nVidia fired the latest shot in the increasingly hostile PC graphics war Monday, rolling out its next generation chip well ahead of its usual schedule.

Graphics boards using the chip, known simply as NV35 internally, will go on sale in June. The high-end card, which is where graphics companies earn bragging rights, will be called the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra. It will retail for approximately $499.

By announcing this new chip right before the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the computer gaming industry's annual trade show, nVidia stands to recapture some of its stature amongst gamers.

nVidia has been facing stiffer competition over the past year from ATI. That company's Radeon 9800 is currently the most advanced graphics card on the market. nVidia said its new card will put the company back on top.

The 5900 Ultra will also have a more advanced compression feature, allowing the card to more efficiently compress the graphics, which reduces the drain on the PC's microprocessor, but doesn't affect the visual quality of the software. When games are played at high resolutions, compression technology results in a speed increase and fewer visual stutters.

Like its predecessor, the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra will require two component slots in a PC. Since it only expects gaming enthusiasts to buy the card, nVidia said it hasn't received much negative feedback on taking the extra space. Consumer versions of the GeForce FX family (the 5200 and the 5600) only take up one slot.