Multi-display has huge benefits for productivity, gamers are only beginning to see them, but are restricted to higher-end graphics cards to get playable frame-rates. Prior to consumer multi-display ready graphics cards after ATI/AMD Eyefinity and NVIDIA 3DVision Surround, multi-display (>2 displays per graphics card) was restricted to the professional graphics market, where GPU vendors made a killing selling expensive graphics cards that handled over 2 display heads with just about enough graphics processing power to handle Windows Aero UI. One of NVIDIA's biggest AIC partners, Galaxy, took it upon itself to make GeForce-based multi-display graphics cards that make multi-display a lot more affordable. Currently, affordable multi-display graphics card market is dominated by AMD Radeon, where even the entry-level $50-something HD 6450 can handle 3 displays, while the $90-something HD 6670 handles 4.

Galaxy designed two new such GeForce-based graphics cards, the first is an entry-level card based on GeForce 210, which is single-slot, full-height, and silent. It uses two IDT VMM1402 chips to handle up to four full-HD (1920 x 1080) displays using four DVI connectors. The card has two DMS-59 connectors, there are two cables provided, which convert each DMS-59 to two DVI connectors.

NVIDIA today launched its GeForce GTX 550 Ti graphics processor, to capture a key mainstream price point with which it wants to make PC gaming as a whole more attractive. EVGA kicked off its lineup with two models, the base model, which carries the model number 01G-P3-1556-KR, features a "free performance boost", meaning that while it's priced on par with reference design cards, it is slightly overclocked out of the box. The next one is a SuperClocked (SC) variant carrying the model number 01G-P3-1557-KR. Both cards stick to NVIDIA's reference board and cooler designs.

The Free Performance Boost (FPB) variant carries clock speeds of 951/1903/4356 MHz (core/CUDA cores/memory), while the SuperClocked variant packs 981/1962/4514 MHz, against reference speeds of 900/1800/4100 MHz. The DirectX 11 compliant GeForce GTX 550 Ti GPU packs 192 CUDA cores, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 192-bit wide memory interface. Power is drawn from a single 6-pin PCI-E power input, display outputs include two DVI and one mini-HDMI 1.4a. The EVGA GTX 550 Ti FPB is priced at US $149.99, while the SuperClocked variant goes for US $159.99.

Gigabyte released a new GeForce GTX 560 Ti Super Overclock graphics card model. The GV-N560SO-1GI-950 from Gigabyte features an out of the box core clock speed of 950 MHz, 1900 MHz CUDA core speed, and 1145 MHz (4580 MHz effective) GDDR5 memory speed. The new model is slightly slower than the GV-N560SO-1GI the company released last month, which has clock speeds of 1000/2000/1145 MHz. The GTX 560 Ti SOC from Gigabyte is based on a custom design PCB that uses Ultra Durable VGA+ high grade components, and WindForce 2X cooler.

The WindForce 2X cooler makes use of a large aluminum fin array to which heat is conveyed by a number of copper heat pipes that make direct contact with the GPU. The heatsink is ventilated by two 80 fans. Like every other GeForce GTX 560 Ti, the DirectX 11 compliant GPU packs 384 CUDA cores, and makes use of 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. Display outputs include two DVI and one mini-HDMI. Gigabyte did not give out pricing, but one can expect it to be lower than that of the 1000 MHz SOC variant.

Here are the first pictures of an NVIDIA reference design GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card. The pictures reveal quite a bit about the PCB layout and the cooling assembly. To begin with, the card is longer than the GTX 460, and uses a more refined cooler. The GF114 GPU uses a rectangular package, much like the GF104. The eight GDDR5 memory chips lie adjacent to the GPU. Power supply consists of 4-phase GPU, single-phase memory, and is drawn in by two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors. SLI is restricted to 2-way, and display outputs include two DVI and one mini-HDMI. Although the PCB is green, one can expect it to come in various colors depending on the partners' specifications.

The cooling assembly, as mentioned earlier, is much more refined compared to the previous generation. The GTX 460 cooler was not much more than a GPU heatsink with radially-projecting aluminum fins, covered by shroud. With the GTX 560 Ti, NVIDIA used a base-plate unisink, which collects heat from other components such as the memory and VRM, and conveys it to the GPU heatsink, which is much more elaborate, and uses 8 mm thick copper heatpipes to spread heat across a much larger heatsink. The design of this heatsink seems to be inspired from MSI's Cyclone cooler. Don't mind the flowery-green "sticker" that's Photoshop'd to the shroud, it's not part of the reference design. That's where partners can either demonstrate their creativity, or show off their anime fantasies.

ASUS' much talked about tablet, the Eee Slate EP121 was officially unveiled at CES. The 12-inch tablet features hardware specifications which aren't very "Eee", so to speak. To begin with, it's not based on the Atom Pine Trail platform, but instead uses a relatively powerful Core i5-470UM dual-core processor clocked at 1.33 GHz (1.86 GHz Turbo Boost), with 3 MB L3 cache, HyperThreding, and Intel HD 2000 graphics. The CPU is backed by 2 or 4 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory. Storage is care of 32 or 64 GB SSD.

