GeForce 999s do it by numbers

Nvidia’s new range of ‘GeForce 999s’ lead the way for graphics card naming strategies, reports Slim Shadermodel

Nvidia has finally announced what could be the death knell for ATi’s Radeon X1000 series. The ‘GeForce 999’ family marks a sea change in Nvidia’s strategy, with a focus on high-performance model names rather than confusing new technology or pointless benchmark speed bumps.

The Nvidia GeForce 7999 SRi will be the flagship. This will be virtually identical to the current 7800GTX 512 card, except with smaller, more conveniently arranged chips. But there will also be a GeForce 7999 GTi, a 7999 FSi, plus the special-edition 7999 XR3i, all of which have individually crafted logos. An RS version will only be available with a blue PCB, whilst the PCB version will be exactly what the name suggests – just the PCB with no chips attached, for card modding enthusiasts. The 7999 PMS will have an innovative ‘emotional instability mode’, also known as ’99 flake’.

Along with the flagship 7999 will be 7499 GTO, VSO, BMA and TFI Friday models aimed more at the mainstream user. The TFI Friday version is specifically designed to reduce 3D performance during weekday office hours, storing it up for extra power on Friday nights and at weekends. The low-end 32MB GeForce 7199, however, will only come in one flavour – the GeForce 7199 PITA with TurboCache. In another move designed to make the cards more attractive to consumers, the model numbers will also represent the base price in US dollars for the cards in question, which will be exactly the same in pounds in the UK.

‘It’s not about the technology or the performance,’ Nvidia’s Admonesta Smote told us. ‘We may not have the fastest cards on the market anymore, but our broad range means that consumers can have a card with exactly the model name and number which appeals to them.’

3DMark06 Benchmarks

Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX 512 – 4542
Nvidia GeForce 7999 SRi - 4542
Nvidia GeForce 7999 GTi - 4542
Nvidia GeForce 7999 FSi - 4542
Nvidia GeForce 7999 XR3i - 4542
Nvidia GeForce 7999 RS - 4542