| NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series | |
|---|---|
| Codename(s) | G80, G84, G86, G92, G98 |
| Release date | 2006 |
| Entry-level GPU | 8100 (IGP), 8200 (IGP), 8300 (both integrated and discrete variants), 8400 |
| Mid-range GPU | 8500, 8600 |
| High-end GPU | 8800 |
| Direct3D and shader version | D3D 10.0, Model 4.0 |
| OpenGL version | 3.3 |
The GeForce 8 Series, is the eighth generation of NVIDIA's GeForce line of graphics processing units. The third major GPU architecture developed at NVIDIA, the GeForce 8 represents the company's first unified shader architecture.[1][2]
Contents |
There has been, at times, controversy over the naming of GeForce 8 series chips, including due to previous-generation chips being repackaged with minor changes (or possibly none at all) with the new names implying they are derived from the newly introduced GPU chip design featured by the flagship products.
Although overall raw performance, particularly when it comes to total frames-per-second in 3D games, may not appear to justify the larger number (or new name for re-badged chips), newly introduced GPUs nearly always introduce some improvements, often in the form of process shrinkage which yields more performance per watt than previous-generation chips. Another common improvement are additional technologies for such things as decoding compressed video and audio, new instructions to conform to a higher DirectX and OpenGL specification, co-processing, and updated display connectors. Despite such improvements, some buyers are better off purchasing previous-generation GPUs for some needs, such as overall frames-per-second in popular contemporary 3D titles as compared to dollars spent.
New high-end flagship GPU chips invariably offer improved overall performance over parts of the previous generation, but are not always the best value for all buyers.
The GeForce 8 series arrived with NVIDIA's first unified shader Direct3D 10 Shader Model 4.0 / OpenGL 2.1(later drivers have OpenGL 3.3 support) architecture. The design is a major shift for NVIDIA in GPU functionality and capability, the most obvious change being the move from the separate functional units (pixel shaders, vertex shaders) within previous GPUs to a homogeneous collection of universal floating point processors (called "stream processors") that can perform a more universal set of tasks.
GeForce 8's unified shader architecture consists of a number of stream processors (SPs). Unlike the vector processing approach taken with older shader units, each SP is scalar and thus can operate only on one component at a time. This makes them less complex to build while still being quite flexible and universal. Scalar shader units also have the advantage of being more efficient in a number of cases as compared to previous generation vector shader units that rely on ideal instruction mixture and ordering to reach peak throughput. The lower maximum throughput of these scalar processors is compensated for by efficiency and by running them at a high clock speed (made possible by their simplicity). GeForce 8 runs the various parts of its core at differing clock speeds (clock domains), similar to the operation of the previous GeForce 7 Series GPUs. For example, the stream processors of GeForce 8800 GTX operate at a 1.35 GHz clock rate while the rest of the chip is operating at 575 MHz.[2]
GeForce 8 performs significantly better texture filtering than its predecessors that used various optimizations and visual tricks to speed up rendering while impairing filtering quality. The GeForce 8 line correctly renders an angle-independent anisotropic filtering algorithm along with full trilinear texture filtering. G80, though not its smaller brethren, is equipped with much more texture filtering arithmetic ability than the GeForce 7 series. This allows high-quality filtering with a much smaller performance hit than previously.[2]
NVIDIA has also introduced new polygon edge anti-aliasing methods, including the ability of the GPU's ROPs to perform both Multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA) and HDR lighting at the same time, correcting various limitations of previous generations. GeForce 8 can perform MSAA with both FP16 and FP32 texture formats. GeForce 8 supports 128-bit HDR rendering, an increase from prior cards' 64-bit support. The chip's new anti-aliasing technology, called coverage sampling AA (CSAA), uses Z, color, and coverage information to determine final pixel color. This technique of color optimization allows 16X CSAA to look crisp and sharp.[3]
The claimed theoretical processing power for the 8 Series cards given in FLOPS may not be correct at all times. For example the GeForce 8800 GTX has 518.43 GigaFLOPs theoretical performance given the fact that there are 128 stream processors at 1.35 GHz with each SP being able to run 1 Multiply-Add and 1 Multiply instruction per clock [(MADD (2 FLOPs) + MUL (1 FLOP))×1350 MHz×128 SPs ＝ 518.4 GigaFLOPs].[4] This figure may not be correct because the Multiply operation is not always available[5] giving a possibly more accurate performance figure of (2×1350×128) = 345.6 GigaFLOPs.
