Introduction

A few weeks back NVIDIA announced their GeForce GTX 200 series consisting of the GeForce GTX 280 and the GeForce GTX 260. The GTX 280 is without doubt the fastest graphics card on the market, but will also rip the biggest hole in your wallet. The GTX 260 is a cut down version of the GTX 280, which comes at a cheaper price point.
Compared to its big brother, the GTX 260 features only 192 shaders (240 on the GTX 280), 28 ROPs (GTX 280: 32) and 896 MB of graphics memory (GTX 280: 1024 MB). Also the clock speeds have been reduced a bit. Overall these changes result in a $200 cheaper card, which is about the price of a single HD 4850.

Point of View's GeForce GTX 260 is a complete implementation of the NVIDIA reference design. One highlight however is the included Assassin's Creed Full Game in the package, which is one of the top titles at the moment.

Packaging & Contents

The package definitely highlights the included Assassin's Creed Game, but when looking at the box in a rush you will barely make out that the product inside is a GTX 260 made my Point of View. A carrying handle on the package will let you carry your new card back to your lair from the shop.



You will receive:

• Graphics card
• Manual + Driver CD + Assassin's Creed full game
• DVI Adapter + HDMI Adapter
• PCI-Express power adapter
• SPDIF audio cable

The Card

Point of View's GTX 260 looks exactly like their GTX 280, only a small print on the bottom will reveal the different model name. Just like the GTX 280, the GTX 260 uses a dual slot cooler.


The card has two DVI ports, basically the most common output configuration these days. In case you need an analog VGA port you can use the included DVI adapter. When using an HDMI adapter (also included), you will also have access to HDMI+HDCP+Audio, which allows easy setup of a media PC. For the HDMI audio feature you have to connect the included SPDIF cable from your on-board audio or sound card to the input on the GTX 260.


Here are the front and the back of the card, high-res versions are also available (front, back). If you choose to use these images for voltmods etc, please include a link back to this site or let us post your article.