Nvidia GeForce 9 series

Nvidia GeForce 9800 GX2

The GeForce 9 series is a series of desktop - graphics chip company Nvidia and successor of the GeForce 8 series . All graphics processors of this series support the Shader model 4.0 (SM 4.0) according to DirectX 10, OpenGL 3.3, CUDA and thus also PhysX . Since January 2009, some models of the GeForce 9 series have also been marketed as "GeForce 100" for the OEM market.

description

The GeForce 9 series, introduced in early 2008, is largely identical to the chips in the previous series. Since two of the four graphics processors used have already been used in the GeForce 8 series, Nvidia came under criticism because of the naming. The fact that the GeForce 8800 GS and 8800 GT were re-marketed under the names GeForce 9600 GSO and 9800 GT also contributed to this. It is generally believed that Nvidia wanted to respond to AMD's Radeon HD 3000 series by introducing the GeForce 9 series .

In contrast to the older chips of the 8 series (G8x), the new graphics processors of the 8 and 9 series, i.e. G92 (b) to G98, offer support for PCI-Express 2.0 . The models of the GeForce 9800 series support the HybridPower technology and can use a corresponding mainboard with Nvidia chipset under Windows Vista while idling by switching off the external graphics card. In contrast to AMD's Radeon HD 3000 series , Nvidia still used the 65 nm manufacturing process and only switched to the more modern 55 nm process in summer 2008. Nvidia was able to compensate for the disadvantage of the higher production costs that had initially arisen with the better performance on the market. The lack of support for the Shader model 4.1 (SM 4.1) according to DirectX 10.1 and the lack of an energy-saving mode were criticized .

The GeForce 9600 GT was introduced on February 21, 2008 as the first card of the GeForce 9 series. In contrast to previous series presentations, this is not a high-end, but a mainstream graphics card based on the G94 GPU. The G94 processor is, in the broadest sense, a halved G92 chip, which, however, still has four ROP partitions. This made it possible for Nvidia to install a 256-bit memory interface on a mainstream graphics card for the first time. The GeForce 9600 GT was placed on the market against the Radeon HD 3850 , which at that time was unrivaled in the price range of around € 150. Despite technical disadvantages compared to the competition due to the lack of DirectX 10.1 support and the lack of an energy-saving mode, the GeForce 9600 GT was able to assert itself successfully on the market, which is generally attributed to the higher performance compared to the Radeon HD 3850 . This only changed in autumn 2008 with the introduction of the Radeon HD 4830 . It was not until November 2009 that Nvidia presented the successor, the GeForce GT 240 , with which the GeForce 9600 GT had an unusually long market presence for graphics cards. This was only possible with the change to the 55 nm manufacturing process and the associated cost reduction.

On March 18, 2008, Nvidia expanded the GeForce 9 series to the high-end area with the introduction of the GeForce 9800 GX2. The dual graphics card consisted of two individual boards, which were put together in a so-called "sandwich" design. In practical terms, it was two GeForce 8800 GT graphics cards , which communicate with each other via an internal SLI bridge chip and had all eight shader clusters of the G92 processor. When it was presented, it turned out to be the fastest graphics card on the market at the time, although very memory-intensive applications (e.g. due to high anti-aliasing settings or extreme resolutions) caused sometimes massive performance drops due to the small video memory size.

On April 1st, 2008 Nvidia introduced the GeForce 9800 GTX, which is based on a full-fledged G92 processor. Nvidia tried to build on the success of the GeForce 8800 GTX with the card . Although the GeForce 9800 GTX had both a higher computing power of the stream processors and higher texel fill rates, it fell behind the performance of its predecessor in memory-intensive applications. The reason for this is the lower memory throughput and the smaller memory size. This meant that the GeForce 9800 GTX was only partially successful in the market, also because the price premium was disproportionately high compared to the only slightly slower GeForce 8800 GTS 512. This only changed when Nvidia introduced the revised GeForce 9800 GTX + at the end of July 2008. This used the G92 chip in the B1 revision and was therefore the first graphics card from Nvidia, which was manufactured in the 55 nm manufacturing process. This reduced production costs and enabled higher cycle rates. The new GeForce 9800 GTX + was placed between the Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 in terms of performance and price .

