This just had to happen. NVIDIA wanted GeForce GTX 550 Ti to have higher memory bandwidth, while keeping costs low. So it populated its 192-bit GDDR5 memory interface with mixed density memory modules (that's 4x 1 Gbit, and 2x 2 Gbit) to get 1 GB of standard memory size. Chinese motherboard and graphics card specialist ONDA, which primarily sells in the East Asian markets, decided to populate the 192-bit interface with all 2 Gbit modules. The result is 1536 MB (1.5 GB) of memory.

The ONDA X-Engine GTX 550 Ti has a upper-mainstream look to it, with 1536 MB of memory, a high-performance cooler that uses a large 6-heatpipe heatsink, cooled by two 80 mm case fans, 4+2 phase VRM with POSCAP capacitors, and overclocked speeds of 1000 MHz core, 2000 MHz CUDA cores, and 4.40 GHz memory. To support the increased power demand, the card draws power from two 6-pin power connectors. Display outputs look to include one each of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. It isn't very likely that ONDA will sell westwards.

Rovi Corporation today unveiled Roxio Game Capture and Roxio PC Game Capture, two affordably priced products that offer a straightforward way for gamers to quickly and easily capture and share PC and console game play videos.

In-product tutorials help everyone get set up quickly and immediately begin to capture and showcase their latest campaigns, adventures, ball skills, and race sequences. Gamers may use the products to post their high scores, tips & tricks, game reviews, or even a feature-length movie, or Machinima, based on game play footage. See the products in action here.

The new ASUS Ultimate GTX550 Ti DirectCU and GTX550 Ti DirectCU TOP continue ASUS graphics card tradition, shipping overclocked power up to 1015 MHz for exceptional gaming performance. ASUS exclusive DirectCU offers the advantages of 20% cooling out of its direct GPU contact, all-copper cooling design, as well as exclusive Super Alloy Power quality components for faster performance and longer lifespan.

Palit Microsystems Ltd, the leading graphics card manufacturer, announces the new GTX gaming series: Palit GTX 550 Ti 1GB and GTX 550 Ti 1GB Sonic. With incredible DX11 performance and the latest technology support, Palit GTX 550 Ti series power up your PC into a next-gen gaming rig.

Continuing the excellent quality and out of the box pre-overclocked speed of Palit Sonic Overclocking Edition, the GTX 550 Ti Sonic provides superior performance with 1000MHz core speed which runs 10% faster than non-OCed version in both DX10 and DX11 performance. Powered by the stunning-fast core speed, Palit GTX 550 Ti Sonic also beating out the competition with ease by offering 35% faster performance at DX11 and 23% higher in DX10 performance. With the fierce performance of Palit GTX 550 Ti Sonic, you can dominate the latest DX11 titles like Crysis 2, H.A.W.X. 2, and Civilization V.

Colorful backed NVIDIA's launch of the GeForce GTX 550 Ti mainstream GPU with its own iGame series non-reference design graphics card, the iGame550-1024 D5 Ymir. The card uses Colorful's non-reference design PCB that uses a 4+1 phase VRM, high-grade components, and dual BIOS that is selectable with a switch on the rear panel. One of the two BIOS ROMs packs failsafe clock speeds of 900/1000 MHz (core/memory), while the other "Turbo" BIOS runs the card at 1000/1100 MHz. The card is cooled by Colorful's iconic "Shark fin" cooler that packs large heatsinks, and some clever air-channeling mojo. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti packs 192 CUDA cores, and connects to 1 GB of memory over a 192-bit wide memory interface. Colorful's iGame550-1024 D5 Ymir is available in Asia immediately, and will reach Europe in the coming weeks.

Point of View known for its range of NVIDIA based 3D Graphics cards, Netbooks and other PC products, announces today its launch of the latest addition to the high performance GeForce 500 series graphics cards: the Point of View GTX 550Ti.

The GeForce GTX550Ti is the answer to all those who seek the best possible card for their money. Excellent stock performance with some OC possibilities, the very best features, low temperatures and of course; a reasonable price tag!

Club 3D B.V. is pleased to announce the introduction of the next generation gaming video card. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550Ti CoolStream OC Edition supports DirectX 11, CUDA, and Nvidia PhysX technologies to provide the best experience on your favorite games with up to 3x the performance of previous generations.

