PC Death Wish
June 7th, 2008Quick! What’s the newest nvidia video card model? I have no idea either.
So I was in a Best Buy yesterday and took a peek at the weekly ads. While most of the advertised products were pretty typical, my eye caught on the video cards section. New low price! Build a better rig! The only problem was that I had no idea what I wanted, and I would guess that most other people don’t, either. In fact, the entire PC video card industry seems premised on the argument that the less transparent their product line, the more they will sell. Cards are an incomprehensible mixture of acronyms, arcane numerical systems, and gibberish.
(I’ll be picking on nvidia here, but ATI is just as guilty.)
This mentality seems to have extended deeply into the industry itself. Consider nvidia’s ”GeForce family” page (assuming you can figure out that GeForce is the line for gaming, which isn’t too tough for regular gamers but is likely difficult for those attempting a first foray). Which card do you need to buy?
An excerpt:
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- “9 Series: Now you’re ready for exceptional visual computing on a PC with the NVIDIA GeForce 9 Series GPUs.
- 8 Series: Latest generation architecture featuring the most powerful graphics processors available and support for Microsoft® DirectX® 10
- 7 Series: Popular graphics processors that are superb for video, photo, and web usage”
Basically, all this tells you is that a 9- or 8-series are better than a 7 series. Presumably, a 9 is better than an 8. But if an 8 features “latest generation architecture” and “the most powerful graphics processors available” this tells you essentially nothing of use. Fortunately, there’s a handy graph at the bottom. Yet 5 out of the 7 card families are listed for “gamers” or “extreme gamers” - including a 7900 series for “extreme gamers,” even though it’s lower in the number system than the 8400 or 8500s, and compares less favorably from a numbers perspective than some of those listed for just “gamers.” The wall of footnotes below is similarly unhelpful.
Let’s move on to a specific page, for the 9-series cards. This page actually lists features… but they’re not particularly useful descriptions.
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- “Resolutions up to 2560 X 1600 allow for extreme HD gaming
- PureVideo® HD technology provides a premium HD DVD or Blu-ray movie viewing
- HybridPower™* technology offers exceptional graphics performance and power savings for everyday needs
- SLI® technology and PCIe 2.0 compatibility guarantee amazing performance scaling and ultra fast data transfers
- The perfect price and performance combination to get the most bang for your buck”
Needless to say, a majority of hardcore PC gamers, who have been involved with gaming for some time, will understand what is more or less important in a card. Yet these aren’t really “features” for a gamer. They’re technical specifications. SLI or PCIe 2.0 are shorthand for actual functionality, which to me and to most other people is “will play Game X.” Graphs like nvidia’s are relational: they have value only insofar as a reader can compare a list of features with the prior industry standard, understand what has been added, and comprehend the value of those additions.
My biggest issue with PC gaming companies is that they seem to have forgotten that there are consumers out there who are interested in playing games but who have not been gaming for the last 15 years. I don’t play as many PC games as I used to, primarily because 1) I can’t keep up financially with the new technology, but 2) because it’s really hard to reintegrate myself into that scene from a technical knowledge perspective.
What I, and potential new PC gamers really need, isn’t a list of specs. It’s a much clearer understanding - and a common language - to define what cards will play which games. Publishers and manufacturers could print a list of compatible cards on their game packaging, or provide an easily searchable database online to help people understand these distinctions. Manufacturers can ditch the ridiculous naming conventions of their industry, and rationalize to easy brand names within families: an “nvidia 9 Power Gamer” says a lot more to me than a “GeForce 9600GSO.” They can stop adding so many acronyms within their names - the 9 series alone contains cards with GSO, GX2, GTX, GT, GS, and GE appended to their already bloated titles. I neither know nor care about their significance.
PC gaming isn’t nearly as endangered as many would have you believe, although it is somewhat in transition. But it’s not so thriving that the industry should feel free to avoid caring about the host of interested, but intimidated, newbies who are considering entering the industry. Marketing to gamers, instead of industry insiders, would greatly ease this transition and attract a host of new gamers to the flock.
Posted in Geoff, PC |
June 7th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Apparently I was wrong. I thought it was the 8800.
June 8th, 2008 at 12:15 am
1. I highly agree with the shit stupidity of naming conventions. Mobos, GPUs, CPUs, Cases, PSUs, HDDs, and Optical drives…..all have shit shit naming conventions.
2. That said, I think I can help you:
GeForce cards that are newest, and relevant to today’s games: 8000 and 9000 series.
