GIGABYTE took its own sweet time launching its GeForce GTX 680, but no harm done. Carrying the product code GV-N680D5-2GD-B, GIGABYTE's graphics card sticks to NVIDIA reference board design, decorated with a slick-looking abstract art. The card also sticks to NVIDIA reference clock speeds of 1006 MHz (core), 1058 MHz (boost), and 1502 MHz / 6.00 GHz effective GDDR5 memory. It is armed with 2 GB of memory sitting across a 256-bit wide memory interface. Based on the 28 nm GK104 GPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 is powered by 1536 CUDA cores, and a revolutionary, energy-efficient architecture. GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 680 is priced at US $499.

Not to be out-gunned by Aqua Computer, Ljubljana-based EK Water Blocks has also announced its own liquid cooling offerings for NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680 graphics card. The EK-FC680 GTX series full cover (GPU, RAM, VRM) water blocks are designed to fit standard GTX 680 (and 670 apparently) cards and feature G1/4" threaded fittings can be used on both sides.

There are four blocks listed by EK, two priced at €84.95 that have an electrolytic copper base, and two with an electroless nickel (EN) plated base which cost €94.96. The blocks can have either a POM Acetal or an acrylic cover.

The GeForce GTX 680 may be today's highlight release but it's not the only Kepler-based offering unveiled by NVIDIA. Besides announcing its new flagship desktop card, NVIDIA today also introduced multiple GeForce 600M Series mobile cards, four of which are powered by the 28 nm GK107 chip.

The Kepler-flavored models in the 600M family are the Enthusiast-grade GeForce GTX 660M and the 'Performance class' GT 650M, GT 640M and GT 640M LE.

LucidLogix (Lucid), GPU virtualization software leaders, today announced DynamiX, a unique software implementation that will allow selected formerly unplayable high-performance games to be enjoyed on mainstream and low-end laptops and Ultrabooks equipped with only an integrated GPU. A free trial version that initially expands the playability of the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on a variety of notebooks is immediately available for download.

"With DynamiX, a single embedded GPU is all you will need to enjoy your favorite high-performance titles on most new notebooks without reducing display resolution or minimizing game performance settings," said Offir Remez, Lucid co-founder and president. "We are offering this FREE trial beta version as a proof-of-concept, while working to provide DynamiX for more games. Try it and tell us what you think!"

Here is the first picture of EVGA GeForce GTX 680. The best-selling GeForce AIC partner in the US, EVGA, opted for a minimalist sticker design, while sticking to NVIDIA reference board and cooler designs. In fact, all GeForce GTX 680 launched in the first-wave, do. Speaking of first-wave, TechnoReviews managed to screengrab American Retailer Newegg.com listing out nearly all the GeForce GTX 680 models that will be available on launch of the SKU.

The listing confirms the US $499 (before taxes) pricing of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680, because that's how low these cards are available for; they will never price it below NVIDIA-recommended MSRP. Newegg.com applying a $10 margin is quite natural, they've done it with pretty much every major graphics card market-launch this year, including that of the Radeon HD 7900 series. Assuming the GeForce GTX 680 beats Radeon HD 7970, as NVIDIA claims, our educated guess is it still won't start a "price-war" as such. AMD might recalibrate prices of HD 7900 series down 5~10%, but AMD and NVIDIA won't be able to drive prices below a threshold, and that threshold is governed by TSMC, its ability to ship 28 nm chips in volumes big enough, and at prices low enough, to support a price-war between the two GPU giants.

An alleged marketing video of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680, slated for after launch, got leaked and uploaded to YouTube by an Italian-speaking YouTube user (going by the Italian used in the description). The part that makes it look genuine is it features NVIDIA's VP for Corporate Marketing Ujesh Desai, holding the graphics card, and detailing it. He claims that NVIDIA set out to build the fastest GPU - "and accomplished it." The entire bouquet of new features introduced with the GeForce GTX 680 has been disclosed in the video, to great detail.Watch the video (embedded from YouTube) after the break.

It looks like murmurs about the $499 (excl. taxes) price-tag of GeForce GTX 680 have more than an element of truth in them, after all. European retailer PC Components listed an MSI-branded GeForce GTX 680 graphics card (model: N680GTX-PM2D2GD5) for 492€ (including VAT), and 416.95€ (excluding VAT). This reinforces the theory of a US $499 (excluding taxes) price-tag (including taxes price varies significantly between states and other US territories).

The listing also reveals the box-art of MSI's card, and various other features of the GeForce GTX 680, such as NVIDIA GPU Boost Technology, NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround (with the ability to connect all three displays to a single graphics card), clock speeds of 1006 MHz (core) 1056 MHz (boost), 1502 MHz (6.00 GHz GDDR5 effective memory), 2 GB memory, and 195W TDP.Find the listing here.

