NVIDIA quietly adds $99 GeForce GT 240
updated 05:25 pm EST, Tue November 17, 2009
GeForce GT 240 updates NV's budget GPUs
NVIDIA in a low-key move today launched the GeForce GT 240. The chipset brings performance from the mid-level to sub-$100 cards and uses the newer 40 nanometer manufacturing process to make itself a reasonable fit in budget PCs: its low energy use both helps it occupy only one slot and to run entirely off the power of the PCI Express bus instead of needing a separate power connector.
The GT 240 sits significantly above previous budget NVIDIA cards in complexity and has 96 processing cores, 32 texture units, and a 550MHz primary clock speed. It can handle up to 1GB of GDDR5 memory running at 1.7GHz but, in more economical models, can use as little as 512MB of 900MHZ GDDR3 memory. It continues to support DirectX 10-level graphics (including OpenGL equivalents) as well as CUDA, PhysX and OpenCL for general-purpose computing and the company's 3D Vision glasses.
Cards using the new GeForce hardware should be available today for $99 or less from NVIDIA's typical partners, such as EVGA and XFX. Computer manufacturers are also likely to use the GT 240 as part of their own designs but will operate on their own timetables.
