ASUS has announced that it is planning a dedicated external graphics card system designed for notebook users, named the XG Station, which should allow users to experience high end graphics power to match desktops. The dock connects to the ExpressCard interface using an adaptor, meaning it can be easily unplugged from the system if it needs to be moved. ASUS has revealed it will work with any notebook featuring the ExpressCard system, which provides an equivalent to the PCI Express X16 slots desktops use. The XG Station itself features a PCI Express slot and is capable of running AMD (ATI), NVIDIA and Matrox graphics cards.

Although all the rumour, AMD plans to release the Radeon X1950GT graphics card. However, AMD recently added a restriction to the release, saying that certain partners within certain area would only be supplied to sell the cards, whatever that means? The new X1950GT(RV570LE) model, has a very similar specifications to the PRO edition. The lowered core speed from 575MHz to 500MHz and memory speed from 1.38GHz do 1.2GHz DDR are the main differences from the PRO version. In addition, the "Video In" support in Rage Theater has been removed. Early samples are already manufactured, but the final version of the cards is scheduled for early February 2007.

Diamond Multimedia is now shipping AGP versions of ATI Radeon X1950PRO graphics. This card uses the Radeon X1950 GPU and comes with 512MB GDDR3 memory. It has a core clock speed of 575MHz and a 1.38GHz memory speed. It supports Dual DVI (x2 Dual-link), HDTV, D-sub and VIVO. The AGP model of Viper X1950PRO supports DirectX 9, Shader Model 3.0, High Dynamic Range (HDR) with full post-processing capabilities and built-in native HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection). It is Microsoft Windows Vista ready and supported by Catalyst Control Center. All Diamond video cards also carry the Diamond guarantee of quality assurance. The X1950PRO retails at $279 for PCI-E, and $299 for AGP.

OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced their exciting return to the world of graphics cards. Leveraging a strong expertise in high performance overclocking memory and the unique needs of PC enthusiasts, OCZ is prepared to deliver a differentiated GPU solution to gamers and enthusiasts with the launch of the OCZ NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB PCI Express .

We reported on December 7th that OCZ was planning on entering the graphics card business. OCZ is expected to announce their 8800GTX either today or tomorrow, and Newegg will have a limited stock of the card available for immediate availability once the card is released. The card will come at NVIDIA default clocks, 575MHz core and 1800MHz memory, but OCZ encourages customers to overclock their cards (part number OCZ8800GTX).

ATI, the graphics manufacturing division of AMD, has announced that it plans to allow third party manufacturers to design and produce their own graphics card boards to their own capacities for certain chips. Until now, ATI and NVIDIA have not sold their high-end chips directly to other manufacturers, instead choosing to make the cards under their own supervision using a contract manufacturer first. This, in theory, ensures that the quality of all their graphics cards is high for end consumers. Graphics board manufacturers should now have more freedom in how they build the cards, with the X1950XT being one of the GPUs they will be allowed to do this with. Although ATI will still supervise the board manufacturing process, their partners should have more breathing space to customise the cards.

AMD has announced its plan to let different manufactures to design and manufacture its special Radeon X1950XT edition. It is expected these special edition may eventually has a lower cost than the official edition. Some of these special editions have already been sent to AMD for verification and hopefully they will be available in the market in Mid-January. VR-Zone also tells us to expect X1950XT and even X1950PRO prices to drop. Also AMD has cancelled plans for X1950GT video cards based on RV570LE, since it is no longer viable in the current price structure.

Sparkle today announced the immediate availability of SPARKLE GeForce 7600GT and SPARKLE GeForce 7900GS COOL-PIPE graphic cards. Besides super DX9 gaming power, both cards are equipped with heatpipe-based passive cooling system rather than the conventional HSF. This noiseless passive cooling solution features higher throughput thanks to high efficiency heatpipe optimized for mass heat volatilization. It has high performance thermal compound ensures optimal thermal dissipation even after years of use. Helped with this incredible passive cooling design SPARKLE GeForce 7600GT and 7900GS COOL-PIPE graphics cards bring totally zero DB working surroundings to pc gamers.

