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Nvidia GeForce GTX 200 Graphics Cards Makes Your Gaming Rig Officially Outdated
Posted by Matt Buchanan at 11:00 PM on June 16, 2008
Nvidia's latest line of graphics cards gets official today: The GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 mark the debut of the next-gen 200 series, a completely overhauled and badass line of GPUs. The GTX 280 rocks 240 processing cores and 1GB of RAM, while the 260 comes with 192 cores and 896MB of memory, making them equally adept at generating eye-popping graphics or serious parallel computing and physics crunching. Nvidia demoed for me some of the stuff these puppies can do in SLI--and it's pretty incredible. Check out some of Nvidia's ass-beating benchmarks for yourself. Update: Benchmarks and reviews are rolling in, and they're not looking as hot.
Of course, there is a cost to being maybe the best performing GPU on the planet: besides running US$650 and US$399, respectively (making three-way SLI nearly two grand with the GTX 280), they both require two PCI-E power connections to run and a massive power supply (like 1000w) if you're even thinking about SLI. Yet somehow it actually draws less idle power than the last gen of their ultra high-performance cards. To show you how adept they are at parallel processing here's one more benchmark shot, this time comparing its Foldering@Home performance. Yep, they've got a client coming soon. 
We should see mid-range cards in the line before too long, for those looking for more affordable next-gen goodness.
Update: Tom's Hardware has a massive novella of a review going over everything in complete, insane detail, but here are the highlights. It never hands down beats the 9800 GX2 in game performance (which is really two cards in one), and in fact, loses more than once, though that might be 'cause the drivers are less optimised. ATI's Radeon HD 3870 X2 gets in its licks too, like on World in Conflict. In the all-important (or maybe overblown) Crysis test, the 9800 GX2 prevails, with the 8800 Ultra not too far behind the GTX 260: 
Still, the overall raw processing power has doubled from the last gen and is way more efficient than the two-in-one cards. If you're going on price-to-performance, the GTX 260 is the better bet, with only an 18 percent performance lag, despite being nearly 40 percent cheaper. [Nvidia, Tom's Hardware]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
GeekyNerdGuy
Posted 12:15 AM 17/6/08
@scarbrtj: It will play it back, yes. However, try editing multiple pieces of that AVCHD video layered onto each other with several effects layered onto that. A duo-core with an 8600 will go black.
I have to run a quad-core with an 1GB 8800GT to edit AVCHD, and at times I wish I had 2 8800GTs just to stop the jumpiness and occasional hangs.
GeekyNerdGuy
Stang70Fastback
Posted 12:07 AM 17/6/08
Wow...
...****ing WOW!
Stang70Fastback
phantam
Posted 12:02 AM 17/6/08
and this is why games like Crysis pushed the limits this past year... because cards like this will soon become the standard and 8800's will become the "lowscale" gpu's
phantam
DisposableInterloper
Posted 12:02 AM 17/6/08
I just shat bricks in my pants. I need to do something about my 8800 GTS cards, pronto. While I'm at it, I should also swap out my Soundblaster X-Fi for the new PCIe model. Alas, where to get the funds?
DisposableInterloper
impreza
Posted 12:00 AM 17/6/08
two PCI-E connections and 1000w power supply for SLI...
Funny, my machine has two 8800 Ultras in SLI, and they both have two PCI-E power connections each, and the machine overall requires somewhere around 800w to run...
I am not suprised by those specs, Giz, you are 2 years behind the times. Trying to shock us with stuff thats sooooo last year!
impreza
dicknervous
Posted 11:54 PM 16/6/08
@sluzzuls: You're 8 series (and Mine) are down there with the 3870 in that first graph. The 9 series is a little above it. In the folding graph I don't think they are even in the picture. Now I just need to figure out where to get $700 from....
dicknervous
scarbrtj
Posted 11:50 PM 16/6/08
@GeekyNerdGuy: Still, SLI is sorta overkill dontcha think, as an 8600GT in a CoreDuo system will let you use only 15-20% of your CPU processing power when decoding 1080p AVCHD and will play very smoothly. Can't get "much better" than that. Now when we get up to 1440p...
scarbrtj
GeekyNerdGuy
Posted 11:39 PM 16/6/08
@Prosumerist: It's not JUST for games. HD video editing and 3D rendering can be really processor/memory intensive. AVCHD files at 1080p work much better with SLI.
