Zotac has introduced two new passively cooled graphics cards, based on the GeForce GT 630 and the more recent GT 640. While neither of the cards is intended for demanding gamers, the latter offers enough 3D performance to be used in less demanding applications. The two new Zotac cards, the GT 630 and GT 640 'Zone Edition' both feature dual-slot coolers and are equipped with 2x DVI and 1x mini HDMI outputs. Support for DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.2, Nvidia's CUDA technology, 3D Blu-ray and audio over HDMI is present in both cards.
The GT 640 Zone Edition is based on the GK107, a new Kepler GPU which uses 28nm transistors. The card has 384 shader units, a 128-bit memory interface and 2 GB of DDR3 memory. The core is clocked at 900 MHz, with the memory operating at an effective speed of 1782 MHz, as per Nvidia's reference specifications. The GPU is capable of powering three monitors simultaneously, something which wasn't yet possible with Nvidia's last generation of graphics cards.
The GeForce GT 630 Zone Edition is of the last generation and is based on a 'Fermi' GPU with 96 shader units. This card has a core clock frequency of 810 MHz, with a double shader clock of 1500 MHz. The GPU is linked to 1 GB of DDR3 memory, clocked at a modest 1333 MHz.
The GPU of the GT 640 produces slightly more heat, so three copper heatpipes have been added to the aluminium heatsink to improve the cooling capacity. Both graphics cards are efficient enough to be powered by the PCI-Express slot alone. Zotac has yet to reveal prices for its new cards.
Zotac GT 630 Zone Edition
Zotac GT 640 Zone Edition
