Nvidia Geforce – Everything you need to know about the blue team’s line of gaming GPUs

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A bit about the history of the Nvidia Geforce line

Geforce is the name of a line of graphics processing units (GPUs) designed and developed by Nvidia. This name originated from a contest in 1999. The “Name that chip” contest was organized by Nvidia to find a name for the successor product line to the Riva TNT2. There were more than 12,000 entries and 7 winners.

Up to the RTX 30-series, there have been a total of 17 generations of Geforce products. If talking about discrete graphics card products, its only remaining competitor is AMD’s Radeon line, after companies such as 3dfx, Matroxx,… went bankrupt one after another.

Generations of Geforce

Below, I will only mention GPU lines for desktops. And I will only focus on GPUs sold in retail form, not mentioning OEM codes.

Laptop GPU codes will only be listed from the Geforce 700-series generation onwards.

The origin of it all: Geforce 256

Geforce 256 is the first generation of Geforce GPUs launched by Nvidia. Launched on August 31, 1999, this GPU is 20 years old this year. At that time, its launch created a seismic shift in the graphics industry. Because it was the first graphics card to support hardware image conversion, lighting and shaders. However, games supporting those technologies were released about a year later. Early Geforce 256 cards used SDR type VRAM, which was later converted to DDR type.

Nvidia stopped supporting this line of graphics cards on April 14, 2005, with the last driver version for Windows 2000/Windows XP 32-bit. However, those drivers can still be installed for Windows 7. But Aero effects will not be supported.

This generation’s opponents include:

ATi Rage 128 and Rage Fury MAXX

3dfx Voodoo3

Matrox G400

S3 Savage 3000

Table of Contents

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Geforce 256 technical specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
Geforce 256 SDR	NV10	120 MHz	AGP x4 PCI	32 MB	SDR
Geforce 256 DDR	NV10	120 MHz	AGP x4 PCI	32 MB 64 MB	DDR

2nd generation: Geforce2

Launched on September 7, 2000, Geforce2 is the successor of the Geforce 256 series. In this generation, Nvidia has switched to designing dual texture processors on the same pipeline. Since then, the texture fillrate has doubled compared to its predecessor. The manufacturing process has also been scaled down, from 220nm to 180nm. More prominently, we have a Geforce2 Ti GPU that has been shrunk even further, down to 150nm.

The Geforce2 line has many variants, the most powerful of which is the Geforce2 Ultra variant. Its non-MX variants were succeeded by the Geforce3 series. However, the Geforce2 non-MX line is still retained and has been reduced in price, to serve as a counterweight in the mid-range segment. And later, the entire Geforce2 line was completely replaced by the Geforce4 line.

This line was discontinued on November 20, 2006. Its competitors include:

3dfx Voodoo5

ATi Radeon R100

PowerVR Series 3

Geforce2 series specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
Geforce2 MX200	NV1A	175 MHz	AGP x4 PCI	32 MB 64 MB	SDR
Geforce2 MX
Geforce2 MX400		200 MHz			SDR DDR
Geforce2 GTX	NV15				DDR
Geforce2 Pro
Geforce 2 Ti		250 MHz
Geforce2 Ultra	NV16			64 MB

Subsequent Geforce lines, from Geforce3 – Geforce6, brought only a few improvements. Accordingly, the next generation of prominent GPUs will be Geforce8

Legend of the past: Geforce 8 series (8xxx)

The legendary Geforce 8 (original name: G80) was officially launched on November 8, 2006. At that time, it was the first GPU line to support Direct3D 10. And this was also the first GPU to use architectural code naming after famous scientific giants. Specifically, Geforce 8 is manufactured on Tesla microarchitecture, named after physicist Nikola Tesla. The process has also been scaled down to 90nm. The Tesla architecture is also Nvidia’s first architecture to use unified shaders. And, after the Geforce 7 series, the Geforce 8 series is Nvidia’s next generation brought to laptops

Initially when it was first launched, the new Geforce 8 series only had the code 8800GTX. The GTS version debuted a few months later. And it took up to 6 months for popular card codes to be released. A year later, Nvidia launched a remake of Geforce 8, based on the G92 GPU and 65nm process.

