NVIDIA did do two things with the launch of its long-awaited GeForce 200 series earlier this year - it temporarily took the single-card performance crown and it also managed to confuse the hell out of consumers with an all-new naming scheme.
In the past, consumers had a choice of GeForce 8 series graphics cards, consisting of a variety of cards ranging form the GeForce 8400 GS to the GeForce 8800 GTS. Generally speaking, the higher the number, the better the performance - even your Nan could tell the difference.
The 8 series was logically followed up with the new-and-improved GeForce 9 series, with cards ranging from the GeForce 9400 GT to the GeForce 9800 GX2. The 9 series became a little diluted in sheer quantities of SKUs, but no real confusion here - again, the higher the number the better the card.
The trouble began, however, with the launch of the GeForce 9 series successor, namely the GeForce 200 series. How the GeForce range jumped from a 9 series to a 200 series is anyone's guess, and it doesn't make for consumer-friendly browsing. With a history of higher-equals-better, one could easily be fooled into thinking that NVIDIA's top-of-the-line GeForce GTX 280 doesn't compare to a GeForce 9800 GT.
Well, according to a report by TG Daily, that confusion will soon come to an end - as will the 8 series and 9 series product names. Industry sources are believed to have stated that NVIDIA's ageing-but-useful GeForce 8 series will be completely phased out, and its GeForce 9 series will be renamed as the GeForce 100 series.
Later this year, NVIDIA's 55nm GeForce 9 series parts are thought to appear as the GeForce G 100, GeForce GT 120, GeForce GT 130, GeForce GT 140 and GeForce GT 150.
Those, then, will clearly fit in well with the high-end GeForce 200 series - the GeForce GTX 260 and GeForce GTX 280. A much needed improvement, we feel.
