Nvidia announced the release of GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce 9800 GTX, and GeForce 9600 GT GPUs, as well as the nForce 790i Ultra SLI MCP chipset. According to Nvidia, the new devices are intended to enable users to optimize their systems for the most demanding games and graphic applications. On the other hand, the launch of these graphics processing units and media and communications processors by the Santa Clara-based company may lead us to the idea that the company is taking some steps into countering ATI through the adoption of a platform-based focus for its graphic cards line.

The GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics card is expected to be the fastest GPU on today's market. The card features more than 256 processing cores on a single board, and is up to 60 percent faster than the closest competitor, according to Nvidia. This graphics processing unit is available today at a retail price of $599 MSRP. NVIDIA SLI technology allows users to pair two GeForce 9800 GX2 GPU-based add-in cards to gain the best performance and highest resolution for today's demanding games and applications. To compare GeForce 9800 GX2 and ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 at high resolutions means getting one result only. At resolutions up to 2500x1600, GeForce 9800 GX2 went far ahead 3870 X2 in 14 games demanding high graphics.

"It's becoming obvious that the GPU is the main purchasing decision that our customers are making when purchasing a new PC. As a result, for some time now NVIDIA GPUs and MCPs have been the engines driving our flagship PCs," said Kelt Reeves, president and CEO of Falcon Northwest. "With the new GeForce 9800GX2, the introduction of Quad SLI for Vista, and the nForce 790i platform to run them on, NVIDIA has once again provided us with some serious new armament in the fight for smoother frame rates."

The recently introduced GeForce 9800 GTX GPU has 128 processor cores and provides the best choice consumers can find in the $299-349 price range. With 2-way and 3-way SLI technology supported, GeForce 9800 GTX presents itself as the most flexible and scalable multi-GPU solution on the industry. For those gamers that have only a low budget to spend on the graphics card, GeForce 9600 GT should be the best choice. It provides high performance graphics and can be purchased for only$199.

The nForce 790i Ultra SLI MCP comes to complete the package, as Nvidia optimized the performance of the graphic cards on this chipset which has also been designed to work with current and next-generation Intel CPU in overclocking mode. DDR3 memory and PCIe 2.0 expansion will be available on the motherboards featuring this chipset, as well as two-way, three-way, or quad SLI GPU arrangements. $300 is the starting MSRP for the nForce 790i Ultra SLI MCP-based motherboards.

"Since the start of the year, we have been committed to introducing products that not only set the bar for performance and scalability, but also deliver the ultimate visual computing experience," said Ujesh Desai, general manager of GeForce desktop GPU business at NVIDIA. "Consumers buying a new PC or those who want to build one from scratch know that the key to the best visual computing experience starts with the GPU. With our new products and the support of our partners worldwide, 2008 marks the beginning of the visual computing revolution and solidifies the GPU's position as the most important processor inside the PC."

For those interested, GPUs and MCP are available through NVidia partners, including ASUS, BFG, Gainward, PNY, eVGA, Gigabyte, and Leadtek.

Although AMD was expected to become a powerful competitor for Nvidia, especially after the acquisition of ATI, the latest events present AMD facing hard times as it has to cut 10% of its workforce. Meanwhile, Nvidia remains on top on sales charts, mostly when it comes to mid-rage graphics cards.