While NVIDIA's official GTX 465 launch won't be until Monday 31st 3 AM EST, large online retailer Newegg already started listing the cards. In total seven cards from NVIDIA's largest board partners are listed. They're all priced at $279 and available immediately. This is good news because it confirms that we will see a hard launch on Monday, without inflated prices. In terms of cooling everybody will stick to the GTX 470's thermal solution with the exception being Gigabyte and Palit (we reviewed the GTX 470 with the dual fan cooler here).

The listings also confirm the rumored specifications of 352 shaders cores, 1 GB memory, 256-bit memory interface and clock speeds of 607 MHz core / 1215 MHz shader.

Our review will be ready on time and posted when the NDA is expired.

NVIDIA made its GeForce GTX 480M GPU official today. The DirectX 11 compliant GPU is based on the GF100 core and packs all the features of its desktop counterpart, such as decentralized hardware tessellation, next-generation CUDA and DirectCompute 5.0. The GF100 core has a configuration similar to the GeForce GTX 465 desktop GPU. It has three of its four graphics processing clusters (GPCs), and 11 out of 16 streaming multiprocessors (SMs) enabled, giving a CUDA core count of 352. To reduce the overall board footprint, the GPU makes do with a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, with 1 GB of memory.

To make keep up with the electrical constraints of notebooks, the GTX 480M uses much lower clock-speeds than any desktop product that uses GF100. The core is clocked at 425 MHz, shader domain at 850 MHz, and memory at 600 MHz (real) or 2.40 GHz (effective), which gives a memory bandwidth of 76.8 GB/s. As mentioned earlier, the full feature-set of its desktop counterparts is packed with the GTX 480M, including support for NVIDIA 3D Vision, PureVideo HD, PhysX, and CUDA. It can pair with up to two boards of its kind in 2-way SLI. Constraints of the notebook form-factor won't allow any more boards, anyway. The GPU is open to Notebook manufacturers to plan their designs around. NVIDIA claims the GTX 480M to be the fastest notebook GPU. It finds direct competition in the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, which is based on the 800 stream processor-laden Juniper core.

TechPowerUp rolled out a new version of GPU-Z, the popular graphics sub-system diagnostic utility. Version 0.4.3 comes with a load of new features and stability updates. Highlights include full capability to monitor voltages on the GeForce GTX 480, a new method of voltage monitoring which extends support for many ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards, support for the upcoming GeForce GTX 465, GT 320M GT 335M, ION variant, GT 340, Tesla C2050, Tesla M2050, and other Quadro series GPUs, new display languages including Spanish and Hungarian, among other stability updates.DOWNLOAD: GPU-Z 0.4.3

Change log follows.

NVIDIA today released two beta GeForce driver packages, 197.75 beta for GeForce 400 series products, and 197.57 beta for GeForce 6 series thru GeForce 300 series. While these drivers don't come with big lists of changes, NVIDIA recommends that you use these drivers to play the beta release of APB (All Points Bulletin).

DOWNLOAD:

• GeForce 197.75 beta for GeForce 400 series, for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit;
• GeForce 197.54 beta for GeForce 6 series thru GeForce 300 series, for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

NVIDIA rolled out version 197.45 of its GeForce driver suite. The WHQL-signed drivers are the latest to support GeForce 6-series to GeForce 300 series, excluding the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series. Other products supported include the ION platforms. For GTX 480 and GTX 470, NVIDIA recently released GeForce 197.41 WHQL. The drivers released today, version 197.45 WHQL, include changes such as PhysX system software updated to version 9.10.0129, on-chip HD audio driver to version 1.0.9.1, several game-specific performance increments, adds SLI profiles for new games, and enhances those for existing ones, and a number of bug-fixes detailed in the Release Notes document (for Windows XP and Windows 7/Vista). Details on game-specific performance increases follow:

• Up to 13% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with a single GPU, up to 30% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with SLI technology
• Up to 13% performance increase in H.A.W.X with single GPU, up to 15% performance increase in H.A.W.X with SLI technology
• Up to 30% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with single GPU, up to 28% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with SLI technology

The new drivers add SLI and multi-GPU support for top new gaming titles including Assassin Creed II, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Command and Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight, Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City, Mass Effect 2, Napoleon: Total War, and Zombie Driver, and enhances SLI support for Metro 2033, Supreme Commander 2, Unigine, and World of Warcraft.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 197.45 WHQL

This morning the first of the long awaited retail GeForce GTX 480 cards arrived. The card came from Zotac and photos are below. It is from the same shipment that will be sold on store shelves in the next days. At first glance the card looks completely identical to the NVIDIA press sample, with the exception of some black foam on the back of the card. Another diffence is the BIOS which I put up for download here.

