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Windows 7 is now set for release on October 22 and with that release come DirectX11, the next version of Microsoft's 3D graphics API. So it's not a shock to learn that AMD (via their ATI brand) and Nvidia are prepping to launch their next major PC graphics cards this fall that will support DirectX11 features.

VentureBeat reports that AMD's director of software developer relations Neal Robison stated that AMD will be ready this fall with DirectX11 supported graphics chips. However, rumors that Nvidia's team are behind in their next-gen graphics tech are dismissed by anaylst Jon Peddie who believes the company will also have DirectX11 chips ready by this fall. Nvidia itself won't comment on their future plans. Intel is also developing their own high end graphics chips under the code name Larabee but it's now expected that it won't be ready for launch until next year.

ATI Radeon graphics card users can rest easy; their regular monthly refresh of their Catalyst graphics card drivers is now out and about on AMD's PC game web site. The 9.6 version drivers are available in Windows XP, Windows Vista and (for those of you who have it installed) the release candidate for Windows 7.

The release notes, as always, give out more info on what's contained in the newest drivers. They include some performace improvements for various PC games. Here's the full list:

• Company of Heroes – performance improves up to 25% with HD 4600 series products and below as well as improvements of up to 10% on HD 4800 series
• Crysis – performance improves up to 13% in multi-GPU configurations
• Crysis Warhead – performance improves up to 11% in multi-GPU configurations
• World in Conflict – performance improvements of up to 30% can be seen in settings
• that were previously CPU limited

While it's running a few days late, AMD has now released its regular monthly driver refresh for its ATI Catalyst drivers. The 9.5 version of the drivers for their ATI Radeon based card is now available for download at AMD's PC game oriented web site.

While the release notes for the drivers have yet to be revealed, AMD's blog site has some details on what's new in version 9.5. It's a WHQL approved graphics driver that support both Windows Vista and Windows 7. There are also some performace gains in both Company of Heroes (in both single and in CrossFire modes) and for Battleforge (CrossFire only).

Faster, faster and faster still. That's the credo for PC gamers who want nothing but the most powerful and fastest processors and graphics chips they can get. This week AMD has announced that their ATI division has come up with a way to push its recently released Radeon HD 4890 graphics chip to 1 Ghz via factory overclocking. AMD says its the first time that a 1 Ghz speed has been achieved on a graphics processor using standard air-cooling systems.

A number of third party graphics card makers have plans to release their own versions of the 1 Ghz Radeon HD 4890 card but at the moment there's no word on when they will be released nor what their price point will be.

Owners of AMD's ATI graphics products always get a monthly graphics driver update. However it's usually not this soon in the month. Today AMD offers up their 9.4 version of the Radeon Catalyst drivers. You can download the new files at AMD's game oriented web site.

The release notes for the 9.4 version give more details on what's new and what's changed. The big new feature is the ATI OverDrive auto-tuning application. Basically this new app can determine the best over-clocked engine and memory for your Radeon card. It should be noted that overclocking your video card is still breaking your warranty if even if you use the new app. There are also some minor bugs fixed for games like World of Warcraft and Age of Conan.

Spring has arrived and with it some new mainstream graphics card offerings from the Big Two of Nvidia and AMD. From the Nvidia side comes the GeForce GTX 275, while AMD counters with the ATI Radeon HD 4890.Both are targeting the $200-$250 price range.

As far as comparing the two cards, early reviews from hardware sites like Firing Squad show that both have their advantages and disadvantages. The new Radeon card handles DirectX10 supported games like Stormrise and Battleforge better but the GeForce card has support for PhysX which more and more games are using for the in-game physics. The article also points out that these releases will likely be the last DirectX10 cards from both companies as the expected launch of Windows 7 later this year will also bring out the first DirectX11 supported graphics cards.

AMD's regular monthly refresh of their ATI Radeon Catalyst drivers has been released for March. This is the first Catalyst driver release that supports Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system for all of those who are using the beta release.

According to AMD's gaming blog, "This driver allows you to swap back and forth between OSs with the same driver set; it makes for an easy, clean Windows 7 experience - without the hassle of multiple drivers, versions, etc." The release notes give the full picture on what's new and improved which includes some perfomace improvements for Lost Planet: Colonies and other games.

They waited until the month was nearly over with but AMD's ATI division finally released their first monthly Catalyst driver update for their Radeon based graphics chips of 2009. The 9.1 version drivers are available to download via AMD's PC game oriented web site.

So what's new in this first driver update of the new year? The release notes have that info but it looks like this update is a fairly minor one. While there are a number of bug fixes for other hardware and applications in this update it seems devoid of any fixes or improvements in games. Still it's always a good idea to have the latest version of your graphics driver installed.

Brought on by yet another product refresh by the Big Green Eyeball Gang, BI wants to take a moment to crawl under the hood to discuss what this sort of evolution means in practical terms. Specifically, the architectural changes that occur at the manufacturing level for the chips themselves -- using smaller and smaller integrated circuit etchings, and making minor tweaks to the layout of the circuitry itself. The former is typically called the "manufacturing process," which refers to the photolithography that etches the actual circuitry onto the silicon wafers -- the creation of the chip itself. The latter, where minor tweaks are made to the circuit layout from batch to batch, is referred to as the "chip stepping," and is most commonly discussed when referring to CPUs within a single generation.

The easiest way to think about the signals traveling on the circuits inside of any chip is as though they're commuters. They have to do the speed limit (okay, so they're obviously not from New Jersey; unlike what the NHTSA dictates, 186,000 miles per second; it's not just a good idea, it's The Law); anything that improves how they get from point A to point B results in improved performance. Shortening the commute or offering a more efficient route to travel both serve this greater purpose.

The big news of the past week for desktop gamers was the official release of Nvidia's GTX 295 dual-GPU card to the wild. Not content to sit on their hands, AMD announced, via the ever-thrilling Press Release, that they're undertaking development of a platform to provide high-shiny graphics to devices that don't sport the hardware to create them, as well as a realtime rendering system for photorealistic content that developers and cinematographers can utilize.

So, it looks like both ends of the spectrum are getting some love. Maybe even a three-way kind of thing.

At some point, BI's mind will leave the gutter it currently inhabits, but we don't advise anyone to hold their breath waiting for that to happen. (Hey, at least there hasn't been a "Two chips, one card" joke made yet. Oh, wait....)