NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 are based on the GT200 which is made in a 65nm process. Now NVIDIA has performed a die shrink on this design, to 55 nanometers. This results in a lower power consumption allowing new models to be built. The first two cards based on the 55nm GT200b chips are the GeForce GTX 295 and GTX 285. While the GeForce GTX 295 is a dual GPU design, the GeForce GTX 285 follows the traditional single GPU approach. With just a small marketing name improvement, the question has to be answered if this card is a worthy upgrade or if you are better off trying to find a great deal on the previous GeForce GTX 280 graphics card which might be lower priced. - techPowerUp
While we had the chance to check out GPU's from many different companies, one of the ones we haven't worked with much is HIS, but recently they've decided we're worthy of their attention. With that in mind they have sent us a Radeon HD 4850 with their special IceQ4 branding. This means that it is not just a reference design according to the ATI standards buit comes with their well known IceQ suffix. And that means you get a quiet cooling solution instead which be seen as an added value. The next version following would be the Turbo edition which adds even some pre-overclocking of both core and memory clock speeds. But we have just the simple edition with their new silent IceQ4 cooling design. - XSReviews
NVIDIA continues to refine the GT200, and the latest 55nm version offers better efficiency and higher performance. We will look at the ASUS GeForce GTX 285 and put it up against a wide range of video cards. With 1GB of GDDR3 memory clocked to 2600MHz, and 240 cores working at 1550MHz, the Extreme GTX 285 TOP pushes frame rates to a new hight. These benchmarks will help set their video cards apart, but prices will ultimately decide the products fate. Discreet desktop graphics have had a lot of controversy surrounding them. While NVIDIA and ATI continue to produce high-end parts, games made for the PC platform require about the same level of power for the past years. - Benchmark Reviews
When the Radeon HD 4670 arrived on the scene several months ago everybody knew that it wasn't going to be about raw gaming power and high resolutions. Priced at less than a meal for two at your favourite restaurant and kitted out with a HDMI port, the card was undoubtedly an ideal candidate for the home theater PC scene. However, in the battle between NVIDIA and AMD to bring us graphics cards with the most features at the lowest price points, one intriguing feature was added to the Radeon HD 4670, a CrossFire connector. In many ways this seems little more than a gimmick, after all multi GPU setups are often considered the next step up for enthusiasts who already own the fastest cards. - Overclock3D
Set against the backdrop of economic uncertainty, NVIDIA continues to plough ahead with new launches this year. Last week saw the introduction of the dual GPU based GeForce GTX 295 card, ostensibly a hybrid of the GeForce GTX 200 series GPU's, sandwiched together on to one card. Yesterday saw another GPU released, the GeForce GTX 285, which arguably, cemented NVIDIA's position as provider, via its partners of the fastest single GPU graphics card. Cutting through the hyperbole priced at around $399 for a stock clocked model, isn't much more than a faster clocked GeForce GTX 280, with the boost in clocks enabled by a move to a smaller, more efficient manufacturing process. - Hexus
With the launch of the GeForce GTX 295 card last week, NVIDIA has started to roll out its 55nm GT200b GPU's onto the market. Today the company is rolling another new graphics card, the GeForce GTX 285 but unlike the GeForce GTX 295, this one utilizes just a single GT200b core. We spent some time going over the minor changes made in the GT200b during our article about the GeForce GTX 295 graphics card. The best way to think of GT200b though is that it's just GT200 on a finer manufacturing process with a few small enhancements. The GeForce GTX 285 is coming to market to replace the GeForce GTX 280 graphics card which has been NVIDIA's flagship product since last June. - Bit-Tech
After a long wait, the re-birth of the fastest single GPU based graphics card on the planet is here, the GeForce GTX 285 card. Successor to the phenomenally successful GeForce GTX 280, the GeForce GTX 285 has received a die shrink to 55nm as well as a slightly redesigned card as we shall see later. Thanks to the shift over to the 55nm process NVIDIA have used smaller transistors and as a result clock speeds have been increased along with a reduction in power usage. This has allowed NVIDIA to use dual 6-pin PCI Express cables rather than the 6-pin plus 8-pin configuration which should appeal to the wider market, especially those who don't have an 8-pin power connection at their disposal. - Overclock3D
Now having just had a look at the GeForce GTX 285 from Gigabyte which strictly follows the reference design, it's nice to see a company at launch offer a card that doesn't carry the stock clocks. While there is nothing wrong with reference clocks and the speeds the GeForce GTX 285 puts out in its stock form, there's no denying that we want more power if we can get it. Inno3D tend to send us some special cards, and be it a good overclock or a nice new heatsink that helps keep the card nice and cool. While it doesn't come as any surprise that this Inno3D card carries with it the reference heatsink, so it is good to know it carries their overclock trait and should show even greater performance. - TweakTown
Our today's guest is the GeForce GTX 285, yet another board with a 55nm chip. The recently announced GeForce GTX 295 card also features a 55nm GPU, as is the case with many other NVIDIA cards such as the most recent GeForce GTX 260 with 216 shaders. NVIDIA opted for a silent approach, where the cards would get a new chip and retain the name without making a big fuss about it, but the GeForce GTX 285 couldn't retain the name as it was clocked higher than the old GeForce GTX 280. The GeForce GTX 280 has so far been the fastest single GPU graphics card running at 602MHz for the core and it packed a 65nm GT200 chip. Gainward's new GeForce GTX 285 runs at default 648MHz core speed. - FudZilla
While a bit uncommon to have two graphics cards which are ready at the same time, yet choose to release them a week apart, this is the path NVIDIA has decided to take. We actually ended up with a GeForce GTX 285 sample a few days before the GeForce GTX 295 came. The main reason for this plan though, is probably due to the fact that NVIDIA didn't want to take focus away from either card. The plan probably worked to a degree. While last week everyone was in awe of what this GeForce GTX 295 was offering, there was plenty of questions regarding what's going on with the cheaper GeForce GTX 285 as well. While we would all no doubt love to own the latest top dual GPU bad boy. - TweakTown
About just a week ago we brought you the scoop on the new GeForce GTX 295 graphics card from NVIDIA that utilized a pair of 55nm GT200 based GPU's on a single card to produce the single fastest graphics card on the planet. At the end we mentioned that NVIDIA was already telling the world about the upcoming GeForce GTX 285, the single GPU version of the same 55nm GPU that would essentially replace the old GeForce GTX 280 and offer slightly better performance with slightly lower power consumption. So right on time, and with before launch availability, NVIDIA has delivered on its promise and brought us the GeForce GTX 285 video card, to refresh our single GPU gaming experience. - PC Perspective