The latest version of MSI's Afterburner graphics card tweaking software, version 2.2.0 Beta 15, hit the web. The new version, among other things, features support for NVIDIA Kepler series graphics cards, including the ability to monitor power-consumption on these new graphics cards. A bigger part of the feature-set that goes into guaranteeing functional Kepler support is offsets for core, and memory clocks; and voltages, for dynamic overclocking with Kepler family graphics cards.DOWNLOAD: MSI Afterburner 2.2.0 Beta 15

The complete change-log follows.

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680 is certainly generating a lot of excitement, so much so that one AIB maker, MSI, has jumped the gun and put out a few PR goodies relating to the incoming card. Seen below, MSI's marketing materials show off the company's GTX 680 (which is based on NVIDIA's reference design), the new GEFORCE GTX logo, and some specs and features like the 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, the 256-bit memory interface, the quad display outputs, the PCI-Express 3.0 support, and the ability to run four monitors (and a complete 3D Vision Surround setup) from a single card.

MSI's GeForce GTX 680 will also be fully supported by the company's Afterburner utility that's set to provide 'GPU/Memory Clock Offset and Power Limit Control'. Expect an official unveiling of the MSI GeForce GTX 680 this Thursday, March 22nd.

- pictures removed at MSI's request -

Closely trailing the launch of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680, and keeping up with its own streak of launching a new graphics card line each month since January, AMD will unveil its Radeon HD 7990 graphics card in April, or so it's reported. INPAI reports the clock-speed and chip-configuration of the upcoming dual-GPU monstrosity. The Radeon HD 7990 packs two 28 nm "Tahiti" GPUs as a "Crossfire on a stick" solution. The Tahiti chips will be clocked at 850 MHz (core), and 1250 MHz (5.00 GHz effective) memory.

The chip-configuration of each of the two Tahiti chips will be the same as that on the Radeon HD 7970, with 2048 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 3 GB of memory, each. The total memory on the card will hence be 6 GB. With the Radeon HD 7970 refusing to budge from its US $549 price-point, it's quite natural that the Radeon HD 7990 will be priced very high. It is gunning to retain the performance crown that's currently disputed between the Radeon HD 6990 and GeForce GTX 590.

Leading international graphics card and mainboard maker MSI today announced the release of the MSI R7970 Lightning, the new heir to the throne of Lightning graphics cards. Equipped with AMD's 28 nm Radeon HD 7970 GPU, the MSI R7970 Lightning features an all-new Unlocked Digital Power Architecture that incorporates an Unlocked BIOS, Digital PWM Controller, and Enhanced Power Design to boost overclocking potential to new heights and make overclocking easier than ever.

In an industry first, the proprietary "GPU Reactor" power supply module reduces power supply noise and also boosts overclocking stability as well. To keep this beast cool, the MSI R7970 Lightning utilizes the latest Twin Frozr IV Thermal Design equipped with Dust Removal Technology. The dual 10 cm fans with Propeller Blade Technology generate massive airflow for fast heat dissipation while remaining whisper silent. The two form-in-one heat sinks improve cooling for memory and the power supply module as well ensure structural integrity.

At CeBIT, AFOX showed off the industry's first single-slot, air-cooled graphics card based on the Radeon HD 7850 GPU. Carrying the model number AF7850-1024D5S1, AFOX' creation sports a similar cooling assembly as the one on the AF6850-1024D5S1, an HD 6850-based graphics card. The cooler uses a big lateral-flow blower that directs air through a dense aluminum fin-channel array, where heat gets dissipated onto it. Heat is drawn from key components such as the GPU, memory, and VRM, using a vapor-chamber plate.

There's a small catch with AFOX' design, though. The memory amount is halved to 1 GB, although it still sits across a 256-bit wide memory interface. We don't expect a significant performance penalty for that. Further, the memory clock speed is reduced from the reference speed of 1200 MHz to 1125 MHz (4.80 GHz eff. to 4.50 GHz eff.), although the core speed stays the same, at 860 MHz. The display IO is an interesting mix of one dual-link DVI, one full-size HDMI, one mini-DisplayPort, and one full-size DisplayPort.

Introducing the SkyMax high-end DT Heat-pipe VGA graphics array cooler. This triple-fan VGA cooler utilizes five (5) copper heat-pipes that quickly transfer the heat away from the GPU heat source. The SkyMax offers powerful cooling solution for the latest Nvidia and ATI Graphic processors up to 180 W TDP.

