Prior the NV3x chips, NVIDIA would use an older generation model than their current mainstream desktop product for the budget/low-end market - for example, in early 2002, the GeForce4 Ti topped their products list with the GeForce4 MX bringing up the rear. Although similarly named, the latter was simply an updated GeForce2 chip. NVIDIA changed this approach with the GeForce FX by taking the "main" chip and cutting down on the number of internal components, and then marketing it as their budget offering, such as the FX 5200. This ensured that NVIDIA could successfully market the model as having all of the architectural features, such as SM2.0 support, but the appropriate performance for the intended niche.

This has remained the case ever since (although the GeForce 6200 did lose some of the capabilities of its 6800 parent design) and the current low-end model in NVIDIA's product range is the GeForce 7300. Launched earlier this year, the GeForce 7300 (codenamed the G72) marked NVIDIA's first move into the 90nm process scale from the fabrication plants of TMSC. Here we take a look at GeForce 7300 GS produced by the AIB vendor Leadtek Research Inc.