On July 29, 2008 Nvidia expanded the GeForce 9 series with the GeForce 9500 GT and 9800 GT. The GeForce 9500 GT replaced the older GeForce 8600 GTS and was based on the G96 GPU. It positioned itself in the upper low-end area and is quite successful there. Some board partners of Nvidia brought under the name GeForce 9500 GS a reduced-performance variant with DDR2 memory on the OEM market . Like the GeForce 9600 GSO, the GeForce 9800 GT was a pure new edition. Since only the support for the HybridPower mode was added, the GeForce 9800 GT could not achieve any performance improvement compared to its predecessor. Since the competing card from ATI, the Radeon HD 4850 , had a higher performance, the GeForce 9800 GT could not repeat the good sales success of the GeForce 8800 GT .

Nvidia initially used the G98 graphics processor as IGP and in the GeForce M series . On the other hand, in the desktop market, Nvidia's G98 is initially only used on the GeForce 8400 GS. However, various board partners from Nvidia decided to bring the GeForce 8400 GS to the OEM market under the names GeForce 9300 GS, GE and SE.

At the beginning of 2009 Nvidia's board partners presented the so-called "Green Edition" of the GeForce 9600 GT and 9800 GT. The cards are operated with reduced voltage, which reduces power consumption to such an extent that the additional power plugs of the reference models can be dispensed with. However, the clock rates must also be reduced for stable operation. Nvidia itself, which does not officially list the cards, supported the board partners with the selection of the necessary G92 and G94 graphics processors.

Graphics processors

Graphics chip	production			units						L2 cache	API support			Video pro- cessor	Bus interface stelle
	production process	transis- interfere	The - area	ROP particle functions	ROPs	Unified shaders		Texture units			DirectX	OpenGL	OpenCL
						Stream processors	Shader - cluster	TAUs	TMUs
G92 / b	65/55 nm	754 million	324/276 mm²	4th	16	128	8th	64	64	k. A.	10.0	3.3	1.1	VP2	PCIe 2.0
G94 / b		505 million	240/180 mm²	4th	16	064	4th	32	32
G96 / b		314 million	144/119 mm²	2	08th	032	2	16	16						PCI , PCIe 2.0
G98	65 nm	210 million	086 mm²	1	04th	008th	1	08th	08th					VP3

Naming

The GeForce 9 series uses a naming scheme similar to that used since the GeForce 6 series . All graphics chips are identified with a four-digit number that generally begins with a “9” (for GeForce 9). The second digit then divides the family into different market segments. The abbreviation after the model number is used for further diversification.

GeForce 9500 GT from Gigabyte

Division:

• 9300/9400/9500: low-end
• 9600: mainstream
• 9800: performance, high-end

Letter abbreviation:

• no suffix - IGP variant
• GE / GS / GSO - low-performance versions (often recycling of partially defective, actually higher-quality chips)
• GT - "Normal" versions (often the products with the best price-performance ratio in the Nvidia product range)
• GTX - high-performance versions (only available in the performance segment)
• GX2 - Most powerful versions with two GPUs on one graphics card

Special marking "+":

A "+" behind the model name indicates that this is a revised and mostly faster version of an earlier, but structurally identical, graphics card - a newer revision of the processor was installed in the 9800 GTX +.

