Nvidia’s made a bit of a habit of plastering confusing new names on its existing GPUs recently. The 512MB GeForce 8800 GTS has already been renamed the GeForce 9800 GTX after a slight overclock and the addition of HybridPower support, and the rumour machine is indicating that the revised GeForce 9800 GTX+, which featured a die shrink from 65nm to 55nm transistors, is going to be renamed as the GeForce GTS 250 next month.

Tech site Expreview has published some photos of an XFX GeForce GTS 250 card courtesy of IT168.com, and the site also claims to have spoken to a source who said that Nvidia will announce the new GPU on Tuesday 3 March when the CeBIT trade show opens in Hannover.

According to Expreview, however, the GTS 250 will still be based on Nvidia’s ageing G92 architecture, despite the new name. The site says that the new cards will even use the same PCB, and also claims that Nvidia has told its board partners that they can be confident when purchasing GPUs and PCBs, as ‘the only change is a new VBIOS to implement the new branding.’

As well as the GeForce GTS 250, Expreview also claims that Nvidia has plans to rebrand the GeForce 9800 GT (the renamed GeForce 8800 GT) as the GeForce GTS 240, but that GTS 240 cards may have new, quieter coolers than those used on 9800 GT cards.

Although Nvidia’s recent rebranding strategies have only helped to confuse matters even further when it comes to distinguishing between GPUs, it could be argued it makes sense to bring all of the company’s current GPUs under one consistent naming scheme. Nvidia refused to comment on the rumour, but if it’s true, will a GeForce 9800 GTX+ rebadged as a GeForce GTS 250 help people make sense of Nvidia’s GPU lineup, or will it just make choosing a GPU more confusing? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.