[x = series number, which is 8 or 9 in today's case]
x400 and below - cheaper, low end
x500-x700 - midrange
x800 and up - high end
acronym order [low end to high end]: GS, GT, GTS, GTX, Ultra
The best, most recommended desktop GPU right NOW at the best price [i.e. best bang for buck]??? 8800 GT at 512 MB at 256-bit memory path, which retail for $150-200, depending on rebates, store, etc.
There was a time when ATi and AMD made the better GPUs and CPUs than their stumbling, incumbent rivals Nvidia and Intel, respectively…as you well know, however, the current situation is reversed. Although AMD’s losses are narrowing…well, the future is shaky.
Whereas Pentium 4 saw Intel stupidly playing teh “Megahertz Myth” or “Gigahertz myth” of clockspeed over everything else [such as heat level, wattage, real world performance], AMD’s K8 CPUs proved superior and more popular. SImilarly, Nvidia’s 6000 series was … of bad reputation, I believe.
But now? Nvidia’s 8000 series is beating the Radeon AMD series in high end and some midrange sectores. And, ever since the highly efficient/revolutionary Core and later Core 2 architecture, Intel has been beating AMD so hard, the latter is crying right now….
…but man, lemme tell you a funny story…Intel apparently has been abusing its 80% market leadership, paying some vendors for YEARS so that they don’t stock up on AMD’s products….at least, according to the South Korean FTC, the EU, the New York State, and the US’s own FCC.
Of course, Intel claims it’s practicing “fair and competitive” practices, and govt regulation is So Not Fair
, but hey…
…sorry, abit off topic. ;p Was this useful ?
June 8th, 2008 at 12:47 am
@laesperanzapaz
You failed to mention the GX2 in your acronym order. One 9800GX2 has two processors in SLI. It actually is two cards stacked on top of each other, but only requires one PCI-e slot. I’m not sure where it would fall in the acronym order, but it would either be before or after Ultra.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I’ll make it even simpler.
If you want to spend less than $100, get an 8600GTS.
It will play most current games on medium settings.
If you want to play on high settings or at really high resolutions, get an 8800 or 9600.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:05 am
As much as I appreciate the advice - and it definitely is useful information - my point was less that this is indecipherable per se and more that people without access to help are completely incapable of working it out for themselves, without a substantial investment of effort.
In other words, let’s change the incomprehensible system… not provide some people with better access to translators.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I am such a genius.
Why?
Because I have come up with a naming scheme for replacing every shit electronics naming schemes.
Take the browser version naming schemes. Then add product name at front. Voila!
For example: Using two of current midrange champion, “9600 GT 512 MB SLI [x2]” would be:
GeForce 9.6.2.512 Double => [product name] [first order of level].[second order].[third order].[memory shit] [extra stuff]
The one weakness is that “512 MB” is kinda weird to put it “.512″….. not to mention, the new GTX 280 is using a brand new naming scheme, with 1GiB memory…
BUt!
This simple, clean model is still usable for lotsa cases.
Every computer component. Every friggin electronics products…with all the acronyms, redundant numbers, and worst of all: dumbass catchphrases [Xtreme, Plus, Pro, Advanced, Turbo, etc etc]. Get rid of all that crap!
June 9th, 2008 at 7:48 am
There have been articles on various sites saying that both NVidia and AMD are going to try and make the naming conventions of their produce more transparent…. the answer is in the pipeline - i expect next generation of videocards as the GT200 (or whatever it’s called) doesn’t seem so clear to me…
June 9th, 2008 at 10:46 am
@Geoff,
I figured the point went without saying so I was just offering a bit of insight from my own research when I bought a card about 4 months ago.
To be honest though, the main problem with the incomprehensible naming scheme exists if you want to save some money and get exactly what you need and nothing more. Otherwise, just go buy the highest numbered $300 card on newegg and it will almost certainly do all you need it too. I think this is absolutely intentional by the Vcard makers in order to get people to buy more than they need and I also think this has pretty much always been the case and likely always will be.
If you want to save some $$$, you simply have to do your research.
It’s the same with HDTV’s, computers, cars, ovens, etc.
I’ve been researching high efficiency washing machines and talk about a headache. They have completely incoherent numbering schemes that rarely reflect anything other than the capacity.
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:37 am
welp, it appears AMD’s model of Wii-like ‘aim for the mainstream, avoid the super high end’ approach to their GPUs have paid off
Radeon HD 4850 at $200 mother of god….the son of 8800 GT is here….