GeekyNerdGuy
Just1ncred1ble12
Posted 11:35 PM 16/6/08
I <3 evga. Time to setup the new 8800gt i got 2 months ago. Now it's only 450 :S o dear not as low as i expected, but im sure it will be worth it.
Just1ncred1ble12
avconsumer
Posted 11:32 PM 16/6/08
Crysis 2 @ 37fps, here I come!!
avconsumer
Denver_80203
Posted 11:28 PM 16/6/08
er.. down to 3 rather
Denver_80203
Denver_80203
Posted 11:27 PM 16/6/08
I hope they don't go more than a GB of vRAM for the sake of 32 bit machines. every MB of video RAM on the card is address space lost from you motherboard's RAM. So if you had the Max of 4GB of RAM, this card takes you effectively down to one for your OS/applications
Denver_80203
itchytooth
Posted 11:26 PM 16/6/08
I know a baby snow leopard that's going to love these (240 cores! wtf!?).
itchytooth
sluzzuls
Posted 11:25 PM 16/6/08
what is that crap? im an nvidia guy. i dont know what kind of relation an ati card has to a geforce. show me a chart of 8 and 9 series cards compared to this 200? series
sluzzuls
itchytooth
Posted 11:24 PM 16/6/08
I love how they use 2 nearly identical shades of green in the graph. Please, Nvidia, take every opportunity to remind us that you like green.
itchytooth
Prosumerist
Posted 11:19 PM 16/6/08
Why is SLI even a factor anymore? These cards should be able to run anything, at any resolution. My 8800GTS runs the latest games at full HD with no issues.
Prosumerist
Scuba Steve
Posted 11:18 PM 16/6/08
I'll take it!
Scuba Steve
Y2KGTP
Posted 11:15 PM 16/6/08
My 8800GT nVidia card is still on the UPS truck somewhere out for delivery tomorrow.....and I think it just cried.
Y2KGTP
P3nnst8r
Posted 11:14 PM 16/6/08
@P3nnst8r: Oh that's right, of course it can. All that matters.
P3nnst8r
P3nnst8r
Posted 11:14 PM 16/6/08
Yes, but can it run Spore?
P3nnst8r
ripfire
Posted 12:44 AM 17/6/08
@GeekyNerdGuy: You edit AVCHD directly? Eeek! Don't you edit off of the low-res source first then run batch edit the higher quality source?
ripfire
sheik_geek
Posted 12:40 AM 17/6/08
I love how the first graph starts at .8. My friend actually thought the 280 was about 6 times faster than the 3870 because he wasn't paying attention. Misdirection FTW!
sheik_geek
lilaliendog
Posted 12:36 AM 17/6/08
sadness I wonder how long it will be before they get to 200 bucks. Also last I checked my ps3 was folding about 20-40% faster than what they are claiming though I am running in advanced mode and still only using idle processing power what they fail to say is that gpu's can only run very specific WU's for folding
lilaliendog
Dudemeister on the Run
Posted 12:33 AM 17/6/08
yes, feel free to rape my innocent wallet. Take it all, take all of my $60!!!! (after bills of course. What can i say i am a poor college student)
I'll go ahead and assume that are trying tosay the 280 is 1.4x faster than the 3870 when playing cod4. Way to label your axis nVidia! Fail.
Dudemeister on the Run
Samutz
Posted 12:27 AM 17/6/08
@Y2KGTP:
Same here, only mine's on Fedex. x_x
Samutz
N@tedog
Posted 12:27 AM 17/6/08
This is insane performance. Plus, I didn't even see this news on Tomshardware before today. Way to keep it hiddin, GeForce.
N@tedog
ithcy
Posted 1:33 AM 17/6/08
@GameGhost: It's called a baseline. In the first graph the Radeon 3870 is being used as a baseline against which the NVidia cards are compared. This just makes it easy to see how (for example) the GTX 280 is 2.4 times as fast at rendering Call of Juarez as the Radeon 3870. ATI = 1, NVidia = 2.4. Get it?
ithcy
hagrun
Posted 1:30 AM 17/6/08
@Y2KGTP: That may be, but your wallet is happier =). The 8800 GT is pretty damn good so don't worry too much.
hagrun
GameGhost
Posted 1:20 AM 17/6/08
Nice fake graphs. Why does the ATI card always test at 1 when the Nvidia cards' performance is jumping all the hell around? That just seems suspicious. And what they hell are they measuring anyway? 1 what? 2.4 what? This isn't even good fake marketing bullshit. I hate it when companies who know better try to sell new products on manufactured hype alone.
