Nvidia has ramped up the high end of its video card line with the GTX 260 and 280, featuring 3-way SLI, HD video decoding acceleration, and enhanced processor cores.
Video graphics developer Nvidia has announced its new line of GTZ 200 graphics processors, starting with the GTX 260 and its larger, faster sibling, the GTX 280. Both systems feature Nvidia’s 3-WAY SLI technology, accelerated decoding of high-definition video, and packing in 192 and 240 processor cores, respectively.
The GTX 260 packs in 896 MB of dedicated video memory and a 448-bit memory interface bus width, along with a 576 MHz graphics clock and a 1,242 MHz processor clock, combining for a texture fill rate of 36.9 billion/sec. The 260 supports displays up to 2,560 by 1,600 pixels (with a max VGA resolution of 2,048 by 1,536 pixels), handles multiple monitors (2- and 3-way SLI capable too), and packs HDCP , HDMI, and S/PDIF outputs.
The GTX 280 drives the same monitor resolutions as the 260, but packs 240 processor cores on a 1,296 MHz processor clock and 602 MHz graphics clock, combining for a texture fill rate of 48.2 billion/sec. The 280 packs a mammoth 1 GB of RAM on a 512-bit memory bus running at 1,107 MHz; the 280 supports up to two displays (and is 2- and 3-way SLI capable), offers two dual-link DVI outputs and one analog HDTV out (HDCP supported; HDMI comes via an adapter), along with S/PDIF audio output for HDMI.
Both cards support Nvidia’s PureVideo, PNysX, CUDA, and HybridPower technologies.
Both cards should be available tomorrow, with the GTX 260 carrying a suggested retail price of $399, and the GTX 280 running $649.