Dual Dual-link DVI Support: Able to drive two flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600 resolution. Available on select GeForce 8800 and 8600 GPUs.
One Dual-link DVI Support: Able to drive one flat-panel display up to 2560x1600 resolution. Available on select GeForce 8500 GPUs and GeForce 8400 GS cards based on the G98.
One Single-link DVI Support: Able to drive one flat-panel display up to 1920x1200 resolution. Available on select GeForce 8400 GPUs.[6] GeForce 8400 GS cards based on the G86 only support single-link DVI.
The GeForce 8 series supports 10-bit per channel display output, up from 8-bit on previous NVIDIA cards. This potentially allows higher fidelity color representation and separation on capable displays. The GeForce 8 series, like its recent predecessors, also supports Scalable Link Interface (SLI) for multiple installed cards to act as one via an SLI Bridge, so long as they are of similar architecture.
NVIDIA's PureVideo HD video rendering technology is an improved version of the original PureVideo introduced with GeForce 6. It now includes GPU-based hardware acceleration for decoding HD movie formats, post-processing of HD video for enhanced images, and optional High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) support at the card level.[7]
In the summer of 2007 NVIDIA released the entry level GeForce 8300GS and 8400GS graphics cards, based on the G86 core. The GeForce 8300 was only available in the OEM market, and as the GeForce 8300 mGPU motherboard GPU. These graphics cards were not intended for intense 3D applications such as fast, high-resolution video games. They were originally designed to replace the 7200 and 7300 models, but could not due to their poor game performance. It was able to play modern games at playable framerates at low settings and low resolutions making it popular among casual gamers and HTPC (Media Center) builders without a PCI Express or AGP motherboard.
At the end of 2007 NVIDIA released a new GeForce 8400 GS based on the G98 (D8M) chip.[8] It is quite different from the G86 used for the "first" 8400 GS, as the G98 features VC-1 and MPEG2 video decoding completely in hardware, lower power consumption, lowered 3D-performance and a smaller fabrication process. The G98 also features dual-link DVI support and PCI Express 2.0. G86 and G98 cards were both sold as "8400 GS", the difference showing only in the technical specifications.
On April 17, 2007, NVIDIA released the GeForce 8500 GT, 8600 GT, and 8600 GTS for the low-end to mid-range market. As with many GPUs, the larger number these parts carry does not guarantee superior performance over previous generation parts with a lower number.
NVIDIA introduced 2nd-generation PureVideo with this series. As the first major update to PureVideo since the GeForce 6's launch, 2nd-gen PureVideo offered much improved hardware-decoding for H264 and VC-1 video.
The 8800 series, codenamed G80, was launched on November 8, 2006 with the release of the GeForce 8800 GTX and GTS. A 320 MB GTS was released on February 12 and the Ultra was released on May 2, 2007. The cards are larger than their predecessors, with the 8800 GTX measuring 10.6 in (~26.9 cm) in length and the 8800 GTS measuring 9 in (~23 cm). Both cards have two dual-link DVI connectors and a HDTV/S-Video out connector. The 8800 GTX requires 2 PCIe power inputs to keep within the PCIe standard, while the GTS requires just one.
The 8800 GS is a trimmed-down 8800 GT with 96 stream processors and either 384 or 768 MB of RAM on a 192-bit bus.[9] In May 2008, it was rebranded as the 9600 GSO in an attempt to spur sales.