Support for the Geforce 8 series was discontinued on December 14, 2016, ending more than 10 years of “roaring” as a monument.

Geforce 8 series technical specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
8300 GS	G86	450 MHz	PCI Express 1.0 x16	128 MB 512 MB	DDR2
8400 GS			PCI Express 1.0 x16 PCI	128 MB 256 MB 512 MB
8500 GT			PCI Express 1.0 x16 PCI	256 MB 512 MB 1 GB
8600 GS	G84	540 MHz	PCI Express 1.0 x16	256 MB 512 MB
8600 GT	G84	540 MHz	PCI Express 1.0 x16 PCI	256 MB 512 MB 1 GB	DDR2 GDDR3
8800 GS	G92	550 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	384 MB 768 MB	GDDR3
8800 GT	G92	600 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	256 MB 512 MB 1 GB
8800 GTX	G80	575 MHz	PCI Express 1.0 x16	768MB
8800 Ultra	G80	612 MHz	PCI Express 1.0 x16	768MB

Legendary successor: Geforce 9

Continuing the legendary Geforce 8, we have a new legend: Geforce 9. This version is manufactured on a reworked Tesla architecture, with 65nm and 55nm processes.

The biggest highlight is that, along with the G92 GPU, Geforce 9 has brought PCI Express 2.0 support to all codecs. And so far, PCI Express 2.0 has not been much saturated by newer standards.

Along with Geforce 8, Geforce 9 was also discontinued on December 14, 2016.

Geforce 9 series technical specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
9300 GE	G98	540 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	256 MB	DDR2
9300 GS	G98	567 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	256 MB	DDR2
9400 GT	G96-200-C1 G96A G96B	550 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16 PCI	256 MB 512 MB 1 GB	GDDR2 GDDR3
9500 GT	G96-300-C1	550 MHz		256 MB 512 MB 1 GB	DDR2 GDDR3
9600 GS	G94A	500 MHz		768 MB	DDR2
9600 GT	G94-300-A1	650 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	512 MB 1 GB	GDDR3
9800 GT	G92A G92B	600 MHz		512 MB 1 GB
9800 GTX	G92	675 MHz		512 MB
9800 GTX+	G92B	738 MHz		512 MB 1 GB
9800 GX2	2x G92	600 MHz		2x 512 MB

At this point, I would like to skip the Geforce 100-series line. Because this line is just a rebranded Geforce 9 line.

Geforce 200-series

Just 4 months after launching Geforce 9, Nvidia is preparing to launch Geforce 200-series. This generation is produced based on the 2nd generation of Tesla architecture. The manufacturing process also ranges from 65nm to 40nm.

Starting with this generation, Nvidia has adopted the GPU bin method. For example, the GTX 280 and GTX 260 are both based on the GT200 GPU. But Nvidia differentiates them by testing for errors during function implementation. If a GPU does not meet GTX 280 specifications, it will be retested and labeled GTX 260 (fewer SPs and ROPs and narrower memory width. And at the end of 2008, Nvidia released a new version of GTX 260). GTX 260, with increased SP number compared to the old version.

Nvidia stopped supporting this GPU line on April 1, 2016. However, this day is actually April Fool’s Day, so many users think this is just a joke from Nvidia.

Geforce 200-series specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GT 205	GT218	589 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	512 MB	DDR2
GT 210	GT218-325-B1	520 MHz 589 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16 PCI Express 1.0 x1 PCI	512 MB 1 GB	DDR2 DDR3
GT 220	GT216	615 MHz 625 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	512 MB 1 GB	DDR2 DDR3
GT 230	G92B G94B	500 MHz 650 MHz		512 MB 1 GB 1.5 GB	DDR2 GDDR3
GT 240	GT215	550 MHz		512 MB 1 GB	DDR3 GDDR3 GDDR5
GTS 240	G92A G92B	675 MHz		1 GB	GDDR3
GTS 250	G92B G92B-428-B1	702 MHz 738 MHz		512 MB 1 GB
GTX 260	GT200-100-A2 GT200-103-A2	576 MHz		896 MB
GTX 275	GT200-105-B3	633 MHz		896 MB
GTX 280	GT200-300-A2	602 MHz		1 GB
GTX 285	GT200-350-B3	648 MHz		1 GB
GTX 290	2X GT200-400-B3	576 MHz		2x 896 MB

