Nvidia announces more re-branded cards, DIY PC Kit

[Jos]

Nvidia's "must see" presentation of the Fermi-based GeForce GTX 480 and 470 is still over a month away, but the company has apparently cooked up a few minor announcements for us in the meantime. First off, keeping up with its increasingly common tradition of rebranding old products, Nvidia has quietly released three new OEM-only GT 300 cards: the GT 320, GT 330 and GT 340. The GT 340 is spec-for-spec exactly the same as their lackluster GT 240 except it is only available as a GDDR5 variant. Meanwhile, the GT 320 has been upgraded with 72 CUDA cores compared to 48 for the GT 220, and the GT 330 is quoted as having either 96 or 112 CUDA cores with 256-bit, 192-bit and 128-bit variants. The new introductions join the GT 310 and 315 as part of the GeForce 300-series range.

The company also released a GeForce PC Kit with all the necessary components for beginner hobbyists to build themselves an Nvidia-branded system. This includes a MSI G31TM-P21 board, Intel Pentium E5300 CPU, GlacialTech Igloo 5058 cooler, 2GB of Corsair Value Select DDR2 667 memory, Seagate Momentus 7200.4 250GB HDD, LG DVD RW optical drive, XFX 9800GT 512MB graphics card, Ultra LifeTime series 500W PSU, a Cooler Master Elite 334 Nvidia Edition chassis and a Microsoft Basic mouse and Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard -- all for just under $500. It even includes a screwdriver so basically all you need is a monitor to plug in once you are done with the assembly and your own operating system to install. To ease the process, Nvidia's GeForce PC Kit comes with the CPU and cooler pre-installed on the motherboard, in addition to a complete guide to building a computer system. The kit is primarily targeted at first-time PC builders, as more seasoned enthusiasts will build their own rigs anyway.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/37990-nvidia-announces-more-re-branded-cards-diy-pc-kit.html

 

[Vrmithrax]

So, as the dawn of their long-awaited Fermi systems draws near, the best thing is to dump retreads of old technology to further muddy up the GPU marketplace? I realize it's OEM-only stuff, but realistically the ONLY reason to do this is to try to shoe-horn yourself into unsuspecting new customers' computers in a desperate attempt to tread water until your new stuff hits the shelves. Now potential (and uninformed) customers will see it's a 300 series card in their PC and think they are getting something shiny and new, not a rehash of old stuff.

The more I see of nVidia's recent marketing tactics, the less impressed I am with the company as a whole. They used to be THE company, with a stellar reputation, but as of late I just seem to feel a little slimy every time I read about them.

But just to balance the bad, I really do like the starter kit idea. Excellent idea to get new enthusiasts going, and coincidentally enforce nVidia loyalty. Now THAT is a good marketing concept put to practice.

 

[TomSEA]

Good points, Vrmithrax. I agree that this "kit" is a great idea for new enthusiasts.

But the whole re-branding of old tech just seems desperate to me. I was a rock-solid nVidia fan for years, but lately with all this re-branding, delays and smack talk with zero to show for it - really pretty bad. Hard to have faith in a company that acts like that.

 

[dividebyzero]

...Hard to have faith in a company that acts like that.

How many tech company's anyone could have faith in ?

Intel.......anti-trust settlements plus more on the horizon
Microsoft......nuff said
AMD.......Kicking HD2xxx series owners to the curb, turning a blind eye to the GSoD issue for 3+ months, lack of mobile GPU drivers, rebranding
Apple......Steve Jobs!
Seagate.....Bricking firmware (SD15 anyone?) and shocking customer support.
OEM's.......hahahahaha
various IC manufacturers.......Court dates in relation to price-fixing
nVidia.....court date for patent infringements, rebranding

etc...
etc...

 

[Guest]

I used to love nvidia but now they are no better than intel raising their prices way up and cheating customers with high prices and rebranding now i just kinda like them like them!!!

 

[Guest]

nvidia where is fermi im building my own pc but waiting and waiting since november and still no fermi if nvidia dosent release fermi soon im going to go with the red team i mean ati the only thing i hate about ati is there drivers and that they dont have physx..!

 

[dividebyzero]

nvidia where is fermi im building my own pc but waiting and waiting since november and still no fermi if nvidia dosent release fermi soon im going to go with the red team i mean ati the only thing i hate about ati is there drivers and that they dont have physx..!

My advice "Guest" would be to go get that AMD bad boy now. It's not worth the anguish you're putting yourself through waiting for the nVidia card.
Remember to pair it with an AMD CPU and mobo for maximum performance!

 

[gobbybobby]

uhhh that keyboard, got them @ college ment to be easier to use, but I hate them. A DIY kit sounds interesting, I look to re build my system at end of this year, so will keep my eye on this, maybe they will have more kits like this out by then.

 

[Regenweald]

Guest said:
nvidia where is fermi im building my own pc but waiting and waiting since november and still no fermi if nvidia dosent release fermi soon im going to go with the red team i mean ati the only thing i hate about ati is there drivers and that they dont have physx..!

In a review of physX that i read, it generated thicker smoke. That was it. How much do you NEED physX vs how much you've been TOLD to buy physx. Get the 5850/70 series. Tested. True. Fast. Works. With Nvidia it is still a guessing game.

 

[Vrmithrax]

PhysX is all about marketing. Don't get me wrong, a good physics processing system can make subtle differences that add up to some astounding impressions in gameplay, when looking at the big picture. But who's physics engine you are going to use is the marketing part. nVidia spends large chunks of cash to make sure their hardware is favored by game developers, and the PhysX engine is one of the carrots they dangle. Get a developer in bed with you, and they will tailor their code to your specs, which means that later the customer will HAVE to buy your equipment to get any benefits. Classic marketing tactic. When they bought the PhysX engine, retired the 3rd party hardware, and rolled the engine into their GPU engine, nVidia drastically reduced the choices we, as consumers, have if we want physics. Unless we are lucky enough to play a game that uses Havoc or other more universal physics processing.

I'm hoping that AMD keeps pushing their open physics processing initiative. It would be nice to see something adopted that can be used across the board, rather than tailored specifically to a particular hardware configuration. Seems to me that it would also benefit the game publishers, since they wouldn't have a product that is potentially neutered for a large percentage of their potential clientele.