• Palit GeForce 9600 GT Video Card w/HDMI for $119 at Newegg after rebate
• ECS GeForce N8800GTS512MX at Newegg for $169 after rebate
• MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC w/The Witcher at Newegg for $194 after rebate

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 at Techgage
  
• XFX GeForce 9600 GT XXX 512MB at Guru3D
  
• EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO 1GB at Gamepyre
  
• GeForce 9800 GTX SLI at t-break
  
• Samsung SyncMaster 245BW LCD Monitor at Benchmark Reviews
  
• 24" LCD Monitors Roundup Part II at X-bit labs
  
• Futuremark 3DMark Vantage at OCC
  
• Futuremark 3DMark Vantage at Legit Reviews

• Added experimental NVIDIA G96 graphics processors family support.
• Added experimental NVIDIA G100 (aka GT200) graphics processors family support.
• Added experimental driver-level multi-GPU fan control support for Quad-SLI systems. Thanks to Jacob Freeman @ EVGA for testing driver-level fan control with2x NVIDIA 9800GX2 system.
• Added set of technologies aimed to improve RivaTuner startup and usage safety in conjunction with other hardware monitoring and diagnostics related tools.
• Improved launcher, scheduler, hardware monitoring, and low-level diagnostic report modules.
• Unlocked undocumented SSAA and combined MSAA / SSAA antialiasing modes for G8x and newer display adapters.
• Minor UI changes and improvements.

Just about every major chip maker in the industry believes that parallel processing is the future – multi-core CPUs have been around for a few years now and at the same time GPUs have become more flexible and more CPU-like. This seemed like a great place to further our discussions on the role of the CPU in the future – will the CPU ever replace the GPU, or vice versa? David was very short in his answer – offering a simple "No."

He smiled in a rather convincing manner, while I laughed because I wasn't expecting an answer as short as that. "The reason for that is because GPUs and CPUs are very different. If you built a hybrid of the two, it would do both kinds of tasks poorly instead of doing both well," he said.

3DMark Vantage is composed of two CPU tests, two GPU tests, and six feature tests. Presets have also been implemented, which range from performance-minded to high-end cinematic rendering, resolutions, and features.

Highlights of 3DMark Vantage include:

The Latest GPU Features:

• Completely new DirectX 10 rendering engine developed by Futuremark, taking full advantage of geometry shaders, vertex stream out and the new shader model 4.0.

• Advanced post-processing effects including lenticular halos, anamorphic and lens flares, streaking, bloom, depth-of-field, motion blur, color correction, depth fog and volumetric fog.

• GPU-simulated physics content including planet surface shockwaves, firestorms and atmospheric evaporation; reactive cloth, physical particle effects and a completely new interactive water simulation with large-scale waves and foam formation.

• High-fidelity, physically based surface shading models, including anisotropic materials like brushed metal and plastic and concrete.

• Heavily multi-threaded artificial intelligence (AI) featuring co-operative 3D-pathfinding algorithms, utilizing a state-of-the art lock-free task scheduling core.

• Next-generation physics workloads featuring fluids, rigid bodies, joints, cloth and soft bodies.

• Support for Physics Processing Unit hardware acceleration.

New in Beta 7

• Corrected all startup problems. Multithreaded startup for splash screen redone from scratch and much, much simpler.

• Added new filter option "predefined profiles of installed applications" (which is used by default). When used only predefined profiles of actually installed applications are shown. Great idea introduced in nVidia’s control panel.

• Added new filter option "manual profiles".

• Multiple profiles with the same name will now be marked as conflicting.

• Profiles which are neither set to be activated manually nor contain any executables for automatic activation are now marked with a warning.

• Improved SLI detection.

• Bugfix: nHancer handled manual profiles incorrectly when reimporting profiles during startup. The same profile was offered for import upon each startup, which could result in the identical profiles in the profile list.

• Several other bug fixes.

• Supports Forceware 174.x.

• Corrected the names for the new SLI modes.

• Added DX10 AA-compatibility flags.

• Added Hybrid SLI mode.

• Bugfix: Size of the "Description" and "Settings" areas were not restored properly when starting nHancer.

