GeForce facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
GeForce

Top: Logo since 2022 Bottom: The most recent flagship model, the GeForce RTX 4090, in the Founders Edition in its retail box
Release date	August 31, 1999; 25 years ago (1999-08-31)
Manufactured by	Nvidia Samsung Electronics TSMC
Designed by	Nvidia
Marketed by	Nvidia
Models	GeForce 256 GeForce 2 series GeForce 3 series GeForce 4 series GeForce FX series GeForce 6 series GeForce 7 series GeForce 8 series GeForce 9 series GeForce 100 series GeForce 200 series GeForce 300 series GeForce 400 series GeForce 500 series GeForce 600 series GeForce 700 series GeForce 800 series GeForce 900 series GeForce 10 series GeForce 16 series GeForce 20 series GeForce 30 series GeForce 40 series
Cores	Up to 16,384 CUDA cores
Fabrication process	220 nm to 3 nm
History
Predecessor	RIVA TNT2
Variant	Nvidia Quadro, Nvidia Tesla

GeForce is a popular brand of graphics processing units (GPUs) made by Nvidia. GPUs are like special computer brains that handle all the visuals you see on your screen. GeForce GPUs are mostly known for making video games look amazing and run smoothly.

Since the first GeForce came out, there have been many different versions. These GPUs started as separate cards you could add to a computer. They were made for serious PC gamers. Over time, GeForce GPUs became available for all kinds of computers. This includes less expensive ones where the GPU is built right into the motherboard. GeForce technology is even used in devices like phones and handhelds today!

Nvidia's GeForce GPUs and AMD's Radeon GPUs are the main competitors in the high-end market. GeForce GPUs are also very strong in a field called GPGPU. This means they can do more than just graphics. They can help with complex calculations, almost like a super-fast brain for certain tasks.

What Does the Name "GeForce" Mean?

The name "GeForce" came from a contest Nvidia held in 1999. They asked the public to help name their next graphics chip. Over 12,000 ideas were sent in! The winners received a special graphics card.

Nvidia later shared that "GeForce" originally stood for "Geometry Force." This is because the first GeForce chip, the GeForce 256, was the first GPU for home computers that could handle "transform-and-lighting" calculations. This job used to be done by the computer's main brain, the CPU. The GeForce took over this task, making games run much faster.

GeForce Graphics Generations: A Timeline

GeForce 2 Series: Faster Textures

Released in April 2000, the GeForce2 was a powerful graphics chip. It could process textures (the images that cover 3D objects) much faster than before. Nvidia also made a cheaper version, the GeForce2 MX. This one was very popular because it offered good performance for its price.

GeForce 3 Series: Programmable Shaders Arrive

In February 2001, the GeForce3 introduced a big change: programmable vertex and pixel shaders. These allow game developers to create more realistic lighting and effects. It was a favorite among tech fans. A version of the GeForce 3 was even used in the Microsoft Xbox game console.

GeForce 4 Series: Refinements and Speed

The GeForce4 Ti, launched in February 2002, improved on the GeForce3. It made anti-aliasing (making edges look smoother) better and had a faster memory controller. A budget version, the GeForce4 MX, was also released. It was based on the older GeForce2 but added some new features.

GeForce FX Series: A Big Change in Design

The GeForce FX, released in 2003, had a completely new design. It was made to support a new graphics standard called Shader Model 2. Early models had some issues with heat and noise. Nvidia called this series "GeForce FX" to show it was a new era of "cinematic rendering."

GeForce 6 Series: Better Graphics and Video

Launched in April 2004, the GeForce 6 series brought Shader Model 3.0 support. This improved how light and shadows looked in games. It also introduced SLI, which lets you use two graphics cards together for more power. Plus, it added PureVideo for better video playback.

GeForce 7 Series: The Last AGP Cards

The GeForce 7 series came out in June 2005. It was the last Nvidia series to support the older AGP connection. This series improved on the GeForce 6 with faster speeds. It also added new anti-aliasing modes for smoother graphics. The RSX Reality Synthesizer, used in the Sony PlayStation 3, was based on a GeForce 7800 GTX.

GeForce 8 Series: Unified Shaders and DirectX 10

Released in November 2006, the GeForce 8 series was the first GPU to fully support Direct3D 10. It used a new design called the Tesla microarchitecture. This allowed it to use a "unified shader model," making graphics processing more efficient.

GeForce 9 Series and 100 Series: Updates to Existing Designs

The first GeForce 9 series product came out in February 2008. These cards were mostly updated versions of the GeForce 8 series. Some models, like the 9800GX2, even used two GPUs on one card! In 2009, Nvidia quietly released the GeForce 100 series, which were just renamed 9 series cards.

GeForce 200 Series and 300 Series: The GT200 Core

The 200 series, launched in June 2008, used the powerful GT200 graphics processor. This chip had 1.4 billion transistors! Nvidia also changed the naming scheme, using "GTX" or "GTS" with model numbers like 260 or 280. The 300 series cards were renamed versions of the 200 series.

GeForce 400 Series and 500 Series: The Fermi Architecture

In April 2010, Nvidia released the GeForce GTX 470 and GTX 480. These were the first cards based on the new Fermi architecture. They were also the first Nvidia GPUs to use 1GB or more of GDDR5 memory. However, these cards were criticized for using a lot of power and getting very hot. Later, Nvidia released the GTX 580, which was much better.

