14 DAY TRIAL // With NVIDIA having finally delivered a mainstream-level 500 series graphics adapter, it is no surprise that ASUS would follow, though this particular company did make some more obvious modifications.
The 500 series of graphics adapters from NVIDIA came a relatively short time after the 400 line did.
Even so, however, said older line had managed to cover the whole of the consumer market, meaning that there were high-end, mainstream and even low-end models.
Until yesterday, the same could not be said about 500 cards, but the release of the GeForce GT 520 finally remedied this situation.
One company that was quick in customizing, though just barely, this newcomer was PNY, its board being named Verto GT 520.
Now, a press release from ASUS revealed the existence of a new such video adapter, one that has a different cooling module.
Whereas the stock card had a common-looking, fan-based active cooler, the ASUS GT 520 boasts a passive solution.
This will make it dead silent, meaning that it will serve well in a HTPC, since there won't be any noise to interfere with immersion while watching films or listening to music.
1 GB of DDR3 is present, clocked at 1,200 MHz, but the rest of the performance numbers aren't really any different from the ones covered here.
This means that the GPU (graphics processing unit) works at 810 MHz and the shaders at 1,620 MHz.
“With an innovative fanless design, the GT 520 efficiently and silently dissipates heat while still offering outstanding graphics performance,” says the company.
Needless to say, media in quality of up to Full HD (and even resolution of up to 2,560 x 1,600 pixels) are supported. Streaming is done via the HDMI port, the dual-link DVI or the D-Sub output. Sales should start soon, if they haven't already, for a price of around $60.