innards "transport-ready" (more shock-resistant). Its handles will be reinforced with steel beams that are probably connected to the case' main frame.

The CM Storm Scout II will be an ATX mid-tower case, supporting extra-long graphics cards, including NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 and AMD Radeon HD 7990 (if it ever comes to be). Much like the original, it will feature windowed side-panels to let your show off your gear. The teaser pictures reveal the case to be heavily ventilated, with large cutouts for water-cooling plumbing. The case will be officially launched towards end of September.

Troubles don't seem to end for AMD's Radeon HD 7990 dual-GPU graphics card, with sources indicating that AMD has no new product launches till late-August. Sections of the press reported that the HD 7990 could be released some time this month. A couple of factors could be behind the delay. For starters, there have been reports of shortage of PEX8747 PCIe bridge chips by PLX, which is at the heart of dual-GPU graphics cards, including the GeForce GTX 690. Another factor could relate to how AMD plans to achieve competitive price-performance and performance-Watt ratios for the HD 7990. Meanwhile, launches of NVIDIA's mid-range GeForce GTX 660 Ti and GTS 650 are reportedly closing in.

An increasing number of high-end graphics cards and motherboards are relying on PCI-Express bridge chips to expand the PCI-Express lane budgets, no thanks to the puny number of PCI-Express lanes today's mainstream computing platforms come with. Following the transition to PCI-Express Gen 3.0, with Intel's new platforms (Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge-E HEDT), there is a demand for Gen 3.0-compliant PCIe switching hardware, especially x48 bridge chips (which take in a PCI-Express x16 link, giving out two x16 links or four x8 links). Such chips are used on high-end motherboards to expand the number of PCIe slots, and on dual-GPU graphics cards.

It appears like NVIDIA does not have a PCIe Gen 3.0-compliant bridge chip of its own, and so the only company with one, is PLX Technology, with its PEX8747. The chip has been used on a variety of high-end motherboards, and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 690 dual-GPU graphics card. PLX reportedly saw high demand, which resulted in several companies bagging initial allocations of the chip, leaving others out to dry, with the part being listed as out-of-stock by its maker. Newer clients of the chip will have to wait until PLX undertakes the next big production cycle, to get their allocations of the chip.

Apart from a few Radeon HD 7970 "X2" dual-GPU graphics cards, and a few non-reference design HD 7970, we didn't hear much about new Radeon SKUs, at Computex. AMD or its partners never even talked about the Radeon HD 7990. It appears now, that the company is working on three new SKUs that will likely replace existing ones, in a bid to replenish the competitiveness of its "Southern Islands" GPU family. The three new SKUs include the Radeon HD 7990, of which we've been hearing for a greater part of this year; the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, which we knew was taking shape for some time now; and the new Radeon HD 7930.

Launch of the Radeon HD 7990 has been facing quite a few delays. We can't imagine technical hurdles with regard to board design, but the performance yield, and performance-per-Watt figures the SKU will have to produce, to ever make it to the market. The HD 7990 has the tough task of performing within an acceptable range of the GeForce GTX 690, on both these fronts.

The ROG MATRIX 7970 wasn't the only new Republic of Gamers graphics card on display at Computex, it was sitting next to the MARS III. This monstrosity is a dual-GeForce GTX 680 graphics card, it packs two 28 nm GK104 GPUs with clock speeds that match or exceed those of the GeForce GTX 680. ASUS stopped short of revealing the clock speeds. The card draws power from three 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors, next to it is an instant fan-override button that revs up the card's fans to 100%. The card gives out three dual-link DVI display outputs, and is capable of driving 3D Vision Surround using three >1920x1200 pixels displays. Unlike the MATRIX 7970 and countless recent examples of ASUS' ugly fixation with triple-slot cooling solutions, it's a pleasant surprise seeing that the triple-fan cooling solution of the MARS III needs just two expansion card slots. The MARS III will be manufactured in limited quantities, and will probably cost more than a GeForce GTX 690.

Taiwanese proverclocker TIN set a new 3DMark 11 record by scoring P20962 points using a single GeForce GTX 690 graphics card. The score included 25179 graphics, 15213 physics, and 12412 combined scores. The feat was achieved by overclocking an EVGA GeForce GTX 690 to clock speeds of 1509 MHz (base), 1639 MHz (GPU Boost), and 7336 MHz (memory, effective); and sustaining it using liquid nitrogen cooling. The double-headed eagle on steroids was supported by an Intel Core i7-3960X processor clocked at 4.50 GHz, 16 GB of quad-channel DDR3-2133 MHz memory, and EVGA X79 Classified motherboard. Find more information on the feat here.