On April 28, 2008, Apple announced an updated iMac line featuring an 8800 GS.[10] However, the GPU is actually a rebranded NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS. It features up to 512 MB of 800 MHz GDDR3 video memory, 64 unified stream processors, a 500 MHz core speed, a 256-bit memory bus width, and a 1250 MHz shader clock.[11]
The 8800 GTX is equipped with 768 MB GDDR3 RAM. The 8800 series replaced the GeForce 7950 Series as NVIDIA's top-performing consumer GPU. GeForce 8800 GTX and GTS use identical GPU cores, but the GTS model disables parts of the GPU and reduces RAM size and bus width to lower production cost.
At the time, the G80 was the largest commercial GPU ever constructed. It consists of 681 million transistors covering a 480 mm² die surface area built on a 90 nm process. (In fact the G80's total transistor count is ~686 million, but since the chip was made on a 90 nm process and due to process limitations and yield feasibility, NVIDIA had to break the main design into two chips: Main shader core at 681 million transistors and NV I/O core of about ~5 million transistors making the entire G80 design standing at ~686 million transistors).
A minor manufacturing defect related to a resistor of improper value caused a recall of the 8800 GTX models just two days before the product launch, though the launch itself was unaffected.[12]
The GeForce 8800 GTX was by far the fastest GPU when first released, and 13 months after its initial debut it still remained one of the fastest. The GTX has 128 stream processors clocked at 1.35 GHz, a core clock of 575 MHz, and 768 MB of 384-bit GDDR3 memory at 1.8 GHz, giving it a memory bandwidth of 86.4 GB/s. The card performs faster than a single Radeon HD 2900 XT, and faster than 2 Radeon X1950 XTXs in Crossfire or 2 GeForce 7900 GTXs in SLI. The 8800 GTX also supports HDCP, but one major flaw is its older NVIDIA PureVideo processor that uses more CPU resources. Originally retailing for around US$600, prices came down to under US$400 before it was discontinued. The 8800 GTX is also very power hungry, using up to 185 watts of power and requiring two PCI-E power connectors to operate. The 8800 GTX also has 2 SLI connector ports, allowing it to support NVIDIA 3-way SLI for users who run demanding games at extreme resolutions such as 2560x1600.
The 8800 Ultra, retailing at a higher price, is identical to the GTX architecturally, but features higher clocked shaders, core and memory. Nvidia later told the media the 8800 Ultra was a new stepping, creating less heat therefore clocking higher. Originally retailing from $800 to $1000, most users thought the card to be a poor value, offering only 10% more performance than the GTX but costing hundreds of dollars more. Prices dropped to as low as $200 before being discontinued on January 23, 2008. The core clock of the Ultra runs at 612 MHz, the shaders at 1.5 GHz, and finally the memory at 2.16 GHz, giving the Ultra a theoretical memory bandwidth of 103.7 GB/s. It has 2 SLI connector ports, allowing it to support NVIDIA 3-way SLI. An updated dual slot cooler was also implemented, allowing for quieter and cooler operation at higher clock speeds.[13]
The 8800 GT, codenamed G92, was released on October 29, 2007. The card is the first to transition to 65 nm process, and supports PCI-Express 2.0.[14] It has a single-slot cooler as opposed to the double slot cooler on the 8800 GTS and GTX, and uses less power than GTS and GTX due to its 65 nm process. While its core processing power is comparable to that of the GTX, the 256-bit memory interface and the 512 MB of GDDR3 memory often hinders its performance at very high resolutions and graphics settings. The 8800 GT, unlike other 8800 cards, is equipped with the PureVideo HD VP2 engine for GPU assisted decoding of the H.264 and VC-1 codecs. Performance benchmarks at stock speeds place it above the 8800 GTS (640 MB and 320 MB versions) and slightly below the 8800 GTX. A 256 MB version of the 8800 GT with lower stock memory speeds (1.4 GHz as opposed to 1.8 GHz) but the same core is also available. Performance benchmarks have shown that the 256 MB version of the 8800 GT has a considerable performance disadvantage when compared to its 512 MB counterpart, especially in newer games such as Crysis. Some manufacturers also make models with 1 GB of memory; and with large resolutions and big textures one can perceive a performance difference in the benchmarks. These models are more likely to take up to 2 slots of the computer.
