There was a time when for the Intel platform, you could choose between motherboards based on chipsets from four or more vendors. With the weakening and discontinuation of chipset development for the Intel platform from the likes of VIA, and SiS, and NVIDIA facing a technical and legal blockade with further development of Intel chipsets with the latest Intel processors having integrated memory controllers and the Quickpath Interconnect system interface, consumer choice is reduced to platform core logic coming only from Intel, while motherboard vendors are able to use additives such as the NVIDIA nForce 200 PCI-Express bridge chip, or even the latest LucidLogix Hydra controller, among additional SATA, SAS and Ethernet controllers, to enhance the motherboards' feature-set beyond what the chipset can provide.

Following NVIDIA making the right noises about the future of its chipset division and development of chipsets that drive Socket LGA-1156 processors, it is becoming increasingly clear that its development has hit a possible legal or technical hurdle. Until those issues are ironed out completely, NVIDIA will not invest in further development of that chipset. In a statement, NVIDIA expressed its official position of its chipset division, and where things stand specific to the products it makes. Speaking of which, NVIDIA's chipset division currently sells chipsets for Intel's FSB-driven processors, AMD's latest processors, and the ION platform, which forms the foundation of a more capable ULPC platform based on the Intel Atom processor.

For NVIDIA's PhysX technology, it has been a roller-coaster ride since NVIDIA's acquisition of the technology, and its makers. As much as PhysX quickly became one of the important selling-points of NVIDIA's consumer graphics line GeForce, it also had its small share of controversy, linked to market dynamics more than anything. With the technology's port to the GeForce GPU, enthusiasts fancied having the freedom of choice with a primary GPU that is dedicated to rendering 3D graphics, and a second GPU that is just about powerful to assign as a dedicated PhysX GPU.

Although having a powerful ATI Radeon GPU aided by a less-powerful NVIDIA GeForce GPU for PhysX was possible on Windows XP, the succeeding Windows Vista restricted this, by making sure two active display drivers couldn't coexist. Windows 7 removed this restriction, but before you could rejoice, NVIDIA quickly released a driver-level code with its 186 series drivers, that disables NVIDIA PhysX altogether when a GPU from another vendor is coexisting and enabled, even an IGP for that matter. If that wasn't bizarre enough, with the latest drivers, you can't even pair an Ageia PhysX PPU card with an ATI Radeon GPU going about its business. To the rescue comes a soft-modder's nifty bit of software that overrides this restriction from NVIDIA's drivers, so you can use dedicated GeForce PhysX cards on machines with ATI Radeon primary GPUs again. The corrective driver patch comes from tech portal NGOHQ.com community member GenL.

"ZOTAC is always leading the way with our graphics cards. As new displays are shedding old connections, it's the perfect time for us to move ahead do the same," said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International.

By eliminating the legacy TV output port, all newly manufactured ZOTAC graphics cards feature HDMI, dual-link DVI and VGA outputs for high-resolution connections to monitors and televisions. ZOTAC GeForce GTS 250, 9 and 8400GS series graphics cards with HDMI output also have a S/PDIF audio input to route audio from a sound card or onboard high-definition audio for simultaneous audio and video output over a single HDMI cable for simplistic connectivity to the latest displays and audio receivers.

Exactly a month after releasing GeForce 190.38 drivers, NVIDIA published GeForce 190.62, complete with WHQL-certification. Supported products include the entire range of NVIDIA GPUs from GeForce 6 series and upwards, and NVIDIA ION, ION LE platforms. This release includes a few significant changes, apart from the numerous bug-fixes as described in the Release Notes documents (for Windows 7, Vista, and XP). Included are:

• Support for Microsoft's new DirectX GPU Computing API: DirectCompute, complete with WHQL-certification
• PhysX system software updated to version 9.09.0814 WHQL
• Optimizations for Batman: Arkham Asylum and Darkest of Days

