[prashant]

What's a Windows Vista Graphics Card? As a result of the (optional) Aero Glass interface of Windows Vista, a lot of prominent Video Card companies are starting to release new "Vista Ready" Graphics cards that will be able to handle Vista.

First of all for those who don't know what a graphics card is, Wikipedia says the following:

A Graphics Processing Unit or GPU (also occasionally called Visual Processing Unit or VPU) is a dedicated graphics rendering device for a personal computer, workstation, or game console. Modern GPUs are very efficient at manipulating and displaying computer graphics, and their highly parallel structure makes them more effective than typical CPUs for a range of complex algorithms.

A GPU implements a number of graphics primitive operations in a way that makes running them much faster than drawing directly to the screen with the host CPU. The most common operations for early 2D computer graphics include the BitBLT operation (combine two bitmap patterns using a RasterOp), usually in special hardware called a "blitter", and operations for drawing rectangles, triangles, circles, and arcs. Modern GPUs also have support for 3D computer graphics, and typically include digital video-related functions as well.

Dedicated Graphics Cards

The most powerful class of GPUs typically interface with the motherboard by means of an expansion slot such as PCI Express or Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) and can usually be replaced or upgraded with relative ease, assuming the motherboard is capable of supporting the upgrade. However, a dedicated GPU is not necessarily removable, nor does it necessarily interface with the motherboard in a standard fashion. The term "dedicated" refers to the fact that dedicated graphics cards have RAM that is dedicated to the card's use, not to the fact that most dedicated GPUs are removable. Dedicated GPUs for portable computers are most commonly interfaced through a non-standard and often proprietary slot due to size and weight constraints. Such ports may still be considered AGP or PCI Express, even if they are not physically interchangeable with their counterparts.

Integrated Graphics Solutions

Integrated graphics solutions, or shared graphics solutions are graphics processors that utilize a portion of a computer's system RAM rather than dedicated graphics memory. Such solutions are typically far less expensive to implement in comparison to dedicated graphics solutions, but at a trade-off of being far less capable and are generally considered unfit to play modern games. Modern desktop motherboards normally include an integrated graphics solution and have expansion slots available to add a dedicated graphics card later.

As a GPU is extremely memory intensive, an integrated solution finds itself competing for the already slow system RAM with the CPU as it has no dedicated video memory. System RAM may be 2 GB/s to 8 GB/s, yet most discrete GPUs enjoy 15 GB/s to 40 GB/s of bandwidth.

GPU manufacturers

NVIDIA Corporation
ATI Technologies
3Dlabs
Matrox
XGI Technology
Intel
3dfx (now part of NVIDIA)
S3 Graphics (now part of VIA Technologies)
Falanx Microsystems - Mali - now ARM Norway
GPU's (Windows Vista Ready)

Diamond Releases Its First Vista-Ready PCI Video Card X1300 PCI 256MB Viper Video Card Offers Affordable, High Performance Cinematic 3D Graphics CHATSWORTH, CA -- (MARKET WIRE).

Diamond Multimedia (Video Card|Video Capture Card|TV Tuner|Sound Card|Broadband|56K Modems| Graphics Card), a leading manufacturer of PC graphics cards, sound cards and communications products, today begins shipping the X1300 PCI 256MB Viper video card. This cinematic 3D graphics card is the first Vista-ready PCI video card from Diamond and the most affordable graphics card to offer high-end features like high-definition (HD) display, using ATI's heralded Avivo display technology.

The X1300 has a PCI bus type, 256MB DDR2 memory, 450MHz clock speed and 250MHz memory speed. It utilizes 90nm technology with two vertex Shader Processors, and supports Microsoft DirectX 9.0 and Shader Model 3.0.

Minimum system requirements for the X1300 PCI card include an Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 FX, System Memory of 512MB or higher, 420 Watt power supply or higher, 480MB available hard disk space, PCI compliant slot and a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. The card supports Windows XP, Windows XP MCE, Windows 2000, and Windows Vista Areo.