• BFG 8800GTX Video Card for $339 at Newegg after rebate
  
• MSI GeForce 9800 GX2 for $529 at Newegg
• Logitech V320 Cordless Optical Notebook Mouse for $9.99 after rebate at Circuitcity

• ASUS Striker II Extreme Motherboard at HardwareLogic
  
• XFX's nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard at bit-tech
  
• CoolerMaster Real Power Pro at HighTech
  
• Wolfking WARRIOR XXTREME Gamepad/Keyboard at OCC
  
• CoolerMaster Centurion 590 Case at OverclockerCafe
  
• Cirago Micro USB Bluetooth Adapter at Tweaknews

STALKER Clear Sky DirectX 10 Tech Video

• God Rays
• Soft Water
• Volumetric Fire
• Dynamic Volumetric Smoke
• Dynamic Wet Surface
• Rainmap: Shadowmap For The Rain Effect
• Water Splashes
• Water Streaming Down Surfaces

• Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor for $209 at TigerDirect
• G.SKILL 4GB(2x2GB) DDR2-800 (PC2 6400) Memory Kit for $77
• Mitsubishi Black 42" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $2299 at Newegg
• Dell Inspiron 1525 Notebook for $649

• Inno3D 9600 GT Hurricane at Overclockercafe
  
• EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO 1GB at Motherboards.org
  
• EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW Motherboard at Gamepyre
  
• Tuniq Miniplant 950W Power Supply at OCIA

• Cable vs DSL at Techwarelabs
  
• Mushkin XP-800 AP 800W PSU at Techpowerup
  
• AMD Phenom X3 8750 at Viperlair
  
• Hard Drive Performance Comparison at Techarp

Inside each box is a BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics card that has been autographed by Huang and Scott Herkelman, president of BFG Technologies.

Packaged in this limited-edition box, only 10 of these signed graphics cards exist in the world. Click the link above to find out how to get ahold of one!

• eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB for $114 at Newegg after rebate
• BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC at TigerDirect for $169 after rebate
  
• BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC at TigerDirect for $229 after rebate
• Corsair 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $81 at Tigerdirect after rebate

• Guru3d
  
• HotHardware
  
• Motherboards.org
  
• The TechReport

• XFX GeForce 8800 GTS Video Card for $249 at NewEgg
  
• BFG 8800GTX Video Card for $359 at NewEgg after rebate

• ASUS M3N-HT 780a SLi at OCC
  
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 at Modders-Inc
  
• -DATA PD17, PD18, and PD19 Mini USB Flash Drives at Virtual-Hideout
  
• Western Digital VelociRaptor Showcase at HardOCP
  
• Cooler Master Centurion 590 Case at Ninjalane

• eVGA 8800 GT Video Card for $159 at Tigerdirect after rebate
  
• Leadtek Winfast 9800 GTX Video Card $299 at Newegg

• ASUS EN8800GT 1GB Graphics Card at Tweaktown
  
• Western Digital's VelociRaptor VR150 HD at Techreport
  
• Leadtek 9600 GT SLI at Madshrimps
  
• Super Talent Pico 8GB at DVHardware
  
• MSI's P45 Platinum and K9N2 Diamond at Bit-Tech
  
• OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler at OCIA
  
• Sunbeam Quarterback at OCC
  
• Zotac GeForce 9800GTX at T-Break
  
• 9600 GT in SLI at XBit

MSI P7N SLI Platinum 750i Motherboard

As with the P6N motherboard, the P7N Platinum features an elaborate copper heatsink/heatpipe chipset cooling solution on a jet-black circuit board. The heatpipe arrangement runs from the MOSFET's to the System Platform Processor (C55 SPP), the nForce 430i Media & Communications Processor (C51 MCP) and the nForce 200.

• eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Video Card for $199 at Newegg after rebate
  
• eVGA GeForce 9800 GTX Video Card for $299 at Newegg

• EVGA nForce 750i SLI at Guru3d
  
• Interview with Alex 'Unwinder' / RivaTuner at Techpowerup
  
• Zalman TRIMON 22" 3D Monitor at Tweaktown
  
• Enermax MODU82+ 625w at HardOCP

The upgrade kit, priced at $279, is available to purchase at NVIDIA and Apple.

• Corsair 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 for $84 at Newegg after rebate
  
• Palit GeForce 9600 GT Video Card w/HDMI at TigerDirect for $119 after rebate

• Overclocking Intel's Xeon X3320 CPU at The TechReport
  
• Themalright Ultima 90 CPU Cooler at TechwareLabs
  
• SLI vs. CrossFire at Hardware Secrets
  
• MSI N9600GT 512M OC Graphics Card at HardOCP
  
• ASUS 9800 GTX 512MB Graphics Card at Virtual-Hideout
  
• ECS GeForce 8800 GT Review at Overclockers Club
  
• Creative EAX vs. ASUS DS3D GX 2.0 at Techgage
  
• Coolink SWiF 1202 Cooling Fan at Modders-Inc
  
• Auras Fridge JES-988 Passive VGA Cooler at Madshrimps
  
• "GPU Gems" - Now Readable Online at NVIDIA

NVIDIA Hybrid SLI Technology

nV News: Why did NVIDIA develop Hybrid SLI?