Model data

model	Official launch	Graphics processor (GPU)							Graphics memory
		Type	Active units				Chip clock (MHz)	Shader clock (MHz)	Size ( MB )	Clock rate (MHz)	Type	Storage interface
			ROPs	Shader - cluster	Stream processors	Texture units
GeForce 9300	Oct 15, 2008	MCP7A	8th	1	16	8th	450	1200	Shared memory	IGP	DDR2 / DDR3	IGP
GeForce 9300 GE	Jun. 2008	G98	4th	1	8th	8th	540	1300	256	500	DDR2	64 bit
GeForce 9300 GS	Jun. 2008	G98	4th	1	8th	8th	567	1400	256	500	DDR2	64 bit
GeForce 9400	Oct 15, 2008	MCP7A	8th	1	16	8th	580	1400	Shared memory	IGP	DDR2 / DDR3	IGP
GeForce 9400 GT	Aug 27, 2008	G96b	8th	1	16	8th	550	1400	512	400	DDR2	128 bit
GeForce 9500 GT	Jul 29, 2008	G96 G96b	8th	2	32	16	550	1400	512	800	GDDR3	128 bit
GeForce 9600 GSO	Apr 2008	G92	12	6th	96	48	550	1375	384	800	GDDR3	192 bits
GeForce 9600 GSO 512	Oct 2008	G94b	16	3	48	24	650	1625	512	900	GDDR3	256 bit
GeForce 9600 GT	Feb 21, 2008	G94 G94b	16	4th	64	32	650	1625	512	900	GDDR3	256 bit
GeForce 9600 GT (Green Edition)	Feb. 2009	G94b	16	4th	64	32	600	1500	512	900	GDDR3	256 bit
GeForce 9800S	k. A.	G94b	16	4th	64	32	600	1500	1024	800	GDDR3	256 bit
GeForce 9800 GT	Jul 29, 2008	G92 G92b	16	7th	112	56	600	1512	512	900	GDDR3	256 bit
GeForce 9800 GT (Green Edition)	March 2009	G92b	16	7th	112	56	550	1375	512	900	GDDR3	256 bit
GeForce 9800 GTX	Apr 1, 2008	G92	16	8th	128	64	675	1688	512	1100	GDDR3	256 bit
GeForce 9800 GTX +	Jul 19, 2008	G92b	16	8th	128	64	738	1836	512	1100	GDDR3	256 bit
GeForce 9800 GX2	March 18, 2008	2 × G92	2 × 16	2 × 8	2 × 128	2 × 64	600	1500	2 × 512	1000	GDDR3	2 × 256 bits

Notes :

• The specified clock rates are those recommended or specified by Nvidia. However, the final specification of the clock rates is in the hands of the respective graphics card manufacturer. It is therefore quite possible that there are or will be graphics card models that have different clock rates.
• The date indicated is the date of the public presentation, not the date of availability of the models.
• The clock frequency of the memory is also often given as twice as high. The reason for this is the double data rate (DDR).

Performance data

The following theoretical performance data result for the respective models:

model	Computing power of all stream processors ( GFlops )	Fill rate of the graphics processor		Data transfer rate to graphics memory ( GB / s)
		Pixel (GPixel / s)	Texel ( GTexel / s)
GeForce 9300	57.6	3.6	3.6	k. A.
GeForce 9300 GE	31.2	2.2	4.3	8.0
GeForce 9300 GS	33.6	2.3	4.5	8.0
GeForce 9400	67.2	4.6	4.6	k. A.
GeForce 9400 GT	67	4.4	4.4	12.8
GeForce 9500 GT	134	4.4	8.8	25.6
GeForce 9600 GSO	396	6.6	26.4	38.4
GeForce 9600 GSO 512	234	10.4	15.6	57.6
GeForce 9600 GT	312	10.4	20.8	57.6
GeForce 9600 GT (Green Edition)	288	9.6	19.2	57.6
GeForce 9800S	288	9.6	19.2	51.2
GeForce 9800 GT	508	9.6	33.6	57.6
GeForce 9800 GT (Green Edition)	462	8.8	30.8	57.6
GeForce 9800 GTX	648	10.8	43.2	70.4
GeForce 9800 GTX +	705	11.8	47.2	70.4
GeForce 9800 GX2	2 × 576	2 × 9.6	2 x 38.4	2 x 64.0

Notes :

• The specified performance values ​​for the computing power via the stream processors, the pixel fill rate, the texel fill rate and the memory bandwidth are theoretical maximum values. The overall performance of a graphics card depends, among other things, on how well the available resources can be used or fully utilized. There are also other factors that are not listed here that affect performance.
• The specified computing power via the stream processors refers to the use of both MUL operations, which is not achieved with graphics shader calculations, since further calculations have to be carried out. In these calculations, the computing power of the stream processors is therefore lower.