I will skip the Geforce 300-series line because it is just a rename Geforce 200-series line. And that line is only sold through OEMs. Thereby, the next generation of major GPUs will be:

Geforce 400-series

Released on April 12, 2010, Geforce 400-series is the premise for Nvidia to introduce a completely new architecture – Fermi. In fact, it is expected to launch in November 2009. But after some delays, it was revealed on March 26, 2010 and went on sale shortly after on April 12.

Nvidia claims that Fermi is a major new step for them after the Tesla architecture. GF100, Fermi’s first GPU, is quite powerful: 512 SPs, divided into 16 clusters, each cluster has 32 SPs and comes with 3 billion transistors. It is manufactured on TSMC’s 40nm process. And it is also Nvidia’s first GPU to support OpenGL 4.0 and Direct3D 11. However, no products based on the completely “unleashed” GF100 core have been released by Nvidia.

The reason I call this GPU line a “portable oven” is because the temperature on some codes is too hot. It’s so hot that you can fry an egg on the GPU.

Nvidia officially stopped supporting this generation, along with the Fermi architecture, in April 2018. It will switch to Legacy mode and be maintained until January 2019. Previously, they also announced that after Driver 390.xx version, they will no longer support 32-bit OS.

Geforce 400-series specifications.

Except for the GT 405, which still uses the Tesla architecture, all other GPU codes are based on the Fermi architecture.

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GT 405	GT216	475 MHz 589 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	512 MB 1 GB	DDR3
GT 420	GF108	700 MHz		2 GB	GDDR3
GT 430	GF108	700 MHz		512 MB 1 GB 2GB	GDDR3
GT 440	GF108 GF106	810 MHz 594MHz		512 MB 1 GB 1.5 GB 2 GB 3 GB	GDDR3 GDDR5
GTS 450	GF106 GF106-250 GF116-200	790 MHz 783 MHz		512 MB 1 GB 1.5 GB	GDDR5
GTX 460	GF104 GF104-300-KB-A1 GF114	650 MHz 675 MHz 778 MHz		768 MB 1 GB 2 GB
GTX 460 SE	GF104-225-A1	650 MHz		1 GB
GTX 465	GF100	607 MHz		1 GB
GTX 470		607 MHz		1.2 GB
GTX 480		700 MHz		1. 5 GB

Fermi “unleashed”: Geforce 500-series

This generation of Geforce 500-series is a refreshed version of the 400-series generation. First launched on November 9, 2010 with the GTX 580, the Geforce 500-series is the first generation to feature a fully unlocked Fermi GPU. And similar to its predecessor, it will support DirectX11, OpenGL 4.6 and OpenCL 1.1.

After GTX 580, Nvidia also released a number of other specialized versions:

January 25, 2011: Launched the GTX 560 Ti, hitting the mid-high range segment. With 30% more performance than the GTX 460 and positioned between the HD 6870 and HD 6950, it will replace the GTX 470.

March 15, 2011: GTX 550 Ti officially launched. Although it is based on the GF116 GPU, Nvidia named it GTX 550 Ti, not GTS 550. Performance is about 12% stronger than AMD’s HD 5770.

March 24, 2011: GTX 590 launched. Possessing 2 GPUs, it can easily support Nvidia’s 3D Vision technology without hindrance

Like the 400-series, Nvidia officially stopped supporting this generation in April 2018. It will switch to Legacy mode and be maintained until January 2019.

