Creative (Nasdaq: CREAF), the worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for the personal computer and the Internet, announces its new 3D Blaster 5 FX family. The three products in the line-up are based on the ground-breaking NVIDIA GeForce FX chipset, which delivers ‘cinematic computing for every user’ and sets new standards for technical innovation, comprehensive functionality and image quality. All three cards will be available in June.

At the high end of the Creative 3D Blaster 5 family is the 3D Blaster 5 FX 5600 Ultra, available at £219.99inc VAT. The card is the company’s most powerful graphics solution and is aimed at the dedicated gamer. Featuring a 350MHz core, 128 MB of memory at 700MHz data rate with 128-bit bandwidth and 400MHz RAMDAC, it can process 88 million vertices/sec. at a fill rate of 1.4 billion texels/sec. and up to 16 textures per pixel.

"This card is perfect for the gamer in search of the ultimate in power and value," explains Eoin Leyden, Creative’s European business manager for graphics. "It ensures astonishing image quality and smoothness in the most demanding gaming environments, enabling gamers to experience what a game’s designers truly had in mind for them." This new card also features full support for DirectX 9.0 and AGP 8X and a host of other NVIDIA technologies, including CineFX, for advanced vertex and pixel shading and special effects; Intellisample, the industry’s fastest antialiasing solution; and nView multi-display support.

The next product in the family is the 3D Blaster 5 FX 5200 Ultra and will cost £169.99inc VAT. This card brings the latest NVIDIA technology to gamers demanding general-purpose and multimedia users who demand power and value. Built round a potent 325MHz core with 128 MB of memory, it processes 81 million vertices/sec. at a fill rate of 1.3 billion texels/sec. Competitively priced, it takes full advantage of the AGP 8X interface and offers full support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 to ensure maximum compatibility and performance.

"The 3D Blaster 5 FX 5200 Ultra offers users a card capable of 128-bit studio-quality colour with effects for outstanding images, at an affordable price," comments Eoin Leyden. "It will handle resolutions all the way up to 2048x1536, making it ideal for full frame-rate, full-screen video as well as gaming."

For users who want a step-up from current technologies, perhaps as part of a PC upgrade project, or as an affordable way of going beyond the limitations of bundled motherboard graphics or generic cards, Creative offers the 3D Blaster 5 FX 5200. This card costs a mere £79.99inc VAT and brings new-generation NVIDIA graphics power to users who demand performance and value. Taking full advantage of the AGP 8X interface, it’s built round a 250MHz core with 64 MB of memory to deliver 128-bit studio precision colour with full support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0.

"This card offers outstanding image quality and clarity, with film-quality effects and studio-quality colour in any home or business application," says Eoin Leyden. "With TV-out and MPEG-2 decoding as standard, it’s a powerful partner for home entertainment as well as office graphics, supporting QXGA resolutions all the way up to 2048x1536 as well as full frame-rate, full-screen video."