NVIDIA GeForce GT 340 highlights introduction of 300-series cards, none are powerful enough to matter
By Vlad Savov 
posted February 24th 2010 5:05AM
posted February 24th 2010 5:05AM
posted February 24th 2010 5:05AM
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So what exactly is new with these cards??
@snkaniff
The name. Nothing else. Just like a 8800GT will blow a 9400GT off the ground. Its just the name.
@mnhthebest
Totally different. A 9400 is more powerful than a 8400 but obviously not a 9800 since NVIDIA has in the past used for x400 fo low end, x600 midrange and x800 for high end.
This is a comparison of a 340 vs a 240, so they should be in the same range but the 3 denotes a new generation when it obviously isn't.
@LJKelley This just points out how stupid this naming is! Are not the 9400 GT be faster that 8800 GT? This just sucks...
@bvds All of this just serves for tricking some unadvised buyers so they think they are making a real deal when, in fact, they are being fooled. You shall realize that not everyone out there is a technology adcited Engadget reader.
@LJKelley
It would be relevant to an advanced user but to a standard person who doesnt do a full research, the model number 9400 would obviously seem superior than 8800. That would lead to him buying the low end card
@snkaniff - the difference is minor, but nVidia needs to maintain a revenue stream and try to keep customers from jumping ship, so they push out these rebranded cards to generate some money. It also doesn't hurt that the version numbers are higher than the 2xx series, so clueless (or uninformed) new buyers will see that the new computer they are buying has a "new generation" of video card, so they feel like they are getting something better.
It's all a rather lame and pathetic marketing ploy to buy some time until nVidia can actually get their Fermi stuff on the market. Hope those cards are stellar performers, because they will need something major to pull their reputation out of the cesspool they are creating with marketing tactics like these.
@snkaniff
Nvidia is notorious for renaming cards. 9800 GTX was renamed as the GTS 250.... long before that, the Geforce 4MX line were essentially renamed Geforce2 parts.
The only "new" parts that we know of are the 470 and 480, which have been delayed some 5 months and have had serious yield problems.
@snkaniff Hardware acceleration, they belong to the "C" VDPAU feature set amongst other things.
The name.
Lame
I really hope ATI eats up their market share like crazy in the coming months.
/not a fanboy
My 260 is quick but more is always welcome/needed.
@rederikus well there are these absolute new GT340 cards, but they are so special u cant get them without a new Computer... so u should buy one if u need a faster graphics card, just like everyone else commenting without reading the article.
@rederikus
It's not even faster than your 260. Only the 260, 275, 280 and 295 are based on their newest 2008 GT200 architecture. Everything else including the "new" 3 series is rehashed G92.
@palindrome Not necessarily, these GT3xx parts use the newer 40nm core GT212/214 core, hence DX10.1 support.
Yeah, as if the graphics card market wasn't confusing enough to keep track of, now we got to deal with this crap?!?
I have long time preferred nVidia's offerings, but it's crap like this that could get someone to defect to ATi.
@Hazdaz
Nvidia have been doing this shit for years. the Geforce 9 series was as near as damnit the same as the Geforce 8.
and the GTS2** cards were ripped from the 9 series.
Nvidia recycling the same old crap time after time again.
Only this time they cant rely on it being the best they are recycling, Now they are recycling cards no one wanted in the first place.
I dont get it.
@Hazdaz
I upgraded from an 8800 GTX (that I bought at launch nearly 2 1/2 years ago) to a radeon 5850 a couple weeks ago. Couldn't be happier.
Give ATI a chance- driver woes seem to be nonexistent on my Win7 x64 system. Hell, even their proprietary linux drivers are stable.
Nvidia's shame knows no end.
@EddieN
Many people on the interwebs predicted that this would happen, and sure enough... Hiding these under OEM distribution is just a way of trying to avoid the shame of market these in the retail channel.
