Zotac plays the gaming card as market thrives

Carsten Berger: Confident that Zotac will grow through offering a constant competitve edge

As demand for graphics cards continues to grow, card maker Zotac is the latest channel player to unveil
a range of new products.

Zotac has launched the 9800GTX+ Card with 1GB of memory. Zotac said this is a high-end card timed to coincide with the launch of Adobe CS4 and other CUDA applications, as the graphics processing unit is used to contribute to an overall improvement in performance.

Zotac also announced that on 20 October it will become the first vendor to launch a 9400 form factor motherboard. It also announced plans to launch an external device that allows users to overclock graphics cards in real time.

Gaming is a key driver for Zotac, said Carsten Berger, marketing director at Zotac.
“We are also offering motherboard solutions from a cost-effective Nvidia mini ITX solution,” he said. “This will be the first European offering of Micro ATX solution and high-end 790 SLI boards.”

The discrete graphics cards feature display port and ultra silent water cooled solutions, aimed at making PCs less stressful to use.

System builders could find a market for machines built on these products in a range of sectors, he said.
“I am confident Zotac will continue to grow its business by offering a consistent competitive edge on pricing, performance and quality,” said Berger. “Our USB external overclocking unit will please the high-end gamer and any high tech user who does not want their thoughts drowned out by an overworked fan.”

Mini ITX motherboards will help assemblers offer an alternative to the Atom versions from Intel, he claimed. “With our mini-ITX platforms they can choose any processor and have quadruple the performance of pre-built Atom units,” he said.
Assembly houses will also get higher margin and product variation, he added.

Zotac will distribute through Realtime and Centerprise.

Meanwhile, distributor Realtime has promoted Richard Marsden to sales director, after 10 years working his way up the ranks at the firm.

“It is nice to be recognised,” said Marsden. “This market has changed a lot. It used to be about 17-year-old games players, but now the enthusiasts we cater to are a broad bunch.”