With NVIDIA 3D Vision technology you can now use two Gefore GTX 550Ti CoolStream OC Edition cards in NVIDIA SLI configuration to project across three displays with NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround technology.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today presents The SPARKLE GeForce GTX 550 Ti Graphics Card, -- the latest product of SPARKLE GTX 500 Series. It delivers performance upgrade for mainstream DX11 gamers. Using the advanced Fermi 2.0 architecture from NVIDIA, the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 550 Ti Graphics Card upgrades core algorithms such as texture filtering and Z-axis compression over Fermi 1.0 architecture, so that the corresponding instruction operation efficiency is greatly enhanced. With 40nm manufacturing process improvements, now the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 550 Ti Graphics Card features higher core clock than GeForce GTS 450 graphics cards. With the two improvements, the Performance/Watt ratio of the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 550 Ti Graphics Card is 20% better over the GeForce GTS 450 graphics cards.

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.

PC gaming just got a lot more fun today with the introduction of the GeForce GTX 550 Ti graphics processing unit (GPU) with an estimated e-tail price of £119. The GTX 550 Ti is the latest in NVIDIA's Fermi line of consumer GPUs, designed to deliver stunning DirectX 11 performance. It brings a new level of price/performance to mainstream PC gaming, while maintaining exceptionally quiet acoustics and requiring minimal power.

Like all NVIDIA "DX11 Done Right" GPUs, the GTX 550 Ti delivers the world's fastest performance in its class for DX11 games. Compared with the closest competitive product, the GTX 550 Ti is up to 50 percent faster in today's newest DX11 tessellated games, and 38 percent fasteri in previous-generation DX9 and DX10 games. And with NVIDIA SLI technology, the industry's most scalable multi-GPU platform, gamers will be able to increase their PC's gaming performance by adding a second GeForce GTX 550 Ti.

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today debuts a pair of new mainstream graphics cards with the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 550 Ti and GTX 550 Ti AMP! Edition. The new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 550 Ti series is designed for maximum performance per watt while delivering an outstanding 3D gaming experience.

Equipped with an ultra-wide 192-bit memory interface paired with lightning-fast GDDR5 memory, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 550 Ti series delivers 70-percent more memory bandwidth than previous generations for an extra performance kick in the latest Microsoft DirectX 11 enabled games and applications. A large 1GB of video memory ensures the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 550 Ti series does not sacrifice performance for visual quality.

PNY Technologies, Inc. ("PNY") is set to introduce the newest addition to their line-up of NVIDIA GTX 500 series GPUs: the XLR8 GTX 550 Ti 1024MB graphics card. PNY's XLR8 (ac-cel-er-ate) GeForce GTX 550 Ti Enthusiast Edition graphics card allows you to enter the incredibly detailed world of DirectX 11 for all the latest games. Driving up to 6x the gaming performance of previous generation graphics cards, GeForce GTX 550 Ti transforms your PC into a next-gen gaming rig.

PC Gamers trust GeForce GTX to supply them with the graphic ammunition they need to rule their competition. From NVIDIA 3D Vision to Surround multi-monitor gaming, PhysX and the unbeatable power of NVIDIA SLI -- with GeForce GTX you know you are well armed. The new GTX 550 Ti graphics card offers tremendous gaming power at a sub-$150 price point, as well as a Lifetime Warranty.

Just a little later this week, NVIDIA will unveil the GeForce GTX 550 Ti mainstream graphics processor (GPU), successor to GeForce GTS 450. NVIDIA partners seem to be ready with their products based on the new GPU. One of NVIDIA's largest partners, Galaxy, is even ready with a highly overclocked model with its core running at 1 GHz (900 MHz reference), and 1150 MHz (1025 MHz reference) memory speed. Galaxy's card will use the HOF (Hall of Fame) identifier, which is supposed to indicate the company's highest level of factory-overclock speeds.

Based on the 40 nm GF116 silicon, the GeForce GTX 550 Ti packs 192 CUDA cores, and a 192-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 1 GB of memory, that's right, 1 GB, not 768 MB or 1536 MB. It looks like NVIDIA will be doing a mixed density memory chip setup. We can hypothesize that four of the six chips are 1 Gbit (128 MB), amounting for 512 MB; and two 2 Gbit (256 MB), amounting for the other 512 MB. Galaxy's HOF card will use a 3+1 phase VRM to power the card, and feature a dual-slot cooler. Its display connectivity includes one each of DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort.