Power consumption data

The measured values ​​listed in the table relate to the pure power consumption of graphics cards that correspond to the nVidia reference design or at least form a separate market segment supported by nVidia (e.g. Green Edition ). A special measuring device is required to measure these values; Depending on the measurement technology used and the given measurement conditions, including the program used to generate the 3D load, the values ​​can fluctuate between different devices. Therefore, measured value ranges are given here, each representing the lowest and highest measured values ​​from different sources.

model	Type	Consumption ( watt )			additional power plug
		MGCP	Readings
			Idle	3D load
GeForce 9300	MCP7A	k. A.	k. A.	k. A.	no
GeForce 9300 GE	G98	k. A.	k. A.	k. A.	no
GeForce 9300 GS	G98	k. A.	k. A.	k. A.	no
GeForce 9400	MCP7A	k. A.	k. A.	k. A.	no
GeForce 9400 GT	G96b	50	k. A.	k. A.	no
GeForce 9500 GT	G96 G96b	72	k. A.	k. A.	no
GeForce 9600 GSO	G92	84	k. A.	k. A.	1 × 6 pin
GeForce 9600 GSO 512	G94b	83	k. A.	k. A.	1 × 6 pin
GeForce 9600 GT	G94 G94b	96	26th	69	1 × 6 pin
GeForce 9600 GT (Green Edition)	G94b	59	k. A.	k. A.	no
GeForce 9800S	G94b	k. A.	k. A.	k. A.	k. A.
GeForce 9800 GT	G92	115	35	111	1 × 6 pin
	G92b		k. A.	k. A.
GeForce 9800 GT (Green Edition)	G92b	75	k. A.	k. A.	no
GeForce 9800 GTX	G92	156	60-62	175-186	2 × 6-pin
GeForce 9800 GTX +	G92b	141	k. A.	k. A.	2 × 6-pin
GeForce 9800 GX2	2 × G92	197	88	268	1 × 6-pin 1 × 8-pin

Much more common than measuring the consumption of the graphics card is determining the power consumption of an entire system. For this purpose, a reference system is compiled in which the various graphics cards are installed; Then the measurement takes place directly at the socket with the help of an energy cost meter or a comparable device . However, the meaningfulness of the measured values ​​is limited: It is not clear what consumption comes from the graphics card and what can be ascribed to the rest of the PC system. With this measurement method, the difference in consumption between idle and 3D load operation does not only depend on the program with which the load was generated; the utilization and efficiency of the rest of the PC system including the power supply unit, mainboard and processor also influence the measured difference. Since the tested systems usually differ from your own PC system at home, the values ​​given there cannot be mapped to your own system. Only measurement data from otherwise identical systems are (to a limited extent) suitable for comparison with one another. Because of this dependency, total system measured values ​​are not listed in the table here. However, since they can give a better picture of the practical power consumption of a specific system with a specific graphics card, pages are listed under the web links that carried out such measurements.