Geforce 500-series specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GT 510	GF119	523 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	1 GB 2 GB	DDR3
GT 520	GF119	810 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16 PCI Express 2.0 x1 PCI
GT 530	GF118	700 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16
GT 545	GF116	720 MHz 870 MHz		1 GB 1.5 GB 3 GB	DDR3 GDDR5
GTX 550 Ti	GF116-400	900 MHz		1 GB 1.5 GB	GDDR5
GTX 555	GF114	736 MHz		1 GB
GTX 560 SE		736 MHz		1 GB
GTX 560		810 MHz		1 GB 2 GB
GTX 560 Ti	GF114 GF110	822 MHz 732 MHz		1 GB 2 GB 1.2 GB 2.5 GB
GTX 570	GF110-275-A1	732 MHz		1.2 GB 2.5 GB
GTX 580	GF110-375-A1	772 MHz		1.5 GB 3 GB
GTX 590	2x GF110-351-A1	607 MHz		2x 1.5 GB

Next new architecture: Geforce 600-series

Launched on March 22, 2012, Geforce 600-series is the basis for Nvidia to introduce a completely new Kepler architecture. This name is named after the German mathematician Johannes Kepler. However, only mid-range and high-end codes use Kepler. Low-range codes will still be based on the somewhat aging Fermi architecture.

Along with that, the following new features are applied only on GPUs using Kepler:

PCI Express 3.0

DisplayPort 1.2

HDMI 1.4a

Encode H.264 by hardware

NVSurround, supports 4 2D screens and 3 3D screens at the same time

CUDA Compute 3.0

Nvidia GPU Boost

28nm process

TXAA

Currently, there is no information about stopping support for the Kepler architecture on PC. Therefore, Desktop GPUs using Kepler are still supported by Nvidia.

Geforce 600-series specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GT 610	GF119-300-A1	810 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16 PCI Express 2.0 x1 PCI	512 MB 1 GB 2 GB	DDR3
GT 620	GF119 GF108-100-KB-A1	810 MHz 700 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	512 MB 1 GB 2 GB	DDR3
GT 630	GK107 GF108-400-A1 GF108 GK208-301-A1	875 MHz 700 MHz 810 MHz 902 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16 PCI Express 2.0 x16 PCI Express 2.0 x8	1 GB 2 GB 4 GB	DDR3 GDDR5
GT 640	GF116 GK107 GK208-400-A1	720 MHz 797 MHz 900 MHz 950 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16 PCI Express 2.0 x16 PCI Express 2.0 x8	1 GB 1.5 GB 2 GB 3 GB 4 GB	DDR3
GTX 650	GK107-405-A2	1058 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	1 GB 2 GB	GDDR5
GTX 650 Ti	GK106-220-A1	928 MHz
GTX 650 Ti Boost	GK106-240-A1	980 MHz
GTX 660	GK106-400-A1 GK104-200-KD-A2	980 MHz 823.5 MHz		1 GB 1.5 GB 2 GB 3 GB
GTX 660 Ti	GK104-300-KD-A2	915 MHz		2 GB
GTX 670	GK104-325-A2	915 MHz		2 GB 4 GB
GTX 680	GK104-400-A2	1006 MHz		2 GB 4 GB
GTX 690	2× GK104-355-A2	915 MHz		2x 2 GB

“National” card line: Geforce 700-series.

Geforce 700-series was launched on February 19, 2013. Although it is essentially a refreshed version of Kepler, some codes still use the outdated Fermi architecture, and a small number use the excellent Maxwell architecture of that time. The first GPU, GK110, is designed with outstanding computing performance. At the same time, from this Geforce 700-series line, the Titan line was born, with the first representative being the GTX Titan.

In addition, the 700-series is also Nvidia’s first GPU line to support DirectX 12 (on Windows 10). In addition, from this generation, Kepler has added the ability to support Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR).

As of April 2020, Nvidia has stopped supporting driver support for this GPU line. The latest driver version that fully supports this line is 388.71.

However, by 2021, due to the bitcoin storm and supply shortage sweeping. The Geforce 700-series suddenly returned, specifically the GT 710 and GT 730 codes. Therefore, Nvidia released a new driver version on June 10 with version number 466.77.

