For those of us that play video games and watch HD content on our computers, video cards are very important to us, we need the best performing we can get. I've been using a Diamond Radeon 4870 with 1gig of ram for a little while now, and I was under the impressions that it was a rather high end video card, the thing cost like $400 when I got it after all. If you compare Nvidia and ATI cards, the 4870 was the flagship card, now of course the 4890 is, but one would think that the 4870 was still a decent card to have. If you look at the Nvidia end of things the GTX295 is the highest, then the GTX285, then the GTX275 then the GTX260. Looking at that we see four versions, each with varying levels of performance and you would think that with the numbering, common sense would say that the 4890 is equal to the GTX295, and then the 4870 should be equal to the GTX285 right? Common sense gets thrown out the window though when it comes to VGA model numbers as we all know. Still though you would think that something like the 4870 would easily outperform a GTX260, if you though that you'd be wrong, very wrong, and yes I was wrong as well. The whole numbering system with CPUs and GPUs is something for a rant for another time though...

Up on the review block today I've got the Calibre X260 Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 896MB Overclocked Video Card and I can say that for a somewhat low priced card this thing rocks. Before I got the GTX260 for review I was using an ATI 4870 with 1 gig of ram, and I'm truly surprised that the GTX260 with less ram and lower clock speed easily bests it in terms of performance. The 4870 runs 1 gig of DDR5 ram and the GTX260 runs 896Mb of DDR3 ram, you'd think the 4870 would perform better, but you'd be wrong. I've put the GTX260 up against my 4870 and a GTS250 for comparison, so read on to learn about a very good video card...

Product Name: Calibre X260 GeForce GTX 260 896MB Overclocked Video Card

Author: Kristofer Brozio

Sponsor: Calibre / Sparkle

Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:

Calibre GTX 260 896MB Overclocked Video Card

GeForce GTX260

Model: X260

Calibre X260 Graphics Card with plenty OC capabilities,makes DX10 gaming graphics beyond anything that’s ever been possible before on a

mainstream consumer computing platform

Features:

3-Way NVIDIA SLI Technology

Industry leading 3-way NVIDIA SLI technology offers amazing performance scaling by implementing AFR (Alternate Frame Rendering), under Windows

Vista with solid, state-of-the-art drivers.

NVIDIA PhysX Technology

Delivering physics in games is no easy task. It's an extremely compute-intensive environment based on a unique set of physics algorithms that

require tremendous amounts of simultaneous mathematical and logical calculations.

NVIDIA CUDA Technology

NVIDIA CUDA Technology is the world’s only C language environment that provides access to processing power of NVIDIA GPUs. It enables

developers to utilize NVIDIA GPUs to solve the most complex computation-intensive challenges such as oil and gas exploration, financial risk

management, product design, medical imaging, and scientific research.

NVIDIA Unified Architecture (Second Generation)

Fully unified shader core dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up to 2x the

gaming performance of prior generation GPUs.

Full Microsoft DirectX 10 Support

World's first DirectX 10 GPU with full Shader Model 4.0 support delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects.

NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology

The combination of high-definition video decode acceleration and post-processing that delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate

color, and precise image scaling for movies and video. Feature requires supported video software. Features may vary by product.

OpenGL 2.1 Optimizations and Support

Ensures top-notch compatibility and performance for OpenGL applications.

Dual Dual-link DVI Support

Able to drive the industry’s largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600 and with support for High-bandwidth Digital Content

Protection (HDCP).

Dual 400MHz RAMDACs

Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh rates–up to 2048x1536@85Hz.

Built for Microsoft Windows Vista

NVIDIA's fourth-generation GPU architecture built for Windows Vista gives users the best possible experience with the Windows Aero 3D graphical

user interface, included in the new operating system (OS) from Microsoft.

Specs:

UPC No.: 4710710446222

Lifestyle: Calibre

GPU / VPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260

RAMDAC: Dual 400MHz

Bus Type: PCI-Express 2.0

Bus Speed: 16X

Video Memory: 896MB

Memory Type: DDR3

Memory Interface: 448 bit

Core Clock: 648MHz

Memory Clock: 1998MHz

Shader Clock: 1404MHz

Stream Processors: 216

Output Connectors: Dual-Link DVI x2

HDCP Capable: Yes

Overclocked: Yes

Cooling System; Fan

Video Card Profile: Full Height

Video Card Slot: Double Slots and Above

Power Connector: 6-Pin PCI-Express Power x2