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Nvidia to Rebrand GeForce Series

Posted 09/27/08 at 05:46:56 AM |  by Justin Kerr

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Do you know the difference between a 9800 GTX and GTX+? How about an 8800 GTS 1st and 2nd generation? Well if you’re confused don’t worry, your not alone. Now finally after many years of dazzling and confusing customers, Nvidia is looking to make some permanent changes to help deal with the dizzying array of identifiers. The company is hoping that by years end it will have better control over card’s surnames in an attempt to give users a clear idea of the performance they can expect. Using this approach the GTX term would be reserved for the highest-end gaming cards with GS and GT being reserved for mainstream boards. Last but not least, gamers on a budget will be able to choose from a clearly labeled G series. This is clearly a follow up to the Radeon’s addition of the HD line and with any luck will help users figure out what kind of performance they can expect from a given card without scouring the web for comparisons. Rumor has it the 9400 GT will also be rebranded as the G100, and the 9500 GT through 9800 GT will become the GT120 to GT150 series.

I think you’ll agree these changes are long overdue.

nvidia

COMMENTS:
6
TAGS: 
graphics, videocard, nvidia, gpu, geforce, 9400, 9500GT, rebranding
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COMMENTS
avatar Yeah, I'm with the first

Submitted by Shalbatana on Mon, 2008-09-29 11:31

 Yeah, I'm with the first guy. Wasn't it 2006 when an almost identical blurb appeared in MaxPC clamiming Nvidia was doing this exact same thing???

 

How about this?

GTX = best

GT = great

S = std

E = economy

 

Then add to that the model number 8500, 8600, etc.

Then add "A" for Gen 1, "B" for Gen 2 Gen 3.

Or better yet, emiminate the generation updates altogether and simply give the card a new number, ie. 85825, 8650

 Why is this so difficult for them???

_______________________________

"There's no time like the future."

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avatarStill confusing

Submitted by wk on Sun, 2008-09-28 06:50

Anyone who is not PC enthusiast (definitely not MPC reader) will still be confused by this naming system. They just need to simplify card names so that any casual PC user can understand.

MPC is my home page

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avatarToo manye products

Submitted by NAYRhyno on Sat, 2008-09-27 10:07

When you have so many products, that do not CLEARLY stack in order of performance, any naming convention will be confusing.  A GS is worse than a GT for gaming, but often is paired with more memory, so on some games it might be better.  The newer GT might have more video features than the older faster GTS, appealing to still other folks.  They (and AMD and Intel) need to create a simpler line up with a monotonically increasing performance level from card to card.

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avatarGood, better, best?

Submitted by jwalch.hawk on Sat, 2008-09-27 17:40

I totally agree that a simple, easily comprehensible product line is generally best for consumers.  But...

You're proposing that product lines for all these parts should be clearly differentiated with strict comparisons in every spec between each component.  That would seem logical at first, but take a look at the example you cited...

The thing is, the PC community wants exactly that.  Do I want a videocard with lots of memory, but maybe lower operating frequency?  Do I really need twelve million pixel shaders or do I want a card better suited for task XZY?  My point here is that if you create this sort of Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, etc. lineup then if I want a videocard with lots of memory then I have to pay for the high clock and other "upper tier" features - even if I don't want them.

Remember that we (as opposed to those *other* guys) pride ourselves on the fact that we can pick and choose the things we need from our PC, both in terms of hardware and software.  Yes, we all want performance - but performance in what?  Different users have different needs.

All that said, I do agree that nVidia's lineup is in some need of some house cleaning.

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avatarWhat's so tough?

Submitted by GWEEDOspeedo on Sat, 2008-09-27 09:41

9400 GT < 9500 GT < 9600 GT < 9600 GSO (basically rebadged 8800 GS) < 9800 GT (basically rebadged 8800 GT) < 9800 GTX < 9800 GTX+ (die-shrunk GTX with faster clocks) < GTX 260 < GTX 260 Core 216 (only 24 more stream processors) < GTX 280

That doesn't even include the flavors of 8XXX cards. Is that really too difficult for the average consumer...? Hah.

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avatarAgain?

Submitted by Redeye on Sat, 2008-09-27 07:58

Didn't nVidia just try renaming their product lines?  And they honestly don't help themselves, with things like the GTX 260 Core 216 as apposed to the GTX 260.  I consider myself to keep up pretty regularly with upcoming PC tech and the nVidia lineup confuses the heck out of me.  Hopefully they stick to this one.

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