14 DAY TRIAL // The hype surrounding DirectX 11 graphics, and Fermi in particular, has reached such levels that any piece of news about even the least detailed photo gets more attention than any other hardware component or product launched around this time. As such, the only way to match such a hype is to release a product that is placed so far on the opposite end that it can't help but draw attention. This is precisely the case with Sparkle's 'new' GeForce 210.
The industry is most likely going through a serious case of leftover inventories. Now that the new generations of graphics cards are out and selling like warm bread, hardware makers likely find it difficult to get rid of the older generation adapters, especially low-end ones. In such situations, odd things can happen, such as the last card Sparkle was forced to launch, the 2GB GeForce GT220. Now, the company has revealed yet another low-end wonder, namely a GeForce 210 with a memory interface of 128 bits. Other specs include 24 cores, a GPU as 475Mhz and 1GB DDR2 at 800MHz.
Sparkle didn't mention anything about availability or price, but consider that AMD's HD 5450, the lowest end DirectX 11 desktop graphics card there is, is actually selling for as low as $40-$50. Granted, the 128-bit GeForce 210 might have slightly superior specs, but it still lacks DirectX 11, which could make its life difficult.
This device raises questions concerning just how much spare parts Sparkle has and why it wasn't able to reduce its inventories until now. In fact, when seeing products like this and the aforementioned 2GB GT220, one can only wonder if there is any truth to articles like this one. The rumor will undoubtedly be confirmed, or disproved, depending on how many devices with a short life expectancy come out before and in the wake of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 470 and 480.
Pricing and availability remain a mystery.