Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 Graphics Card – All That You Need to Know

It is said that ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ – If you believe in this phrase, then the fact that pictures have taken over the world of marketing will not surprise you. A great marketing campaign requires effective words. In today’s time, pictures or images do the job of words. They convey the desired message to the target audiences.

Therefore, the demand for brilliant graphics has increased in the past few years. Graphics are nothing but visual images or designs that represent objects, information, data, and more. They can be in various forms, including but not limited to photographs, drawings, diagrams, symbols, geometric designs, and line art.

Graphics are used not just for the purpose of marketing but for several purposes, such as education, entertainment, and infotainment. Graphics are displayed on numerous surfaces, like paper, stone, walls, canvas, and computers. This blog is related to computer graphics as we are going to talk about the Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 graphics card.

As the world revolves around technology today, graphics are also created with the help of technology. Graphics are created and edited on a computer. They are also stored on a computer. You can share graphics stored on your computer with others through email and other mediums. You can transfer them to a smartphone, pen drive, and even another computer. You can even get the graphics printed for achieving different personal and business objectives.

What is a Graphics Card? Why Are Its Use and Importance?

Before we have a look at the details about the Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 graphics card, let’s understand what exactly a graphics card is. Most computers are designed and manufactured in a way that they perform some basic functions smoothly. Computers that are meant to carry out extra or special activities are designed and manufactured accordingly. Such computers might have additional hardware or software or both.

In the case of computers that are made to enable users to create extraordinary graphics, a graphics card is a piece of hardware that is a must. All computers, i.e., all desktops and laptops, come with a graphics card. The difference between regular computers and computers used especially for making graphics lies in the type of graphics card.

The former type of computer contains an integrated graphics card, whereas the latter type of computer contains a dedicated graphics card. The term ‘Integrated Graphics’ means that the graphics processing unit (GPU) is built into the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer. An integrated graphics card shares power between the CPU and GPU.

Computers with GPUs don’t have separate memory for graphics, and so, they use system memory for storing graphics. Thus, the system memory, i.e., RAM , is shared between the CPU and GPU.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 graphics card is an example of a dedicated graphics card. Higher-end computers that are made to perform tasks, such as video editing, gaming, 3D modeling, and so on, have a dedicated graphics card. The reason behind the same is that a dedicated graphics card is more powerful than an integrated graphics card.

A graphics card renders images to the monitor by converting data to signals your monitor can understand. So, your computer cannot give display output without a graphics card. Dedicated graphics cards enhance the display quality of your computer and increase its video memory.

What Exactly is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 Graphics Card?

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 was a high-end graphics card that was designed, manufactured, and sold by Nvidia. The reason we have used ‘was’ in the previous sentence is that this card is no longer produced. Nvidia has stopped making this card.

Based in California state of the United States of America, Nvidia is an American multinational technology company. Nvidia (Nvidia Corporation) is known for designing and manufacturing high-end graphics processing units (GPUs).

This company has made several GPUs till now. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 belongs to the ‘GeForce 200 Series’ of ‘GeForce Graphics Processing Units’ made by Nvidia. ‘GeForce’ is a brand of GPUs designed by Nvidia. GeForce graphics processing units are based on Tesla, which is the codename for a GPU microarchitecture developed by Nvidia. Named after the electrical engineer Nikola Tesla, the Tesla microarchitecture was released in the year 2006.

Nvidia Corporation launched the GeForce GTX 260 graphics card on June 16, 2008. This card has dual-slot cooling, and so, it draws power from 2x 6-pin power connectors. The GPU operates at a frequency of 576 MHz. The memory of the card runs at 999 MHz.

The card features 192 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 28 render output units. It is connected to the rest of the system using a PCI-Express 2.0 X16 interface. 896 MB GDDR3 memory is paired with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 graphics card. The length of the card is 267mm (approx. 10.5 inches) and its die size is 576 mm2. The card has 1400 million transistors.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 is a classic graphics card compatible with SLI technology. It runs well on Vista, Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 8 operating systems. It is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of these operating systems. Even though this graphics card became immensely popular, it’s recommended that the users who have this card should upgrade, as the company has discontinued manufacturing it.

Wrapping Up

Dedicated graphics cards are costlier than integrated graphics cards. So, you should conduct proper research whenever you buy a computer with a dedicated graphics card.