This year so far hasn't brought any earth shattering surprises in the world of video cards, but it has brought some small, noteworthy maneuvers. So ATI is steadily building Radeon HD 4000 boards, in many different flavors and configurations. Rumors swirl around their next project. Intel is still secretly working away on Larrabee, while publicly planning to build CPU's with a GPU in them. Assorted other companies are continuing to explore 3D realms. But what hands on action that has so far been introduced since January, has been from NVIDIA. They've introduced three new products, one of which we are looking at today being their all new refreshed GeForce GTX 285 graphics accelerator. - NeoSeeker

XFX GeForce GTX 285 1GB XXX Video Edition Review

The XFX GeForce GTX 285 XXX edition is the revised and GPU shrunken reincarnation of the GeForce GTX 280. As our previous articles have shown, the GT200 is the fastest gamer GPU available to the mass market. The GT200b continues this legacy, beating out ATI's RV770, the Radeon HD 4870 graphics chipset. Going from a 65nm process to a 55nm has expanded NVIDIA's options when it comes to the high-end, enthusiast market for video cards, and prices are set to steadily drop as production ramps up. Although ATI hasn't released any new big guns so far this year, though the price to performance battle is going on.

About two weeks ago we looked at the BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX, and beyond mildly different clock speeds and mainly a different look, this is, for all intensive purposes, the same video card. Like all recent enthusiast video cards put out by NVIDIA, the XFX GeForce GTX 285 XXX edition features their current workhorse cooler design. Featuring a fast, well vaned fan on the right, this cooler design has prove effective in a host of recent models, including their GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 products. And a length of cooling fins stretch down below the graphics card's plastic shroud, focusing the heated air out of the rear bracket.

This cooler gets the job done, although there is one bone to pick with it as in some circumstances, it seems to make a noticeable, annoying whirring sound. Generally the fan is quiet but in just some programs, at times this sort of mild, pulsing whine emanates from it. At the heart of the GeForce GTX 285 card is the 55nm GT200b graphics processor. When someone hears that the GT200b is a shrunk version of the GT200 chipset, it might give off the wrong impression that somehow, some of the performance potential of NVIDIA's top GPU has been reduced. But this is defintely not the case, except for the power consumption.

While the XFX GeForce GTX 285 XXX edition doesn't get up out of its seat, cross the room and slap us in the face like perhaps did the XFX GeForce GTX 260 XXX version, the GeForce GTX 285 is nonetheless a very strong performer. And while the XXX edition comes in a bit less overclocked than than our recently checked BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX, we are going to guess that gamers will derive more pleasure from playing the excellent bundled Far Cry 2 than they will ever by getting a minor bump of frames a second in most games. As of this writing, our XXX card is selling for $377 at a popular online e-tailer.

At the same e-tailer, the cheapest Radeon HD 4870 X2 is going for $400, while most of them are going for closer to $450. Which one to choose? If you go for the single GPU based XFX GeForce GTX 285 XXX edition, you might save yourself some headaches that dual GPU cards bring, most notably being that not every game is guaranteed to have CrossFire support out of the box. However, it can't be denied that the Radeon HD 4870 X2 often offers a greater level of performance than the GeForce GTX 285. For those that are looking for the best bargain, right now picking up a pair of Radeon HD 4850's is pretty tough to beat.

XFX is selling three versions of the GeForce GTX 285, the Black edition, this XXX version and a stock clocked one, with a simple overclock you can get the $355 stock XFX GeForce GTX 285 running at the $400 Black edition level. Going for a stock clocked XFX GeForce GTX 285 and then overclocking it yourself seems like the way to go for those looking for best bang for buck. In the end, the XFX GeForce GTX 285 XXX edition is a card that has the power to satisfy any gaming demands, comes with a double lifetime warranty, superior technical support, and is by any measure a complete and well executed package.