Geforce 700-series desktop specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GT 710	GK208-301-A1 GK208-203-B1	823 MHz 954 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x8 PCI Express 2.0 x1	512 MB 1 GB 2 GB	DDR3 GDDR5
GT 720	GK208-201-B1	797 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x8	1 GB 2 GB
GT 730	GK208-301-A1 GK208-400-A1 GF108	902 MHz 700 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x8 PCI Express 2.0 x16	1 GB 2 GB 4 GB
GT 740	GK107-425-A2	993 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	1 GB 2 GB 4 GB
GTX 750	GM107-300-A2	1020 MHz		1 GB 2 GB	GDDR5
GTX 750 Ti	GM107-400-A2	1020 MHz		1 GB 2 GB 4 GB
GTX 760	GK104-225-A2	980 MHz		2 GB 4 GB
GTX 770	GK104-425-A2	1046 MHz		2 GB 4 GB
GTX 780	GK110-300-A1	863 MHz		3 GB 6 GB
GTX 780 Ti	GK110-425-B1	876 MHz		3 GB
GTX Titan	GK110-400-A1	837 MHz		6 GB
GTX Titan Black	GK110-430-B1	889 MHz		6 GB
GTX Titan Z	2× GK110	705 MHz		2x 6 GB

Geforce 700-series specifications for Laptops

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GT 720M	GK208	719 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x8	2GB	DDR3
GT 730M	GK208	719 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x8		DDR3
GT 740M	GK208 GK107	980 MHz 810 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x8 PCI Express 3.0 x16		DDR3 GDDR5
GT 750M	GK107	967 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16		DDR3 GDDR5
GTX 760M	GK106	719 MHz			GDDR5
GTX 765M		863 MHz
GTX 770M		797 MHz		3GB
GTX 780M	GK104	797 MHz		4GB

Geforce 800-series

Nvidia does not have any Geforce 800-series GPUs for the desktop. This line is entirely focused by Nvidia on the laptop segment.

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
Geforce 820M	GF117	719-954 MHz	PCI Express 2.0 x16	2GB	DDR3
Geforce 830M	GM108	1029 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	2GB
Geforce 840M	GM108	1029 MHz		2GB 4GB
GTX 850M	GM107	876 MHz 936 MHz			DDR3 GDDR5
GTX 860M	GM107 GK104	1020-1085 MHz 797-915 MHz			GDDR5
GTX 870M	GK104	914-967 MHz		3-6GB
GTX 880M	GK104	954-993 MHz		4-8GB

Most controversial generation: Geforce 900-series

As a springboard to introduce Maxwell in the High-end segment, Geforce 900-series was introduced on September 18, 2014. They are manufactured on TSMC’s 28nm process. All GPUs in this series support DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 1.2 and Vulkan 1.0.

The reason I call this line the controversial GPU line is because of the GTX 970’s VRAM. On the box and advertising information, Nvidia notes that the graphics card using the GTX 970 GPU has 4GB of VRAM. However, in reality it cannot use more than 3.5GB of VRAM. Finally, after a series of lawsuits, Nvidia also admitted that they changed the GTX 970 GPU structure before launch. In addition, they also encounter performance problems when using Async Compute.

Until now, Geforce 900-series is still supported by Nvidia.

Geforce 900-series Desktop Specifications.

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GTX 950	GM206-250	1024 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	2 GB	GDDR5
GTX 960	GM206-300	1127 MHz		2 GB 4 GB
GTX 970	GM204-200	1050 MHz		3.5 GB + 0.5 GB
GTX 980	GM204-400	1126 MHz		4 GB
GTX 980 Ti	GM200-310	1000 MHz		6 GB
GTX Titan X	GM200-400	1000 MHz		12 GB

Geforce 900-series specifications for Laptops.

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
Geforce 920M	GF117 GK208	775 MHz 954 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x8	1GB 2GB	DDR3
Geforce 920MX	GM108	1072 MHz		2GB	DDR3 GDDR5
Geforce 930M		928 MHz			DDR3
Geforce 930MX		952 MHz			DDR3 GDDR5
Geforce 940M	GM107 GM108	1029 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x8 PCI Express 3.0 x16	2GB
Geforce 940MX	GM108	1122 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x8	2GB 4GB
GTX 950M	GM107	914 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	2GB 4GB
GTX 960M	GM107	1029 MHz		2GB 3GB 4GB	GDDR5
GTX 965M	GM204	924 MHz		2GB 4GB
GTX 970M				3GB 6GB
GTX 980M		1038 MHz		4GB 8GB
GTX 980 Notebook		1064 MHz		4GB 8GB

