Aye, papi! When we broke the news last November that NVIDIA was gearing up for release of their GeForce 9 series in Q1 of ‘08, we were unaware that the series would include TWO new product releases. Rumor has it that NVIDIA will be dropping word of their two new 9xxx series cards soon; the top-notch GeForce 9800GX2 on 18th March and their second best 9800GTX on 25th March.

So, what does NVIDIA have in store for the 9800GTX? The leaked specs show the card offering 128 processor cores, a 675MHz core clock, a 1688MHz shader clock, 1100MHz memory clock, not to mention 512MB GDDR3 memory. The card will retail for an estimated $300-$350. — Andrew Dobrow

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As time goes on, your 128MB graphics card is looking weaker and weaker. Every report that comes out just puts salt in the wound that is the fact that you can’t play F.E.A.R. at full anti-aliasing. Sorry, ready for more salt?

Nvidia has officially launched the 320MB GeForce 8800. While this is the “budget” card compared to the 640MB version (already at your local BestBuy), $299-349 isn’t really budget per-say. For that wad of cash, you will not only get the 320MB, but also full DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4 effects support for Windows Vista. So is it time to upgrade your old graphics card? If you have the dough, why not? –Nik Gomez

Nvidia makes 320MB GeForce 8800 official [via Electronista]

The phrase “budget gaming” has become less of an oxymoron as of late, but it is still a stretch. It all really just depends on your definition of budget. With Vista at your local BestBuy, what is there for a PC builder to do but grab the latest hardware and make the next screamer? That’s when money becomes a problem. Don’t stress too much, although you splurged on that lightning fast 10,000RPM hard drive, you still can get a DirectX 10 card for under $200. You just have to wait until March. The new Nvidia GeForce 8600GT and 8600 Ultra cost $150 and $180 respectively. They both deliver on the promise of cheap DX10 when compared to the $400 8800 cards. Patience is a virtue! –Nik Gomez

DirectX 10 on a budget [via SlashGear]