Although AMD has plans to unveil its dual-GPU Radeon HD 7990 some time during Computex 2012, next month, it is reported that its add-in board (AIB) partners will be rolling out custom-design dual-GPU graphics cards labelled "Radeon HD 7970 X2." These cards most likely feature a pair of 28 nm "Tahiti" GPUs with high GPU clock speeds (perhaps above those of the HD 7990, perhaps even over 1 GHz). The new cards could then target the performance levels of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 690 at competitive prices. It could also be AMD's strategy to give the onus to AIB partners to come up with "off-spec" dual-GPU cards to compete with GTX 690 in terms of performance, while maintaining an "on-spec" Radeon HD 7990 that seeks a higher price-performance ratio than that of the GTX 690.

Santa Clara-based GPU designer NVIDIA Corp. has now made available the first WHQL-certified unified driver from the R300 family, the GeForce 301.42. This latest release includes the PhysX System Software v9.12.0213, the HD Audio v1.3.16.0 driver, and features support for the GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 Series desktop cards (including the recently-launched GeForce GTX 690 and GTX 670).

Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit

Koolance has now made available the VID-NX690 water block which is compatible with NVIDIA's dual-GPU beast, the GeForce GTX 690. This full cover block measures 25.40 x 12.70 x 1.91 cm, it weights 1.02 kg, and features G 1/4 BSP threading and a nickel-plated solid copper base boasting a high-performance microfin (0.5 mm) design.

The VID-NX690 is currently in stock and costs $144.99.

EVGA has released a utility that allows the "GeForce GTX" logo on the side of the EVGA GeForce GTX 690 to be customized. Users can manually increase/decrease the brightness, or, when paired with EVGA Precision X, have the LED light increase/decrease based on GPU Utilization, GPU Clock or even Frame Rate! Please note this application is only compatible with the EVGA GeForce GTX 690.DOWNLOAD: LED Controller for EVGA GeForce GTX 690

GIGABYTE Technology Co. LTD, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to introduce the world's fastest graphics cards - GV-N690D5-4GD-B. It combines the innovative new GeForce architecture with raw dual-GPU power to provide truly game-changing performance. GV-N690D5-4GD-B utilizes the latest 28nm fabrication process, GDDR5 memory and 3072 CUDA cores, and supports Microsoft DirectX 11, and PCI-Express 3.0.

It not only improves the processing ability but provides gamers a faster, smoother and richer gaming experience. Supporting NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround, 3D Vision, PhysX, and 3-way SLI, GV-N690D5-4GD-B guarantees an ultimate extreme experience. Equipped with the innovative Kepler GPU Dynamic Clocking technology, GV-N690D5-4GD-B has different clock rate - Base clock and Boost Clock. Boost clock dynamically adjusts clock speeds to bring out the best performance.

ZOTAC launched its GeForce GTX 690 graphics card. Like every other GTX 690 launched till now, ZOTAC's card sticks to NVIDIA reference board design. It is an indication that NVIDIA imposed restrictions on the AIC partners to modify its design, even placing AIC brand stickers seems to be disallowed, which is a good thing because NVIDIA's design is too good to be spoiled by gaudy stickers. It is likely that ZOTAC sticks to the NVIDIA-suggested price of US $999, but to sweeten the deal, it added a bundle called Assassin's Creed 3-Game Pack, which includes Steam coupons for games from the franchise.

Cyberpower Inc. www.cyberpowerpc.com, a global manufacturer of custom gaming machines, today announced the integration of NVIDIA's flagship GeForce GTX 690 graphics card into its line of enthusiast desktop gaming PCs.

Powered by two Kepler GPUs, the GeForce GTX 690 is a record setter in 3D performance, incredibly power efficient, and possesses an awesome visual aesthetic with its metallic design to express the raw, uncompromising power of a dual-GPU Kepler based graphics card.

The GTX 690 has 3,072 NVIDIA CUDA cores running at a blazing 915 MHz, with 2 GB GDD5 RAM for each individual GPU. The GTX 690 delivers the performance of dual GTX 680s in SLI but with reduced power consumption and a little more serenity.