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 190.62 WHQL

NVIDIA's GeForce 190.38 driver suite which arrived in beta form about a week ago, received its official status with WHQL-certification. The driver, like its beta version, introduces a list of changes as described in the release notes documents for for Windows 7, Vista, and XP, including a new release of the PhysX system software, version 9.09.0428. It supports the entire range of NVIDIA GPUs from GeForce 6 series and upwards, and NVIDIA ION, ION LE platforms. Important changes over the previous 186 series drivers include:

• Support for the OpenGL 3.1 API
• CUDA 2.3 support for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA Zone for more details
• A new user-controlled power management setting for GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards. This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application
• Includes several new control panel features and numerous bug fixes

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 190.38 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit

NVIDIA seems to have a big update for its GeForce driver suite underway, with the bump in version number from the 186 series to 190. The first release in the series carries the unsupported beta tag. Version 190.38 beta introduces a series of changes as indicated in the release notes documents (for Windows 7, Vista, and XP), though the list of supported NVIDIA products remains largely unchanged from its previous release. Important changes are as follows:

• Adds support for OpenGL 3.1
• Adds support for CUDA 2.3 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA Zone for more details
• Adds a new user-controlled power management setting for GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards. This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application
• Includes several new control panel features and numerous bug fixes. More information can be found in the release documentation

The supported products list includes the newly introduced GeForce GT 100 series, GeForce G 210, and ION LE (which is a lite version of the ION mGPU).

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 190.38 BETA for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit

NVIDIA's upcoming beta driver suite has been leaked by sections of the Chinese media. The new driver, GeForce 186.24 (6.14.11.8624) is dated 23/06/2009, and follows the release of 186.18 by over two weeks. Due to the lack of a release-notes document from NVIDIA, not much is known about this released except that it expands the supported products list significantly, adding several IGPs and some GPUs belonging to the new 40 nm GT21x series. Be cautioned, this is a beta release that does not originate from NVIDIA's website, and is not guaranteed.DOWNLOAD: GeForce 186.24 BETA for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit

Among the tons of new hardware stuff released these days, NVIDIA has managed to put a new BETA driver for download on its official webpage. The new GeForce/ION 186.08 BETA release supports the company's GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, and 200-series desktop GPUs and ION GPUs. This driver package is reported to fix numerous bugs and install a newer version of PhysX System Software (version 9.09.0428). You can download the 186.08 BETA driver for your OS from here.

Zol.com.cn has managed to take some pictures of the upcoming single-PCB GeForce GTX 295. Expected to arrive within a month, the single-PCB GTX 295 features the same specs as the dual-PCB model - 2x448bit memory interface, 480 Processing Cores and 1792MB of GDDR3 memory, and GPU/shader/memory clocks of 576/1242/1998 MHz respectively.

NVIDIA's upcoming next-generation graphics processor, codenamed GT300 is on course for launch later this year. Its development seems to have crossed an important milestone, with news emerging that the company has already taped out some of the first engineering samples of the GPU, under the A1 batch. The development of the GPU is significant since it is the first high-end GPU to be designed on the 40 nm silicon process. Both NVIDIA and AMD however, are facing issues with the 40 nm manufacturing node of TSMC, the principal foundry-partner for the two. Due to this reason, the chip might be built by another foundry partner (yet to be known) the two are reaching out to. UMC could be a possibility, as it has recently announced its 40 nm node that is ready for "real, high-performance" designs.

The GT300 comes in three basic forms, which perhaps are differentiated by batch quality processing: G300 (that make it to consumer graphics, GeForce series), GT300 (that make it to high-performance computing products, Tesla series), and G200GL (that make it to professional/enterprise graphics, Quadro series). From what we know so far, the core features 512 shader processors, a revamped data processing model in the form of MIMD, and will feature a 512-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface to churn out around 256 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU is compliant with DirectX 11, which makes its entry with Microsoft Windows 7 later this year, and can be found in release candidate versions of the OS already.