Web links

Commons : Nvidia GeForce 9 series  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Product overview on the manufacturer's website
• nVidia G92: technology in detail . computerbase.de
• nVidia G94: technology in detail . computerbase.de
• nVidia G96: technology in detail . computerbase.de

Measurement of the power consumption of an entire system

• Measurements with GeForce 9500 GT, 9600 GSO, 9600 GT, 9800 GT, 9800 GTX, 9800 GTX +, 9800 GX2 and others at Computerbase
• Measurements with GeForce 9600 GT Green, 9600 GT, 2 × 9600 GT (SLI) and others at PCstats
• Measurements with GeForce 9600 GT, 9800 GTX, 9800 GTX +, 9800 GX2 and others at Tom's Hardware

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT (SLI) - performance rating , test report from February 21, 2008, accessed on February 1, 2010
2. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GX2 - performance rating , test report from March 18, 2008, accessed on February 1, 2010
3. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX (SLI) - performance rating , test report from April 1, 2008, accessed on February 1, 2010
4. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: ATi Radeon HD 4850 (CF) and HD 4870 - performance rating , test report from June 25, 2008, accessed on February 1, 2010
5. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT and 9800 GT - performance rating , test report from July 29, 2008, accessed on February 1, 2010
6. ↑ Hardware info: Is there also a 9800 GT Green Edition coming? , Message dated February 14, 2009, accessed February 1, 2010
7. ↑ ComputerBase: Will the GeForce 9800 GT be a "Green Edition"? , Message dated February 16, 2009, accessed February 1, 2010
8. ↑ http://www.nvidia.de/object/win7-winvista-32bit-257.21-whql-driver-de.html OpenCL 1.0 from Tesla chip G80 with WHQL 257.21
9. ↑ http://www.gpu-tech.org/content.php/162-Nvidia-supports-OpenCL-1.1-with-GeForce-280.19-Beta-performance-suffers OpenCL 1.1 from Tesla chip G80 with Beta 280.19
10. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9300 , accessed February 1, 2010
11. ↑ ^{a b} Model is only intended for the OEM market and is not officially listed by Nvidia.
12. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9400 , accessed February 1, 2010
13. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT , accessed February 1, 2010
14. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT , accessed February 1, 2010
15. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO , accessed February 1, 2010
16. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO 512 , accessed February 1, 2010
17. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT , accessed February 1, 2010
18. ↑ ^{a b} Model does not officially correspond to any Nvidia reference design.
19. ↑ Product page : NVIDIA GeForce 9800S , accessed April 29, 2010
20. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT , accessed February 1, 2010
21. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX , accessed February 1, 2010
22. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX + , accessed February 1, 2010
23. ↑ Product page: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 , accessed February 1, 2010
24. ↑ The MGCP value specified by Nvidia does not necessarily correspond to the maximum power consumption. This value is also not necessarily comparable with the TDP value of the competitor AMD.
25. ↑ The measured values ​​listed in the table relate to the pure power consumption of graphics cards that correspond to the Nvidia reference design. A special measuring device is required to measure these values; Depending on the measurement technology used and the given measurement conditions, including the program used to generate the 3D load, the values ​​can fluctuate between different devices. Therefore, measured value ranges are given here, each representing the lowest, typical and highest measured values ​​from different sources.
26. ↑ The value given under 3D load corresponds to the typical game usage of the card. However, this is different depending on the 3D application. As a rule, a modern 3D application is used to determine the value, which, however, limits the comparability over longer periods of time.
27. ↑ ^{a b} ht4u.net: Real power consumption of current graphics cards - Appendix: ASUS EN9600GT / HTDI / 512M / A , test report from January 29, 2009, accessed on February 1, 2010
28. ↑ ^{a b} ht4u.net: Real power consumption of current graphics cards - Appendix: GeForce 8800 GT , test report from January 29, 2009, accessed on February 1, 2010
29. ↑ ^{a b} PCGamesHardware: Graphics card power consumption - update with HD 4870 X2, GTX 295 and statement , test report from February 28, 2009, accessed on February 1, 2010
30. ↑ ^{a b} ht4u.net: Real power consumption of current graphics cards - Appendix: GeForce 9800 GTX , test report from January 29, 2009, accessed on February 1, 2010
31. ↑ ^{a b} ht4u.net: Real power consumption of current graphics cards - Appendix: GeForce 9800 GX2 , test report from January 29, 2009, accessed on February 1, 2010