For More Graphics cards Click here.

Nvidia Geforce 7100GS from Sparkle

Abacus Peripherals has launched Sparkle Nvidia Geforce 7100GS graphic cards.

The latest addition to Sparkle’s Geforce 7 series, Sparkle Geforce 7100GS graphic cards, promises unparalleled performance and affordability to end users. They offer the most complete implementation of Shader model 3.0 feature set, including vertex texture fetch (VTF), to ensure top notch compatibility and performance for all DirectX9 applications.

The 7100GS graphic card features the Nvidia Pure Video technology, which helps in delivering unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image scaling for SD and HD video content. Other features of the card include, high quality scaling, spatial temporal de-interlacing, inverse telecine, and high quality HD video playback from DVD.

The card incorporates high core speed at 350MHz, with high speed DDR2 memory. In addition, the card is optimized with Turbo Cache technology, so its effective memory is up to 512MB, with 1GB system memory.

Additionally, the new card having Nvidia's third-generation GPU architecture is Microsoft Windows Vista ready.

ASUS had Launched New HDCP-Ready Graphics Cards

ASUS Technology is proud to introduce the EAX1950XTX/HTVDP/512M and AX1950CROSSFIRE/HP/512M graphics cards, which incorporated ATI’s Radeon X1950XTX VPU to deliver the robust graphics performance demanded for the gaming enthusiast community. Combined with HDCP (High-Definition Digital Content Protection), ASUS Splendid Video Intelligence Technology and CrossFire multiple VPU interface, the new graphics cards offer the ultimate video experience.

Fastest graphics card combination

Although, individually, the two ASUS Radeon X1950 series-based graphics cards are already extremely powerful, utilizing them in CrossFire dual-graphics card mode further offer the fastest graphics processing to date. Take advantage of HDR effects, adaptive anti-aliasing, Shader 3.0, and up to 512 MB GDDR4 memory for 3D gaming that enables lifelike skin textures and silky smooth hair.

HDCP and Windows Vista ready

To stay in step with Windows Vista requirements, the ASUS graphics cards feature HDCP technology to give users peace of mind when upgrading their systems to support high-definition digital contents and a wide range of premium graphics applications.

PNY Technologies Has Three, Affordable New Verto Graphics Cards Based on the NVIDIA GeForce 7 Series Architecture

PNY Technologies, Inc. had announced availability of three new Verto GeForce graphics cards, including the 7600 GS 512MB AGP 8X, 7600 GS 512MB PCIe(TM) and the 7300 GT 256MB PCIe.

Based on the NVIDIA GeForce 7 series of graphics processing units (GPUs), all are built to support the Microsoft Windows Vista(TM) operating system. The 7600 GS AGP 8X and PCIe cards, in particular, feature 512MB of on-board graphics memory at mainstream price points, so users can run the latest games at ultra high resolution settings.

Verto GeForce 7600 GS AGP 8X - Like other 7 Series GPUs, NVIDIA's acclaimed Pure Video(TM) Technology allows the 7600 GS AGP 8X to bring mainstream users high-definition, home-theater quality video to their AGP platform. The card includes a 512MB frame buffer, 400 MHz core clock, 128-bit memory interface as well as a DVI-to-VGA adapter, S-Video Cable and HDTV Break-Out Pod. MSRP $199.

Verto GeForce 7600 GS PCIe - Equipped with 512MB of frame buffer memory and NVIDIA SLI ready, users will enjoy increased bandwidth and up to 2x the performance of a single GPU configuration for unparalleled gaming experiences. By allowing two graphics cards to run in parallel, SLI dramatically scales performance on today's hottest games. MSRP $199.

Verto GeForce 7300 GT PCIe - Users will enjoy home-theatre quality video with the 7300 GT's 256MB frame buffer, 350MHZ core clock, 128-bit memory interface as well as a DVI-to-VGA adapter, S-Video Cable and HDTV Break-Out Pod. MSRP $149.