Building on the success of its midrange families of graphics accelerators, leading graphics supplier Sapphire Technology has just added several new members to the X1650 series.

The new X1650 series is an enhancement of the successful X1600 series and has been designed to deliver high efficiency, high performance in Shader Model 3.0 and enhanced image quality. The architecture also supports ATI AvivoTM technology delivering vibrant high fidelity images and video playback to the latest High Definition (HD) video standards. The AGP version delivers new affordable levels of display quality and performance over this industry standard graphics interface.

GeCube Releases X1950XT AGP Graphics Card with X-Turbo Cooling

GeCube has launched a 256MB GDDR3 version of the ATI Radeon X1950XT graphics card for AGP 8X interface. According to GeCube the AGP 8X interface version of the card has the equal performance as the PCI-Express interface version. Based on ATI Radeon R580+(90nm) GPU and cooled by GECUBE's exclusive X-Turbo Thermo Electric Chip (TEC) cooling the card works at 648MHz, or can be slightly overclocked to 675MHz core speeds, while maintaing 70~80'C operating temps and 28dB noise levels. The X1950XT supports DirectX 9, Shader Model 3.0 and has 48 pixel pipelines. It also supports High Definition Content Protection (HDCP), Blu-ray, HD DVD, 1080i, and high-definition video output. For more detailed product information, please click here.

Titan introduced today new Elena TEC VGA cooler, which combines the latest TEC and Heatpipe technology to provide powerful cooling performance especially for high-end GPUs and overcloking. By monitoring the VGA temperature, Elena's TEC control system is able to automatically switch ON/OFF power to maintain the temperature in a certain range that is, if the GPU is too hot, the TEC will start cooling; on the other hand, if the GPU is cool enough, the TEC will stop cooling. Thus, there is no condensation problem like old TEC solutions. In addition to the TEC cooling, the Elena TEC VGA Cooler is equipped with two silent 80x80x10mm fans(1800RPM-2500RPM/21dB-25dB) and four copper heatpipes that help speed up heat dissipation. The Elena TEC VGA Cooler has a universal mounting mechanism that supports all ATI video cards from X1300 to X1950 series, and all NVIDIA cards from GeForce 6800 to GeForce 7950GT except the 7800GS model.

Brea, California and Munich, Germany - February 12, 2007 - EVGA, a market leader and premier provider of high-performance graphics solutions and mother boards today an-nounced the release of two new NVIDIA e-GeForce 8800 GTS series graphics cards with 320MB of fast GDDR3.

EVGA is the first in the market to introduce the e-GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked (P/N: 320-P2-N815-AR in the US and P/N: 320-P2-E815-AR in Europe). It has been carefully tuned and thoroughly tested to "Superclocked" at a blazing Core Clock speed of 576MHz and an amazing 1.7GHz Memory Clock. It has a recommended retail price of 349€ in Europe.

As you probably know, Intel is working on their own graphics card. Most people scoff at this idea, considering that Intel was rumored to buy NVIDIA so that they could have graphics cards. However, in a few years (late 2008/2009), Intel is planning on becoming a serious threat to the market dominance owned by NVIDIA and ATI. Intel is claiming that by late 2008 they will have at least sampled a card with multiple cores (up to sixteen) on one die. They also claim they will be able to do this on a 32nm architecture. This 16 core, 32nm GPU is estimated to run sixteen times faster than the 8800GTX.

I can gladly say DNA-Drivers is back alive. This is supported by the release of DNA's ATi 5.0.7.1 Driver. This can be found here. I have information directly from the creator (KillerSneak) that NVIDIA drivers will be released in a matter of a few weeks. He also stated Vista drivers may take a bit longer due to the fact of Microsofts new "security" measures that requires all drivers to be signed. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out for Vista and modded drivers.

ASUS launched today the EN8800GTX AquaTank graphics card equipped with innovative all-in-one watercooling, which improves the cooling with up to 12°C compared to a generic GF8800GTX cards. The EN8800GTX AquaTank/HTDP/768M video cards come factory overclocked to 630Mhz core and 2.06GHz (1030MHz DDR3) memory clocks. Click here to learn more about the card itself.

With AMD/ATI's flagship for the start of the DirectX10 era, the R600, expected during March, the two mainstream cards in the series are expected to launch sometime during April. It will probably be about a month after the R600 is released, with mass availability sometime in May. The R630 is the mid-range model, whilst the R610 will be the entry level card. These cards will be going head to head with NVIDIA's G86 and G84 to win the DirectX 10 low and mid end battles, hopefully bringing DX10 under $100 and making it available to more people.

Palit Microsystems, today excitingly announced the most high-end AGP graphics card: X1950GT Super 512MB AGP, designed exclusively for AGP platform PC enthusiasts and hard core gamers. Palit X1950GT AGP has 512MB of GDDR3 super size memory with 256-bit memory interface, 36 pixel shader processors and RV570 GPU clocked at 500MHz. The card is also Windows Vista Premium compatible, as you may guess. Other features like ATI Avivo technology and Dual-link DVI connectivity are also presented.

