14 DAY TRIAL // Up to this point, the Santa Clara, California-based NIVIDA has omitted to discuss any plans that go beyond the company's upcoming 55nm-based GeForce GTX 285 and GTX 295 cards. However, according to some ongoing rumors on the Internet, the graphics maker is expected to debut its first 40nm-based graphics card lineup sometime later this year. The new cards are part of the company's GT200 family, but are expected to provide a boost in performance, compared to the solutions currently available on the market.
Despite still being in their beta stage, the GeForce 185.20 beta drivers have made their way on the Internet, providing a new source of speculation regarding the possible release of the new GT200-based graphics cards. According to details found in the drivers' files, NVIDIA will be introducing six new graphics cards, including the GT212, GT214, GT215, GT216 and GT218. The leaked 185.20 beta drivers come with support for all of the aforementioned graphics cards, while adding a new setting for Ambient Occlusion.
At this time, there are few details regarding the technical specifications of the upcoming GeForce graphics cards, developed on a 40nm process technology. The first of the six new pieces of hardware, the GT212, will be targeted at the enthusiast and performance market segment. It will only be replaced by the GT300, expected to debut sometime in late 2009. The other cards, including the GT214, GT216 and GT218, will be targeted at the mainstream and value market segments.
Benchmarks of the new set of GeForce drivers have already been leaked on the Internet, and as it turns out, these will slightly boost the performance of a user's GeForce graphics processor. Comparison screens of the new setting, on the Ambient Occlusion, have also been provided. You can take a look at them, right here, where you will also find the download links and first impressions.