The release of this card presents an odd dynamic to the graphics processing industry. At an NVIDIA projected initial street price of around $200, this card outperforms the ATI flagship HD2900XT and HD3870 in most situations, and even NVIDIA's own 8800 GTS 640 MB (previously priced at an MSRP of $400). The card, only marginally slower in synthetic and gaming benchmarks than the 8800 GTX, also takes much of the value away from NVIDIA's own high-end card. This release was shortly followed by the (EVGA) 8800 GTS SSC (the original 8800 GTS re-released with 96+ (112) shader processor units), and ATI's counter, the HD 3800 series.
Shortly after the release, an incompatibility issue with older PCI Express 1.0a motherboards was unmasked. When using the PCI Express 2.0 compliant 8800 GT or 8800 GTS 512 in some motherboards with PCI Express 1.0a slots, the card would not produce any display image, but the computer would often boot (with the fan on the video card spinning at a constant 100%). The incompatibility has been confirmed on motherboards with VIA PT880Pro/Ultra[15], Intel 925[16] and Intel 5000P[17] PCI-E 1.0a chipsets.
Some graphics cards had a workaround, which was to re-flash the graphics card's BIOS with an older GEN1 BIOS. However this effectively made it into a PCI Express 1.0 card, not being able to utilize the PCIE 2.0 functions. This could be considered a non-issue however since the card itself could not even utilize the full capacity of the regular PCIE 1.0 slots, there was no noticeable performance reduction. Also flashing of the video card BIOS voided the warranties of most video card manufacturers (if not all) thus making it a less-than-optimum way of getting the card to work properly. A workaround to this is to flash the BIOS of the motherboard to the latest version, which depending on the manufacturer of the motherboard, may contain a fix. In relation to this compatibility issue, the high numbers of cards reported as DOA (as much as 13-15%) were believed to be inaccurate. When it was revealed that the G92 8800 GT and 8800 GTS 512 MB were going to be designed with PCI Express 2.0 connections, NVIDIA claimed that all cards would have full backwards-compatibility, but failed to mention that this was only true for PCI Express 1.1 motherboards. The source for the BIOS-flash did not come from NVIDIA or any of their partners, but rather ASRock, a mainboard producer, who mentioned the fix in one of their motherboard FAQs. ASUSTek, sells the 8800 GT with their sticker, posted a newer version of their 8800 GT BIOS on their website, but did not mention that it fixed this issue. EVGA also posted a new bios to fix this issue.[18]
The first releases of the 8800 GTS line, in November 2006, came in 640 MB and 320 MB configurations of GDDR3 RAM and utilized NVIDIA's G80 GPU.[19] While the 8800 GTX has 128 stream processors and a 384-bit memory bus, these versions of 8800 GTS feature 96 stream processors and a 320-bit bus. With respect to features, however, they are identical because they use the same GPU.[20]
Around the same release date as the 8800 GT, NVIDIA released a new 640 MB version of the 8800 GTS. While still based on the 90 nm G80 core, this version has 7 out of the 8 clusters of 16 stream processors enabled (as opposed to 6 out 8 on the older GTSs), giving it a total of 112 stream processors instead of 96. Most other aspects of the card remain unchanged. However, because the only 2 add-in partners who are making this card (BFG and EVGA) have decided to overclock it, this version of the 8800 GTS actually runs slightly faster than a stock GTX in most scenarios, especially at higher resolutions, due to the increased clock speeds.[21]
NVIDIA released a new 8800 GTS 512 MB based on the 65 nm G92 GPU on December 10, 2007.[22] This 8800 GTS has 128 stream processors, compared to the 96 processors of the original GTS models. It is equipped with 512 MB GDDR3 on a 256-bit bus. Combined with a 650 MHz core clock and architectural enhancements, this gives the card raw GPU performance exceeding that of 8800 GTX, but it is constrained by the narrower 256-bit memory bus. Its performance can match the 8800 GTX in some situations, and it outperforms the older GTS cards in all situations.