Tom: The idea was conceived back when we created NVIDIA SLI technology which was launched in 2004. With gaming graphics cards getting more power hungry and energy costs rising, it was obvious we needed to do something to curb power consumption. And now with Windows Vista and a trend towards 3D in common applications, it is clear more graphics horsepower is needed for mainstream consumers. With Hybrid SLI we solve both problems.

Like SLI technology, Hybrid SLI uses two or more GPUs to work its magic. The difference with Hybrid SLI is that one of the GPUs is a motherboard GPU built on to the motherboard, which is like integrated graphics but with better performance, DirectX compatibility and HD movie playback. The motherboard GPU is paired with one or more discrete GPUs via graphics cards.

• GeForce 9800 GX2
• GeForce 9800 GX2 SLI (Quad SLI)
• GeForce 9800 GTX SLI
• GeForce 8800 Ultra 3-way SLI
• GeForce 8800 Ultra SLI
• Radeon HD 3870 X2 CrossFire
• Radeon HD 3870 X2 + Radeon 3870

The beauty of this configuration is that two GeForce 9600 GTs can be had for less than $250 with rebates (see link to Palit's $119 offering above). More importantly, is that by investing in an SLI motherboard, you'll eventually replace those GeForce 9600 GTs in the future with a pair of more powerful graphics cards.

Some food for thought...

"Autodesk and NVIDIA understand the diverse visualization needs of the film and broadcast industries," said Stig Gruman, Digital Entertainment Group vice president, Autodesk Media and Entertainment. "NVIDIA Quadro SDI graphics give our systems the performance advantage creative professionals need to produce powerful graphics, visual effects, editing, and finishing for the HD, SD, post-production, and broadcast industries."

• 2D Video Pass-Through Compositing - enables incoming video to be passed through and alpha composited, luma keyed or chromakeyed with the Quadro rendered graphics image on the outgoing SDI video

• Large Frame Buffers - 768 MB to 1.5 GB ultra-fast graphics frame buffer memory delivers high throughput for interactive visualization of large models and high-performance for real-time processing of textures and frames while enabling high-quality, full-scene antialiasing (FSAA)

• 8K Texture and Render Processing - offers the ability to texture from and render to 8K x 8K surfaces

• Next-Generation Vertex and Pixel Programmability - provides a higher level of performance and ultra-realistic effects using the Shader Model 4.0 standard, supporting OpenGL and DirectX 10 applications

• Ancillary Data Support - allows an ancillary data channel for audio, timecodes, and more

Analyst Brian Piccioni of BMO Capital Markets said he had also expected AMD to gain ground in the graphics chips space, but the company's lowered outlook may be a bad sign.

"We expected AMD's graphics business to be doing relatively well given recent product releases, but this may not be the case," he said in a research note. AMD's plan to cut jobs, he added, also suggests that "management believes the company will post lower-than-expected revenue for the rest of the year."

• eVGA GeForce 9800 GX2 Video Card for $519 at Buy.com after rebate
• OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB PC2-8500 DDR2 for $105 at mwave after rebate
• Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Performance 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 for $70 at TigerDirect after rebate
  
• Corsair 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 w/Heat Spreader for $84 at Newegg after rebate
  
• Logitech MX3200 Cordless Keyboard and Laser Mouse for $29 at TigetDirect after rebate
  

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 at Overclockers Club
  
• ASUS Striker II 790i SLI Motherboard at ThinkComputers.org
  
• Foxconn 9600GT 512N at MadBoxPC.com
  
• Leadtek Winfast PX9600GT at t-break
  
• Sapphire Radeon HD3870 X2 1GB Graphics Card at Bigbruin.com
  
• Lian-Li Armorsuit PC-P60 Case at techPowerUp!
  
• Asus Eee PC 4G XP Sub-Notebook at The TechReport
  
• Nvidia Analyst's Day: Biting Back at Intel at bit-tech

Windows Usage

Click the headline for a link to the full-size pics.

