X-bit labs

Nvidia Skyrockets Speed of Performance-Mainstream Graphics Cards.

Category: Video

by Anton Shilov

[ 10/29/2007 | 02:47 PM ]

Nvidia Corp., a leading designer of standalone graphics processing units (GPUs), on Monday officially announced its new product called GeForce 8800 GT. The new graphics boards are based on the code-named G92 graphics processor, which brings loads of computing horsepower, PCI Express 2.0 as well as advanced video-processing engine to graphics cards that cost from $199 to $259.

The new Nvidia G92 graphics processor is made using 65nm process technology and features 754 million of transistors, considerably more compared to Nvidia G80, which powers GeForce 8800 GTS, GTX and Ultra graphics cards and slightly more compared to ATI R600, which is the base for ATI Radeon HD 2900-series graphics cards. Thanks to new process technology, Nvidia claims that thermal design power of the GeForce 8800 GT graphics boards will be approximately 110W, also less than that of GeForce 8800 GTS/GTX/Ultra.

Despite of some innovations inside, the G92 chip will not bring performance of graphics chips to a new level, but will make solid performance in 3D games available at relatively low price-point. Moreover, actual speed of the G92 is likely to be considerably higher than previously thought.

Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT chip features 112 stream processors at 1500MHz as well as 56 texturing units, 16 render back ends and 256-bit memory bus. The base clock for the chip is 600MHz and Nvidia recommends its partners to use 1800MHz and 1400MHz memory for 512MB and 256MB graphics cards, respectively. Earlier it was expected that the chip will feature considerably less stream processors and texturing units, however, Nvidia managed to exceed the expectations. Nevertheless, as time passes, Nvidia may disable or enable certain parts of the G92 GPU in order to release solutions for $149 and $299 price-points.

“When we introduced the GeForce 8-series family, our most savvy customers and press demanded a product with 64 stream processors and a 256-bit memory interface to deliver more performance at the popular $199 to $259 price point. Today we decided to raise the bar and deliver GeForce 8800 GT with 112 stream processors, a fast 256-bit memory interface, and our second-generation PureVideo HD technology, giving our customers an incredible value proposition. At this price point, gamers are getting more performance and features than ever before,” said Ujesh Desai, general manager of GeForce desktop GPUs at Nvidia.

In addition to bringing performance of the GeForce 8800-class hardware to attractive price-points, the GeForce 8800 GT also features PureVideo HD video processor with high-quality video post-processing as well as PCI Express 2.0 bus, which doubles interface bandwidth over the first generation of PCI Express bus.

Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT-based graphics cards are set to be available from leading add-in card manufacturers, retailers, and system builders.