I think it is fairly safe to say that the introduction of the GeForce GTX 470/480 certainly has not been a smooth ride for NVIDIA. Sales have been okay at best but there has definitely been some reputation damage done due to three key negatives with that product series. Heat levels, noise levels and power consumption have been haunting and plaguing NVIDIA ever since the release of these two cards. When the GTX 465 arrived things were already looking much better. But one thing can be said, the overall performance and overclockability of all of these cards have been top notch ever since day one of the release.

Today NVIDIA is releasing a second graphics processor based on the Fermi architecture, and that new GPU has had to adapt and adjust for the damage done with the 1st generation Fermi series. By releasing two SKUs today based on the new GF104 silicon, NVIDIA will very likely make this launch a successful one.

At the 200 USD level NVIDIA has placed the focus on a product series that performs at the level of the GTX 465 and Radeon HD 5830 (actually slightly better) yet produces two SKUs that are near silent (based on reference cooler), show normal GPU temperatures and hover around a maximum 150~160 Watt TDP (peak power consumption). And that from the get-go definitely already sounds a whole lot better. And you know what, it is, as this article will show you.

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• READ MORE (Source): GeForce GTX 460 review (roundup)