Nvidia better pull a rabbit out of their asses March 26, including aggressive pricing, or else they're going to lose a big(ger) part of their customer base.
Actually, nVidia's numbering system is simple once you look at it. it goes something like . For example, a 8800 is better than a 9400 because although the 9 series is newer, the 8800 has a higher rank (8 vs 4). Also, a 7950 is better than a 7900 because of the 50 at the end.
@edude05
Comment system ate my example. I said *series* *rank* *edition*
Is it just me, or does it look like they just strapped an electric razor to the thing as a heatsink?
Ok, so I'm hoping somebody that actually know something about graphics cards will bother to peruse over the comments & can help out a little.
I've been looking to possibly upgrade my card but don't need anything too hardcore, or wanting to spend a lot, but I can't for the life of me figure out what's what with graphics cards! I've googled it & pretty much the results I get back just end up linking me to retailers or crap "reviews."
I'd like some basic knowledge in understanding what's what when it comes to the specs & guts of graphics cards so I can better decide what I'd like to get!?
Anyone have any suggestions of sites that would be helpful!?!?
Thanks!
@KULawHawk
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-graphics-card,2544.html
Everything you want to know is right there, enjoy your reading...:)
@KULawHawk
You really want to check out some of the Anandtech articles. They go into great detail on the actual structure of the GPU's, and what the structural differences mean in the real world. Well worth reading.
That being said, the best summary I can provide is that all of nVidia's current designs are simply iterations of the G92 core they put in the 8800GT a few years ago. ATI in the meantime seems to be doing some actual changes in their architecture between generations, either adding computational units or reworking how each unit works to make it more efficient.
@James5mith @xantippe
Thank you both for the quick reply! Gonna look both of them over right now!
So, it seems to me that ATI has been stepping it up while nVidia's been resting on their laurels for a bit now..
How big a deal is Directx 11? Is it really just gonna be a big deal for a handful of the PC games coming out & not a big deal / major player for a while?
@KULawHawk:
DirectX 11 is about as exciting as DirectX 10 was.
Only a handful of games are coded to support DirectX 10/11. Shattered Horizon comes to mind.
If you purchase a good mid-to-high range card, your DirectX 9 games should run just fine. Of course, if your CPU becomes the bottleneck (GTA IV PC, etc.), then it's time to upgrade that, too.
I've sure ATI is loving this shit. Nvidia has yet to launch a DX11 card and then they go and shart out the GT340. I really wonder what ATI has planned for the end of next month to rain on Nvidia's parade. I doubt a new product, but a price drop to make the GTX480 look even more overpriced would be nice.
"The GT 340 sports the same 96 CUDA cores, 550MHz graphics and 1,340MHz processor clock speeds as the GT 240"
...Which is the same as the 9600 GSO.
@Bandit5317
...Which is essentially an 8800 GS.
@Bandit5317
Not quite -- the GT 240 has a 69 W TDP, vs. 105 W on the 8800 GS and 9600 GSO, so it's more power efficient. It actually only consumes 9 W (it's engraved in 40 nm), which is extremely low, and it doesn't require a 6 pin power connection. My Zotac Zone edition is passively cooled (no fan). It an ideal card for an HTPC.
Also, it supports Direct X 10.1, and "PureVideo engine has been improved and now supports DivX (and any format based on MPEG-4 - Advanced - Simple Profile) and an HD Audio controller was added to the maps, which lets take over the sound through the HDMI output so simple."
I will say that I see no difference whatsoever between the GT 240 and GT 340.
1.7%
Woodscrews
@clak:
I drink their delicious tears.
These are 40nm revisions to the existing architectures, so it's not just a rebranding.
@drub0y
How is this not a blatant rebranding of the GT 240? According to the specs on nVidia's website, they're EXACTLY the same cards.
Who glued a remington to the card?
Wasn't the 310 the introduction of the new series? Almost a replica of the already released 210, so point remains the same.