Competition is hotting up on the graphics front, what with two major players - Nvidia and AMD - having unveiled next-generation graphics processors at one and the same time. While AMD has unveiled its Gen-Next stream processor FireStream 9250, Nvidia has also introduced its GeForce GTX 200 series graphics processor units (GPUs) comprising the GeForce GTX 280 and GeForce GTX 260 GPUs.

The GTX 200 series aims to take graphics and gaming beyond anything that's been possible on a consumer computing platform. Equipped to do twice the work that other GPUs are capable of, the GTX 200 series is touted to be the most advanced GPU ever built.

As PC applications become increasingly visual, many ordinary tasks will benefit from the graphics horsepower provided by this new GPU. These tasks range from editing photos to encoding/playing high-definition videos, even getting driving directions off the Internet to running a new operating system like Windows Vista. A simple task like converting a home video to upload on video-sharing sites or download on to media players will be executed 18 times faster by the GTX 200, claims Nvidia. So, a transcoding process that a normal CPU needs over five hours to execute will take the GTX 200 a mere 35 minutes, according to Nvidia.

The GTX 200 series of GPUs feature 2nd generation unified architecture, 3-way SLI, PureVideo HD, and CUDA. Unified architecture promises to deliver 50 percent more gaming performance over previous GeForce 8800 Ultra GPUs through 240 enhanced processor cores that provide shading horsepower at resolutions as high as 2560 x 1600. Three-way SLI offers 3-way alternate frame rendering (AFR), while PureVideo HD offers picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image scaling for movies and video. Programmers using CUDA, and the new CUDA runtime for Windows Vista, will be able to offload the most intensive processing tasks from the CPU to their GPUs, utilizing the power of up to 240 multi-threaded processor cores.

Graphics cards featuring GeForce GTX 280 GPUs are being made available for a price of $649 from global add-in card manufacturers such as Asus, BFG, Emtek, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Innovision, Leadtek, MSI, Palit, PC Partner/Zotac, PNY, Point of View, Unika, Unitek, and XFX. Graphics cards featuring GeForce GTX 260 GPUs will be made available starting June 26 for a suggested retail price of $399.