The Swiss cooling solution manufacturer Arctic Cooling announced today that the award winning high performance graphic card cooler- Accelero X2, now fully supports ATI's latest X1950Pro(including all X1950 series) PCIe / AGP graphic cards. In addition Accelero X2 now offers a new specially designed voltage regulator heat spreader module. Arctic Cooling Voltage Regulator Heat Spreader Module is specially designed for X1950Pro Series, and provides an extra large surface area for easy heat dissipation. Together with Accelero X2 cooler, they form the best combination to achieve the ultimate cooling performance. Accelero X2 with Voltage Regulator heat spreader module is available now with MSRP price of USD $33 or Euro €28.

BFG Technologies, Inc., the leading North American and European NVIDIA supplier of advanced 3D graphics cards, motherboards, power supplies and other PC enthusiast products, announced today the BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB Water Cooled Edition PCI Express graphics card. "Because of the huge cooling advantage offered by our custom water block designed by Danger Den, we are able to push this card to speeds faster than anything else on the market today." said Dean Brady, Sr. Director of Marketing for BFG Technologies. "To offer these speeds, every BFG Overclocked Water Cooled Edition graphics card is hand built and tested to ensure maximum performance and reliability."

A new introduction by Sapphire Technology now reduces the cost of entry to its highly successful X1950 Series. The SAPPHIRE X1950GT is scheduled to ship from retailers and system integrators worldwide from January 29th 2007. Featuring ATI RADEON X1950GT core(500MHz), 256MB GDDR3 (1200MHz), 36 pixel shader units and CrossFire support, the SAPPHIRE X1950GT is fully compatible with the Windows Vista 3D environment, DirectX 9.0 - Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL graphics. The SAPPHIRE X1950GT series of video cards natively support HDCP and feature the ATI Avivo technology. Two Dual-link DVI outputs are also provided, as well as TV out.

Matrox Graphics Inc., announced today the Extio F1220, the latest addition to the Extio series of Remote Graphics Units(RGUs). The Extio F1220 enables the extension of one or two displays with resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 per monitor, audio, two IEEE 1394 FireWire ports, and up to six USB devices(4 at the front, 2 at the back), including keyboard and mouse, by up to 820 feet(250 meters). By separating the computer from the monitors and user-interface, the Extio series of products helps address issues such as security, heat, noise, system maintenance and support, and system access in digital signage environments. The Extio F1220 RGU has no moving parts. It is connected to a Matrox PCI or PCI-Express Extio adapter card in a computer, workstation or server slot via a standard multi-mode fiber-optic cable with Dual-LC connectors. Matrox Extio F1220 will be available in the second quarter of 2007. For more information on Matrox Extio F1220, please click here.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., today proudly launched the SPARKLE GeForce 7900 GS 256MB/512MB GDDR3 HDMI graphics cards, a High Definition multimedia VGA solution with support for HDMI and HDCP. Based on NVIDIA's award-winning GeForce 7 GPU architecture, SPARKLE GeForce 7900 GS 256MB/512MB GDDR3 HDMI graphics cards are designed for extreme HD gaming and deliver ultra-realistic gaming experiences and unparalleled image quality at resolutions of up to 2560x1600. 20 Pixels rendering pipelines, 450MHz core speed, 256-bit memory interface and unbelievable fast 1320MHz 256MB/512MB GDDR3 memory enable blazing graphics performance with maximum quality.

Intel has confirmed that they formed the "Visual computing group" which shall be the future of computing for "high-throughput workloads". Intel is already looking to hire graphic engineers for this purpose. Together this might suggest Intel is indeed going to create chips for add on cards once again.
Even though the high end market is quite small compared to on board graphic processors it still has a value of $5 billion a quarter, which is a lot, even for a giant like Intel. Having their own high end GPU would also give them a chance to strengthen their grip on the console market.
Intel did not comment on these speculations.

Taipei, Taiwan, January 22, 2007 - To accommodate the increasing demand on better graphic performance for mobile computing, ASUS presents the A8Jr notebook series incorporated with the latest visual processing capabilities. The slim and lightweight A8Jr will be based on Intel's Core2 Duo processor and will be the world's first notebook series to utilize ATI's Mobility Radeon X2300 GPU for stunning and crisp graphics.

"There is an ever-increasing demand for higher graphic processing power and crisper graphics for entertainment and applications alike," says David Cummings, director of marketing, Graphics Products Group, AMD. "Our answer to that demand is the X2300 GPU. This GPU utilizes patented technology to increase processing power and provide the user with smooth, realistic hi-resolution graphics."

