NVIDIA has itself an improved GeForce GTX 260 architecture - featuring an additional 24 stream processors - and ZOTAC has a pair of upgraded cards on offer.
With NVIDIA opting not to change the GeForce GTX 260 name, ZOTAC has taken responsibility and branded its new-and-improved cards as the GeForce GTX 260² series - clearly highlighting the cards that feature 216 stream processors.
The series consists of the stock-clocked GeForce GTX 260² and the more interesting pre-overclocked GeForce GTX 260 AMP²! Edition. The AMP²! Edition, pictured below, provides a core clock speed of 650MHz and 896MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 2,100MHz.
Carsten Berger, ZOTAC's marketing director, states that the additional 24 stream processors provide performance gains of up to 10 per cent in today's DirectX 10 games. For a more accurate analysis, however, refer to the HEXUS review of another pre-overclocked new GeForce GTX 260.
ZOTAC hasn't yet announced pricing, but we expect the cards to appear in the very near future and we're likely to see the AMP²! Edition priced at around the £225 mark. In the meantime, here's the complete specification:
Product Name: |
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 260² |
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 260 AMP²! Edition |
|---|---|---|
GPU: |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 |
Core Clock speed: |
576 MHz |
650 MHz |
Processor Cores |
216 |
216 |
Processor Clocks |
1242 MHz |
1400 MHz |
Memory Clock speed: |
1998 MHz |
2100 MHz |
Memory |
896MB GDDR3 |
896MB GDDR3 |
Memory interface: |
448-bit |
448-bit |
Cooling: |
Active |
Active |
DirectX™ version |
DirectX™ 10, Shader Model 4.0 |
|
Other hardware features |
Dual Dual-link DVI, HDCP, NVIDIA PhysX ready, PureVideo HD technology |
|
HDCP: |
Yes |
|
Software Features: |
nView® Multi-Display |
|
Windows Vista capability |
Certified for Windows Vista with aero user interface |
|
Official press release: ZOTAC Enhances GeForce GTX 260 Series