GameGhost
Crashproof
Posted 1:11 AM 17/6/08
So when do we get our 192-core Core 2 CPU?
Crashproof
Shane-Meh
Posted 1:10 AM 17/6/08
And I just had to go buy that 9800gt a month ago.
Shane-Meh
Bitstuff
Posted 1:05 AM 17/6/08
Aaaaaaaaah, trying to have the best GPU has always been a losing battle. There aren't many things that lose value quite as fast and make you feel quite as stupid three months later.
Bitstuff
DarwinCB
Posted 12:57 AM 17/6/08
The specs for spore are not really that bad
DarwinCB
GeekyNerdGuy
Posted 12:56 AM 17/6/08
@ripfire: I wish.
GeekyNerdGuy
mikecoscia
Posted 12:54 AM 17/6/08
@N@tedog: @N@tedog:
These cards have been known for months, where have you been?
mikecoscia
mikecoscia
Posted 12:53 AM 17/6/08
Those graphs are worthless. The new cards are a complete failure. Check out some of the recent reviews that hit the net today. The new GT280 is really no faster than a 9800GX2 (which runs cooler and uses less power to boot). Nvidia really dropped the ball here.
Here's hoping ATIs 4850/4870 are better. If the are as good as specs show, ATI maybe gain some ground this generation.
mikecoscia
albtms
Posted 12:52 AM 17/6/08
Ha, joke's on them. My 8800 GTS 512 was "outdated" quite a while ago!
albtms
T1nd0g
Posted 2:17 AM 17/6/08
Ok, so the graph starts at .6, it's a graph from a Nividia slide and it doesn't even list what generates these numbers.
I really don't come to Gizmodo for my computer tech needs but if I did I would have to judge them as harshly as a gaming sight.
To put it simply those arn't benchmarks and no we won't see mid range cards in this line any time soon. seriously real numbers are already out there.
[www.theinquirer.net]
T1nd0g
DisposableInterloper
Posted 2:12 AM 17/6/08
Screw PowerPoint graphs. They're always corporate bullshit anyway. Sure, nVidia is the current performance king, and has been for a while, but that's not what's grabbing my attention here. I'm two generations behind at this point, and Crysis isn't going to start running thinner than pudding on its own.
@Bitstuff:
You sure said it. Still, it's a losing battle that gives you an unbelievable high while you have the upper hand. Damn it, my hands are itching to unbox fresh hardware so badly that I'll even settle for building a new budget PC for some relatives that are using an Althon XP dinosaur while I wait for the new cards to reach retail.
Sigh. Hello, Computer Hardware Addicts Anonymous? I think I have a problem.
DisposableInterloper
DCGaymer
Posted 1:59 AM 17/6/08
Has anyone found site that sells them yet? I tried a couple of my regular vendors and came up with nothing.
DCGaymer
behavin
Posted 1:55 AM 17/6/08
You know, usually the secretary where I work does all the foldering, but I guess a foldering at home client would make her job easier.
I keed, of course. Badass job there, nvidia. Seems they've been ripping all hell out of ATI as of late.
behavin
Geist420
Posted 1:46 AM 17/6/08
How about comparing it to other Nvidia cards? How does it stack up to an 8800GTX? 9800s?
Damn it people, if you make a pretty graph, make it useful! =)
Geist420
knappoleon
Posted 3:05 AM 17/6/08
*yawn. show me a trade in program for 8800 GT's and a major cost reduction (650 are you high?) then you'll have my attn.
knappoleon
DisposableInterloper
Posted 2:56 AM 17/6/08
@T1nd0g:
The diminishing returns are loosened up when there's more of a particular material to work with. I have a choice: get better video cards, or get a lower-res monitor.
Preliminary benchmarks suggest that the GTX 280 in SLI is so powerful that anything short of a heavily overclocked CPU would be a bottleneck, so that's an option I would care to explore.
In any event, I'm probably going to wait a year or two anyway. Pay no attention to my rabid cries of pain in the meantime.
DisposableInterloper
snoopy1319
Posted 2:42 AM 17/6/08
when did they move past the 9800 series? what the...
snoopy1319
T1nd0g
Posted 2:31 AM 17/6/08
@Atsumi:
No there's nothing wrong with your 9800GTX. You don't need to run out and buy a card that's a couple of months newer.