Inno3D GeForce 9600 GT iChiLL Hurricane

Retail Packaging

Multi-Purpose Cooling

Installation Guide

"Enough is enough."

Frustrated, because Intel clings on to outdated technology and thus holds back advances in the visual computing market, which is the future of innovation on the personal computer.

I encourage you to listen to his speech, which is both enlightening and passionate.

"It's becoming obvious that the GPU is the main purchasing decision that our customers are making when purchasing a new PC. As a result, for some time now NVIDIA GPUs and MCPs have been the engines driving our flagship PCs," said Kelt Reeves, president and CEO of Falcon Northwest. "With the new GeForce 9800GX2, the introduction of Quad SLI for Vista, and the nForce 790i platform to run them on, NVIDIA has once again provided us with some serious new armament in the fight for smoother frame rates."

"Since the start of the year, we have been committed to introducing products that not only set the bar for performance and scalability, but also deliver the ultimate visual computing experience," said Ujesh Desai, general manager of GeForce desktop GPU business at NVIDIA. "Consumers buying a new PC or those who want to build one from scratch know that the key to the best visual computing experience starts with the GPU. With our new products and the support of our partners worldwide, 2008 marks the beginning of the visual computing revolution and solidifies the GPU's position as the most important processor inside the PC."

• EVGA GeForce 8800GTS KO Edition for $219 at Newegg after rebate
  
• BFG Tech Geforce 8800 GT for $169 at Newegg & TigerDirect after rebate
  
• EVGA GeForce 8800 GS for $109 at Newegg & TigerDirect after rebate
  
• BFG Tech GeForce 8600 GTS OC for $79 at Newegg & TigerDirect after rebate
  
• EVGA GeForce 8400M GS Video Card for $19 at TigerDirect after rebate
  

• NVIDIA Chips Comparison Table at Hardware Secrets
  
• ASUS EN9800GTX Graphics Card at Techgage
  
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red PC2-6400 4GB Memory Kit at 3dGameMan
  
• Thermaltake DuOrb CPU Cooler at Legit Reviews
  
• Silverstone Decathlon 1200W PSU Review at Driver Heaven
  
• Cooler Master Centurion 590 Mid-Tower Case at OCIA.net
  
• 22" Monitors Roundup: Part 2 at X-bit labs
  
• VSONIC R02-PRO Earphones at techPowerUp!
  
• CyberLink Interview for the HTPC HD Fans at Tweaktown
  
• How To Start Your Own Games Studio - Part 1 at bit-tech
  
• TSMC: Inside the Manufacturing Giant at Hexus.tv
  
• Assassin's Creed (PC) Review at Gaming Heaven
  
• Assassin's Creed Feedback Thread at nV News Gaming Central
  
• 406 Games Legally Installed on Windows Vista!

The second story discusses NVIDIA's rise to dominance in the GPU sector and that the company's best growth opportunity for the future may be in the area of mobile phones.

Let's not overstate the case. Anyone who plays games or edits video on their computer will still want the power that can only be found in a discrete chip. And Nvidia makes motherboards with integrated graphics. It just can't incorporate the central processor to make it a complete package.

Also, today's mobile devices, particularly phones, want to perform graphics stunts, too, and Nvdia makes chips for these that have impressed Wall Street analysts of late. Some see phones as the company's next big source of growth. Handsets, though, made for just 2% of Nvidia's sales in its last fiscal year. And whatever the company's ability to render "Shrek" in high definition on your phone, it will be years before phone companies can deliver the download to you without tethering you to a computer.

Also, within 100 days of purchase, any BFG GeForce 9800 GTX graphics cards can be traded up to a BFG GeForce 9800 GX2, and the customer only pays the difference in price, plus applicable taxes.

Additionally, if a customer is within 100 days of purchasing a BFG GeForce 9600 GT, they may also choose to Trade Up to either a BFG GeForce 9800 GTX, 9800 GTX OC/OC2/OCX, or a BFG GeForce 9800 GX2. Additional information can be found here.

"Any company can push clock speeds to the limit—but operating a graphics card at those excessive clock speeds over time can result in all kinds of problems", said John Malley, senior director of marketing for BFG Technologies. "We put our OC, OC2, and OCX overclocked graphics cards through an extensive testing process to find the highest stable clocks. This gives users an increase in performance and ensures that their investment will operate smoothly for many years to come."