Gaming perfected: Geforce 10-series

On May 27, 2016, Nvidia made another huge step forward in the field of graphics, with the launch of Geforce 10-series with Pascal architecture, named after mathematician Blaise Pascal. They will be produced on two processes: 14nm for low-end codes and 16nm for high-end codes. In August 2016, Nvidia and Samsung signed a cooperation agreement, allowing the miniaturization of the process to 14nm to synchronize the entire product range together.

Along with the new architecture, new VRAM types GDDR5X and HBM2 were also introduced, of which HBM2 is only applied on the Quadro line. In addition, Geforce 10-series also supports DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b and high-bandwidth SLI (HB SLI). Not to mention, last April, Nvidia released a driver that allows support for DirectX Ray Tracing for GPU codes from GTX 1060 and above. Therefore, it can be said that Geforce 10-series also supports Ray Tracing, but it is quite limited.

In addition, Geforce 10-series also has outstanding computing and virtual currency mining capabilities, making this a perfect choice for bitcoin “farmers”. Of course, when the bitcoin storm returned in 2020-2021, the GTX 1070 Ti and GTX 1080 Ti suddenly became hot again, and old goods were also collected by workers at a higher price than the new purchase price.

Of course, this card line is still supported by Nvidia.

Geforce 10-series Desktop Specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GT 1030	GP108-310-A1 GP108-300-A1	1152 MHz 1227 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x4	2 GB	DDR4 GDDR5
GTX 1050	GP107-300-A1 GP107-301-A1	1354 MHz 1392 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	2 GB 3 GB	GDDR5
GTX 1050 Ti	GP107-400-A1	1290 MHz		4 GB
GTX 1060	GP104-140-A1 GP106-300-A1	1506 MHz		3 GB
	GP106-350-K3-A1			5 GB
	GP104-150-A1 GP106-400-A1 GP106-410-A1 GP104-150-KA-A1			6 GB	GDDR5 GDDR5X
GTX 1070	GP104-200-A1			8 GB	GDDR5
GTX 1070 Ti	GP104-300-A1	1607 MHz			GDDR5
GTX 1080	GP104-400-A1 GP104-410-A1	1607 MHz			GDDR5X
GTX 1080 Ti	GP102-350-K1-A1	1480 MHz		11 GB
Titan X Pascal	GP102-400-A1	1417 MHz		12 GB
Titan Xp	GP102-450-A1	1405 MHz		12 GB

Geforce 10-series Laptop specifications

Since this generation, Nvidia has dropped the M suffix from the GPU name.

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
MX 110	GK208	965 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	2GB	GDDR5
MX130	GM108	1122 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16
MX150	GP108	1468 MHz 937 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x4
GTX 1050 (laptop)	GP107	1354 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	2GB 4GB
GTX 1050 Ti (laptop)	GP107	1493 MHz		4GB
GTX 1060 (laptop)	GP106	1404 MHz		3GB 6GB
GTX 1060 Max-Q	GP106 GP106B	1063 MHz 1265 MHz		3GB 6GB
GTX 1070 (laptop)	GP104	1442 MHz		8GB
GTX 1070 Max-Q		1101 MHz
GTX 1080 (laptop)		1556 MHz			GDDR5X
GTX 1080 Max-Q		1101 MHz			GDDR5X

Volta series

Volta was intended to be the successor to Pascal, at least on paper. However, there is only 1 product based on this architecture: Titan V. And maybe, because the Turing development process ended faster than expected, Nvidia decided not to launch any Geforce products based on Volta. But in return, Nvidia has given Volta great computing capabilities with the appearance of VRAM HBM 2 and Tensor core.

Nvidia intends Titan V for computing and Deep Learning purposes.

