Graphic Cards: model numbers

Writing this post in response to the guy who called me up yesterday night inquiring about two graphic cards (GPU's) and among the two is better. The GPU has specifications that need to be compared to decide which among the available ones is the best. However, there is a short-cut that can roughly point you to the right card. This post explains about that short-cut. As you might already know, there are 2 big players in the GPU market, nVidia and ATI. Let me start with the help of an example from both.
Firstly let us pick a GPU, let's say nVidia GeForce GTX 580. The model number 580 has three digits:

• 5 - It represents the family of the GPU. The higher the number, the latest technology it uses and that it can support.
• 8 - It represents the performance of the card. The higher the number, the better and faster it can compute.
• 0 - It represents trade-off between graphics quality and performance speed. The higher the number, the higher the clock speed but lesser quality.

Now let us pick an ATI Radeon HD 6870 GPU. The model number 6870 has four digits out of which the last digit is insignificant:

• 6 - Same as in nVidia, it represents the family of the GPU. The higher the number, the latest technology it uses and that it can support.
• 8 - It represents the performance of the card. The higher the number, the better and faster it can compute.
• 7 - It represents the stability and reliability of the card. The higher the number, more stable it is.

Obviously, the lowest model number would cost the least. But, since we do not want outdated technology, it is necessary to buy the right Graphic Card out of our available budget. Choose a higher performance graphic card if you want to play the latest games flawlessly, but choose a newer graphic card if you want to extend the life of your PC. Sometimes, u might face a dilemma when you go GPU-shopping. For example, you might find the price of nVidia Geforce GTX 480 and GTX 550 almost similar. The choice is yours, but remember the points mentioned above and you will add a gem to your system.

PCI-Express: why it is better

PCI Express or PCIe is an expansion card standard that was designed to replace the older AGP, PCI and PCIx bus standards. The PCI-Express standard offers higher system bus throughput and has lower I/O pin count.

PCIe has serial links between devices called Lanes, unlike the parallel connections present in PCI buses. PCIe can be a x1, x4, x8 or x16 type where the number equals the number of lanes. ( D,E : ports and sockets of a motherboard )

The PCIe (common revision 2.1) has a bandwidth of 16 Gbps for a 16 lane link (x16).

PCIe slot can be used for placing expansion port card, modems or sound cards, etc. But, Graphics performance can benefit the most with the use of PCIe because they require the maximum bandwidth for transfers. So, the graphic cards (or GPU) are built for and placed in PCIe slots.