The five heat-pipes utilized are high performance sintered powder heat-pipes which guarantee swift heat transfer. The SkyMax is equipped with three (3) DC fans, one (1) 90 mm centre fan and two (2) 80 mm fans which generate a huge air pressure of 36.5 CFM. This VGA Cooler is supplied with a complete set of mounting accessories such as clips, screws, S420 thermal interface material, MOS and RAM heat-sinks. Due to the open heatsink design the air can easily cool the entire Graphic Card. You can easily install this VGA cooler onto your Gforce and Radeon chipset based graphic cards. Powered by innovation and performance guaranteed the SkyMax is the professional solution for pc enthusiasts and gamers alike - offered to you by Spire.

VTX3D, a leading brand of graphics card maker today adds the latest HD7800 series to its premium graphics cards selection. Being a new force of HD7000 family, both models of HD7800 series feature revolutionary GPU design, the latest PCI Express 3.0 platform, also advanced DirectX○R 11.1. All these cutting-edge technologies make VTX3D HD7800 series as a perfect choice for PC enthusiasts.

Based on the AMD 28 nm processor, the VTX3D HD7800 series includes two models with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. VTX3D HD7870 GHz Edition runs at clock speed of 1000 MHz, and HD7850 are clocked at 860 MHz, both together with 4.8 Gbps for the memory delivering class leading performance. What's more, the VTX HD7800 series is ready for CrossFire mode, gamers can get exceptional performance scaling with a second GPU.

The new SAPPHIRE HD 7800 series of graphics cards is based on the third family of GPU's from AMD built in its new 28nm process and featuring the highly acclaimed GCN graphics processing architecture. The new HD 7870 and HD 7850 GPUs have an optimised internal structure sharing many of the features of the high performance HD 7900 series already released but with fewer Stream processors and a new high speed 256-bit memory interface to the latest DDR5 memory types. It is aimed at mainstream gamers looking for excellent performance together with good value and all the latest features.

Two models of the HD 7870 are being introduced by SAPPHIRE at launch. The first is the SAPPHIRE HD 7870 which will ship with a core clock speed of 1GHz, and will be known as the SAPPHIRE HD 7870 GHz Edition. It is equipped with 2GB of the latest DDR5 memory clocked at 1200MHz (4.8Gb/s effective). At the same time SAPPHIRE is introducing a higher performance model, the SAPPHIRE HD 7870 GHz OC Edition, in which both core and memory are factory overclocked and the PowerTune limits are raised to allow even further performance tuning. Both models are equipped with SAPPHIRE's new dual-extractor technology - Dual-X - a highly efficient multi-heatpipe cooler with dual fans providing quiet and very cool operation during normal operating conditions, and superb cooling performance even under extreme load.

The tiresome wait for NVIDIA's next-generation GPU is drawing to a close. Or so suggests a Facebook wall post by NVIDIA Italy, which reads (in Italian, of course):

Aspettando Kepler... pazienza, pazienza, pazienza che il momento giusto arriverà, e allora... non ce ne sarà più per nessuno! :-)

That can be translated as "Waiting for Kepler ... patience, patience, patience, the right time will come, and then ... it will be unbeatable (sic)." From various sources we're hearing that there will be hectic activity surrounding the launch of NVIDIA's next-gen GPU in the weeks to come.

Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the industry's research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, announced estimated graphics Add-in Board (AIB) shipments and sales' market share for Q4'11. The JPR AIB Report tracks computer graphics boards, which carry discrete graphics chips. They are used in desktop PCs, workstations, servers, and some other devices such as scientific instruments. They may be sold as after-market products directly to customers or they may be factory installed. In all cases, they represent the higher-end of the graphics industry as discrete chips rather than integrated processors.

Overall shipments of graphics AIBs for the quarter came in above the last quarter at 16.1 million units compared to 17.2 million for Q3'11.

The evolution of the graphics market has resulted in two camps - suppliers of graphics AIBs: those which carry NVIDIA graphics chips and those which carry AMD chips. NVIDIA GPU-based boards increased by 3.7% from Q3 while AMD-based boards decreased 3.6% for the same period. Sales of AIB products have been directly impacted by the rise in economic growth in the BRIC countries, and in particular in China where there is a strong preference for discrete graphics AIBs.

Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the industry's research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, announced estimated graphics chip shipments and suppliers' market share for Q4'11.

We found that shipments during the fourth quarter of 2011 behaved according to past years with regard to seasonality, the new seasonality that has developed since the economic crash of 2008. Prior to that shift, Q4 was a seasonally up quarter, since 2008 it's been a seasonally low to down quarter-and this year it was down the most since 2008. A lot of it was blamed on the floods in Thailand, but general economic malaise still permeates the industry.