| Model | Release Date | Codename | Bus interface | Memory (MiB) | Fabrication process (nm) | Clock rate | Peak fillrate | Shaders | Memory | Texture Units | Raster Operators | Power Consumption (Watts) | Transistor Count (Millions) | Theoretical Shader Processing Rate (Gigaflops) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core (MHz) | Shader (MHz) | Memory (MHz) | Billion pixel/s | Billion bilinear texel/s | Billion bilinear FP16 texel/s | Billion FP32 pixel/s | Stream Processors | Bandwidth (GB/s) | DRAM type | Bus width (bit) | |||||||||||
| GeForce 8300 GS (OEM)[23] | July 2007 | G86 | PCIe x16 | 128/256 | 80 | 450 | 900 | 400 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.45 | 8 | 6.4 | DDR2 | 64 | 4 | 4 | ? | 210 | 21.6 |
| GeForce 8400 GS[23] | 15 June 2007 | G86 | PCIe x16 | 128/256 | 80 | 450 | 900 | 400 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 16 | 6.4 | DDR2 | 64 | 8 | 4 | 38 | 210 | 43.2 |
| GeForce 8400 GS[8] | 4 December 2007 | G98GS | PCIe 2.0 x16 | 256/512 | 65 | 567 | 1400 | 400 | 2.3 | 4.5 | ? | ? | 8 | 6.4 | DDR2 | 64 | 4 | 4 | 25 | ~280 | 67 |
| GeForce 8400 GS | April 2009 | GT218 | PCIe 2.0 x16 | 1024 | 40 | 520 | 1240 | 1000 | 2.1 | 2.6 | ? | 16 | 8 | DDR3 | 64 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| GeForce 8500 GT[23][24] | 17 April 2007 | G86 | PCIe x16 | 256/512 | 80 | 450 | 900 | 400 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 16 | 12.8 | DDR2 | 128 | 8 | 8 | 40 | 210 | 43.2 |
| GeForce 8600 GS[23] | 17 April 2007 | G84 | PCIe x16 | 256/512 | 80 | 540 | 1190 | 400 | 4.3 | 8.6 | 4.3 | 1.08 | 16 | 12.8 | DDR2 | 128 | 16 | 8 | 43 | 289 | 114.2 |
| GeForce 8600 GT[23] | 17 April 2007 | G84 | PCIe x16 | 256/512 | 80 | 540 | 1190 | 700 | 4.3 | 8.6 | 4.3 | 1.08 | 32 | 22.4 | GDDR3 | 128 | 16 | 8 | 43 | 289 | 114.2 |
| GeForce 8600 GTS[23] | 17 April 2007 | G84 | PCIe x16 | 256/512 | 80 | 675 | 1450 | 1000 | 5.4 | 10.8 | 5.4 | 1.35 | 32 | 32.0 | GDDR3 | 128 | 16 | 8 | 71 | 289 | 139.2 |
| GeForce 8800 GTS (G80)[25][26][27] | 8 November 2006 | G80 | PCIe x16 | 320/640 | 90 | 500 | 1200 | 800 | 10.0 | 24.0 | 12.0 | 2.5 | 96/112 | 64.0 | GDDR3 | 320 | 48 | 20 | 146 | 681 (~690) | 345.6 403.2 |
| GeForce 8800 GS[28] | January 15, 2008 | G92-150 | PCIe 2.0 x16 | 384 | 65 | 550 | 1375 | 800 | 6.6 | 26.4 | 13.2 | 3.3 | 96 | 38.4 | GDDR3 | 192 | 48 | 12 | 105 (TDP) | 754 | 396.0 |
| GeForce 8800 GT[29] | 29 October 2007 | G92-200 | PCIe 2.0 x16 | 256/512/ 1024 | 65 | 600 | 1500 | 900 | 9.6 | 33.6 | 16.8 | 4.8 | 112 | 57.6 | GDDR3 | 256 | 56 | 16 | 105 (TDP) | 754 | 504.0 |
| GeForce 8800 GTS 512[30][31][32] | 11 December 2007 | G92-400 | PCIe 2.0 x16 | 512 | 65 | 650 | 1625 | 970 | 10.4 | 41.6 | 20.8 | 5.2 | 128 | 62.1 | GDDR3 | 256 | 64 | 16 | 135 (TDP) | 754 | 624.0 |
| GeForce 8800 GTX [25][26][27] | 8 November 2006 | G80 | PCIe x16 | 768 | 90 | 575 | 1350 | 900 | 13.8 | 36.8 | 18.4 | 3.45 | 128 | 86.4 | GDDR3 | 384 | 64 | 24 | 155 | 681 (~690) | 518.0 |
| GeForce 8800 Ultra | 2 May 2007 | G80 | PCIe x16 | 768 | 90 | 612 | 1512 | 1080 | 14.7 | 39.2 | 19.6 | 3.672 | 128 | 103.7 | GDDR3 | 384 | 64 | 24 | 175 | 681 (~690) | 576.0 |
