PDA

View Full Version : Quadro NVS 280 / Quadro FX 330 - Whats the difference?

JanR
10-31-05, 06:34 AM
Hi,

can anybody tell whats the difference between the PCIe versions of the Quadro NVS 280 and the Quadro FX 330? They share the same PCI-ID, have the same GPU (NV37GL)... they look pretty identical (at least on some of the pictures)... so ist there any difference?

Greetings,

Jan
ricercar
10-31-05, 07:02 PM
No performance difference; they appear to be the same core but packaged with diferent power and thermal characteristics. The original GeForce FX 5100/5200/5300/5500 are all variations on the NV34.

There's strong evidence that NV37 is a low-power respin of NV34, especially with a "GeForce 5300" variant of NV37:

PCI Device ID
032a = NV34GL [Quadro NVS 280 PCI]
032b = NV34GL [Quadro FX 500/600 PCI]
032c = NV34GLM [GeForce FX Go 5300]
00fc = NV37GL [Quadro FX 330/GeForce PCX 5300]
00fd = NV37GL [Quadro FX 330]

source = http://pciids.sourceforge.net/pci.ids

FWIW I have never encountered evidence that Quadro 280 NVS was reelased as NV37GL. I'd like to see a screen shot of a driver panel or RivaTuner saying NV37GL = NVS 280, if it's not too much trouble.
JanR
11-01-05, 05:00 AM
Hi,

I'm running Linux, so I can not provide such a screen shot. But I can give you other data:

First, look into the linux pciid repository: http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/iii/?i=10de

They list the older NVS 280 with the ID that you mentioned, but under 00fd they refer to both 330 and 280 as NV37GL. Its marked as "update"... so this seems to be quite new.

Second, here is the lspci output from my machine containing TWO NVS 280 (I got them from independant ebay sources so I guess they are not both 330 sold as 280):

0000:01:00.0 Class 0300: 10de:00fd (rev a2)
0000:02:00.0 Class 0300: 10de:00fd (rev a2)

Again 00fd... and the kernel (it has not the latest PCIIDs, I guess) says:

0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV37GL [Quadro FX 330] (rev a2)
0000:02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV37GL [Quadro FX 330] (rev a2)

First seeing this I tought I got 330 by accident, but then I found the repository listing the 280 also as NV37GL. I guess this only valid for PCIe version, not PCI or AGP.

Starting X11 with nvidias Linux driver makes everything more clear and supports the theory that these cards are really 280:

(II) NVIDIA(0): NVIDIA GPU detected as: Quadro NVS 280 PCI-E
(--) NVIDIA(0): VideoBIOS: 04.34.20.79.08
(--) NVIDIA(0): Interlaced video modes are supported on this GPU
(II) NVIDIA(0): Detected PCI Express Link width: 8X
(--) NVIDIA(0): VideoRAM: 65536 kBytes

Alltogether... thats the reason why I asked...

My guess is that PCIe versions of both cards share the NV37GL core and the PCI-ID but can somehow identified by the nvidia drivers.

Greetings,

Jan
ricercar
11-01-05, 01:40 PM
I agree with you. The NV37 seems to be a repackaged spin of the NV34, so NVIDIA reuses the same NV34 Quadro model name.

To directly answer of your original question: there's likely no end-user performance difference between your cards. The difference between NV34 and NV37 is that NVIDIA sees a lower manufacturing cost for the NV37, and there may be a lower power consumption for the NV37.

Thanks for the new URL for the PCI ID list. I hadn't had that one before.
JanR
11-01-05, 06:31 PM
Hi,

basically its the same URL... just http://pciids.sourceforge.net/ and then click on "online list".

Performance is not an issue... the NV37GL is not that fast (they call it "2D card") and I do not need 3D, only high quality 2D (and thats exactly what this card gives me.

I just wonder why nVidia sells the NVS 280 as "2D card for workstations" while the FX 330 is an "entry level 3D card for workstations" and both share the same chip.

There must be more... because the X driver distinguishes here. Or maybe it just reads the ID from the BIOS of the card...

Greetings,

Jan
Demirug
11-02-05, 05:08 AM
Hi,

basically its the same URL... just http://pciids.sourceforge.net/ and then click on "online list".

Performance is not an issue... the NV37GL is not that fast (they call it "2D card") and I do not need 3D, only high quality 2D (and thats exactly what this card gives me.

I just wonder why nVidia sells the NVS 280 as "2D card for workstations" while the FX 330 is an "entry level 3D card for workstations" and both share the same chip.

There must be more... because the X driver distinguishes here. Or maybe it just reads the ID from the BIOS of the card...

Greetings,

Jan

The reason that this two cards use the same chip is simple. The NVS card Series are 2D cards and nVidia always use the “worst” chip they have that can do the job. For PCIe this is a NV37. Because NVS cards are “professional” cards the use the GL version. There are other NVS 280 cards for AGP and PCI. This cards use chips that are even older.