There's no doubt that the 3D graphics card business is what you would call a proverbial tough gig. There was a time when discreet graphics card options were available from numerous GPU vendors, but over the years, the relentless pace of technology and fierce competition has homogenized the market down to virtually two primary suppliers. In mainstream 3D graphics there is but one mantra, keep pace or exceed, execute or simply die. It's a simple equation that keeps product refreshes ongoing and just a natural progression of the graphics food chain that results in continuously improved product offerings, at both the hardware and the software levels. NVIDIA is obviously one of the few companies. - HotHardware

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 55nm Core Unleash Review

The GeForce GTX 295 is impressive, we now know that, so we're at the point in time where we begin to see what other companies are doing with the card. This early in the game it's more the packaging, since it's just a bit too early to have overclocked models or something with different cooling. Now we're looking at the Gigabyte offering and we will follow the same formula we normally do. First we will have a look at their package before having a closer look at the board. What we're going to do this time is have a closer look at how the GeForce GTX 295 performs against the Radeon HD 4870 X2. Having a look at just the two cards actually makes it easier to break down the performance numbers. - TweakTown

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 295 Multi-GPU Design Review

Just a couple of weeks ago we had the honor of bringing you guys a view on the GeForce GTX 295. And that article proved one thing, it's going to be welcomed into the high-end arena with open arms. It's impressive, it's fast and heck it even looks good too. And you know what guys? We're excited as we love the high-end gear and the gaming that goes along with these. Also for this article, we have received a new final driver, the ForceWare 181.20 and we're happy to report that in several scenarios it made these games roughly ten percent faster than the preview we have shown you. Now though that might not sound like a lot, trust us in the high-end gaming segment it's pretty frickin significant. - Guru3D

BFG GeForce GTX 295 1792MB Graphics Card Review

The GeForce GTX 295, where do we start? We have to say this is one card that we find ourselves getting quite excited about. And the main reason for that is because we know it's going to be the fastest graphics card on the market. How do we know this though? Well it's not actually because we know what the specifications of the card are or anything like that. The reason we know it's going to be the fastest graphics card on the market is because it literally has to be! No matter what, this board can't be slower than the Radeon HD 4870 X2, the other thing is it can't just be a bit faster than the Radeon HD 4870 X2 board either, considering how long ATI has held the performance crown for now. - TweakTown

Gainward GeForce GTX 295 Dual-GPU Edition Review

Originally released to compete with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 260, the Radeon HD 4870 was a massive success for AMD and its partners and helped them to re-establish them as a dominant force in the high-end marketplace. Sapphire are the biggest AMD graphics card partner and a few months ago they released an overclocked version of the Radeon HD 4870 carrying a custom cooling solution. However, that version only shipped with 512MB of GDDR5 memory which wasn't ideal for the growing demands of high-end enthusiast users. Today we are looking at a new offering from Sapphire based on the original Radeon HD 4870 Toxic, but this edition now brings 1GB of memory to the table. - DriverHeaven

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 Toxic Design Style Review

ATI did a nice comeback last year and managed to dethrone the competition, but NVIDIA doesn't plan on sulking as they are planning a comeback of their own. Their new GeForce GTX 295 card that will be showcased on the first day of the CES show. Until then, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 will keep its rightful title of the fastest card. Among the Radeon HD 4870 X2 cards, Sapphire's Atomic model with water cooling definitely stands out. We must say that in the sea of reference high-end cards, seeing the Atomic HD 4870 X2 is quite refreshing. And thanks to Asetek's non retail water cooling that does a great job of cooling both the GPU and CPU, Sapphire lets you enjoy their full water cooled package. - FudZilla