Akasa is readying a new graphics card cooler for the consumer segment, this time touting support for almost all current single-GPU graphics cards. The Akasa Freedom Force was first pictured at the CeBIT event. It measures 190(L) x 107.5(W) x 55(H), and weighs in at 440 g. Its design consists of a GPU contact block that doubles up as a heatsink, from which four aluminum heatpipes convey heat to two aluminum fin blocks on either side of the GPU block. Each block is subject to air-flow by its own white LED-lit fan that spins at 2200 rpm. The GPU block has mount holes for 43.2 mm, 53.2 mm, and 61.5 mm cooler mounts. Also bundled are nine memory chip heatsinks. The cooler supports one of the broadest range of GPUs, including NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 (GTX 260, 275, 280, 285), ATI Radeon HD 4000/3000/2000, GeForce 9/8/7 series, etc. A word of caution however, would be that the cooler doesn't pack VRM heatsinks, or heatsinks for NVIO display processors featured on G200(b) and G80 based graphics cards. It will reach retail in about a month's time, and is expected to be priced at 30 EUR (US $40.5).

With NVIDIA lowering the prices of the GeForce GTX 260 almost at will, its partners are pushed to innovate their own designs that lets them make the most margins out of the tight market segment. At $170~$200, partners have come up with a newer breed of GeForce GTX 260 (55 nm, 216 SP) accelerators with some very interesting designs. MSI on its part has come up with a certain design that looks very familiar for the fact that it looks to be inspired to a large extent by the ATI Radeon HD 4870/4890. The MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv4 uses a red PCB, and a cooler design that takes inspiration from that of the reference Radeon HD 4870 to the extent that it looks pleasantly amusing. The heatsink over the card's VRM area coarsely resembles a shorter one on the reference-design Radeon HD 4850. Aesthetics apart, this card is factory overclocked, with speeds of 655/2100 MHz (core/memory). It packs 896 MB of GDDR3 memory. American retailer Newegg.com has it listed for $174.99, which further goes down to $154.99 with the optional rebate.Images Courtesy: Newegg.com

POINT OF VIEW, well known for its range of NVIDIA based Graphics cards, is presenting today the first in a series of NVIDIA ION based mainboards: the mini-ITX POV/ION230 and POV/ION330.

Multiplying the performance level of Intel Atom based systems, the NVIDIA ION technology has been received with massive success in the market. A strong performance combined with the small form factor and extremely low power consumption; make this platform perfectly suitable for media center and family computer applications.

NVIDIA today published a new version of its GeForce driver suite, this time including Windows 7 in the update. Version 185.81 of the driver has been released as a beta, meaning it is unsupported by product warranties. The following changes have been brought about:

• Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications
• Expands GPU hardware acceleration for the NVIDIA Video Encoding library to GPUs with less than 32 cores. Applications using this library include CyberLink PowerDirector 7, Nero Move it 1.5, Loilo SuperLoiloScope MARS, and CyberLink MediaShow Espresso
• Accelerates performance in several 3D applications and, compared to Release 182 drivers, delivers:
  o Up to 25% performance increase in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
  o Up to 22% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
  o Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
  o Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
  o Up to 30% performance increase in Half-Life 2 engine games with 3-way and 4-way SLI
  o Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror's Edge with antialiasing enabled
• Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0408
• Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3
• Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 185.81 BETA for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit | Windows 7 32-bit | Windows 7 64-bit

NVIDIA made an update to the PhysX system software, the common backend for all NVIDIA products that support PhysX: GeForce 8 series and above graphics processors, and Ageia PhysX accelerator cards. Version 9.09.0408 packs the following changes and features according to the company:

• Updated runtime to improved operation of Cryostasis Game.
• Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory.
• Experience GPU PhysX acceleration in many games and demos, some of which are highlighted in PowerPack downloads on www.geforce.com.
• Runtime upgrade ONLY for AGEIA PhysX processors users. (New installations should install older PhysX system software such as version 8.09.04 - prior to installing this update).
• Includes the latest PhysX runtimes used in the latest game titles.
• Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on GeForce via CUDA 2.0 for SDK versions 2.7.3, 2.7.2, 2.7.5, 2.8.0 and 2.8.1 (requires graphics driver v177.81 or later).
• Includes all the latest PhysX SDK Runtimes.
• Supports control of your GPU PhysX configuration from the NVIDIA display driver control panel. (requires graphics driver v180.00 or later)

