Most of you who visit this site are hardware enthusiasts, and picking out a new GPU, CPU or any other piece of computer hardware is not likely too much of a hassle. But that’s because you know what to look for. You read reviews, like the ones here. You study up on manufacturers websites. You read whitepapers. You know what’s going on. But what about those who are not computer enthusiasts? Picking out hardware can be hell!
NVIDIA released their 9800GTX not too long ago, a top-of-the-line single-GPU offering. But is it better than ATI’s 9800PRO? Exactly, that’s the problem with naming schemes nowadays. The 9800PRO is about five years old, and horribly outdated in GPU lifespan terms, but how’s an uninformed buyer supposed to know? Or how about the sheer amount of different models at a given number range? The 9-series just came out and there are already four different ones, with more en route.
Well thankfully, NVIDIA is looking to change this problem, and not a moment too soon. Their goal is to simplify the product range to make it easier on the uninformed consumer. How they plan to do this is unknown, but I’m personally glad I’m not the one in charge, because I have no immediate ideas. Well, except for starting back at number 1 and actually going in order as performance increases. I’d scrap the special product versions as well. GT, GTS, GSO, GTX, GT500… so confusing.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Roy Taylor, VP of Content Business Development, admitted that NVIDIA’s current range of products is over complicated and too confusing for many customers. Taylor went on to say the company faced a “challenge” but needed to make its products more consumer friendly.
Source: Games Industry