MSI N480GTX Lightning GeForce GTX 480 Sneak Peek

MSI is readying a new flagship NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480-powered graphics card, the N480GTX Lightning. Like MSI’s other “Lightning” branded cards, the upcoming N480GTX Lightning is anything but a “me too” reference card. In fact, MSI has modified everything from the PCB design, to frequencies, and of course the cooler.

First and foremost, the MSI N480GTX Lightning is designed for overclockers. The card features MSI’s new, dual-fan Twin Frozr III cooler which also has a nickel-plated copper heatsink base, linked to a high-density array of aluminum cooling fins by five heat-pipes. The card also features over-voltage controls for the GPU, memory, and PLL, voltage check-points, voltage switches for instant voltage changes, and “CopperMOS” MOSFETS, which reportedly offer better cooling performance. In addition to the aforementioned items, the N480GTX Lightning also sports some “Proadlizer” (Prompt, Broadband, Stabilizer) capacitors which offer ultra-high capacitance ratings and have flat surfaces that can be more easily cooled.

Gigabyte’s GeForce GT 430 has dual-fan cooler, higher clocks

As expected Taiwan-based Gigabyte Technology has joined the GeForce GT 430 launch party and announced a card based on the 40nm GF108 GPU. Dubbed GV-N430OC-1GL, the card has a low profile, a higher (higher than 700 MHz) GPU clock, and a cooler with packing two inclined fans.

Gigabyte’s GT 430 makes use of Ultra Durable 2 components that ensure a cooler, longer life (for the card of course), and has 96 CUDA Cores, a 128-bit memory interface, 1GB of DDR3 VRAM, and D-Sub, DVI and HDMI outputs.

 

EVGA delivering just one GeForce GT 430

To our surprise and disappointment, EVGA has today only announced a single GeForce GT 430 card, just one. Codenamed 01G-P3-1430-LR, the card has a low profile, a single-slot active cooler, 96 CUDA Cores, a 128-bit memory interface and 1GB of DDR3 memory.

EVGA’s GT 430 has GPU/shader/memory clocks of 700/1400/1400 MHz, D-Sub, DVI and HDMI 1.4a outputs, DirectX 11, CUDA, PhysX, and Blu-ray 3D support, and bears a price tag of $79.99.

 

Gainward lets loose a custom GeForce GT 430

Like its rival add-in board makers, Palit-owned Gainward has come up with a card powered by Nvidia’s latest DirectX 11-ready chip, the TSMC-manufactured GF108. Gainward’s GeForce GT 430 has a custom dual-slot cooler, a full-height PCB and features stock clocks.

The card has GPU, shader and memory frequencies of 700 MHz, 1400 MHz and 1600 MHz, respectively, 96 CUDA Cores, a 128-bit memory interface, and D-Sub, DVI and HDMI output. Pricing in Europe starts at €63.33

 

NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 430: The Next HTPC King?

It’s been 7 months since the launch of the first Fermi cards, and at long last we’re here: we’ve reached the end of the road on the Fermi launch. Today NVIDIA is launching the final GPU in the first-generation Fermi stack into the add-in card market, launching the GeForce GT 430 and the GF108 GPU that powers it. After months of launches and quite a bit of anticipation we have the complete picture of Fermi, from the massive GTX 480 to today’s tiny GT 430.

For the GT 430, NVIDIA is taking an interesting position. AMD and NVIDIA like to talk up their cheaper cards’ capabilities in HTPC environments but this is normally in the guise of an added feature. Rarely do we see a card launched on one or two features and today is one of those launches. NVIDIA believes that they’ve made the ultimate HTPC card, and that’s the line they’re going to be using to sell it; gamers need not apply. So just what is NVIDIA up to, and do they really have the new king of the HTPC cards? Let’s find out.

 

[Review] ASUS GEFORCE GTS 450 DIRECTCU TOP: COOL AND AFFORDABLE

Filling up product range gaps used to be NVIDIA’s specialty. Almost as a rule, as soon as the strongest models from a new generation have surfaced on the market, users with pockets more shallow were offered a solution characterised by an excellent price/performance ratio. We believe that many will reminisce of cards such as GeForce 6600, 7600GS, 9600GTO etc. In this case, however, it has taken a bit longer to do this, and NVIDIA fans, craving something new, but not at skinflint prices such as the first models, finally got the first GTS from the 4 series (i.e. alongside the popular GTX460): GTS450.

Gigabyte Rolls Out GeForce GTS 450 WindForce Extreme Overclock Graphics Card

Gigabyte introduced a new newer “Extreme Overclock” variant of its GeForce GTS 450 WindForce graphics card, carrying the model number GV-N450OC2-1GI. On launch day of the GTS 450 GPU, Gigabyte had released its first overclocked WindForce graphics card. The Extreme Overclock variant features a high GPU core clock speed of 930 MHz (vs. 783 MHz reference), 1860 MHz CUDA cores (vs. 1566 MHz), and 1000 MHz or 4.00 GHz GDDR5 effective (vs. 900 MHz/3.60 GHz) memory. It uses a slightly longer PCB built with Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable VGA construction, and a dual-fan GPU cooler the company calls “WindForce”. It is available now, priced at US $149.99.

‘Built by Nvidia’ graphics cards go on sale at Best Buy

Since apparently its add-in board partners can’t cut it, Nvidia has teamed up with retailer Best Buy and began offering graphics cards that are labeled as ‘Designed and Built by Nvidia’. For starters, there are GeForce GTS 450 and GTX 460 BBN cards on sale.

The Built by Nvidia models are obviously based on the Santa Clara company’s reference design and most likely have stock clocks. This is a Best Buy exclusive offer and may be just Nvidia testing the waters so don’t expect wide availability.

MSI readies GeForce GTX 460M-equipped GT663 gaming laptop

MSI today revealed its newest Gaming Series mobile PC, the GT663 15.6-inch laptop which is based on the Calpella platform, features the TDE+ (Turbo Drive Engine+ technology) for one-touch performance boosts, and makes use of the DirectX 11-ready GeForce GTX 460M graphics card with 1.5GB of memory.

Boasting the same wannabe futuristic and eye-catching design as the GT660, MSI’s latest gaming laptop also packs a Core i7 quad-core processor, up to 12GB of RAM, two 500GB/640GB hard drives, a DVD writer or Blu-ray drive, a 720p webcam, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, a 5-in1 card reader, two USB 3.0 ports, a HDMI output, and a 9-cell battery. The OS of choice is obviously Windows 7.

The GT663’s pricing or availability were not revealed.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock gets its cooler on

Spotted a couple of days ago in the nude, without a cooler, Gigabyte’s upcoming GeForce GTX 470 Super Overclock card has also been found on display at Computex, this time, in full battle gear, equipped with a triple-fan solution that should keep the GF100’s temps at ‘acceptable’ levels’.

Codenamed GV-N470SO-13I, Gigabyte’s card has a 12-phase power design, the mention three-fan cooler that also packs a few heatpipes for better heat conductivity, 448 CUDA Cores, a 320-bit memory interface and 1280MB of GDDR5 VRAM, voltage read points, dual-DVI and mini HDMI outputs, and some unknown frequencies (the card will be factory overclocked).