The Eee Slate EP121 runs Windows 7 Home Premium x64 with all its touch-input features enabled. The 12.1" multi-touch screen sports a screen resolution of 1280 x 800. Apart from directly touching the UI, users can also use the provided digitizer pen that can let you write in your handwriting, which the software tries to make sense of and converts to text. Connectivity includes USB 2.0 ports, WiFi b/g/n, and Bluetooth 3.0. Other features include 2-channel HD audio, mini-HDMI display output, 3-in-1 card reader, and built-in stereo speakers. Prices start at US $1000, and goes up depending on memory amount and SSD size opted for.

Colorful, one of the biggest AICs in Asia, announces their new product - a single-slot GTS450, named iGame450-1024M Buri-SLIM. We had seen the PCB of this item before, which quipped 3+1 phases VRM, all high-C POSCAP capacitors onboard, and driven by ONSENMI MOSFET. And the chocks attract many peoples' eyes- they are threaded installed on the PCB. And also, the PCB is ventilated, so it could improve the thermal performance for the components on the PCB.

Today, we are glad to see Colorful announces the full sample. The card uses a cooper base radiator. The air is leaded to left-top side by the vents which are tightly installed on the cooper base, and the exhaust will be radiated from the vents on the cooler cover and top side.

Galaxy's brand for the European market, KFA2, released the GeForce GTX 480 "Anarchy" graphics card. Based on Galaxy's own PCB design, the card makes use of Arctic's expertise, with an Accelero Xtreme Pro triple-fan GPU cooler. To top it up, it also uses overclocked speeds out of the box, that's 760 MHz (core), 1520 MHz CUDA core, and 900 (3800 effective) MHz memory. Like every other GTX 480, it packs 480 CUDA cores, and 1536 MB of memory over a 384-bit GDDR5 memory interface. Display connectivity include two DVI and a mini-HDMI. The company did not give out a price yet.

Inno3D released its non-reference design GeForce GTX 465 OC Vapor-Freeze graphics card. This factory-overclocked card uses NVIDIA reference PCB (albeit in green), with its own-design cooling assembly. The cooler makes use of a GPU direct-contact base, from which five heat-pipes convey heat directly from the GPU to aluminum fin blocks on either sides of a 92 mm PWM-controlled fan that spins at speeds of 1000~4200 rpm, with a rated noise output of 18 dBA. Inno3D claims the cooling solution to up cooling efficiency by 15% over reference NVIDIA cooler.

As far as clock speeds go, the GPU is clocked at 750 MHz, 1350 MHz CUDA cores, and 850 MHz (3400 MHz effective) memory, against reference speeds of 607/1215/3206 MHz. The card has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide interface. As with every other GTX 465, the card is based on the 40 nm GF100 GPU, it has 352 CUDA cores, and supports the latest PC graphics technologies including DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4. The higher clock speeds, Inno3D claims, up the card's performance by 10%. Display connectivity includes two DVI and a mini-HDMI. The card is 4-way SLI capable, it takes power from two 6-pin PCI-E power inputs. Inno3D did not give out and details about the card's pricing. A cheaper variant that sticks to NVIDIA reference clock speeds is also available, it lacks the "OC" marker on the box.

Here are the first pictures of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 460 graphics card, an upper-mainstream model based on the company's new GF104 GPU which was pictured earlier. The pictures reveal the reference design card to be shorter than any of the GF100-based graphics cards (such as GTX 470, GTX 480), and compacted in many ways. The cooler is dual-slot, and instead of an air-channel that's draws air from the interior and blows it out from the rear, the cooler has a centrally-located fan right over the GPU. As expected from the older article, the GPU package indeed is rectangular in shape rather than square.

The PCB is black, though a green PCB cannot be written off given the product's positioning. There are traces for eight memory chips on the card (looking at the components on the reverse-side of the PCB), confirming a 256-bit wide memory interface, though six chips are occupied (indicating that for this SKU only, a 192-bit wide memory interface is used. There is only one SLI finger showing that it only supports 2-way SLI multi-GPU standard. Connectivity on the rear panel is consists of the usual 2x DVI-D and mini-HDMI. Power is drawn in by two 6-pin PCI-E power inputs. Other specifications include DirectX 11 compliance, 336 CUDA cores, 768 MB of 192-bit GDDR5 memory (or another SKU with 1 GB of 256-bit GDDR5 memory), and clock speeds of 675 MHz core, 1350 MHz shader (CUDA cores), and 900 MHz (or 3600 MHz effective) memory. The GTX 460 768 MB is expected to launch next month at a price of US $230.

We saw an interesting graphics card at Galaxy today. Their latest
9800 GT uses a mini-HDMI connector instead of a normal sized one.