Today, NVIDIA welcomes 23 universities and research institutions to its family of CUDA Research Centers and CUDA Teaching Centers.

CUDA Teaching Centers empower tens-of-thousands of students each year with the knowledge and expertise to take advantage of GPUs and their parallel-processing capabilities. These centers receive teaching kits, textbooks, software licenses and NVIDIA CUDA architecture-enabled GPUs for teaching lab computers, as well as academic discounts for additional hardware.

AMD's Radeon HD 7800 series performance GPUs that target cost-benefit sweet-spots will be launched in the first half of March. The launch will include Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 7850. The two SKUs are based on a new 28 nm ASIC codenamed "Pitcairn". Little is known about its specifications at this point, from reliable sources at least.

In April, AMD's rival NVIDIA will get its GeForce Kepler family of GPUs, all guns blazing. In April alone, NVIDIA is expected to launch a high-end part, the GeForce GTX 690, a performance part, the GeForce GTX 660, and mainstream part GeForce GTX 640. The three will be based on three new ASICs built on the 28 nm process, the GK110, GK104, and GK106, respectively.

April will be the most interesting month for PC enthusiasts as Intel will launch its third-generation Core processor family, codename "Ivy Bridge". Little is known about AMD's high-end Radeon HD 7990 "New Zealand".

NVIDIA today announced that registration is now open for its third GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in the U.S., one of the world's fastest-growing events focused on computational science and visualization.

GTC 2012 - to be held in San Jose, Calif., from May 14-17 - is the flagship in NVIDIA's global series of events focused on how the GPU is transforming science. It is expected to draw the greatest minds in the scientific, engineering, research and developer communities from more than 40 nations.

For more information or to register, visit the GTC website.

NVIDIA today reported revenue for fiscal 2012 ended Jan. 29, 2012 of $4.00 billion, up 12.8 percent from $3.54 billion in fiscal 2011. GAAP earnings per share for the year were $0.94 per diluted share, an increase of 118.6 percent over $0.43 in fiscal 2011. Non-GAAP earnings per share for fiscal 2012 were $1.19, up 46.9 percent over $0.81 in fiscal 2011.

Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 was $953.2 million, down 10.6 percent from the prior quarter, and up 7.5 percent from $886.4 million in the same period a year earlier.

A leading brand of graphics card maker - VTX3D, today introduces the most well-known X series of VTX3D, HD7970/HD7950 X Edition. The X series is designed to deliver extraordinary performance with factory overclocked setting and unique cooling design.

VTX3D HD7970/HD7950 X Edition incorporates the latest PCI-E Gen 3 to get the maximum performance from your GPU. Both fitted with 3 GB of GDDR5 memory connected via a new high speed 384 bit memory interface. VTX3D HD7970/HD7950 X Edition is clocked at 1050 MHz and 880 MHz respectively, also together with 1425 MHz and 1250 MHz for each memory, fulfilling those who thirst for extreme performance. The HD7970/HD7950 X Edition also features ultra cooling design. With two 92 mm ultra big fan and SSU-shape heat pipe design, this efficient cooling solution maximizes the speed of heat dissipation, but minimizes the noisy level, creating most pleasing environment for gaming.

We have previously reported on the super cheap ARM-based Raspberry Pi hobby computer that's been under development from the Raspberry Pi foundation. However, it's now going into production and is generating a lot of interest, so gamesindustry.biz interviewed its founder, Eben Upton, about it (free registration required).

The computer's primary purpose is as a computer science teaching aid in schools and colleges and also for home brew use by enthusiasts who want to tinker with it and make specialized solutions out of it. However, it seems that enthusiasts will have a nice surprise in that the onboard GPU is surprisingly good. The actual ARM implementation is a Broadcom BCM2835 System on Chip (SoC) containing an ARM 11 CPU and a custom graphics core, which has been designed by the Raspberry Pi team, including Upton. In the interview, Upton claimed that it can double iPhone 4S performance and handily beats NVIDIA's Tegra solution, because of its tile mode architecture.

AMD's Radeon HD 7970 seems to have ruffled a few feathers at NVIDIA and it looks like the green team doesn't want too much market exposure for it. A fairly-reliable source at ChipHell learned that NVIDIA's GeForce "GTX 680" part could be launched some time in February. The source says that this part could be competitive with the HD 7970, though not exactly NVIDIA's fastest next-generation GPU in the works. So it has to be something other than the GeForce Kepler 110, that's reportedly slated for March-April. At least the tiny pieces of specifications trickling out seem to reinforce this theory. Graphics cards based on this part apparently have 2 GB of memory, and its core clock speed is reported to be 780 MHz.