| Model | Release Date | Codename | Bus interface | Memory (MiB) | Fabrication process (nm) | Clock rate | Peak fillrate | Shaders | Memory | Texture Units | Raster Operators | Power Consumption (Watts) | Transistor Count (Millions) | Theoretical Shader Processing Rate (Gigaflops) | |||||||
| Core (MHz) | Shader (MHz) | Memory (MHz) | Billion pixel/s | Billion bilinear texel/s | Billion bilinear FP16 texel/s | Billion FP32 pixel/s | Stream Processors | Bandwidth (GB/s) | DRAM type | Bus width (bit) | |||||||||||
On May 10, 2007, NVIDIA announced the availability of their GeForce 8 notebook GPUs through select OEMs. So far the lineup consists of the 8200M, 8400M, 8600M, 8700M and 8800M series chips.[33] It has been announced by nVidia that some of their graphics chips have a higher than expected rate of failure due to overheating when used in particular notebook configurations. Some major laptop manufacturers are making adjustments to fan setting and firmware updates to help delay the occurrence of any potential GPU failure. In late July 2008, Dell released a set of BIOS updates that made the laptop fans spin more frequently.[34] As of mid-August, nVidia is yet to give further details publicly, though it has been heavily rumored that all or most of the 8400 and 8600 cards have this issue.
The GeForce 8400M is the entry level series for the GeForce 8M chipset. Normally found on midrange laptops as an alternative solution to integrated graphics, the 8400M is designed for watching high definition video content rather than gaming. Versions include the 8400M G, 8400M GS, and 8400M GT. While these GPUs are not oriented for high-end gaming, the GDDR3-equipped 8400M-GT can handle most modern games at medium settings,[35] and is suitable for occasional gaming.
The GeForce 8600M is offered in midrange laptops as a mid-range performance solution for enthusiasts who want to watch high-definition content such as Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD movies and play current and some future games with decent settings. Versions include the 8600M GS and 8600M GT, and provide decent gaming performance (due to the implementation of GDDR3 memory in the higher-end 8600M models) for current games. It is currently on the Dell XPS M1530 portable, Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z, some models of the Acer Aspire 5920, some models of the BenQ Joybook S41, some models of the MacBook Pro, and some models of Fujitsu Siemens.
The GeForce 8700M was developed for the high-end market. Currently the only version is the 8700M GT. This chipset is available on high-end laptops such as the Dell XPS M1730, Sager NP5793, and Toshiba Satellite X205. While this card is considered by most in the field to be a decent mid-range card, it is hard to classify the 8700M-GT as a high-end card due to its 128-bit memory bus, and is essentially an overclocked 8600M GT GDDR3 mid-range card.[36] However, it shows strong performance when in a dual-card SLI configuration, and provides decent gaming performance in a single-card configuration.[37]
The GeForce 8800M was developed to succeed the 8700M in the high-end market, and can be found in high-end gaming notebook computers.
