NVIDIA's GeForce 7300 GS

by Marco Chiappetta — Wednesday, January 18, 2006, 10:00 AM EDT

NVIDIA has just announced a brand new mainstream GPU, the GeForce 7300 GS. The new GeForce 7300 GS is positioned somewhere in between the GeForce 6200 TC and GeForce 6600, but incorporated virtually all of the features of the GeForce 7 architecture. Here's a snip from NVIDIA's official press release:

NVIDIA Takes the Power of GeForce 7 Series GPUs Mainstream

Based on the Award-Winning Graphics Architecture, New GeForce 7300 GS GPU is Available Now at Leading Retailers and E-tailers

SANTA CLARA, CA —JANUARY 18, 2006—NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced the new NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS graphics processing unit (GPU). The latest addition to the Company's award-winning GeForce 7 Series line up, the GeForce 7300 GS boasts the video and gaming features of today's most advanced GPUs to deliver stunning, high-definition video—up to 1080i resolution—and ultra-realistic gaming effects at mainstream price points without compromising performance. In addition, the GeForce 7300 GS GPU is primed for the upcoming Microsoft Vista operating system (OS).

"The GeForce 7300 GS GPU is an ideal foundation for today's mainstream PCs because it offers high-definition video playback features that can not be matched by integrated graphics—and it is designed to have consumers ready for the transition to Microsoft's next-generation operating system," said Ujesh Desai, general manager of desktop GPUs at NVIDIA. "For a home theater PC, GeForce 7300 GS delivers exceptional video acceleration and incredible image quality to take the viewing experience to the next-level. For an entry-level gaming PC, GeForce 7300 GS delivers Shader Model 3.0 support and support for high dynamic-ranging lighting (HDR), which we expect new games will require in the future." Read More...

The GeForce 7800 GS features 4 pixel pipelines, 3 vertex pipelines, a 550MHz GPU core clock speed, and a 64-bit memory interface. The boards pictured here are equipped with DDR2 memory clocked at 400MHz, but expect partners to clock the on-board memory at different speeds. The 7300 GS also has full support for NVIDIA's PureVideo and TurboCache, there is no SLI support currently.

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS-based graphics cards are available for purchase at approximately $99 USD from many add-in card makers. The Asia Pacific region will see immediate availability of GeForce 7300 GS-based add-in cards in time for Chinese New Year. Availability in Europe and North America will follow in early February. GeForce 7300 GS-based PCs will also be available from system builders starting in early February.

Tags: Nvidia, GeForce, force, id

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com