Introduction

Currently NVIDIA is releasing new versions of their lower end graphics card series. All new cards are based on NVIDIA's first 40 nm graphics processors. The GeForce GT 220 uses the GT216 GPU, while the G 210 uses the GT218 processor. Both cards are positioned in the lower end of the performance spectrum, with performance in the 9500 GT range. This is also the first time that NVIDIA offers a DirectX 10.1 compliant GPU. NVIDIA's Reviewers Guide states "The GeForce GT 220 is the perfect GPU for Microsoft Windows 7". I respectfully disagree, a Windows 7 graphics card should have support for DirectX 11 in my opinion, no matter if DirectX 11 is popular yet. NVIDIA has also worked on the media PC features and now lets you transmit the HDMI audio signal through the PCI-Express bus without the need for any SPDIF cable. Full HD video decode acceleration, NVIDIA CUDA and PhysX are also present on this card making this an all-round entry level solution if you are looking for a basic graphics card that works well for desktop use, and allows for casual gaming.

Most of you have probably never heard of Axle 3D before. They are located in Hong Kong and manufacture NVIDIA graphics cards. With a monthly capacity of about 200k cards they are a very well established graphics card vendor for the Asia Pacific Region, but they also have offices in Germany and Dubai.

Axle's GeForce GT 220 comes with 1 GB of GDDR3 memory and features NVIDIA's reference clock speeds. They have customized the PCB design and cooling solution to fit their needs in order to provide a competitive and cost effective solution.