Whenever you mention the word DirectX 10, the first thing that comes into your mind would be NVIDIA’s range of high end video cards that often cost an arm, a leg, and possibly even a kidney. After all, what you’re getting is one of the fastest video cards available in the market today, and when it comes to hardcore gaming, every single little frame rate counts, especially more so in high resolution situations. While most people have been focusing on the high end segment of the market, NVIDIA does have a low end DirectX 10 card in the market as well in the form of the 8500XT. Apparently, Rumorsville has sent word that that particular graphics card will be joined with a new addition to the NVIDIA family within this month, and this new card will be known as the NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT.

Word on the street is the GeForce 8500GT will be the cheapest GeForce 8 series card to date, incapable of even breaking the $100 barrier with many people looking toward the $80 price point instead. Apparently, these sources also claim that the GeForce 8500GT will be available in a couple of versions – the first will come with 256MB of frame buffer memory while the other will have half that amount. In addition, the memory interface will be reduced to a mere 64MB memory channels. For those who want to be in the know, current NVIDIA 8500 series cards are available in both 256MB and 512MB models sporting 128MB memory interfaces.

Does anyone want to decipher NVIDIA’s strategy in doing so? After all, their sub-$100 GeForce 8500XT is already out in the market at the moment. I will reserve my opinions for the moment until I see the performance benchmarks between both cards. Of course, you won’t be able to expect blazing fast frame rates in all the latest games, but at least you have the assurance of running DirectX 10 games on your computer.

Source: ArsTechnica