Nvidia Corp. on Monday added its third Fermi-architecture consumer graphics card into the GeForce lineup. The new graphics card will cost below $300 and will be based on the substantially cut-down code-named GF100 graphics chip. Based on performance tests’ results, the novelty can barely compete against ATI Radeon HD 5830, which will likely cause a price-drop onto the new GTX 465 in the short-term.

Nvidia GeForce GTX 465 sports 352 stream processors (SPs), 44 texture units (TUs), 32 render back ends (RBEs), 256-bit memory controller along with advanced feature-set. The new GPU can operate at 607MHz for the graphics domain and 1215MHz for stream processors. 1GB of GDDR5 memory function at 1603MHz.

“With GeForce GTX 465, now even more gamers can experience what DX11 gaming was meant to be. By using these new GPUs to build 3D Vision PCs, these same gamers will truly immerse themselves into the future of PC gaming. We are passionate about building GPUs to make the PC the best platform for gamers,” said Drew Henry, general manager of GeForce GPUs at Nvidia.

Based on performance results obtained in resolution 1920x1080, the Radeon HD 5850 outperforms the GeForce GTX 465 in 15 cases from 19. The new card, however, enjoys a considerable advantage in two tests, namely Aliens vs. Predator and Unigine Heaven. Both these tests run on rendering engines that belong to the new generation that can make use of advanced DirectX 11 features. This is a point in favor of the GF100 architecture at large, but the GeForce GTX 465 in particular has nothing to be proud of. The Radeon HD 5850 looks a much more appealing option for a fast, yet affordable, gaming platform.

The GeForce GTX 465 is available starting today with an estimated retail price of $279 from leading add-in-card companies including Asustek Computer, EVGA, Galaxy, MSI, Palit, PNY, Zotac and others.

Tags: Nvidia, Fermi, Geforce, GF100, 40nm