55nm GeForce GTX 280 Makeover = GTX 285

The new GeForce GTX 295 was not the only new graphics card unveiled by NVIDIA at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). In fact, lost amidst all the hype and commotion surrounding NVIDIA's new dual-GPU sandwich is the newest and fastest single GPU king, the GeForce GTX 285. And with it, NVIDIA hopes to cement their offering as the fastest single GPU available in the market.

At heart is a 55nm refresh of the GeForce GTX 280, but the new GeForce GTX 285 also boasts several other features and enhancements that NVIDIA promises will make it faster, quieter and more efficient than the GTX 280.

NVIDIA is making some pretty tall claims here with their new GeForce GTX 285. Faster, yet cooler and more efficient? We'll soon find out if those claims are valid.

Although the manufacturing process technology for the GPU on the GeForce GTX 285 has been shrunk, it still retains its 240 shader processors. Elsewhere, clock speeds have been beefed up: 648MHz at the core, 2484MHz DDR at the memory (still GDDR3 though), and 1476MHz at the shaders. As you'll find out from the table below, this is quite a substantial increase as compared to the original GTX 280 model and we should see a noticeable increase in performance.

Additionally, another significant improvement to the GeForce GTX 285 is its power consumption. While the older GeForce GTX 280 has a maximum rated TDP of 236W, the new GTX 285 is rated at only 189W. And because of that, it longer requires a 6 and 8-pin power connector. Instead, only two 6-pin power connectors are required.

Note: from the Zotac GeForce GTX 285 AMP! Edition. Clock speeds are factory-overclocked.