News - NVIDIA to become the "green team" with launch of GeForce 9600 GT Green Edition

[HEXUS]

Forgot about the custom-cooled overclocked alternatives, underclocked cards that consume less power are what today's market calls for.

Read more.

[Webby]

Let me guess this will cost more than a standard 9600GT as well because everything green costs more!

[scaryjim]

Let me guess this will cost more than a standard 9600GT as well because everything green costs more!

Not if it's seriously meant to compete with the 4670! The stock 9600GT isn't *much* faster than a 4670 anyway, and is currently around 30% more expensive. Reducing the clocks is likely to push performance down to around the same as a 4670, and the power draw is now the same as a 4670, so if it costs more than a 4670 it's not really going to compete with it!

This is just begging for a green edition of the Radeon 4650, with (further) reduced core clocks, DDR3 and a TDP of around 45W. That would be very amusing indeed

[Webby]

A 9600GT is significantly faster than a 4670 ~20% across all resolutions (with the gap getting bigger at higher resolutions and less at the lower) So it probably deserves its price over the 4670 with the reduced clocks it may fall into the same performance bracket if it does then pricing would be expected to be similar only problem is that the 9600GSO already fills that space.

So the only possible reason for this card is to make Nvidia look green... it really is a waste of space the only time it will be saving energy is when it is loaded (idle power draw is likely unchanged) at which point you want as much performance as you can get so why not just buy the faster card and if your feeling Green down-clock it yourself.

[scaryjim]

A 9600GT is significantly faster than a 4670 ~20% across all resolutions (with the gap getting bigger at higher resolutions and less at the lower) ... with the reduced clocks it may fall into the same performance bracket if it does then pricing would be expected to be similar only problem is that the 9600GSO already fills that space.

I make it 15% at 1280*1024, and as low as 6% in ATI-loving games at that res, which means a 14% drop in clocks would almost certainly dip it into 4670 territory.

So the only possible reason for this card is to make Nvidia look green... it really is a waste of space the only time it will be saving energy is when it is loaded (idle power draw is likely unchanged) at which point you want as much performance as you can get so why not just buy the faster card and if your feeling Green down-clock it yourself.

Indeed - or, if you're more concerned about power-saving than performance, surely you'd go for a 780G integrated system, or a 4350 discreet card, rather than a slightly declocked mid-range card?

[Methanoid]

For a complete picture.. we need to know the IDLE power consumption of the 4670 (7W I believe) and the new Nvidia effort...

I'd hazard a guess its something like 20W... so will look pretty crappy...

ATI seem to have Nvidia well and truly whupped on power efficiency.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Not if it's seriously meant to compete with the 4670! The stock 9600GT isn't *much* faster than a 4670 anyway, and is currently around 30% more expensive. Reducing the clocks is likely to push performance down to around the same as a 4670, and the power draw is now the same as a 4670, so if it costs more than a 4670 it's not really going to compete with it!

This is just begging for a green edition of the Radeon 4650, with (further) reduced core clocks, DDR3 and a TDP of around 45W. That would be very amusing indeed

The HD4650 GDDR3 already exists!! You can get for under 60 quid from Ebuyer!!

[baius]

Thanks for this article. I'll be keeping a close eye out for similar cards. Your "colour" choice bought an upwards curl to my lips. (Rare, these days.)

...if you're more concerned about power-saving than performance, surely you'd go for a 780G integrated system, or a 4350 discreet card, rather than a slightly declocked mid-range card?

Not neccesarily. I'm (very - as in will probably buy) a hybrid system, next time I buy. They let you game - at full power - and use the PC normally WITHOUT the main graphics card gobbling up power.

This 9600gt interests me - even with a hybrid, things can add up, if you game for more than 10 hours a week. (& some weeks, you can add a 0 to that 10 for me. It's bad, I know.)

[MadduckUK]

green my arse, this will be where the left over dodgy cores are going - clocked and volted down to stop them dying.

[Methanoid]

Yes, its officially "RUBBISH" TM as the idle power usage is unchanged and this is where ATI kick Nvidia's butt.

If GREEN matters to you in any way you should be buying RED (ATI) and not GREEN (Nvidia).

Only numpties are gonna fall for this one from Nvidia's marketing drones