Nvidia has quietly introduced its first GeForce 300-series graphics card – but don't get too excited. The GeForce 310 is more or less a rebranded GeForce 210. It uses current generation Nvidia parts and doesn't appear to implement any new technology – not even DirectX 11 – meaning that the company's much anticipated Fermi architecture remains dormant.
Like the GeForce 210, the 310 offers a basic upgrade from an integrated graphics chip, but isn't an ideal solution for gaming with only 16 CUDA cores and a 64-bit memory bus. Other specifications include a 589MHz graphics clock, a 1402MHz processor clock, 512MB of DDR2 VRAM running at 500MHz, DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.1 support, a maximum digital resolution of 2560x1600, and connectors for DVI, VGA, as well as DisplayPort.
While it may not be a Fermi-based card and isn't adequate for enthusiast-level gaming, the GeForce 310 should prove sufficient for 1080p video and general-purpose computing. Nvidia has yet to disclose a release date.