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Nvidia To Rename Cards To Help Alleviate Confusion

8:40 AM - May 8, 2008 by Jane McEntegart
Source: Tom's Hardware – Keywords: Nvidia, GeForce
Categories: NVIDIA

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Nvidia has revealed plans to simplify its product range so that people who aren’t as well versed in techtalk can understand what the company is trying to market.

The company is aiming to widen its appeal and bag itself some mid-range users (February saw the launch of the GeForce 9600 GT) and while hardcore tech geeks have no problems understanding the prefixes and numbers associated with the GeForce range, Nvidia is worried that its newer demographic won’t have a clue.

The company has long been criticized for the naming “scheme” it uses to christen new products. It’s seemingly random selection of numbers and prefixes serve little purpose and it stands to reason that if they’re trying to target a mid-range demographic that changes be made to ensure people don’t make the mistake of purchasing a 8400 under the impression that it is more powerful than a 7800.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Roy Taylor, VP of Content Business Development, admitted that Nvidia’s current range of products is overcomplicated.

"It is a challenge that we’re looking at right now. There is a need to simplify it for consumers, there’s no question,"

"We think that the people who understand and know GeForce today, they’re okay with it - they understand it. But if we’re going to widen our appeal, there’s no doubt that we have to solve that problem."


Talkback

homerdog 08/05/2008 03:48
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homerdog
9800GX2 = 8900GX2
9800GTX = 8900GTX
G92 8800GTS = 8900GTS
8800GT = 8900GT
8800GS = 8900GS
9600GSO = 8900GS
9600GT = 8700GT

Now we need to get rid of all the confusing alphabetical suffixes and start utilizing the ones and tens.
Shadow of Dawn 08/05/2008 04:25
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Shadow of Dawn
It's about time. I wonder if the new cards 9900gt, 9900gtx, will renamed to 9800gt, 9800gtx.
Shadow of Dawn 08/05/2008 04:28
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Shadow of Dawn
Shadow of Dawn[/nom]It's about time. I wonder if the new cards 9900gt, 9900gtx, will be renamed to 9800gt, 9800gtx.
Beckler 08/05/2008 04:41
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Beckler
Also, why do the model numbers follow what ATI did like 3 years ago? (7 thousands, 8, etc.). Makes NO sense.

Anyway, "A challenge" and "solve that problem"?! They create ridiculously complex pieces of hardware and they're having issues figuring out the damn names? A totally trivial problem that should've been solved 5 years ago in 5 minutes by anyone with even negligible intellect. Ooops I forgot. Marketing types generally have an IQ of 6.
vherub 08/05/2008 05:53
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vherub
at least they realize there is confusion. Even to enthusiasts, it can be easy to forget which gs, gt, gt, gx2, gtx is better.
Best of luck in creating a competent naming scheme nvidia.
creepster 08/05/2008 06:11
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creepster
Its high time nVidia and others stop this shenanigans. The other annoying practice (is this what they teach marketing MBA's in b-school?) is releasing several different revisions of a product that are totally different internally under the same product name and part number. Linksys and others love to do this. Creative goes one step further and often doesn't even give each version a different rev. number.
Mr_Man 08/05/2008 06:33
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Mr_Man
My friend was having a similar problem with Intel processors. Those aren't too bad, since they at least are only numbers, and the numbers go by 1st digit = series, 2nd digit = place in series, 3rd digit = revisions. No letters except q, e, and the occasional x or t to worry about.
Deleted profile 08/05/2008 06:41
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Hey I got a scheme

Nvidia GeForce 1000 el (entry level)
(gs cards)
Nvidia GeForce 3000 ml (medium level)
(gt cards)
Nvidia GeForce 6000 pl (professional level)
(gts cars)

and finally... 9000 tmm (too much money)
for the all hailed gtx...
Wild9 08/05/2008 07:07
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Wild9
I don't think you need to be a newcomer in order to be confused. People got fed up of fancy naming conventions when newer cards came out, that simply did not deliver..look at the Geforce 4 Ti vs. Geforce FX fiasco, to name but one example. Why not just put "LE" at the end of a card's name to signify it's a light edition? At least then the user knows such a card is aimed at HTPC or basic office/home use, so that user knows what to expect: features rather than performance. Just look at the list Homgerdog kindly supplied..who has the time to sit down and meticulously go through these cards in order to draw effective comparisons? Unless you deal with them all the time it's in one ear out the other, especially considering how fast the market changes these days.

Don't get me wrong..I like a variety of products to choose from and I never really had many issues with the drivers on nVidia products, but the naming convention has caught me out a couple of times and I have wasted money on cards I would have otherwise dropped like a stone considering they were bought on a false pretext of offering more performance than the previous generation.

To the avid user, terms like universal shaders and memory bandwidth is second nature but to the novice this vast array of different specifications must truly be bewildering.
creepster 08/05/2008 09:28
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creepster
Things could be worse... They could follow AMD/ATI and use one number but just slamming more X's onto it.
caskachan 08/05/2008 09:56
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caskachan
i am used to the naming schemes, altough they are quite confussing for new people (as many friends have gone and bought 7300's thinking it bests their old 6800) or even still in this day go and buy a fx5200 becuase it has 512mb of video

i think nvidia quite made it worse when they released the G92, as the newer cheaper gpus where named 8800GT thus would make you think as a slower version of the 8800GTS.. but no it isnt and so then now they released a 9600gt and you would expect it to be as fast as the 8800GT but again it isnt and you just need a benchmark review site to really see whats faster than others, really really confussing these days
Alternator 09/05/2008 02:21
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Alternator
The naming system has to allow people to recognise:
- What gen the card comes from (ordered)
- If an older gen card is better than a newer gen card
- If it is a dual chip card (or quad which is no doubt on its way)
- If it is a revision to an existing gen card which also indicates performance
- Allows cards to be placed into the naming system that have not yet been thought up
- Sounds marketable

Hmm, good luck, get cracking

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