The software is available for Windows XP and Windows Vista, from the NVIDIA website.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA PhysX System Software 9.09.0408 WHQL

EVGA, the leading-edge 3D processor graphics cards and motherboard manufacturer, announces the EVGA GeForce GTX 275, offering first rate graphics, physics, and GPU computing performance. The EVGA GeForce GTX 275 appeals to today's value conscious gamers who desire a powerful GPU and support for both, enhanced 3D image quality and an extended range of 3D special effects that guarantee the best gaming experience for current and upcoming titles. The powerful 3D processor features the NVIDIA GeForce 275 GPU with a complete set of 240 processor cores plus super fast 0.8ns DDR3 memory. Also, EVGA is offering both 896MB and 1792MB versions ensuring you get enough memory to handle the highest of resolutions and texture quality.

The day after releasing the GeForce 182.50 WHQL drivers, NVIDIA has also released a GeForce BETA driver with version 185.66, for both Windows Vista and XP.

New in Release 185.66:

• Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 275 GPU.
• Adds support for Ambient Occlusion - the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs. (Vista Only)
• Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See nvidia.com/cuda for more details.
• Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
  - Up to 11% performance increase in Call of Duty: World at War
  - Up to 5% performance increase Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
  - Up to 22% performance increase Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
  - Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
  - Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
  - Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror's Edge with antialiasing enabled
• Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3. Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now!
• Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes.

DOWNLOAD: GeForce 185.66 BETA for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit

UPDATE: The day following the release of the 185.65 BETA drivers this article originally covered, NVIDIA removed the driver links and updated the BETA to 185.66, this article has therefore been updated accordingly.

NVIDIA today released its GeForce 182.50 driver suite for Windows XP and Windows Vista. This release comes at a time when the company released the GeForce GTX 275 accelerator, making it obvious the driver extends support to it. While the driver doesn't aim bring in application-specific enhancements, it does fix numerous bugs, which invariably may improve product quality. It brings in single-GPU and SLI optimizations for seveal upcoming game titles. For a complete list of changes, refer to the Release Notes documents for Windows XP and Windows Vista.

DOWNLOAD:GeForce 182.50 WHQL for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit

Only one day after releasing the GeForce 182.46 BETA Driver, NVIDIA yesterday launched the 182.47 BETA Driver, to support the launch of the Khronos Group's announcement of the new OpenGL 3.1 streamlined specification found here. Although it has not made it onto the main driver page yet, the drivers are available to download from the NVIDIA Developer Zone. For more information, release notes and Linux download links, you can find the driver page here

DOWNLOAD: GeForce 182.47 BETA for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit.

NVIDIA today made its GeForce 182.46 beta drivers available on its website. The new drivers bring bug fixes and optimize the installed NVIDIA GeForce hardware for upcoming games. The most notable changes are:

• Optimized single GPU and SLI support for upcoming PC games
• Bug fix specific to Windows XP 32bit: GeForce 7 series AGP, GeForce 6 Series AGP: NVIDIA graphics driver
  cannot be installed
• Fix specific to SLI: Football Manager 09-the game fails to run properly with SLI mode
  enabled. [490661]
• Fix specific to Quad-SLI, GeForce GTX 295: Fear2: Project Origin - when launching the game with Quad SLI enabled, there is brief flash of residual corruption from a previously launched application
• Fix specific to 3-way SLI and Windows Vista 64bit: nForce 780a SLI, GeForce 9800 GTX: The user cannot switch from Additional display mode to Boost performance mode when the display is connected to the GeForce 9800 GTX GPU

A complete list of changes can be found in the Release Notes document for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Be cautioned, this is a beta release, the use of which is not covered by warranties.

DOWNLOAD: GeForce 182.46 BETA for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit.