GeForce 600, 700, and 800M Series: The Kepler Architecture

Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti, a PCI Express 3.0 ×16 graphics card

Nvidia announced the Kepler microarchitecture in September 2010. The GeForce 600 series, released in March 2012, brought big improvements in performance and power efficiency. The GTX 680 became a flagship card.

Nvidia also introduced GPU Boost 2.0 with the GTX Titan. This feature allowed the GPU to increase its speed automatically. In May 2013, the 700 series was announced, still based on Kepler. The GTX 780 offered similar performance to the Titan at a lower price. Nvidia also revealed ShadowPlay, a tool for recording gameplay with little impact on performance.

The GeForce 800M series for laptops included some renamed 700M parts and some newer Maxwell architecture parts.

GeForce 900 Series: Power Efficiency with Maxwell

The Maxwell microarchitecture was announced in March 2013 and released in September 2014. This series focused on being more power-efficient. It was the last GeForce series to support older analog video outputs.

GeForce 10 Series: Pascal and New Technologies

The Pascal microarchitecture was announced in March 2014 and released in May 2016. It brought many improvements:

• More CUDA Cores: Each processing unit (SM) had more CUDA cores, which are like tiny brains for graphics tasks.
• GDDR5X Memory: A new, faster type of memory was introduced for high-end cards.
• Unified Memory: This allowed the computer's main brain (CPU) and the GPU to share memory more easily.
• NVLink: A super-fast connection between the CPU and GPU, or between multiple GPUs.

GeForce 20 Series and 16 Series: Ray Tracing and AI

In August 2018, Nvidia announced the Turing microarchitecture. This new design was made to speed up ray tracing and AI tasks. Ray tracing makes lighting and reflections in games look incredibly realistic. It uses special "RT Cores" for this.

Turing also introduced "Tensor cores" for AI deep learning. These help with features like DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling). DLSS uses AI to make game images look sharper while keeping performance high. The first cards were the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, 2080, and 2070.

In February 2019, Nvidia released the GeForce 16 series. These cards also used the Turing architecture but didn't have the special Tensor or RT cores. This made them more affordable for gamers while still offering good performance.

GeForce 30 Series: Ampere and the Chip Shortage

Nvidia officially announced the GeForce 30 series in September 2020. These cards are built on the Ampere microarchitecture. The RTX 3080, 3090, and 3070 were among the first to be released. The RTX 3090 Ti is the most powerful Ampere card. It has many CUDA cores and a lot of fast GDDR6X memory.

The 30 series was released during a global chip shortage. This meant that these GPUs were hard to find and often sold at very high prices.

GeForce 40 Series: Ada Lovelace (Current)

Nvidia announced its GeForce 40 Series graphics cards in September 2022. These cards use the Ada Lovelace architecture. The RTX 4090 was released in October 2022, followed by other models like the RTX 4080 and 4070.

These cards are made using a special process by TSMC. The RTX 4090 is currently one of the fastest chips available for gamers. It has a huge number of CUDA cores, very fast clock speeds, and a lot of GDDR6X memory. It also features improved 3rd gen RT cores and 4th gen Tensor cores, along with DLSS 3.0.

Different Types of GeForce GPUs

Mobile GPUs for Laptops

A Nvidia GeForce Go 7800 soldered on the motherboard of the HP Pavillion dv9000

Nvidia has made special GeForce chips for laptops since the GeForce 2 series. These were first called GeForce Go. They have most of the same features as desktop GPUs. However, they are designed to use less power and produce less heat. This is important for laptops and small computers.

Starting with the GeForce 8 series, the "Go" brand was removed. Mobile GPUs were just called "GeForce" with an "M" at the end (like GTX 980M). But in 2016, with the GeForce 10 series for laptops, Nvidia dropped the "M" suffix. This is because laptop GPUs became almost as powerful as their desktop versions.

The GeForce MX brand, which used to be for entry-level desktop GPUs, came back in 2017. The MX150 was released for notebooks and is based on the same chip as the desktop GT 1030.

Integrated Motherboard GPUs

Nvidia used to include graphics solutions directly on their motherboard chipsets. These were called mGPUs (motherboard GPUs). This line was stopped in 2009.

After that, Nvidia released their Ion line. These combined an Intel Atom CPU with a low-end GeForce 9 series GPU on the motherboard. An upgraded Ion 2 was released later with a GeForce 300 series GPU.

How GeForce Cards Are Named

Nvidia uses a specific naming system for its GeForce cards. This helps you understand how powerful a card is.

From the GeForce 4 series to the 9 series, they used this system:

Since the GeForce 100 series, Nvidia changed their naming system:

Graphics Card Software (Drivers)

Official Nvidia Drivers

Nvidia creates and shares special software called "drivers" for GeForce cards. These drivers help your computer talk to the graphics card. You can download them from Nvidia's website. They are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac computers. Nvidia often releases new drivers with updates that make specific video games run better.

In May 2022, Nvidia announced that they would release some parts of their drivers as "open-source." This means that other people can see and use the code. This helps make it easier to use Nvidia cards with different operating systems like Linux.

Community-Made Drivers

There are also free, community-made drivers, like the nouveau driver. These are made by people outside of Nvidia. While Nvidia doesn't officially support them, they have helped with some of the code.

These open-source drivers support many features of GeForce cards. However, Nvidia's own drivers usually perform better in tests.

GeForce Experience App

GeForce Experience is a program from Nvidia that comes with several helpful tools. One popular tool is Nvidia ShadowPlay, which lets you record your gameplay.

Sometimes, when installing new drivers, GeForce Experience might make your computer restart after a short countdown.

See also

In Spanish: GeForce para niños