So currently NVIDIA are releasing new versions of their lower end graphics card series. All new cards are based on NVIDIA's first 40nm graphics processors. The GeForce GT 220 uses the GT216 chipset and this card is positioned in the lower end of the performance spectrum. This is also the first time that NVIDIA offers a DirectX 10.1 compliant GPU and is stated as perfect solution for Windows 7. We respectfully disagree, a Windows 7 compliant graphics card should have support for DirectX 11 in our opinion. NVIDIA has also worked on the media PC features and now lets you transmit the audio signal through its PCI Express interface. But this graphics card of course allows for some casual gaming. - techPowerUp

Axle GeForce GT 220 1GB Arctic Style Series Review

These Axle GeForce GT 220's comes with 1GB of GDDR3 memory and features reference clock speeds. They have also customized the PCB design and cooling solution to fit their needs in order to provide an competitive and cost effective solution. The packaging shows all the important product highlights on the front while the back goes into more detail about what you can do with their GeForce GT 220. Axle has chosen to go with a black PCB design and a cooler from Arctic Cooling which promises to deliver a quiet experience. While all components are only one slot tall, the Arctic Cooling heatsink makes this a dual slot version.

While there are no SLI connectors, it is possible to put two of these cards in SLI mode for better performance and data will be transferred via the PCI Express bus. Even though their cooler looks quite simple, it does an excellent job at keeping the card cool and also scores with a very low noise profile. The Axle GeForce GT 220 will be offered at similar price levels of other GeForce GT 220 cards, which is around $79. If you haven't noticed by now, the GeForce GT 220 is not meant for gaming. While it may be able to play older games at lower resolutions or with lower details, it completely lacks the rendering power for anything more serious.

The power consumption in idle mode is an rather low 15W which will help save you some money, especially if you are running a whole office full of computers. Right now these GeForce GT 220 cards are going for $70-80, which is clearly too high. Thanks to the 40nm process NVIDIA can make those GPU's really cheap and to be competitive the price should go down towards the $50 range. The Axle GeForce GT 220 variant comes with a revamped PCB and design. Thanks to the heatsink by Arctic Cooling this is the quietest GeForce GT 220 board that we seen so far and as such an excellent value for any home theater PC usage.

Axle has equipped their card with 1GB of GDDR3 memory which seems has no measurable advantage over 512MB for a card in this performance class, so if you can save a few dollars by opting for the 512MB variant, just go for it. If the prices are too close together to make any difference for you, get the 1GB variant which should have a better reselling value.