14 DAY TRIAL // It's one thing to reap the benefits of the graphics card market, and another to feel the need to launch a product that is unlikely to actually sell much, but here we are, faced with Gigabyte's -N640D5-1GL.
The GeForce GT 640 is one of the weakest add-in graphics cards in its generation, with just the GT 630 being below it.
Sure, they are cheap, but with integrated graphics processors in AMD APUs and Intel CPUs, they are mostly unnecessary.
Verily, only HTPCs and other mini PCs could find a use for it, where Intel Core-series and AMD A-series have no place, as strong and expensive as they are.
So, with Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium chips lacking graphics of their own (for the most part), low-end boards like NVIDIA's GeForce GT 640 do have a niche.
That must be what Gigabyte is counting on, having released the GeForce GT 640 GV-N640D5-1GL.
It would be a low-profile adapter, if only the VGA output weren't situated on the upper side, connected along the edge.
Fortunately, the card isn't the kind of slouch most people would fear. If nothing else, it comes with 1 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, not DDR3, which means its clock speed is 5 GHz.
The GPU, meanwhile, with its 384 CUDA cores and 64-bit memory interface, runs at 1046 MHz.
Furthermore, in addition to the VGA port, the newcomer boasts a DVI-D connector and HDMI, with the maximum resolution being of 2560 x 1600 pixels.
It will ultimately depend on the monitor if that top limit is reached though. And even then, Full HD is bound to be preferred (1920 x 1080 pixels).
Sales of Gigabyte's GV-N640D5-1GL will start this month, for 10,000 Yen (about $99 / €75.10). A single-slot cooler keeps heat off. It is actually a bit larger than we would have expected from a low-end video controller but stranger things have happened.