GeForce GT 220 And 210: DirectX 10.1 And 40nm Under $80

Introduction

There's an old adage associated with automobile racing: "what wins on Sunday, sells on Monday." The idea is that if a car manufacturer's product makes it to the winner's circle on the "weekend," then that technology might lead to more sales at the dealership down the road.

The PC graphics card industry has demonstrated an uncanny parallel with the automotive sector in this respect. The manufacturer that delivers drool-worthy enthusiast hardware at the high-end gets a lot of positive momentum that trickles down to the guy who walks into the local computer store looking for a new entry-level graphics card.

Nvidia and AMD have engaged in a battle for supremacy for the top-performing graphics card for years now. But their bread and butter comes from the more pedestrian models that represent the boards most folks can actually afford. The sub-$80 market represents a very diverse model selection with the least price differential, along with the tightest margins. This space is often used as a test market for new technologies (most recently, ATI used the $100 price point to test its transition to 40nm manufacturing, for example).

Enter Nvidia's new GeForce 210- and GT 220-based discrete graphics cards. While these models aren't intended to represent the cutting edge of performance, they do represent some important hallmarks for Nvidia. Mainly, these are the first Nvidia GPUs to use TSMC's 40nm process and sport DirectX 10.1 support. Could this be foreshadowing of die-shrinks to come in the next couple of months? That'd likely be a very fair assessment.

You might also notice that these are Nvidia's first sub-$100 GPUs to migrate to the GT200 family's naming convention. Let's have a closer look at what they actually contain.

  • kalliman
    Too late for nVidia. They should release these cards 1 year ago...
    Reply
  • ColMirage
    Soooo tiny itsy bitsy!
    Reply
  • lemonade4
    This is a nice article that points out nVidia's step into the development of 40nm chips for the market even though they didn't really cause any changes in the sub-$100 video card market. They just seemed to make it even more crowded. I can't wait for the GT300 reviews though. :)
    Reply
  • Proximon
    They have a lot of loyal folks looking to save money these days, so they'll move some 220's. So fans will appreciate the cards.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    hmmm i can see amd stomping this thing shortly with a DX11 part - kalliman is right, this is way too late in the market

    as for the gt300 - also bad news if the info i have heard is correct - 6 months away is not good for nvidia
    Reply
  • lashabane
    And to answer your question - No, it cannot play Crysis.
    Reply
  • why do i feel like mac?
    Reply
  • IzzyCraft
    apache_liveshmmm i can see amd stomping this thing shortly with a DX11 part - kalliman is right, this is way too late in the marketas for the gt300 - also bad news if the info i have heard is correct - 6 months away is not good for nvidiaThe 210 220 i'm pretty sure are OEM parts this is more like a proof/test of what nvidia can do, then a market move. They are nothing more then media cards meant for random dell's/gateway random desktops for people who don't really know what's in their computers.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    idkwhy do i feel like mac?
    because they cant play crysis either?
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    IzzyCraftThe 210 220 i'm pretty sure are OEM parts this is more like a proof/test of what nvidia can do, then a market move. They are nothing more then media cards meant for random dell's/gateway random desktops for people who don't really know what's in their computers.
    like nvidia 8300's and 9300's - never heard of them till i worked on a few HP's
    Reply