With no official press release, a new version of EVGA's GTX 295 has appeared on their website. Dubbed the GTX 295 Red Edition, the card is clocked at the stock speeds of 576 MHz on the core, 1242 MHz on the shaders, and a 1998 MHz memory clock, using a reference cooler, which appears to have simply been painted red. Although the card appears to bring nothing new to the table other than the option of a new colour, EVGA are asking US$549.99 for the card, which is $45 more than the standard black variant. It would appear following the launch of their X58 classified motherboard not long ago, that EVGA could be heading towards a new colour scheme, at least for their premium products.

Inno3D are excited to launch the Inno3D GeForce GTX 260 with FreezerX2 cooler that offers double the cooling performance and better value for your buck.

FreezerX2 Features

• Dual 8 cm ball bearing PWM fan, cooling power x 2
• DHT Technology, cooling efficiency x 2
• 2 mm fin distance, airflow x 2
• Smooth sanded base, contact area x 2
• Triple heatpipe cooling performance
• 55 nm Manufacturing Process
• Less power consumption with 175 W

Just over a week since we covered the release of the 182.05 BETA driver, NVIDIA have now released a WHQL with version number 182.06. The driver has been released for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista and is for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, and 200-series desktop GPUs.

New in Release 182.06:

• Recommended for the best experience in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
• Boosts performance in numerous 3D applications. The following are some examples of improvements measured with Release 182.06 WHQL drivers vs. Release 181.22 WHQL drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
• Up to 8% performance increase in Fallout 3 at high resolution and AA.
• Up to 10% performance increase in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
• Up to 9% performance increase in Half-Life 2 at high resolution with AA.
• Up to 11% performance increase in Left 4 Dead at high resolution with AA.
• Up to 10% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID at high resolution and AA.
• Includes full support for OpenGL 3.0 on GeForce 8-series, 9-series, and 200-series GPUs.
• Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0203.
• Additional information on specific bug fixes can be found in the release documentation notes.

DOWNLOAD NVIDIA Forceware 182.06 WHQL for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit

Galaxy today announced a new video-card management software, the Xtreme Tuner. Unlike other manufacturers coming up with different bits of software to tune the graphics card's running-state parameters and BIOS manipulation, Galaxy's software provides a consolidated interface for monitoring the various parameters of graphics cards and controlling clock-speeds, fan-speeds, BIOS manipulation and BIOS flashing from within Windows.

The software becomes especially handy when all controls are present in one page. It is noted of this software to support all current NVIDIA GeForce-based graphics cards, with the exception of BIOS flashing being exclusive to some Galaxy-made graphics cards. This is attributed to Galaxy using a dual-BIOS design with some of its cards. Incidentally, Galaxy has another software utility called Magic Panel, which now seems to be exclusive for Galaxy products in the Asian markets. The interface of the Xtreme Tuner can be indexed in the picture below as: 1. Graphics cards fan speed control area, 2. Graphics card's Core/ Memory/ shader clock control area, 3. Operation Monitor, 4. BIOS Flashing interface, and 5. Application settings.

DOWNLOAD: Galaxy Xtreme Tuner

In the weeks to come, next month to be more precise, NVIDIA will officially rename its G92-based graphics cards series. Amongst the "new" SKUs that have surfaced so far, NVIDIA adds the GeForce GTS 250, or present-day GeForce 9800 GTX+. In a bid to garner support from its partners, NVIDIA issued a circular that includes the following statement:

GeForce GTS 250 carries over the same specs and features of 9800 GTX+, and hence the same GPU, memory, board, PCB, and thermal solution. AIC's should be confident in purchasing GPU's, PCB's, and other materials, since the only change is a new VBIOS to implement the new branding.

The GTS 250 model will be accompanied by yet another rebranding: GeForce GTS 240, present-day GeForce 9800 GT and GeForce 8800 GT. The GeForce 9800 GTX+ was released in July 2008, to compete with ATI's Radeon HD 4850. It was an evolution of the GeForce 9800 accelerator, to which it was built on a newer manufacturing process that facilitated higher clock speeds. NVIDIA is likely to choose CeBIT as the ideal launch-pad for its new series of graphics cards.