Sapphire Atomic HD 4870 X2 Graphics Edition Review

When ATI released their stellar Radeon HD 4800 series this past summer, the first question we had to ask was, where's the duals? Indeed, their launch cards took everyone by surprise, including NVIDIA, so to imagine two such GPU's on one card sounded very drool worthy. But that wait lasted only a few months, and we were greeted by the first Radeon HD 4850 X2 card on the market courtesy of Sapphire. If you game at ultra high resolutions and want to know where the best bang for the buck can be found in graphics cards, look no further than Sapphire's dual GPU based Radeon HD 4850 X2 board. At $300, it's priced right and offers incredible performance regardless of high anti-aliasing or resolutions. - Techgage

Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB Video Card Review

It was only a few short weeks ago when we got to took the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 Toxic out for a spin. There was no doubt in our mind that it was a great card, it offered great performance at a very good price. In these harsh economic times, value is king. Sapphire just introduced the Radeon HD 4870 1GB Toxic edition and we hear it packs a mighty punch on the streets. We have got the pleasure of putting this video card up against several other Sapphire bad boys, including the Radeon HD 4850 X2. New with this board is the Vapor-X, or also known as the vapor chamber technology. An efficient cooling solution that uses three heatpipes to vent heat without increasing noise. - Overclockers Online

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB Vapor Cooling Review

The GeForce 9800 GTX+ is just one of those cards that have never really done a whole lot for us. The thing about the card is that although there's nothing really wrong with it, there isn't anything that gets us up in arms over it either. The latest GeForce 9800 GTX+ offering to make its way into our testbed comes from Leadtek and today we'll take the time to see if the card manages to do anything for us. It's been a while since we've looked at one and some newer drivers have been released for both ATI and NVIDIA cards since then. Recently ATI has also released a new mid-range card called the Radeon HD 4830, so we will take the time to see how the GeForce 9800 GTX+ fairs against that. - TweakTown

Leadtek WinFast PX9800 GTX+ 512MB Graphics Review

We last took a look at Sapphire's Radeon HD 4870 Toxic graphics part back in October, thanks to its 512MB variant, and overall we were really rather impressed with it. Between its clock speed boosts which added a little sheen to the board's performance levels and an excellent, quiet vapour chamber technology powered cooler, it proved itself to be one of our favourite Radeon HD 4870 solutions. Now the Radeon HD 4870 Toxic makes its return, this time offering the same cooling solution and factory overclocks, but throwing a 1GB frame buffer onto the board to give some extra impetus to the card when it comes to high resolution gaming. Can Sapphire repeat the success of their 512MB Toxic part? - Elite Bastards

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB Toxic Version Review

As you might have seen our initial goal for raising some funds around the development for NiBiTor did fail, though we did get some interest from users so we are left with mixed feelings. As such you all have got a new chance to show if you want us to release new NiBiTor versions. And no we won't do such fund raisings every release, maybe just once a year and that merely to thank and support the developer and show your appreciation!

Who Wants To See More And New NiBiTor Versions!?

We expect that ATI will drop the price of the Radeon HD 4870 X2 cards soon, as NVIDIA will launch the GeForce GTX 295. Until it releases a chip that will replace their RV770 they just don't really have any products to fight NVIDIA's latest update. The 40nm chips are going to launch toward the middle of the year, at least the performance part will and you do know that the R700, well the Radeon HD 4870 X2 actually has two of these RV770 chips. Once ATI releases a 40nm successor to the chip, you can expect a newer dual chip card. The price drop is imminent they simply have to do it and this will put some additional pressure on the already shaken NVIDIA, although they lack the performance edge. - FudZilla

ATI Just Doesn't Have GeForce GTX 295 Dual Answer

By now we all know that NVIDIA is trying to transition their graphics cards to the 55nm manufacturing process. The transition began with the GeForce 9800 GTX+ and has made its way into a few hand picked GeForce 9800 GT models which have yet to find their way to retail. Many of us have been waiting for the shrunken down cores to eventually trickle down into the newer cards, namely the GeForce GTX 200 series. So let's be honest for a second, the GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 cards are power sucking monsters which are not only expensive for NVIDIA to produce but also don't fit very well with the environmentally friendly aspect of today's marketplace and consumers demanded it. - Hardware Canucks