T1nd0g
T1nd0g
Posted 2:28 AM 17/6/08
@DisposableInterloper:
Or, you don't need to do anything, your not going to see as good a performance boost as your hoping for. IMO Your good for at least another year, I would just hold onto the 8800 for now.
T1nd0g
Atsumi
Posted 2:28 AM 17/6/08
My 9800GTX all of a sudden doesn't look so pretty anymore. :(
Atsumi
DisposableInterloper
Posted 2:22 AM 17/6/08
@T1nd0g:
Those numbers you're looking at are on a relative scale. Units cannot be attached. ATI's offerings have been benchmarked, and those benchmarks have been set as the baseline, with a value of one for simplicity's sake. Less than 1 means weaker performance. More than 1 means greater performance. For Call of Jarez, for example, nVidia's offerings are 2.4 times more powerful than ATI's.
Still, the source is nVidia itself. I take those graphs with a grain of salt, since it's not exactly from an unbiased source.
DisposableInterloper
FadedSpark
Posted 3:52 AM 17/6/08
Of ALL the websites to use you had to pick toms hardware, king of garbage benchmarks (*Note, all benchmarks are garbage.)
[enthusiast.hardocp.com]
Theres some real world gaming and some overclocking for you, they look a HELL of a lot better than there. Roughly 90% faster than a single 9800GTX... Seems next gen enough for me.
FadedSpark
Aegis2k
Posted 3:29 AM 17/6/08
I run my PC now with a Trident 4Mb video card PCI, but I cannot find benchmarks to compare... Should I upgrade?
Aegis2k
br4nd0n
Posted 3:23 AM 17/6/08
@snoopy1319:
exactly
WTH happened are we that far behind the PC gaming world?
br4nd0n
LVP
Posted 4:59 AM 17/6/08
Does it go to 11?
LVP
SomeAudioGuy
Posted 4:29 AM 17/6/08
hmmm, kind of an odd inbetween card. For that much scratch I would really hope it handily out performs the 9800gx2, but no go.
My current 1st gen AMD dual core has a little life left in it. I'll be building again when Nehalem is released, so I'll be interested in where we are then I guess.
Right now this just isn't quite enough boost for the cash.
SomeAudioGuy
wetboxersguy
Posted 5:34 AM 17/6/08
the graphs are misleading because of the scale. it shows the 3879x2 at 1 but increments it by .2 with the origin at 0.8. it should at least be at 0
wetboxersguy
Atsumi
Posted 5:31 AM 17/6/08
@T1nd0g:Bah! I was kidding anyways.
I haven't really seen anything I can't do with my current setup... so until then I'm happy with it. :D
Atsumi
Evangelion
Posted 5:26 AM 17/6/08
We know it runs Crysis..... How about Crysis Warhead?
Evangelion
Ethan Allison
Posted 5:18 AM 17/6/08
And the GeForce 9Ms aren't even done rolling out yet...
Ethan Allison
N@tedog
Posted 5:00 AM 17/6/08
GTX 260 for $400 and the GTX 280 is $650. Yes that price difference is correct. You can get the same or better performace with 2x 8800GT 512MB cards in SLI. Go with a factory OCd 8800GT and you're even better and still less than $360. Overall, you guys with 9800GX2's are sitting pretty for a while too. Your cards are just fine.
Performance Recap from TH:
N@tedog
oopl
Posted 7:01 AM 17/6/08
Holy smokes that's a hot video card. [www.amazon.com]
oopl
CoolBreeze984
Posted 9:24 AM 17/6/08
It still amazes me that reviewers compare a single card GPU to a single card Dual GPU. They are two seperate categories.
CoolBreeze984
nobodyzhome
Posted 9:44 AM 17/6/08
Oh my GOD those graphs are laughable! I don't have a gaming rig nor do I give a shit about who makes the best GPU, but those graphs made me laugh. The scale is set such that if you look at the bars only, you would think the NVidia card was 4 or 5 times better! Most consumers don't know how to read that graph, so they'll just look at the pretty bars. Talk about misleading!
nobodyzhome
gradbot
Posted 2:21 AM 17/6/08
Tom's Hardware already has some real benchmarks up. [www.tomshardware.com]
The card performs on average 30% better for 1920x1200 and 50% better if your rocking 2560x1600.
$650 GTX 280
$300 8800 GTX
Think I'll skip this generation of graphic cards and stick with my 8800GTX. If games require more power I'll turn off AA for a while and wait for ATI or the next geforce.
gradbot