Versions include the 8800M GTS and 8800M GTX. These were released as the first truly high-end mobile GeForce 8 Series GPUs, each with a 256-bit memory bus and a standard 512 megabytes of GDDR3 memory, and provide high-end gaming performance equivalent to many desktop GPUs. In SLI, these can produce 3DMark06 results in the high thousands.[37]
Laptop models which include the 8800M GPUs are: Sager NP5793, Sager NP9262, Alienware m15x and m17x, HP HDX9494NR and Dell M1730. Clevo also manufactures similar laptop models for CyberPower, Rock, and Sager (among others) - all with the 8800M GTX, while including the 8800M GTS in the Gateway P-6831 FX and P-6860 FX models.
| Model | Release Date | Codename | Fabrication process (nm) | Core clock max (MHz) | Peak fillrate | Shaders | Memory | Power Consumption (Watts) | Transistor Count (Millions) | Theoretical Shader Processing Rate (Gigaflops) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| billion pixel/s | billion bilinear texel/s | billion bilinear FP16 texel/s | Stream Processors | Clock (MHz) | Bandwidth max (GB/s) | DRAM type | Bus width (bit) | Megabytes | Effective DDR Clock (MHz) | ||||||||
| GeForce 8200M G | 2007? | MCP77MV MCP79MV | 80 | 350/500 | 3 | ? | ? | 8 | 1200 | ? | DDR2 | 64 | 256 | ? | ? | ? | 19 |
| GeForce 8400M G | 10 May 2007 | G86M | 80 | 400 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 8 | 800 | 6.4 | GDDR3 | 64 | 128/256 | 1200 | 15 | 210 | 19.2 |
| GeForce 8400M GS | 10 May 2007 | G86M | 80 | 400 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 16 | 800 | 6.4 | GDDR2/GDDR3 | 64 | 64/128/256 | 1200 | 15 | 210 | 38.4 |
| GeForce 8400M GT | 10 May 2007 | G86M | 80 | 450 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 16 | 900 | 19.2 | GDDR3 | 128 | 128/256/512 | 1200 | 17 | 210 | 43.2 |
| GeForce 8600M GS | 10 May 2007 | G84M | 80 | 600 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 16 | 1200 | 12.8/22.4 | DDR2/GDDR3 | 128 | 128/256/512 | 800/1400 | 19 | 210 | 57.6 |
| GeForce 8600M GT | 10 May 2007 | G84M | 80 | 475 | 3.8 | 7.6 | 3.8 | 32 | 950 | 12.8/22.4 | DDR2/GDDR3 | 128 | 128/256/512 | 800/1400 | 22 | 289 | 91.2 |
| GeForce 8700M GT | 12 June 2007 | G84M | 80 | 625 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 5.0 | 32 | 1250 | 25.6 | GDDR3 | 128 | 256/512 | 1600 | 29 | 289 | 120.0 |
| GeForce 8800M GTS[38] | 19 November 2007 | G92M | 65 | 500 | 8.0 | 16.0 | 8.0 | 64 | 1250 | 51.2 | GDDR3 | 256 | 512 | 1600 | 35 | 754 | 240.0 |
| GeForce 8800M GTX[39] | 19 November 2007 | G92M | 65 | 500 | 12.0 | 24.0 | 12.0 | 96 | 1250 | 51.2 | GDDR3 | 256 | 512 | 1600 | 37 | 754 | 360.0 |
Some chips of the GeForce 8 series (concretely those from the G84 and G86 series) may suffer from an overheating problem. NVIDIA states this issue should not affect many chips,[40] whereas others assert that all of the chips in these series are potentially affected.[40] NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang and CFO Marvin Burkett were involved in a lawsuit filed on September 9, 2008 alleging that their knowledge of the flaw, and their intent to hide it, resulted in NVIDIA losing 31% on the stock markets.[41]
The reason for the high failure rate was because of improper selection of the underfill material for the chip. Underfill materials are a type of glue that keeps the silicon die firmly attached to the packaging material, which is where the connection to the actual pins takes place. On the affected chips, the working temperature of the underfill material was too low for the task and allowed the chip to move slightly if temperature was raised above a certain level, weakening the solder joints by which the die is attached. This eventually leads to a catastrophic failure, although the way the chip fails is quite random.
The result of these failures was a class action lawsuit and subsequent settlement to address problems with Dell, HP and Apple computers [42]. Unfortunately, Toshiba did not participate in the recall process and has left its customers to fend for themselves although some Toshiba Forum posters [43] report that Toshiba has assisted them in resolving the issue.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||