Titan V technical specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
Titan V	GV100-400-A1	1200 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	12 GB	HBM2
Titan V CEO Edition	GV100	1200 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	32 GB	HBM2

Redefining graphics: Geforce 20-series

At Gamescom 2018, after many rumors, the Geforce 20-series was finally released. Along with it comes many new things:

New naming method. Now, high-end products will be called RTX. The GTX name will still exist but for mid-range and low-end models.

New architecture: Turing, named after mathematician Alan Turing. Accordingly, this architecture is expected to have much superior computing power compared to its predecessor.

New process: 12nm FFN

RT multiplier, providing real-time Ray Tracing capabilities

New memory controller, supporting GDDR6 VRAM standard

DisplayPort 1.4a, supports DSC 1.2

VirtualLink VR via 1 USB Type-C port

NVLink

GPU Boost 4

Nvidia has divided the Geforce 20-series GPUs into two versions: A and Non-A. Non-A GPUs will not come pre-overclocked from the factory.

And contrary to tradition, Geforce 20-series does not have any code in the mid-range and low-end segment. Nvidia has positioned the Geforce 16-series for those segments.

On January 10, 2020, Nvidia quietly launched another version of the RTX 2060. That version will use GPU code TU104 as on the RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2080. It is equipped with the RTX 2060 graphics card model EVGA’s KO.

All Geforce 20-series GPU models from RTX 2070 Super and above support NVLink.

Geforce 20 upgrade: Super-series

On July 9, due to the impact of rival AMD on the Navi architecture card line, Nvidia launched the Super version of the Geforce 20-series. This version is basically just 2060, 2070 and 2080 with increased parameters. Among them, the most significant increase is the RTX 2060. When its Super version increased the amount of VRAM from 6GB to 8GB, the clock speed was also pushed higher. From there, bringing the performance closer to the normal RTX 2070.

Geforce 20-series Desktop Specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
RTX 2060	TU106-200-KA-A1 TU104-150-KC-A1	1365 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	6 GB	GDDR6
RTX 2060 Super	TU106-410-A1	1470 MHz		8 GB
RTX 2070	TU106-400-A1 TU106-400A-A1	1410 MHz
RTX 2070 Super	TU104-410-A1	1605 MHz
RTX 2080	TU104-400-A1 TU104-400A-A1	1515 MHz
RTX 2080 Super	TU104-450-A1	1650 MHz
RTX 2080 Ti	TU102-300-K1-A1 TU102-300A-K1-A1	1350 MHz		11 GB
Titan RTX	TU102-400-A1	1350 MHz		24 GB

Geforce 20-series Laptop specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
MX230	GP108	1519 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x4	2GB 4GB	GDDR5
MX250		1518 MHz 937 MHz
MX330		1531 MHz
MX350	GP107	1354 MHz
RTX 2060 (laptop)	TU106	960 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	6GB	GDDR6
RTX 2060 Max-Q		975 MHz		6GB
RTX 2070 (laptop)		1215 MHz		8GB
RTX 2070 Max-Q		885 MHz
RTX 2070 Super (laptop)	TU104	1140 MHz
RTX 2070 Super Max-Q		930 MHz
RTX 2080 (laptop)		1380 MHz
RTX 2080 Max-Q		735 MHz
RTX 2080 Super (laptop)		1365 MHz
RTX 2080 Super Max-Q		735 MHz

“Black sheep” in the family: Geforce 16-series

Geforce 16-series was created by Nvidia to fill the mid-range and low-end segment, which is currently being vacated by the Geforce 20-series and dominated by AMD. Although based on the same Turing architecture, the Geforce 16-series does not have an RT core, and therefore does not have Ray Tracing capabilities. But recently, through a driver version, the Geforce 16-series will support DXR, thereby having the ability to Ray Tracing, but it is still quite limited.

On October 29, Nvidia officially launched two upgraded versions of GTX 1650 and GTX 1660, which are GTX 1650 Super and GTX 1660 Super. Both are performance upgrades of the 1650 and 1660 models. In particular, the 1650 Super model is the most comprehensive upgraded version. On March 4, 2020, Nvidia continued to launch the GDDR6 version of the GTX 1650 model.

All Geforce 16-series GPU models do not support SLI/NVLink.

