EVGA's GTX 260 55nm pixalized

[Hauk]

Nice looking card!

I hope they do all the new cards this way...

 

[nosfe]

what's so nice about it? isn't that the reference cooler?

 

[Hauk]

:roll:

 

[nosfe]

what? nvidia cards are so bland nowadays that a little red paint on a stock cooler is considered a big deal?

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: nosfe
what? nvidia cards are so bland nowadays that a little red paint on a stock cooler is considered a big deal?

:roll:

 

[GaiaHunter]

AHAHAH

Shoot nosfe in the eye with an ATI card.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Repost.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2258997&enterthread=y

second page

 

[Modular]

It doesn't look all that great to me. I'm not a fan of the shrouds that cover all the components. It's like what car companies have been doing recently with all the plastic covers that have to be taken off before you get to the engine...

 

[Cookie Monster]

Actually the shroud on the new GTX260s cover the HSF only. There is no more of it on the back side.

 

[MarcVenice]

In steelsix's picture the shroud is covering the whole card, is it not ? I think I like the shrouds better, vs a bare HD4850 for example.

 

[SolMiester]

I would of thought a shroud would help direct the air through the card cooling the components better than an open card?

 

[MarcVenice]

I think it's mostly so the 'hot' air gets pushed out of the back of the card, out of the case, instead of dumping it inside the case. Most 'stock' coolers cover all the components that need cooling ( gpu + vrm's ), with or w/o shroud.

 

[Cookie Monster]

The back shroud was only there in the first place because of the ram chips on the back of the PCB.

 

[AuDioFreaK39]

To anyone looking to purchase or Step-Up to one of these, here are my two cents. You might wanna wait a few weeks so NVIDIA can fine-tune its production of 55nm G200-103-B2 (GTX 260) chips and possibly leave you with a better binned card that has better overclocking potential? Now I don't know if this is true, but it's worth a shot.

Besides, NVIDIA is still trying to capitalize on the 65nm fabrication on all those consumers who don't care or know the difference. That can only mean that 55nm production will get better over time.

 

[Cookie Monster]

B3 revision is the final revision for the GT206 chips.

 

[AuDioFreaK39]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
B3 revision is the final revision for the GT206 chips.

Many thanks for this information. Where did you obtain it from?

 

[Cookie Monster]

Pic of the G206 IHS

It reads, week 45 - year 2008 - B3 revision. From sampling to production takes roughly 3 months or so (if the samples pass all the validation tests etc), i.e means that B3 must be their final silicon and its ready for retail in Q109 (January to February time). This also coincides with the burst of november rumours of nVIDIA going for a third spin.

Since nVIDIA intends to release their GTX295 cards based in January. I think the third spin took roughly at around October (or earlier) after evaluating that the B2 revision wasn't meeting its targets.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: AuDioFreaK39
To anyone looking to purchase or Step-Up to one of these, here are my two cents. You might wanna wait a few weeks so NVIDIA can fine-tune its production of 55nm G200-103-B2 (GTX 260) chips and possibly leave you with a better binned card that has better overclocking potential? Now I don't know if this is true, but it's worth a shot.

Besides, NVIDIA is still trying to capitalize on the 65nm fabrication on all those consumers who don't care or know the difference. That can only mean that 55nm production will get better over time.

I don't know why is everybody hoping for a super uber overclocking on these cards. It's a die shrink that comes with a lower nominal voltage and so the power consumption is decreased and the card runs cooler, but that doesn't really translates into better overclocking.

In my opinion the overclocking potential will probably be around the same with the "old" GTX 260. But, who knows, maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: error8
It's a die shrink that comes with a lower nominal voltage and so the power consumption is decreased and the card runs cooler, but that doesn't really translates into better overclocking.

I haven't had a chance to test a 55nm GTX 260 yet (been sitting on my desk for a couple weeks but been busy). However, I've seen interesting results with other 55nm chips. Some of them like the 9800 GTX+ won't run any faster but does it with less power. Others use less power AND run a bit faster. Nothing incredible, but reasonable nonetheless.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: error8
I don't know why is everybody hoping for a super uber overclocking on these cards. It's a die shrink that comes with a lower nominal voltage and so the power consumption is decreased and the card runs cooler, but that doesn't really translates into better overclocking.

In my opinion the overclocking potential will probably be around the same with the "old" GTX 260. But, who knows, maybe I'm wrong.

I think expectations are based on results comparing G80 (90nm) to G92 (65nm) to G92b (55nm). While this transition probably won't show the massive increases from 90nm to 65nm, there were still nice gains going from 65nm to 55nm. Personally I'm hoping for higher shader clocks as that's where GT200 fell short the most in terms of doubling G92's specs.