Nvidia is reportedly planning to launch its first GeForce 9 series graphics chip, the GeForce 9600 GT (G94), for the mid-range market later this week.

The information was reported by Digitimes.com citing sources at graphics card makers.

The new 9600 GT chip has been manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) under the 65nm process. It will feature 64 processing units and a 256-bit memory bus, resulting to an overall performance increase 40% compared to the 8600 GTS.

GeForce 9600 GT graphics cards will be priced at around US$169-189, with Nvidia to lower the price of the existing GeForce 8600 GTS at the US$139-149 range.