I am told that the reason for the black foam is to ensure some spacing between the cards when running in SLI mode, so that they can breathe. It also acts as safeguard against short circuits which could happen when the metal cooler surface of one card touches the back of the other card.

NVIDIA released version 197.41 of its GeForce driver suite, specifically for the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series GPUs. These drivers are WHQL-signed, and come in time for the market-availability of GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 graphics cards. Although NVIDIA didn't mark out any significant changes to this version, it bundles PhysX system software v9.10.0129, and on-chip HD audio driver v1.0.9.1. These drivers enable support for CUDA 3.0 and OpenGL 3.2. A proper release-notes document from the company is awaited for more details.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 197.41 WHQL for GeForce GTX 400 series

NVIDIA is said to be working on another GF100-based SKU, which further cuts down from the GeForce GTX 470. The new SKU, GeForce GTX 460, is expected to rival ATI Radeon HD 5850 in the sub-$300 market segment. The GF100 will be configured to have a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, driving 1024 MB (1 GB) of memory. Clock speeds could be another thing NVIDIA uses as the determining factor. The GTX 460 will not have a reference design as such, and AIC partners will be allowed to release their own designs from day one. The new SKU is expected to release in June. Pictured below is the GTX 470 PCB.

Thermaltake, the world's leading brand in performance PC chassis, high-efficiency power supply and innovative computer peripherals for PC Do-It-Yourself market, is proud to announce its collaboration with NVIDIA to design and engineer the new Element V NVIDIA Edition chassis, which is certified for the next-generation of ultra-high performance graphics cards, including the just announced NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 GPUs.

"NVIDIA shares Thermaltake's commitment to ensure the enthusiast community receives the best possible products that solidify the PC as the best gaming platform, period," said Tom Petersen, technical director at NVIDIA. "Through collaboration with Thermaltake's leading engineers, we are excited that the Thermaltake Element V NVIDIA Edition is capable of providing an awesome gaming environment for our next generation of enthusiast graphic cards, including GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470, running in 2-way, 3-way, or even Quad SLI. Put simply, it rocks!"

NVIDIA today released version 197.13 of its GeForce system software. The suite includes drivers for all NVIDIA GeForce GPUs and IGPs since GeForce 6 series, NVIDIA ION platform, as well as system software for NVIDIA PhysX, NVIDIA 3D Vision technology, and drivers for the on-chip HDMI audio which the latest GeForce GPUs are shipping with. The WHQL-signed driver includes PhysX 9.10.0129 system software, updated HDMI audio driver to version 1.0.9.1, application-specific performance increments for several games, notably the following:

• Up to 13% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with a single GPU, up to 30% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with SLI technology
• Up to 13% performance increase in H.A.W.X with single GPU, up to 15% performance increase in H.A.W.X with SLI technology
• Up to 30% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with single GPU, up to 28% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with SLI technology

SLI profiles are added for the following applications: Assassin Creed II, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Command and Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight, Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City, Mass Effect 2, Napoleon: Total War, and Zombie Driver. SLI support is improved for: Metro 2033, Supreme Commander 2, Unigine, and World of Warcraft
- Ambient Occlusion support for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Need for Speed: Shift, Resident Evil 5, RUSE, and Street Fighter IV. Anti Aliasing can now be overridden for Mass Effect 2. As always, a number of new and existing bugs were fixed. For more information, refer to the Release Notes documents for Windows 7/Vista, Windows XP.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 197.13 WHQL

ASUS today launched a new co-op campaign with NVIDIA, which features a promotion in association with Blizzard Entertainment to include a 14-day trial for Blizzard's popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, along with a collectible door hanger, with select ENGT200 Series graphics cards.

ASUS ENGT200 Series graphics cards are built with superior design acumen to provide the most compelling visual experience available to gamers. These ASUS limited edition graphics cards are up the ante with NVIDIA 3D Vision, making great use of GeForce GPUs. Using special glasses and 120Hz LCD displays or compatible HDTVs, NVIDIA 3D Vision tantalizes gamers with ultra-realistic graphics, vivid stereoscopic images, and immersive depth of field. Up to 400 PC games work out-of-the-box with NVIDIA's 3D Vision, including games such as Resident Evil 5, Borderlands, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Star Trek D-A-C, Dark Void, and Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

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.

