Asustek Computer on Thursday unveiled the world’s first graphics card based on Nvidia’s performance mainstream graphics processing unit (GPU) with 1GB of memory. The board has chances to offer performance somewhat higher than that of currently available products of the similar category. The only question is whether the performance increase will justify the price, which is projected to be higher compared to rivals.

Asus EN8800GT/HTDP/1G graphics card, which is based on Nvidia GeForce 8800 graphics chip, features 1GB of memory as well as improved cooling system. The novelty will come with Nvidia recommended stock clock-speeds of 600MHz/1500MHz for core/stream processors and 1800MHz for 1GB of GDDR3 memory. In addition, Asus will provide its SmartDoctor tool, which will allow to clock the core and stream processor array independently and boost performance of the product by “more than 10”.

The Achilles’ heel of Nvidia’s GeForce 8800 GT is usually claimed to be its cooling system, which is blamed for insufficient cooling of the GPU and memory. As a result, Asus’ Glaciator Fansink may be just what the doctor ordered for the GeForce 8800 GT, a graphics card with mainstream pricing and high-end performance.

While modern games do demand more than 256MB of onboard memory from graphics accelerator, not a lot of games actually require more than 512MB of memory. For example, ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT 1GB has no tangible performance advantage over ATI Radeon HD 512MB graphics board, but was priced considerably higher. The actual price of Asus EN8800GT/HDTP/1G is unclear, but if it seriously higher than that of typical Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT-based graphics boards, Asustek’s new solution may not gain popularity among enthusiasts. Nevertheless, the company is optimistic about its new product.

"From what our customers tell us, discerning gamers demand hardware that can truly unleash immersive graphics and unreal gaming performance. Our approach is to combine the most powerful GPU from Nvidia with 1GB of high speed Qimonda GDDR3 memory. We are proud to be the first manufacturer to introduce such revolutionary product,” said C.P. Wu, general manager of Asus graphics and multimedia business.

The Asus EN8800GT/HTDP/1G will be available through Asus authorized dealers in North America by the end of December.