The GeForce 200 GTX
Source: Tom's Hardware – Keywords: nvidia, gtx, 280
The GeForce 200 GTX
A new generation, a new name. Using the “10,000” place for a series name seems to bother GPU manufacturers. Whereas ATI solved the problem by introducing Roman numerals, Nvidia has completely changed its card nomenclature. Now we have the GeForce 200 GTX. But there’s a question we just have to ask: What happened to the GeForce 100 GTX?
As we’ll see, Nvidia is introducing a new architecture, but they’re not exactly starting afresh. While the genesis of the G80 had started with a blank page, the architecture has proved to be extremely efficient. The goal for the GT200, then, was to correct all the architecture’s minor youthful errors and better equip the circuitry for the games of the future. Like what the G70 was to the NV40, what we have is a raft of small improvements, but above all a big leap in processing power. So, where the 8800 GTX offered a floating-point processing power of 518 GFlops, the GTX 280 has close to a Teraflop – an impressive 933 GFlops. And in reality, the spread is even wider, since that figure of 518 GFlops for the G80 is based on the execution of three floating-point operations per cycle (one MAD and one MUL) – which, due to the G80’s limitations, was impossible to achieve in practice. With the GT200, Nvidia guarantees, with tests to back them up, that those problems have been solved. To almost double the processing performance of its previous GPU, Nvidia substantially increased the number of multiprocessors – from 16 to 30.
Nvidia and AMD agree that the games of the future will need significantly higher arithmetical power compared to texturing power, and consequently it’s no surprise to see that the number of texture units shows a more modest increase. From 64 on the 9800 GTX, the GTX 280 has moved to 80 (and if you compare the 8800 GTX to the GTX 280 this time, we go from a theoretical arithmetic instructions / number of texels filtered ratio of 14.1:1 to 19.4:1). Let’s look at what that means right away.
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hmm not as big an improvement as i thought. will have to wait and see on the drivers improving the cards , but the 260 gtx seems to be the much better option given the price. still , will have to see what ati bring to the fray first. patience will be reflected in price i have no doubt.
frankly depressing, Me WANTS MRAW POWER!!!!
I am so disappointed. Now if AMD delivers on the dual GPU single memory rumour (2 GPUs on a single card but without the Crossfire problems) NVidia could have a serious problem.
Why have they tested this system with only 2Gb of RAM? If you're testing a GPU with 1Gb of VRAM, surely you'd have more installed?
They also have 2 conflicting prices on page 28.
For the 280GTX- $846 and $650;
For the 260GTX- $450 and $400
Wouldn't it have been more prudent to test against a 8800gtx ultra as this is still the single most powerfull card.
It might just be me but 66.5dBa is unbearable unless you have your PC locked away in a cupboard somewhere. This business of supplying substandard fans on very expensive cards is intolerable. Why don't they strike a deal with Zalman / Thermalright for example, and ship cards that are quiet / silent? I'm sure that people who have the money to buy a £500 GPU could afford £10 more for a better cooling solution that's included.
where is that 20W to 30W idle you are talking about? The least in the graph is 199W!
mi1ez: Probably the reason for just 2GB RAM was that it allowed Tom's to stick with 32-bit OS architecture. If they tried using more RAM they'd be stuck with 64-bit Bindows which would not be pretty - aside from really needing 8GB to give a big difference over 2GB in 32bit Vista, there's the slight issue of stable signed drivers, which these cards probably won't have for a while. Good luck trying to get Vista 64 to even "see" the cards! XD
jhoravi: that idle power would only come up on newer nVidia mobos as the card would be shut down entirely when idle and hand over to the integrated chip.
And was it me or was the Noise text copypasted over the Temperature text on the next page? Oops.
Lets try again Mr THG (uhhhm try getting your fraking website working plz)...
Now lets see this puppy in action:
http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/01G-P3-1289-AR.pdf
!!
Bob