EVGA e-GeForce GTX 260 (55nm) SuperClock Review

Next generation NVIDIA in the 40nm manufacturing process will share the basic design concept with the GT200 design. This architecture was introduced at 65nm and was rather hot, and forced NVIDIA to make very big chips, but eventually the architecture was flexible enough to shrink to 55nm and bring some new products such as GeForce GTX 285 and GeForce GTX 295 all based on 55nm GT200b chips. The original idea was carried from 65nm to 55nm technology. The future will bring a similar concept but at 40nm process and you can easily expect more shaders, higher clocks and less heat dissipation from these new GPU's. Though that is somehow the usual you can expect with new products. - FudZilla

NVIDIA 40nm Chipset To Be Similar As GT200 Design

We have to admit that until the Radeon HD 4830 card arrived on our door step we really hadn't heard of it, a bit like what happened to NVIDIA a while back when everyone was more interested in seeing what ATI was doing with the new Radeon HD 4800 series. Now the tables have turned and everyone is paying more attention to the new NVIDIA cards due out rather than what ATI is doing at the moment. The Radeon HD 4830 is the latest card to enter the Radeon HD 4800 series line-up and is the lowest of the bunch. The thing is though, we really do wonder how much lower it is than the Radeon HD 4850, which is one of the best valued cards on the market to date and wonder what will remain. - TweakTown

MSI Radeon HD 4830 512MB OC Edition Card Review

The GeForce GTX 295, the fastest dual GPU card from NVIDIA's lap, is going to launch on January 8th. At this time, some partners should have some limited availability of these products and we expect it to be priced in the $450-500 price range. The best case scenario is that they will sell for a bit more than $450. This dual GPU board won't be cheap, but some overclocked GeForce GTX 280 are selling for more than $400 and you can expect that the GeForce GTX 295 is significantly faster than any of the good old GeForce GTX 280. As we mentioned before, the GeForce GTX 280 will shortly be replaced by GeForce GTX 285, a bit faster and 55nm version of the graphics card. - FudZilla

Newest GeForce GTX 295 Fast But To Cost Over $450

While the GeForce GTX 200 series cards have taken over NVIDIA's top slots for video card gaming hardware, their GeForce 9 series continues to flush out the bulk of their product lineup, and the GeForce 9800 GTX+ reigns as top dog among the GeForce 9 series family. The WinFast PX9800 GTX+ Limited appears to have identical specs to their standard WinFast PX9800 GTX+ with the only difference being that of the slightly different cooler face and the bundled games selection. But otherwise both match the NVIDIA reference specification in clock speeds and chip design. The original GeForce 9800 GTX sported a 65nm G92 die with 675MHz core clock and 2200MHz effective memory. - OverClock Agency

Leadtek WinFast PX9800 GTX+ Limited Board Review

Roughly a year ago when somebody mentioned 1GB graphics cards we were all a little like what the heck do you need 1GB for? Admittedly, yours truly included. It's amazing how things evolve really, or more precisely how fast things evolve in the technology sector. This year a good number of games were released which actually make good use of a frame buffer larger than 512MB really well. And this specifically, in higher resolutions with some decent amount of anti-aliasing and DirectX 10 games, the benefits of more frame buffer is showing more intensely. Don't be fooled though. Say, you stumble into a 1GB based Radeon HD 4830 or something similar, chances are big it's just a waste of money. - Guru3D

HIS Radeon HD 4870 IceQ4+ Turbo Card Style Review

Indeed XFX is a well known manufacturer to most PC gamers. XFX specializes in PC video cards and motherboards featuring NVIDIA based GeForce GPU's and nForce core logic. Interestingly enough as well, XFX is moving towards being an AMD add-in-board partner as well, just as we reported to you back in November of last year. And it looks as if AMD cards from XFX will be available as soon as next week. XFX is also known for their transferrable lifetime warranties, even if the cooling device is modified or replaced. All that makes XFX one of those great brands to pick a graphics card from and today we are pleased to take a look at their new GeForce GTX 260 Black edition gaming series. - HardOCP

