Biggest news of the day, is of course the unveiling of Nvidia’s new monster (and its little brother) GTX260 and GTX280 video cards.

As reviews are breaking out left and right after the NDA’s release, I would like to summarize a few points:
1. it’s the fastest single card of the planet.
2. it’s the most expensive single card of the planet.
3. it’s NOT the fastest single slot card of the planet – which oddly cost $150 less – at medium to high video settings. It shines brightest at ultra-high-pop-your-eyes settings.
4. you need BOTH the 8-pin and 6-pin PCIEx power connectors from your PSU. Dont have them? Then don’t even think of running these puppies.

Little more notes on #3: the previous (or current? depend how you see it) king-of-the-hill, Nvidia 9800GX2, is approximately $150 less than the 280GTX, and keeps pulling ahead of the 280GTX in most tests! Now, by most I meant those 1920×1200 – high quality settings tests…..  But crank it to 2560×1600 – 4xAA 16xAF (the resolutions on those 30″ monitors) and THEN you can see the 280GTX is pulling ahead… Last but not least, remember that GX2 is a dual-card-on-1-slot solution. So you’re practically comparing the 280/260 with an SLI configuration.

So yes, keep those in mind when you read reviews on how 9800GX2 is “faster”. No they’re not. They might push more FPS on certain games, yes, but you’re comparing apple and melon. Chip-by-chip, the 280 is a beast. At $150 more.

So there you go. Keep things in perspective and wallet sealed away when reading on these cards

On another note, if you like overclocking your videocards, then you should know that Rivatuner is one of (if not IS) the best tool out there. You can find hundreds of quick tutorial guides all over the Internet about a quick setup, a little nudge over the core, the memory, (and perhaps the shader if you’re lucky enough to have the 8000-family geforce cards), and you’re pretty much getting a free performance boost!

But if you have ever asked yourself “so what are all these other settings do?”, then you might want to read a little more comprehensive guide. And today I found one of the best guide I’ve ever read! I think you owe it to yourself to read it from top to bottom if you consider yoursel a computer “enthusiast” :p

That’s all or today!