nividiageforce
nividia geforce
nividia geforce
nividia geforce
nividia geforce
nividia geforce
GeForce
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Thisarticleisaboutthenvidiabrandname.Forotheruses,seeGforce(disambiguation).
GeForcegraphicsprocessor
TheGeForcelogousedsince2007
InventedbyNvidia
GeForceisabrandofPCgraphicsprocessorunits(GPUs)designedbyNvidia.ThefirstGeForceproductsweredesignedandmarketedforthehigh-margincomputergamermarket,butlatertheproduct'sreleasesexpandedtheproductlinetocoveralltiersofthegraphicsmarket,fromlow-endtohigh-end.Asof2008[update],therehavebeenteniterationsofthedesign.Nvidiaonlydesignsthechips;manufacturingisoutsourced.Whileseveralcompanies(notably,Intel)designlow-endGPUs,onlyNvidia'sGeForceandATI'sRadeonseriescompeteforthehigh-endGPUmarket.
contents[hide]
1Nameorigin
2Generations
3MobileGPUs
4Productnamingscheme
5Listofmanufacturers
6Seealso
7References
8Externallinks
[edit]Nameorigin
The"GeForce"nameoriginatedfromacontestheldbyNvidiainearly1999.Called"NameThatChip",thecontestcalledouttothepublictonamethesuccessortotheRIVATNT2lineofgraphicsboards.Therewereover12,000entriesreceivedand7winnersreceivedaRIVATNT2Ultragraphicsboardasareward.[1][2]
[edit]Generations
GeForce256
LaunchedonAugust31,1999,theGeForce256(NV10)wasthefirstPCgraphicschipwithhardwaretransform,lighting,andshadingalthough3Dgamesutilizingthisfeaturedidnotappearuntillater.InitialGeForce256boardsshippedwithSDRSDRAMmemory,andlaterboardsshippedwithfasterDDRSDRAMmemory.
GeForce2
LaunchedinApril2000,thefirstGeForce2(NV15)wasanotherhigh-performancegraphicschip.Nvidiamovedtoatwintextureprocessorperpipeline(4x2)design,doublingtexturefillrateperclockcomparedtoGeForce256.Later,NvidiareleasedtheGeForce2MX(NV11),whichofferedperformancesimilartotheGeForce256butatafractionofthecost.TheMXwasacompellingvalueinthelow/mid-rangemarketsegmentsandwaspopularwithOEMPCmanufacturersandusersalike.
GeForce3
LaunchedinFebruary2001,theGeForce3(NV20)introducedDirectX8.0programmablepixelshaderstotheGeForcefamily.Ithadgoodoverallperformanceandshadersupport,makingitpopularwithenthusiastsalthoughitneverhitthemidrangepricepoint.AderivativeoftheGeForce3,NV2A,wasdevelopedfortheMicrosoftXboxgameconsole.
GeForce4
LaunchedinFebruary2002,thehigh-endGeForce4Ti(NV25)wasmostlyarefinementtotheGeForce3.Thebiggestadvancementsincludedenhancementstoanti-aliasingcapabilities,animprovedmemorycontroller,asecondvertexshader,andamanufacturingprocesssizereductiontoincreaseclockspeeds.Another"familymember,"thebudgetGeForce4MX,wasbasedontheGeForce2,withafewadditionsfromthenewGeForce4Tiline.Ittargetedthevaluesegmentofthemarketandlackedpixelshaders.
GeForceFX
OfficiallylaunchedinNovember2002,theGeForceFX(NV30)wasahugechangeinarchitecturecomparedtoitspredecessors.TheGPUwasdesignednotonlytosupportthenewShaderModel2specificationbutalsotoperformwellonolderDirectX7and8titles.However,initialmodelssufferedfromweakfloatingpointshaderperformanceandexcessiveheatwhichrequiredtwo-slotcoolingsolutions.Productsinthisseriescarrythe5000modelnumber,asitisthefifthgenerationoftheGeForce,thoughNvidiamarketedthecardsasGeForceFXinsteadofGeForce5toshowoff"thedawnofcinematicrendering".
