GeForce

Geforce (proper spelling GeForce composed of geometry, geometry and force dt, dt strength / force; pun on g force, dt acceleration due to gravity ), is a brand name for desktop GPUs NVIDIA company and successor to the Riva family. The GeForce graphics cards on the market compete primarily with the Radeon series, AMD also expelled under the brand name ATI.

Model family

Besides the models for desktop use, there are also GeForce cards for notebooks ( GeForce Go or GeForce M) and models of mobile phones ( GoForce ). NVIDIA graphics cards for professional use sold under the name Quadro.

History

With the GeForce series from the first to the fourth generation Nvidia could keep the performance leadership and to prevail against competitors like 3dfx, Matrox and ATI Technologies. However, the FX 5xxx called fifth generation had difficulties from the beginning and did not reach the performance of the Radeon 9000 series of the competitor ATI Technologies, which Nvidia came in distress. Since then, ATI deliver, now taken over by AMD, Nvidia and a fluctuating battle for the " performance crown ".

The first member of the sixth generation, the GeForce 6800 Ultra with the newly developed NV40 chip, in contrast, has been shown in initial tests as significantly more powerful than any previous chips, but was a few days later by ATI competitor X800 XT PE again just by the power peak displaced. The two cards are in power in approximately equal and differ only in the techniques used, ATI nachgelegter refresh chip R480 (including X850 XT PE) however, was later able to clear position against the 6800 Ultra.

The series GeForce FX 5 uses the shader model version 2.0a, while the previous models only support version 1.3. Since the GeForce 6 series Nvidia relies on the Shader Model version 3.0, which was first supported by the game Far Cry. Main competitor ATI was reloading with the Radeon X1 series a corresponding competing product with support for Shader Model version 3.0 until the fall of 2005. Also since the GeForce 6 series Nvidia offers the opportunity to have graphics cards using the Scalable Link Interface technology, short- SLI to work. Here, two identical graphics cards share the amount of calculation, which leads to performance gains of up to 80 % compared to a single card.

With the introduction of the Geforce 8 series in November 2006, Nvidia offered the first company to GPUs with DirectX 10 support. This will also support the new Shader Model version 4.0.

Driver support

The drivers for Nvidia graphics chips are continually developed and appear at irregular intervals. For several years, drivers for Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris are provided beside the drivers for Mac OS and Windows. The graphics drivers were up to version 4x.xx the term " detonator " (in reference to the name of the Riva TNT series), the version number 5x.xx to 16x.xx these were from Nvidia called " ForceWare " ( here is on the name GeForce alluded ). Newer drivers are now sold under the name " GeForce ". Most drivers are also WHQL certified.

Even under ZETA all known GeForce graphics cards are now supported. The drivers are in the Haiku project constantly evolving. For all GeForce graphics chips to NV18 also HW OGL is now implemented.

Stereo 3D drivers

In addition to the actual graphics drivers, there are also stereo 3D drivers for GeForce graphics cards. These allow the interaction with a graphics driver version of the same edition of a stereoscopic OpenGL or DirectX graphics, which can be used without modification with most 3D applications. To generate a three-dimensional impression of anaglyph images produced by the driver in an ordinary monitor ( red / cyan), which must be considered by an appropriate color glasses. Alternatively, use a shutter glasses at a screen with a short persistence time (most CRTs and special 120Hz LCDs). Recently, there are also screens (among Zalman ) who make it thanks to clever angle limit, represent a spatial image without glasses.

At CES 2009 in Las Vegas, Nvidia a wireless shutter glasses with the name " 3D Vision " before. Requirement for use is a GeForce graphics card and a display that can be driven at least with a refresh rate of 100 Hz. It should be noted that most of the so-called 100 -Hz LCDs, especially television, 100 Hz only accessible from multiple view images and no more than 60 Hz support actual image content changes, at issue here. They are therefore not suitable for use with the 3D vision spectacles. Currently there are the 3D glasses in a set with the 3D Vision kit. With this kit you can adjust the strength of the 3D effect. In addition, you can also activate with the bundled software and the red green system, the glasses required for this is not included in the set.

GPUs

The code name of the graphics processors ( GPUs) an identifier of the form NVxx or Gxx / Cxx. The numbering corresponds to a simple scheme: Entire 10- points are always the first in a series / family and most of their flagship. For processors with higher numbers so graphics performance is not necessarily been improved, so is the NV20 ( GeForce 3 Titanium 200/500 ) in many areas faster than the NV34 chipset, which finds use in the GeForce FX 5200.

Partially different graphics cards based on the same GPU and will be limited only by internal mechanisms, they are due to manufacturing errors pipelines disabled, for example, or the clock frequency decreases (see Stepping ). Frequently, different GPUs are used for the same model - for example, if a newer version of the chip is present or has been revised.

It should be noted that it is possible all GPUs with native AGP interface suitable for use in PCI video card problem. The situation is similar with GPUs with native PCIe interface, this can be by means of a bridge chip ( High Speed Interconnect) use for AGP video cards, and vice versa.

Models

GeForce 256 series
GeForce 2 series
GeForce 3 series
GeForce 4 series
GeForce FX series
GeForce 6 series
GeForce 7 series
GeForce 8 Series
GeForce 9 series
GeForce 100 series
GeForce 200 series
GeForce 300 series
GeForce 400 series ( Fermi )
GeForce 500 series ( Fermi )
GeForce 600 - series ( Kepler )
GeForce 700 - series ( Kepler and Maxwell )

Desktop-Computer Advanced Micro Devices R300 R400 Series Radeon R520 WHQL Testing Accelerated Graphics Port Nvidia ION Tesla (microarchitecture) Nvidia Optimus

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