• Bus Type: PCI Express 2.0
• Memory: 512MB GDDR3
• Core Clock: 700MHz (vs. 675MHz standard)
• Shader Clock: 1728MHz (vs. 1688MHz standard)
• Memory Data Rate: 2200MHz

• Bus Type: PCI Express 2.0
• Memory: 512MB GDDR3
• Core Clock: 715MHz (vs. 675MHz standard)
• Shader Clock: 1782MHz (vs. 1688MHz standard)
• Memory Data Rate: 2250MHz (vs. 2200MHz standard)

• Bus Type: PCI Express 2.0
• Memory: 512MB GDDR3
• Core Clock: 755MHz (vs. 675MHz standard)
• Shader Clock: 1890MHz (vs. 1688MHz standard)
• Memory Data Rate: 2300MHz (vs. 2200MHz standard)

• XFX GeForce 9800 GTX from $329
• BenQ G2400W Black 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor from $381
  

• BFG GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB OCX at Guru3d
  
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX Overclocked at Tweaktown
  
• 2-way 9800GTX at Bootdaily
  
• Leadtek PX8800GT 256MB at Reviewlab
  
• Asus' Xonar DX sound card at Techreport
  
• Optical vs Laser Mice at TechwareLabs
  
• Zalman FPSGun FG1000 Gaming Mouse Review at Virtual-Hideout
  
• 7 Notebook Coolers Compared at Madhrimps

• BFG 9800 GTX Video Card for $329 at NewEgg
• XFX 9600 GT Video Card for $149 at NewEgg after rebate
  

• MSI N9600GT-1GB at T-break
  
• Gigabyte 9600 GT 512MB at Techgage
  
• Gainward 9800 GTX 512MB Video Card at Madshrimps
  
• XFX GeForce 9600GT XXX Alpha Dog at Motherboards.org
  
• Zotac GeForce 9800 GX2 at XBit
  
• Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 at Tweaknews
  
• Apevia Warlock 900W PSU at OCC

• BFG 8800 GT Video Card for $169 after rebate at NewEgg
• MSI GeForce 9600 GT Video Card for $144 at NewEgg after rebate
  

• Asus EN9800 GTX at OCC
  
• CSX Wraith Tower Case at OCIA
  
• Logisys 650W PSU at TechwareLabs
  
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 at Techreport
  
• 2GB Mini-USB Flash Drives Roundup at XBit
  
• Cooler Master CM690 at Viper Lair
  
• Intel Xeon X3320 45nm Quad Core at Madshrimps

• BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX from $329
• OCZ Vista Performance Gold Edition 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory for $74 at Tigerdirect after rebate
• Corsair XMS3 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory from $719

• ASUS GeForce 8800GS TOP 384MB at Tweaktown
• AMD 780G & Athlon X2 4850e at Guru3d
  
• In Win B2 Stealth Bomber at OCC
  
• Antec NSK4480 Case at Hardwaresecrets
  
• MSI GX600 Performance Laptop at Madshrimps
  
• OrigenAE C10 Low Profile CPU Cooler at Techpowerup

• ASUS GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) Video Card from $339
• XFX Geforce 9800GTX for $324
• ZOGIS GeForce 9800 GTX for $329

• EVGA e-GeForce 9800GTX 512MB Video Card at Gamepyre
• ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB Video Card at Benchmarkreviews
• Penryn and Bone Trail at InfernaLAN at Virtual-Hideout
  
• Intel's Atom Processor at Techreport
  
• Eagle Tech I-Series Dual SATA HDD USB Enclosure at Madshrimps
  
• Nesteq ECS 7001 700 Watt Power Supply at OCIA

And the GeForce 9800 GTX? In summary, after having tested the GeForce 9800 GTX under Windows XP, I will state that it performs on par with the previous generation GeForce 8800 GTX. That is until its 512MB of video memory (VRAM) becomes exhausted. Although not necessarily a drawback, it is a consideration that the informed consumer needs to realize before making a purchase - especially when two (SLI) or three (3-way SLI) graphics cards are being considered. The additional 256MB of video memory available on the GeForce 8800 GTX can make the difference between a game being playable or not.

• bit-tech - New
  
• DriverHeaven - New
  
• FiringSquad
  
• Guru3d
  
• HardOCP
  
• Hartware.net (German) - New
  
• HotHardware
  
• Hexus
  
• LegitReviews
  
• MadBoxPC (Spanish) - New
  
• Neoseeker - New
  
• OverclockersClub
  
• Overclock3D
  
• PCPerspective
  
• techPowerUp