AMD plans to cut all the Radeon X1300 series, re-nominating RV516/RV505 to Radeon X1550, and overclocking them. Since the core is fabricated with 80nm process by TSMC, AMD confirmed that the core can be overclocked to 600MHz without changing the core voltage. Manufacturers are also approved to sell special overclocked Radeon X1550 version, which may be running at 700MHz with additional voltage and improved heat-sink. ATI Radeon X1550 256MB has the same price as Radeon X1300 - $65; while the special over-clocked edition costs $69. Its rival would be NVIDIA's GeForce 7300GS 256MB. Radeon X1550 has a 25% lead to GeForce 7300GS, and the boost is even higher for the special edition at 45%.

PowerColor is going to release X1950 PRO and XT cards with passive cooling solutions from Arctic Cooling. Both cards will be priced about USD$10 above the existing ones. This new passive cooler sports 4 heat-pipes and there are some special heat sinks to cool down the hot voltage regulators. The new passive cooler runs even cooler than the stock cooling on the X1950 PRO; 63C compared to 67C. The passive cooled PowerColor X1950 series video cards will be available in Q1 2007.

VisionTek Products, LLC, a leading supplier of advanced PC graphics cards, memory solutions and PC accessories, today announced the launch of their new X1950PRO AGP PC graphic card. The VisionTek X1950PRO AGP is currently available at Best Buy, Comp USA, other leading retailers and e-commerce locations.

Next year (2007) will start with an booming start for the VGA market, in 2007 lots of things will happen in this market, new architectures will be presented where performance will be outstanding and leading. Jetway will start in 2007 with bringing their ATI cards back to the European market with aggressive prices. Performance is leading but price for the market is just as important.

OCZ, well known for its memory and PSUs, is about to expand its product line. According to pictures posted at VR-Zone, OCZ will be producing graphic cards with NVIDIA chips. It is uncertain as to if the company will also utilize ATI/AMD cores for its products.

ATI is about to introduce new entry-level graphics accelerator dubbed X1050 later this month. The new chip is set to replace the X300 and X550 cards from the market. It will be clocked at 400MHz core and 666MHz memory. It will support both 64- and 128- bit memory interfaces.

It was only a matter of time before ATI starts losing market share after the AMD acquisition. According to Jon Peddie Research, ATI's share of the computer-oriented graphics market dropped from 28 per cent in Q2 to 23 per cent in Q3. Market leader Intel's share remained at 40 per cent, but NVIDIA, VIA and SiS all recorded rises, reaching 22 per cent, ten per cent and five per cent, respectively. NVIDIA's market share rose two percentage points. NVIDIA also grew its share of the desktop graphics market, to 25 per cent, JPR said. ATI still holds leader position in the mobile market. Its share fell to 24 per cent, while NVIDIA reached 19 per cent in the quarter.

NVIDIA Corporation, today announced the NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500M, a high-performing mobile workstation graphics solution for CAD, Digital Content Creation, and Scientific Visualization.Engineered to deliver unprecedented performance for accelerated workflow and shortened design cycles, the Quadro FX 3500M with support for OpenGL and DirectX, offers up to 512MB G-DDR3 memory, a 256-bit memory interface, up to 38.4GB/s memory bandwidth, and up to 2GB/s pixel read back. The Quadro FX 3500M includes adaptive power management tools designed to provide performance scalability and visualization of extensive datasets with extremely high image quality.

Ebuyer.com is offering, for £468.00 (£549.90 including VAT), a very lovely pair of X1950XTXs. Shipped in a James Bond style briefcase, the two cards come with a certificate of authenticity signed by Dave Orton, the last CEO of ATI. Each card (CrossFire edition and normal edition) comes factory overclocked to 670 MHz core / 1050 MHz memory. There is also a free gamers mouse pad included. If you have £549.90 and want to own a piece of ATI history, you can order the "Uber Edition" here.

Right after GECUBE announced their 1950PRO AGP, HDCP Edition Video Card, Sapphire is ready to roll another HDCP capable AGP card. Additional informations about the SAPPHIRE X1950PRO AGP can be found here. The card is scheduled to ship from retailers worldwide in the second week of December with an MSRP of $249.99.