When is a 9600GSO not a 9600GSO?

N

nomad8u

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - December 2008
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Feb 12, 2004
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When Nvidia marketing slugs spend a bit too long at the kool-aide kooler kibitzing and planning.

Heads up for anyone not aware that Nvidia is re-packaging/re-releasing the 9600GSO with a new core and shader count. Many (including some of our newer brethren and sistren) have come to take for granted that the 9600GSO is the defacto budget best bang for the buck GPU for folding. According to this and this that will soon no longer be true.

New version of GeForce9600GSO is based on G94 core, and the amount of shader reduces to 48 (9600GT has 64SP), but memory interface keeps at 256bit, memory size will be 256MB or 512MB. So we can take it as a shrinked 9600GT. It is sure that the new 9600GSO will have lower performance than G92-9600GSO and 9600GT, but hopefully it can bring its price down.
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So they're NOT changing the name but building it on the G94 core with 50% LESS Shaders. Way to go geniuses.... :rolleyes::eek::mad:
This is supposed to be happening around the end of October time frame. I just checked the Egg and didn't see any of the "new" parts yet. But be aware of what you're buying!! If you're looking for a GSO, pick your best deal and get R done before the switch over... I'd hate to see anyone get caught unaware..

Let's see... changed the name from 8800GS to 9600GSO. Kept the hardware the same at least but tried to make it look like a new card to boost sales. They DID get a nice sales boost but I'm convinced it was based on the cards folding ability and it's price point in the market. NOW they kept the cards name but neutered the hardware in a sneaky assed attempt to milk the market... Rude.. just rude...

WTF are they thinking?!? :confused: Can you say *Fail* boys N girls... I mean really... :mad:

Sorry for the rant but I wanted to get the word out in case anyone wasn't aware this was coming!

:edited for kb stutter ;)

 
No.. shens because it's deceptive to sell a part at whatever cost that's effectively half as capable as the original named part. Change the damn name to something other that 9600GSO and it's a non-issue other than the typical Nvidia obfuscation of the product lines.

The 9600GT is a 4k/ppd folder. If they bring this card out, I'd be surprised if it'd pull 2.5k-2.8k/ppd.


 
makes me wonder why they didnt just call it the 9500GSO or some crap..
 
Kendrak said:
This is cost cutting gone wrong. :mad:
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Exactly! Even if they bring this card in at a price point below the current best deals (around $50ish AR) on the REAL 9600GSO, which I'm skeptical that they will, it's still a non-starter simply because it really has too low of a shader count to be worth wasting the watts on.


 
Wow. And I thought keeping up with the nVidia Mobile processors was tough to do :(

 
Thanks for the heads-up, this is indeed another stupid move of their stoned marketing dept...

 
Thanks a bunch for the "heads up" brother nomad8u :D

Why is it they've got to give us "technically challenged" people a hard time is beyond me. :confused: (G92, G94, 48 vs 96 shaders, all under the GSO moniker, sheech) :( It's good to see someone with expertice in technology and folding call the bigger players kind of brain dead. Maybe they hate folders. I was under the impression that the amount of "shaders" (SP's) was critical in folding with the GPU2 Stanford F@H client. :rolleyes:

Folding and WCGing for a CURE

 
jws2346 said:
I was under the impression that the amount of "shaders" (SP's) was critical in folding with the GPU2 Stanford F@H client. :rolleyes:
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It is... that's my point. I don't want to see any of our team especially any of the newer folders just getting into the GPU thang get burnt by this crap after doing their due diligence and seeing that many people here prefer and consider the 9600GSO the best bang for the buck lower end folder.

These idiots are getting to be worse than Stanford. It makes Vijays marketing and project skills look pretty good... :rolleyes:



 
wickedld9 said:
Looks like they are hitting the channel....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121255
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Actually no, this is the 9600GSO with 96 stream processors NOT the new one with 48.

But thanks for bringing it up because this is another example of why you have to look CLOSELY at what you're buying... This search brings up all of the Asus 9600GSO for sale. There are three cards, two are duplicates, one being an open box. The two cards to look at both have 96 SPs but one is a rather "neutered" version with only a 128 bit memory interface (vs the usual 192 bit), GDDR2 instead of the faster GDDR3 (which shows up also as slower memory clocks) and a slower core clock. The neutered version is only $5 less than the "better"/normal card.

Confused yet? :confused: That's what Nvidia and the board makers would like. It makes for easier fleecing... :(

Just pay close attention to what you're buying that's all.


 
Thanks for this nomad... And I agree with your statement regarding "newer" folders getting screwed by this.

And in all pathetic honesty, although I am not a new guy, I could have easily been one of those just ignorant to jump on one of these...

Beers and tamales man....

 
digital_exhaust said:
And in all pathetic honesty, although I am not a new guy, I could have easily been one of those just ignorant to jump on one of these...
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Me too digi... me too.. that's why I brought it up. I stumbled on this info while browsing around our Brothers from OZs' forum yesterday and didn't see this mentioned anywhere on this site or any other of the regular forums I surf. It's hard enough to get up to speed if you've been out of the loop for a while or just getting started. Between figuring out what clients to run and on what hardware it gets to be quite a bit of info to digest anymore.

Sometimes when you're in a hurry buying stuff it's easy to not notice a change like that right away. It just pisses me off that NV constantly does this kind of sneaky or stupid crap. :mad:

Caveat Emptor!


 
Someone correct me if I get this wrong:

The rule is when shopping for a 9600GSO look only at cards that have 384MB or 768MB of memory with a 192bit bus.

Avoid like the plauge any version that has 512MB or 1GB of memory on either a 128 or 256 bit bus.
 
brycejones said:
Someone correct me if I get this wrong:

The rule is when shopping for a 9600GSO look only at cards that have 384MB or 768MB of memory with a 192bit bus.

Avoid like the plauge any version that has 512MB or 1GB of memory on either a 128 or 256 bit bus.
Click to expand...

My observations and "rule of thumb" when looking at the 9600GSO (or any card for folding) has been this: Look at the number of Stream Processors first (I consider this the most important) then at the amount and type (GDDR2/GDDR3) of memory and size of the memory bus (bigger is better for memory bus unless other items such as slower GDDR2 memory is being used) along with the memory clock speed. Finally I look at the core clock but really don't care here as I can OC it and usually like to buy the "standard" version of all cards versus the factory OC versions.

From what I've seen, the 384M 192bit memory bus version has been the best of the bunch. The dual slot cooler versions from EVGA have been pretty decent too I believe.

Of course as with all things silicon... YMMV :D


 
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