Geforce 16-series Desktop Specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GTX 1650	TU117-300-A1	1485 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	4 GB	GDDR5 GDDR6
	TU106-125-A1	1410 MHz			GDDR6
	TU116-150-KA-A1	1410 MHz
GTX 1650 Super	TU116-250-KA-A1	1530 MHz
GTX 1660	TU116-300-A1			6 GB	GDDR5
GTX 1660 Super	TU116-300-A1				GDDR6
GTX 1660 Ti	TU116-400-A1	1500 MHz			GDDR6

Geforce 16-series Laptop specifications

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
GTX 1650 (laptop)	TU117	1395 MHz	PCI Express 3.0 x16	4GB	GDDR5
GTX 1650 Max-Q		1020 MHz
GTX 1650 Ti		1350 MHz			GDDR6
GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q		?
GTX 1660 (laptop)	TU116	1455 MHz		6GB
GTX 1660 Ti (laptop)
GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q		1140 MHz

Disappointing launch: Geforce 30 series

Although the Geforce 20 Series did not meet expectations, it still had some success. However, for Nvidia, that is never enough. And on September 1, they launched their latest strategic card: Geforce 30-series with a series of improvements such as:

Manufactured on an 8nm process specifically designed by Samsung

New generation SM

Ray Tracing capabilities are enhanced with 2nd generation RT cores and 3rd generation Tensor cores

Uses GDDR6X memory (except RTX 3070 uses GDDR6)

Uses PCI Express 4.0 protocol

At the launch on September 1, Nvidia announced 3 models: RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090. Of the 3 models released, only RTX 3090 is capable of supporting NVLink. The remaining 2 models will not be supported.

However, despite the extremely promising parameters and performance, this Geforce 30 series can be considered a failure for Nvidia. Almost no cards arrived in the hands of gamers in the first month after launch and the number of cards dropped in the following months. All the cards have been collected by miners to mine the Ethereum cryptocurrency, and to make sure they collect the cards, these miners use bots to place orders, causing the stock to run out in just 0.01 seconds. In addition, merchants also see this opportunity, participating in bot competitions to buy cards to resell at triple the price.

The card shortage continued for more than half a year and there were some positive signs when Nvidia launched the RTX 3060 card line with halved cryptocurrency mining performance. However, after only 1 month, Nvidia itself ‘squeezed’ itself when releasing a driver version with unlimited “coin mining” performance for this card, and so the card returned to a state of shortage.

It wasn’t until June 2021 that light appeared at the end of the tunnel when Nvidia limited mining performance on all newly produced cards. Plus the cryptocurrency market going down makes the situation even better. At the time of writing, the price of new cards has begun to decrease slightly but has been sold at retail, gamers no longer need to build a whole new system to buy cards.

Geforce 30 series specifications for Desktop

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
RTX 3060	GA106-300-A1 GA106-302-A1	1777 MHz	PCI Express 4.0	12GB	GDDR6
RTX 3060 Ti	GA104-200-A1 GA104-202-A1	1665 MHz		8GB
RTX 3070	GA104-300-A1 GA104-302-A1	1725 MHz
RTX 3070 Ti	GA104-400-A1	1770 MHz			GDDR6X
RTX 3080	GA102-200-K1-A1 GA102-202-K1-A1	1710 MHz		10GB
RTX 3080 Ti	GA102-225	1665 MHz		12 GB
RTX 3090	GA102-300-A1	1700 MHz		24GB

Geforce 30 series specifications for Laptops

GPU name	Codename	Original pulse	Protocol	VRAM	VRAM type
RTX 3050 Laptop	?	1740 MHz	PCI Express 4.0	4GB	GDDR6
RTX 3050 Ti Laptop	?	1695 MHz		4GB
RTX 3060 Laptop	?	1703 MHz		6 GB
RTX 3070 Laptop	GA104-770-A1	1620 MHz		8GB
RTX 3080 Laptop	GA104-775-A1	1710 MHz		8 hoặc 16GB

Epilogue

So I have gone through the entire history of the Nvidia Geforce graphics card line. See you again in the next article. At that time, I will go through the entire history of AMD’s Radeon graphics card line.