VR-Zone got a hold of the cooler shroud design of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 590 graphics card. The drawing reveals something very similar to that of the GeForce GTX 295 rev. 2 (or single-slot), and tells us a bit about the cooler. The cooler will use a large fan (probably 80 mm in diameter) to blow air on to two heatsinks on its either sides. Channels, and the heatsinks themselves will guide air across both ends of the cooler. Hot air from the first GPU (closest to the display connectors) will exhaust from the rear bracket, while that from the second GPU (farthest from the display connectors), will exhaust into the case. There are spaces on either sides of the fan for partner product artwork. There is more space on top. Next to the cutout for the power connectors, is the GeForce logo. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 590 is a dual-GPU graphics card based on two GF110 cores. It will be released on the 22nd of March.

NVIDIA BIOS Editor (fondly known as NiBiTor), got updated to version 6.01 by its developer. NiBiTor is a lightweight NVIDIA GeForce/Quadro BIOS file manipulation utility that lets to fine-tune your GeForce or Quadro graphics card at the BIOS-level. Version 6.01 packs updated GPU support, some minor fixes and a redesign to support as well unknown devices in some limited way. New GPUs supported by this version are:

• GeForce GTX 560
• GeForce GTX 460 SE
• Quadro FX3800M
• GeForce GTX 480M (updated support)
• GeForce GTX 460M (updated support)

"Well we have just released a new version of NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) software. NiBiTor is the original and definitive BIOS tweaker that supports the latest NVIDIA graphics cards, and which is updated on a regular basis. NiBiTor allows graphics card enthusiasts, or the hardcore overclockers to have full control over some advanced features and functionality found on firmware of supporting cards. And doing so users gain some extra performance, enable certain hidden features, tweaking memory latencies, provide extensive information, adapt bootup settings, changing fan speed options and/or get extra stability on their NVIDIA based graphics accelerators which will just give them that little extra value," adds the developer.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) v6.01

PNY Technologies, Inc. ("PNY") will showcase their latest GeForce Graphics Cards, PC Memory, SSDs, and High Speed HDMI Cables at the PAX East 2011 exhibition -- including the all-new OC2 Edition of Graphics Cards and 2000MHz Memory Kit.

PNY has once again partnered with Newegg.com at the 3-day gaming festival, being held March 11th - 13th at the Boston Convention Center. Visitors to PNY's booth (#251) will be offered the opportunity to take part in free play, live tournaments, contests, prize giveaways, and more. Extreme gamers can check out NVIDIA 3D Vision at its best and test their gaming skills with Call of Duty: Black Ops 3D in PNY's booth. In honor of this 3-day gaming festival, PNY will offer exclusive deals on its wide variety of products on Newegg.com. For a limited time only, consumers can get the best PNY gear at highly discounted prices.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced the SPARKLE GTX 570 Thermal Guru Graphics Card with Effective Own Design Cooler, the ultimate DX11 3D monster from SPARKLE, which delivers intense performance and premium cooling effect for gamers who demand the best.

The SPARKLE GTX570 Thermal Guru Graphics Card is the latest new addition to SPARKLE's GTX 570 Series. Its core and memory clock are 732 and 1900 MHz respectively. Designed specifically for gamers who demand the best, the SPARKLE GTX570 Thermal Guru Graphics Card is built with NVDIA GeForce GTX 570 GPU. Based on 40nm processor and advanced GDDR5 memory technology, it consists of ground-breaking features including Microsoft DirectX 11 and NVIDIA PhysX which lead to incredibly immersive HD gaming experience and unrivaled performance.

The dust seems to have settled down, after AMD's launch of the Radeon HD 6990, extending the red-team's performance lead previously held precariously by the Radeon HD 5970, to the GeForce GTX 580. It looks like NVIDIA will challenge the performance leadership with GeForce GTX 590, a dual-GPU graphics card that uses two GF110 GPUs (the ones on GTX 570 and GTX 580), for an SLI-on-a-stick solution. Rumors of NVIDIA working on this card became concrete as early as in November 2010, when NVIDIA's reference board became public for the first time.

Latest reports suggest that NVIDIA has chosen March 22 as the launch day of GeForce GTX 590. Incidentally, that is also the launch date of EA/Crytek's much-hyped, initially DirectX 9 action/shooter game, Crysis 2. GeForce GTX 590 uses two GF110, though the shader configuration and clock speeds are not known. Since NVIDIA is chasing the top-spot, you can expect the most optimal configuration for the GF110s. A total of 3 GB (1536 MB per GPU system) on board, and NVIDIA's workhorse PCI-E bridge, nForce 200 will be the traffic cop and radio station between the two GPUs. The card will be able to do 3DVision Surround (NVIDIA's multi-display single head technology comparable to ATI Eyefinity) on its own, without needing a second card.