NVIDIA today announced NVIDIA 3DTV Play, its latest software solution that allows consumers to connect their GeForce GPU-powered desktop or notebook computer to new 3D TVs, for the ultimate in big screen 3D gaming action. For the launch of 3DTV Play, NVIDIA is teaming up with Panasonic on its coast-to-coast 2010 "Panasonic Touch the Future Tour," where consumers can test drive 3DTV Play-based PCs running on the new Panasonic VIERA Full HD 3D TVs, that just launched this month.

3DTV Play software lets you connect any compatible NVIDIA GeForce GPU-powered PC or notebook to 3D TVs for the ultimate, high-definition, big-screen, 3D entertainment experience. By leveraging the processing power of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, 3DTV Play software delivers the best the PC has to offer: play hundreds of standard PC games in stunning 3D environments such as World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and James Cameron's Avatar: The Game. You can also watch upcoming Blu-ray 3D Hollywood blockbusters, view digital 3D photographs, and even watch streaming 3D movies for the ultimate viewing party. The active-shutter glasses bundled with each VIERA full HD 3D TV sold work seamlessly with NVIDIA GPUs and off-the-shelf PC gaming titles and other 3D entertainment content.

Following the successful launch of the ultrathin and light Vostro V13, Dell is offering business customers even more choice with the stylish Vostro 3000 series - a range of new thin, lightweight and durable laptop computers. Featuring powerful processors, high-end graphics and built-in security, the Vostro 3000 series is designed for small businesses that require robust mobile computing solutions.

Today's SMBs and entrepreneurs want notebooks that are powerful and attractive, and the new Vostro 3000 series was designed to meet and exceed both those needs. For the most demanding tasks, the Vostro 3000 series sports the latest powerful Intel Core processor technology, including, the optional, Core i7 Quad Core processor available on the Vostro 3700. For those that demand portability and productivity, the Vostro 3300 is one of the industry's thinnest commercial 13" laptop with an integrated optical drive. For those that can't afford to be chained to their desks, the 14" Vostro 3400 offers a full day of mobile productivity with up to 8 hours of battery life with an optional 9-cell battery.

NVIDIA is weeks away from unveiling its GeForce GTX 400 series, which until a few weeks ago, was expected to be the GeForce GTX 300, by the media. Expecting that nomenclature didn't need rocket science. However, NVIDIA changed it with releasing as many as a dozen and a half SKUs in the so-called GeForce 300 series based on existing GT21x GPUs, with not much fanfare. The company got a little candid with Bit-Tech.net in an interview, in admitting that pressure from OEMs forced NVIDIA to 'create' GeForce 300 series, because OEMs wanted "something new" on their specs sheets, if they were to opt for NVIDIA's mGPUs over those from AMD, which already support DirectX 11, under the Mobility Radeon HD 5000 series. Most of these rebrands, according to the company, are specific to the OEMs, and will not be released by board partners to the retail market.

NVIDIA released version 196.75 of its GeForce driver suite. The drivers are WHQL signed. It adds support for new NVIDIA GPUs, notably the ION 2 GPU, apart from GeForce 300 series mobile GPUs, and the existing lineup of GeForce GPUs, 6-series and above. GeForce 196.75 WHQL also packs the updated 9.10.0129 PhysX system software, and an updated version 1.0.9.1 driver for NVIDIA GPUs with embedded HD audio. Apart from these there are application specific performance increments:

• Up to 13% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with a single GPU
• Up to 30% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with SLI technology
• Up to 13% performance increase in H.A.W.X with single GPU
• Up to 15% performance increase in H.A.W.X with SLI technology
• Up to 30% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with single GPU
• Up to 28% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with SLI technology

SLI profiles are added for Assassin Creed II, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Command and Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight, Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City, Mass Effect 2, Napoleon: Total War, and Zombie Driver. SLI support is improved further for World of Warcraft, and Unigine. It adds Ambient Occlusion support for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Need for Speed: Shift, Resident Evil 5, RUSE, and Street Fighter IV. AA issue for Mass Effect 2 is fixed with an AA override added. A large number of other bug fixes were included, and issues resolved. Refer to the Release Notes documents (for Windows 7/Vista, Windows XP), for more information.</br>


DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 196.75 WHQL

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

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

"This puppy here, is Fermi" announced a proud Jen-Hsun Huang, NVIDIA's CEO. The shiny, chrome-decked Tesla GPGPU accelerator that makes use of NVIDIA's Fermi architecture, soon turned out to be a mock-up, aimed solely at announcing the completion of development of the Fermi architecture. It was also strategically timed to coincide with AMD's market launch of the industry's first DirectX 11 compliant graphics cards under the Fermi is significant since it supports the DirectX 11 API. Today ironically, on the occasion of AMD's launch of its "Hemlock" Radeon HD 5970 flagship accelerator, a picture showing a working consumer graphics variant of Fermi working. It is as if to assert that a Fermi derivative is no more the paperweight it was when it was first paraded to the media.