Sapphire Technology, has just introduced two new families to its comprehensive product line: the SAPPHIRE X1550 and SAPPHIRE X1050 Series of video cards. The SAPPHIRE X1550 Series is a range of cost effective cards featuring 4 pixel shader units, and operating with a core clock speed of 550MHz and a Memory clock speed of 800MHz. Members of this Series include versions equipped with 256MB of 64-bit DDR2 memory including versions with support for HyperMemory, and output options include VGA, TV-Out, and DVI-I. The SAPPHIRE X1050 Series is a new entry level range with 4 pixel shader units and a core clock speed of 400MHz. The Series offers several performance options providing a choice of active or passive cooling and different memory configurations, including 128MB 64-bit DDR2 666MHz with active cooling, 256MB 128-bit DDR 400MHz with passive cooling, and 256MB 128-bit DDR2 666MHz with active cooling. All models provide VGA, TV-Out and DVI-I. The SAPPHIRE X1550 Series and SAPPHIRE X1050 Series are scheduled to ship from retailers and system integrators worldwide from January 17th, 2007.

Munich, Germany - January 19, 2007 - EVGA, a leading provider of performance computing hardware, today announced the release of their EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTX "BlackPeral" (P/N: 768-P2-E838-AR) NVIDIA technology-based 3D processor card. The new EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTX "BlackPeral", in addition to EVGA's water cooling, is spec'd at an amaz-ing 626 MHz core clock with 2.0 GHz memory clock. The new graphics card will be avail-able at online retailers at a suggested retail price of € 799.

HIS introduced today the X1050 and X1550 series, which integrate with Windows Vista to create a premium visual experience and allow value users to get more enjoyment out of movies, games and digital applications. Powered by ATI Radeon X1050 GPU, HIS X1050 series is Vista Premium Certified and fully support Microsoft's new 3D based operating system. The HIS X1050 series is available in PCI-e version only with up to 400/500 MHz core/memory clock and up to 256MB/128Bit GDDR2, completely silent (0dB) by means of heatsink cooling. With the HyperMemory 2 technology, it can share system memory to provide up to 512MB graphics memory. The latest HIS X1550 series includes the PCI-Express x16 version, AGP 8X version, PCI-Express x1 version and PCI version, running at 550/800MHz core/memory clock and up to 256MB/128Bit GDDR2. The PCI-Express x16 versions are all CrossFire ready for improving performance if necessary. HIS X1050 & X1550 will be available on 26th Jan 2007.

TUL Corporation, today announced the PowerColor X1550 in PCI-E, AGP and Silent Cooling System (SCS) variations. These models replace the X1300 brand in an effort to re-emphasize the complete support of AMD/ATI-based graphic cards for Windows Vista platform; particularly for the entry level segment. PowerColor's X1550 comes with a factory overclocked core of 600MHz, with memory speed of 400MHz (800MHz effective) and 256MB of DDR2 RAM. As with the entire X1K series, PowerColor X1550 is CrossFire ready and supports DirectX 9c, Open GL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0; enabling anti-aliasing with HDR. Click here to read the full story.

GECUBE today announced shipping of its latest series of Low Profile Dual HDMI TV X1650XT cards with cost effective native HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) implementation as a requirement for Blu-ray and HD DVD applications for direct video connection to two large HDMI TV to supports 1080p High Definition Video. GECUBE HV1650XT Low Profile series are made using 90nm process technology and support Shader Model 3.0, Avivo technology, the Crossfire platform, and Catalyst drivers. All HV1650XT cards come with 256MB GDDR3 128-bit high speed memory.

HIS has taken the 80nm core in the X1650XT, placed an IceQ Turbo cooler on top, and factory overclocked it to 630MHz core and 1.46GHz memory. It comes with up to 512MB of 128 bit GDDR3, 24 pixel pipelines. It also supports AVIVO, simultaneous AntiAliasing and HDR lighting, and Shader Model 3, all very nice features for anyone looking to upgrade an old AGP based computer.

Sapphire Technology showed for the first time its SAPPHIRE X1950 PRO DUAL graphics card at this year's CES. The SAPPHIRE X1950 PRO DUAL brings two X1950 Pro GPUs on a single card. It performs as fast as the ATI CrossFire dual GPU systems, but the difference lies in that the card connects via a single PCI-Express x16 slot, bringing DUAL GPU performance to mainboards with only one PCI-Express connector. The SAPPHIRE X1950 PRO DUAL features 1GB GDDR3 memory with both cores operating at clock speeds of 580MHz and memory frequences of 1400MHz. The SAPPHIRE X1950 PRO series natively supports HDCP and features the highly acclaimed ATI Avivo High Definition video and display technology.

Further testing by Intel and Microsoft has found that integrated graphics can run the Vista Aero interface just fine. It may not be the best choice for laptop users (the same ones using these integrated graphics chipsets, as it drains laptop batteries very quickly. However, Aero Glass sure does look pretty, which matters to some people more than battery life.

AMD today unveiled the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - the industry's first and only device that enables users to watch and record premium HD digital cable content, such as HD ESPN and HD HBO, on their PCs. The ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner turns a PC into a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) with easy to use Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center menus and interfaces. It is scheduled to be available starting January 30, 2007 inside desktop and notebook PCs from the industry's top PC manufacturers.