XFX GeForce GTX 260+ Black Gaming Edition Review

We are no strangers to the Radeon HD 4830 card, as we have tested a couple of them so far, and it's evident that these boards offer great bang for your buck. It's more than enough for the less demanding weekend gamers, since it will enable pleasant gaming on lower resolutions. It's currently priced at around $115, which is less than the Radeon HD 4850 and slightly more than the Radeon HD 4670, so it fills this performance gap quite nicely. This card is based on the RV770 graphics processor, the one you will see on models from the Radeon HD 4850 all the way up to their Radeon HD 4870 X2 which is powered by two of these chips and currently still holding the gaming performance crown. - FudZilla

Gainward Radeon HD 4830 Dual Cooling Style Review

We have has 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. Doing so users gain some extra performance, enable certain hidden features, tweak memory latencies, provide extensive information, adapt bootup settings, change fan speed options and/or get extra stability on the NVIDIA based graphics accelerators.

NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) v4.7 Software

NVIDIA is currently winning the last batch of benchmarks with its re-launched GeForce GTX 260 as it pulled a magic driver out of its sleeve and the Radeon HD 4870 is currently the slower one. The difference is not that big, but for NVIDIA it is very important to be the faster in the majority of benchmarks. Everyone now expects a quick launch of a new RV770, the 40nm successor but we learned that such card comes only after the RV740 which is a mainstream 40nm card that is set to launch in the second quarter of 2009. The RV770 successor is a card that comes as a performance card and it is also a 40nm board but this one will launch at a later date, probably more like mid 2009 or later. - FudZilla

ATI's First 2009 Card Is The RV740 Based Mainstream

NVIDIA will officially introduce the GeForce GTX 295, a dual headed 55nm card at CES on the 8th of January in Las Vegas. We already made a preview of the card and it is clear that it wins over ATI's dual headed Radeon HD 4870 X2. The 55nm based GeForce GTX 260 card with 216 shaders is already quasi available. NVIDIA has been shipping these chips for at least three weeks now but it takes some time to manufacture these cards and ship them to Europe and US. EVGA got its first batch in both continents and at the same time the GeForce GTX 285, the 55nm version of the faster GT200b chip with 240 shaders will launch. Don't expect miracles, as this is just slightly higher clocked card. - FudZilla

NVIDIA To Show Their GeForce GTX 295 In Las Vegas

With the Rampage 700 Goes Like Hell edition Gainward presents an extravagant graphics card. This dual GPU sparkler which is based on the Radeon HD 4870 X2 comes with a triple slot cooling solution which allows a factory overclock and it looks absolutely impressive. This does mean that the GPU clock is now set to 790MHz which is 40MHz more than standard and the GDDR5 memory is about to be clocked 200MHz faster than the reference design. In fact Gainward also has just a Golden Sample available which comes with the same cooling solution but clocked a bit less, however as such taking up as well three expansion slots. Though it comes with a lower price tag and can be tweaked. - OcaHolic

Gainward Rampage 700 Goes Like Hell Board Review

The ATI Radeon HD 4550, one of the junior solutions in the latest lineup, boasts pretty attractive features, it supports DirectX 10.1, advanced second generation Avivo high definition video processor, hardware video streams acceleration, sound over HDMI and consumes very little power. But this is all the promises from the developers. In our turn, we are going to find out if the Radeon HD 4550 is really as good for playing new gaming titles and functioning as part of home theater PC system for playing back Blu-ray movies. The sole purpose of this Radeon HD 4550 is to please those on small budget that want to enjoy some gaming or who are going for a complete quiet multimedia system configuration. - X-Bit Labs

ATI Radeon HD 4550 Multimedia Style Design Review