NVIDIA's Fermi GPU architecture is to be implemented in three variants: GF100, GT300, and GT300GL, to drive three of the company's product lines: GeForce, Tesla, and Quadro, respectively. GF100 is of utmost relevance to us. A picture leaked recently to Bright Side of News shows a GeForce accelerator based on GF100 to be working, where it appears to be rendering the Unigine Heaven DirectX 11 benchmark. This early sighting, however, doesn't mean that the product is any closer to its launch. It is still slated for Q1 2010, meaning that it will miss out on the X-Mas shopping season. The GF100 GPU is said to have 512 shader cores, and connects to GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface.

Both the latest games and 3D applications have stricter requirement on the graphic performance than before and the integrated graphics solution is not powerful enough. AXLE GeForce GT 220 packs 48 processing cores into a compact power efficient design delivering up to 30x the performance* of Intel integrated solutions.

Get all the video processing power that your digital lifestyle requires. Clean up home video 4x faster and post it on Facebook with the AXLE GeForce GT 220 or GeForce 210. Convert your video and put it on your iPod in minutes instead of hours or make your DVDs look like HD. AXLE GeForce GT220 and GeForce 210 can playback any Blu Ray Movie with any modern CPU.

Staying ahead of NVIDIA and its own series of similar software, EVGA released the 18th edition of its SLI Enhancement Patch. The SLI Enhancement Patch is a piece of software that adds SLI profiles of usually new games to the NVIDIA GeForce driver. SLI profiles optimize help applications take advantage multiple NVIDIA GPUs installed in an SLI setup. Version 18 of the software is based on NVIDIA GeForce 191.07 drivers. It adds or enhances SLI support for the following games. Registered EVGA users (registration is free) can download the software from here.

• Enables SLI support for Borderlands
• Enables SLI support for Painkiller: Resurrection
• Enables SLI support for Wolfenstein Demo
• Enables SLI support for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
• Enables SLI support for G-Force
• Enables SLI support for FIFA Soccer 2010
• Enables SLI support for League of Legends: Clash of Fates
• Enables SLI support for NHL 2009
• Enables SLI support for Order of War
• Enables SLI support for Race On
• Enables SLI support for Star Trek: D-A-C

Introducing the newly arrived High-end VGA Graphics Array cooler, Slimod. This cool VGA Card cooler is brimming with technology and innovation. Applicable to the latest NVIDIA GeForce and ATI Radeon GPUs, the Slimod will deliver optimum cooling for today's hot GPUs.

Equipped with 3 all copper 6mm Direct Touch heat-pipes for swift and efficient heat transport to the 30 aluminum, nickel coated heat-sink fins which are cooled down by two silent and PWM controlled 8mm DC fans.

"ZOTAC is the leader when it comes to performing mini-ITX platforms. With the addition the new ZOTAC ION ITX Synergy Editions, we have the largest line up of high-performance mini-ITX motherboards with over a dozen different models," said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International. "We see the demand for small form factors increasing and the future of computing will be mini-ITX platforms."

The new ZOTAC ION ITX Synergy Editions bring a full high-performance experience and features that has won the ZOTAC ION ITX platforms many awards, including the NVIDIA ION graphics processor with NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology for full HD 1080p Blu-ray video playback and high-performance video processing and editing capabilities with NVIDIA CUDA technology.

Inno3D are excited to launch the Inno3D GeForce GT 220 & GeForce G210 that brings impressive graphics processing power to your PC for everyday applications and at an affordable price. Graphics processing has become an essential ingredient to the modern PC. Nowadays, we simply demand more from our PCs to deliver beautiful graphics, fantastic video, crisp responsive photo editing and a Premium Windows 7 Experience.

The new Inno3D GeForce GT 220 and G 210 surpass their predecessors with astonishing 3DMark Vantage benchmarks while achieving optimised performance with all the latest features in the market. These two new entries to the 200 series pack quite a punch when comparing the shaders. GT220 has around 50% more shaders than 9500GT, and 210 100% more than 8400 GS.