Fuzzymath Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 So I've been doing some video card shopping on newegg, and I'm getting driven nuts by all the model variants out there. I look up the cards on the company websites, and they help somewhat with comparison, but they offer little in the way of explanation. Other than the obvious hardware differences, do the 'GT, GTX, GX, GSO, GTS, GTFO, ASL' suffixes on modern video cards mean anything? 'Great Tech', 'Great Tech Xtreme', 'Great Sex Outside'? More importantly, does anyone have a rule of thumb chart in which they'd fall in to the great performance ladder? Like is GT normally a higher end card than GTX? GSO vs GTS? Jesus. I'm going to go insane. Halp me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyntkid Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 GTX is the highest end. then usually GTS. then GT. then GS. afaik thats how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Charming Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 It's rare to see such a thing as a 'stock' board any more, as in just an 8800. They all have fancy extensions. For nVidida: Ultra - Highest end part GTX - High end part, slightly below Ultra GTS - High end part, slightly below GTX GT - High/medium end part, slightly below GTS GS - High/medium end part, slightly below GT. GSO is unique to the 9 series I believe, I don't think there has been a GSO part previously. The 9600GSO is a rebadged and slightly higher clocked 8800GT - essentially the previous generation's high end has become the next generation's middle-range chip. nVidia also use the GX2 designation for dualchip/dualcard design, such as the 7950GX2 and the 9800GX2. These consist of two graphics cards bridged together internally to work as a single card. For ATi, they've now simplified their range somewhat by dropping letter extensions such as XT, Pro etc, and use a three-part number system. The first number is the graphics card generation (HD2, HD3, HD4), the second number is the status within that generation (low end (4), medium end (6) and high end (8). The last two numbers are performance variants, the mainstream performance part (50) and the high end/enthusiast part (70). For example: 3870 - Generation 3, High end (8), Enthusiast Part (70) 3850 - Generation 3, High end (8), Mainstream Part (50) 3650 - Generation 3, Medium end (6), Mainstream Part (50) 3450 - Generation 3, Low end (4), Mainstream Part (50) Finally, ATi use X2 to indicate twin-gpu designs such as the HD3870X2 which has two 3870 GPUs on a single board. Hope that helps :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yusuf M. Veteran Posted June 17, 2008 Veteran Share Posted June 17, 2008 (edited) I don't understand why NVIDIA made their video card nomenclature so confusing. Anyway, here's how it goes for NVIDIA: Ultra > GTX > GTS > GT > GS > GSO. For ATi, it's XT > Pro > SE. However, ATI changed their naming scheme to make things simpler. Instead of letters, they have numbers indicating the variant. For instance, the 70 in HD 3870 indicates the variant. So, xx50 = Pro and xx70 = XT. This is smarter because it makes it easier for the consumer to know which product is better. The HD 3870 > HD 3850 because the variant is higher. All in all: HD 3870X2 HD = product line 3 = generation 8 = family 70 = variant X2 = dual GPU As for NVIDIA, the case is different. One clear example is the 9800GTX. Most would assume that the 9800GTX > 8800GTX but that isn't the case. In fact, it's the other way around. NVIDIA has made it even more confusing now by releasing two new video cards: the GTX 260 and GTX 280. Edited June 17, 2008 by Anaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+shift. MVC Posted June 17, 2008 MVC Share Posted June 17, 2008 The 9600GSO is a renamed 8800GS. nVidia's current line up is as follows: 8600GT --> 8600GTS --> 8800GTS G80 --> 9600GT --> 8800GT --> 8800GTS G92 --> 8800GTX --> 8800 Ultra --> 9800GTX --> 9800GX2 Not too sure where the GTX 260/280 belong yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimLXJ Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 GTFO :shifty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digitalx Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 108950ASLGTOSXXXXOCMAXXXTURBOBUTTON now 20% more powerful :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzzymath Posted June 18, 2008 Author Share Posted June 18, 2008 Ok, that helps a lot. Thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utdarkviper Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 The 9600GSO is a renamed 8800GS. nVidia's current line up is as follows:8600GT --> 8600GTS --> 8800GTS G80 --> 9600GT --> 8800GT --> 8800GTS G92 --> 8800GTX --> 8800 Ultra --> 9800GTX --> 9800GX2 Not too sure where the GTX 260/280 belong yet. I believe it is (not word for word, according to a review I read, from a reputable site I can't remember, game performance-based :p) 8600GT --> 8600GTS --> 8800GTS G80 --> 9600GT --> GTX260 --> 8800GT --> 8800GTS G92 --> 8800GTX --> GTX280 --> 8800 Ultra --> 9800GTX --> 9800GX2 At least that's what I got from reading the whole review lol (feel free to correct me if I'm way off) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+shift. MVC Posted June 18, 2008 MVC Share Posted June 18, 2008 I think GTX 280 would be at the top now though. The Toms Hardware review had the 280 beating a GX2 and the 260 beating a 8800GTX. And both of the new cards beat an 8800 Ultra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Blue01 Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 I've been wondering about this thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yusuf M. Veteran Posted June 18, 2008 Veteran Share Posted June 18, 2008 I believe it is (not word for word, according to a review I read, from a reputable site I can't remember, game performance-based :p)8600GT --> 8600GTS --> 8800GTS G80 --> 9600GT --> GTX260 --> 8800GT --> 8800GTS G92 --> 8800GTX --> GTX280 --> 8800 Ultra --> 9800GTX --> 9800GX2 At least that's what I got from reading the whole review lol (feel free to correct me if I'm way off) Actually, it goes like this: 8600GT --> 8600GTS --> 8800GTS G80 --> 9600GT --> 8800GT --> 8800GTS G92 --> 9800GTX --> 8800GTX --> 8800 Ultra --> GTX260 --> 9800GX2 --> GTX280 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utdarkviper Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Yea, I've since realized that the review I read must not have been from such a good site lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+shift. MVC Posted June 19, 2008 MVC Share Posted June 19, 2008 TECHNICALLY the 9800GTX is supposed to perform better than the 8800GTX, but oddly it doesn't all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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