GeForce6
LaunchedinApril2004,theGeForce6(nv40)addedShaderModel3.0supporttotheGeForcefamily,whilecorrectingtheweakfloatingpointshaderperformanceofitspredecessor.ItalsoimplementedhighdynamicrangeimagingandintroducedSLI(ScalableLinkInterface)andPureVideocapability.
GeForce7
The7thgenerationGeForce(G70/NV47)waslaunchedinJune2005.ThedesignwasarefinedversionofGeForce6,withthemajorimprovementsbeingawidenedpipelineandanincreaseinclockspeed.TheGeForce7alsooffersnewtransparencysupersamplingandtransparencymultisamplinganti-aliasingmodes(TSAAandTMAA).Thesenewanti-aliasingmodeswerelaterenabledfortheGeForce6seriesaswell.
AmodifiedversionofGeForce7800GTXcalledtheRSX'RealitySynthesizer'isusedasthemainGPUinthePlayStation3fromSony.
GeForce8
ReleasedonNovember8,2006,the8thgenerationGeForce(G80originally)wasthefirsteverGPUtofullysupportDirectX10.Builtonabrandnewarchitecture,ithasafullyunifiedshaderarchitecture.Originallyjustthe8800GTX,theGTSwasreleasedmonthsintotheproductline'slife,andittooknearly6monthsformid-rangeandOEM/mainstreamcardstobeintegratedintothe8-series.Die-shrinksandrevisionstotheG80design,codenamedG92,wereimplementedintothe8serieswiththe8800GS,the8800GT,and8800GTS-512.
GeForce9
ThesuccessortotheGeForce8seriesgraphicsproducts.ThefirstproductwasreleasedonFebruary21,2008.[3]Noconcreteinformationabouttheproductswasknownexceptofficialsclaimingthenextgenerationproductshavingcloseto1TFLOPSperformancewhiletheGPUcoresbeingmadeon65nmprocess,andreportsaboutNvidiadownplayingthesignificanceofDirectX10.1.[4]sofar,all9-seriesdesigns,bothcurrently-outandspeculated,aresimplyrevisionstoexistinglate8-seriesproducts.The9600GTusestheG94architecture,whichdiffersfromG92architectureastheGPUhas64streamprocessors.[5]The9800GX2usestwoG92GPU's,asusedinlater8800cards,inadualPCBconfigurationwhilestillonlyrequiringasinglePCI-Express16xslot.The9800GX2utilisestwoseparate256-bitmemorybusses,oneforeachGPUanditsrespective512MBofmemory,whichequatestoanoverallof1GBofmemoryonthecard(althoughtheSLIconfigurationofthechipsnecessitatesmirroringtheframebufferbetweenthetwochips,thuseffectivelyhavingthememoryperformanceofa256-bit/512MBconfiguration).Thelater9800GTXfeaturesasingleG92GPU,256-bitdatabus,and512MBofGDDR3memory[6].
GeForceGTX200
BasedontheGT200graphicsprocessorconsistingof1.4Billiontransistors,theGTX200serieslaunchedat0630PDTon16June2008.[7]ThenextgenerationoftheGeForceseriestakesthecard-namingschemeinacontroversialnewdirection,byreplacingtheseriesnumber(suchas8800for8-seriescards)withtheGTXacronym(whichusedtogoattheendofcardnames,denotingtheir'rank'amongothersimilarmodels),andthenaddingmodel-numberssuchas260and280afterthat.TheGTXcouldbeinterpretedas10000,asthepredecessorwas9000,andtheRomanNumeralXisalsorepresentativeof10,whichcouldtranslateas:GeForce200couldalsobereadas10200.[8]TheserieswillfeaturethenewGT200coreona65nm.[9]ThefirstproductswillbeGeForceGTX260andthemoreexpensiveGeForceGTX280.[10