Club 3D B.V. is pleased to announce the introduction of the next generation gaming video card. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti CoolStream OC Edition supports DirectX 11, CUDA, and Nvidia PhysX technologies to provide the best experience on your favorite games with up to 3x the performance of previous generations.

With NVIDIA 3D Vision technology you can now use two Gefore GTX 560Ti CoolStream OC Edition cards in NVIDIA SLI configuration to project across three displays with NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround technology.

ASUS unveiled a number of new gaming products at CeBIT in March this year, including Republic of Gamers (ROG) notebook PCs, high-performance motherboards, graphics cards, 3D monitors, router and headsets. All hold true to the ASUS promise to provide choice for everyone and complete its line-up of immersive gaming products.

The new Republic of Gamers (ROG) G Series notebooks lead the charge. Designed for hardcore gamers who want to be able to play anywhere, the G74Sx uses the latest Intel 'Huron River' Core i5 and i7 processors for outstanding performance with any application, while the latest NVIDIA enthusiast level graphics card ensure class-leading 3D performance. NVIDIA 3D Vision is supported as standard too, as is big-screen 3D output via HDMI 1.4 to a compatible display.

Asetek Inc., the world's leading supplier of liquid cooling technology for computers, today announced it will demonstrate its latest innovations in CPU and graphics liquid cooling at CeBIT 2011, the world's largest IT trade show. The Asetek booth (Reseller Pavilion, Hall 14, Stand J46) will feature computers running active demos showcasing:

• The new WaterChill 2011C, Asetek's best-ever, ultra-extreme liquid CPU cooler. Highlights include Asetek's low profile pump with third-generation coldplate technology and advanced liquid temperature fan control, coupled with a massive 240mm x 120mm radiator and four 120mm PWM fans. The 2011C also includes the company's newly-enhanced ChillControl performance monitoring, cooling control software.
• Asetek's latest GPU cooler delivers superior overclocking capability (up to 25% on the NVIDIA GTX 580) while drastically reducing GPU temperatures and fan noise at load. The new graphics cooler features a 120mm radiator and liquid temperature controlled fan along with a pump and coldplate integrated into the GTX 580, and will be launched in conjunction with a graphics card partner.

NVIDIA today announced the latest version of the NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit for developing parallel applications using NVIDIA GPUs. The NVIDIA CUDA 4.0 Toolkit was designed to make parallel programming easier, and enable more developers to port their applications to GPUs. This has resulted in three main features:

• NVIDIA GPUDirect 2.0 Technology -- Offers support for peer-to-peer communication among GPUs within a single server or workstation. This enables easier and faster multi-GPU programming and application performance.
• Unified Virtual Addressing (UVA) -- Provides a single merged-memory address space for the main system memory and the GPU memories, enabling quicker and easier parallel programming.
• Thrust C++ Template Performance Primitives Libraries -- Provides a collection of powerful open source C++ parallel algorithms and data structures that ease programming for C++ developers. With Thrust, routines such as parallel sorting are 5X to 100X faster than with Standard Template Library (STL) and Threading Building Blocks (TBB).

One of the first partner-branded NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti graphics cards surfaced, listed on a European online store, priced at a little over €159. It is carrying PNY's part number GMGX55TN2H1IZPB, and doesn't carry the XLR8 branding. Based on the 40 nm GF116 silicon, the PNY GeForce GTX 550 Ti packs 192 CUDA cores, and clock speeds of 900/1800/1025 MHz (core/CUDA cores/memory actual). It packs 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. €159 does look like a steep price, but there's a lot of uncertainity surrounding it.

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.

The the consumer graphics industry is about to see yet another round of competition between top market players AMD and NVIDIA in March, with reports suggesting that the red team (AMD) has chosen March 8 as the launch date of its Radeon HD 6990 graphics card. NVIDIA's response, the GeForce GTX 590 is slated for sometime later in March, as well. AMD is said to be finalizing the SKU, and it should be launched by partners on the 8th of next month. The Radeon HD 6990 is a dual-GPU "CrossFire on a stick" solution, in which two AMD Cayman GPUs with 2 GB of memory each, work in tandem.