14 DAY TRIAL // Aside from the much-anticipated line of Fermi-based GeForce graphics cards, NVIDIA is also scheduled to reveal another model, namely the GeForce GT 240, aimed at the mainstream market and built using the company's new generation of 40nm graphics processors. According to the most recent rumors that have surfaced on the Internet, said card will arrive in mid-November, providing NVIDIA fans with a choice for a DirectX 10.1-enabled solution that should reportedly perform at about the same levels as the GeForce 9600 GT models.
Built on the GT215 core, the upcoming GeForce GT 240 graphics card will be based on a 40nm GPU, manufactured at TSMC, will boast support for DirectX 10.1 and will be featured with 96 Stream processors. Although details about its clock speeds are yet to be announced, it is generally believed that the GDDR5 version of this card will perform at around the same levels as the chip maker's line of GeForce 9600GT or GSO models.
One of the main concerns with this card is that it will face some strong competition from AMD's current and upcoming products. This is already the case with the GeForce GT 220, which was launched by the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker a while back. This card faces stiff competition from AMD's 4670, the Radeon HD 4770 or the newly launched Radeon HD 5700-series, which should become available soon enough, despite the TSMC's 40nm yield problems.
Although the GT 240 could be an interesting choice for the average PC users, gamers, computer enthusiasts and early adopters are most likely waiting anxiously for the official debut of the new 40nm Fermi-based GeForce cards, which should be launched sometime before the end of this year, according to recent reports. Unfortunately, we have no details on the pricing of the aforementioned GT 240, but the rumored released date isn't that far ahead.