NVIDIA preparing four Maxwell GM204 SKUs (VideocardZ via S/A)

[3DVagabond]

VideocardZ has posted an article giving info from Semi-Accurate that nVidia is going to release GM204 in Oct. Four sku's, 28nm, 880 ti, 880, 870, and 860 all using the same chip.

SOURCE:

All these cards will differ in Streaming Multiprocessor count. Various sources claim that full GM204 chip would feature between 15 and 20 SMs (1920-2560 CUDAs). Maxwell core is obviously much more power efficient than Kepler, thus the next flagship will most likely have less cores than full GK110 processor. This has not happened before.

If the rumored specs are correct and they are replacing the 780 models with it, one can only assume perf/cc is up drastically. I'll be curious to see the performance and price considering what GK104 is selling for now (~$300-$350 depending on memory amt.). Hopefully it won't be anymore than GK104 sold for originally @ $500.

 

[toyota]

even at 2560 cores it will not be much of an improvement over the 2880 Kepler cores. plus if its like the 750, it will end up with just 160 tmus for its 2560 cores which would be a massive reduction from 240. and if its 256bit then it will only have the bandwidth of the 770 which would also be a limitation even with its magic cache. and if its just 32 rops then there will be another massive downgrade. there has to be more to this chip as its just not adding up for this to be called an 880 ti.

 

[Fastx]

My thoughts/prediction (no facts) on performance increase in general of below cards imo

GTX 880 6-8GB -15-20% Faster than the GTX 780?
GTX 880 Ti 6-8GB 15-20% Faster than the GTX 780 Ti?

Card cost on the above two cards will be very interesting.

 

[toyota]

My thoughts/prediction (no facts) on performance increase in general of below cards imo

GTX 880 6-8GB -15-20% Faster than the GTX 780?
GTX 880 Ti 6-8GB 15-20% Faster than the GTX 780 Ti?

Card cost on the above two cards will be very interesting.

it will either be 4gb or 8gb if its 256 bit.

 

[Fastx]

it will either be 4gb or 8gb if its 256 bit.

Ok, but I was thinking since they have the GTX 780 6GB/384bit out now, the 880 would be a min of 6GB but if they do go 4GB/256 on the 880 might be a little let down on 4GB unless pricing/performance is nice.

 

[DarkKnightDude]

So 900 series is the real Maxwell chip again?

 

[toyota]

well if they release this at $499 then people will think its a bargain since the 780 ti was so overpriced. then of course the real high end will go right back to crazy prices and this will be a midrange gpu...

 

[mavere]

Now, here’s the biggest shocker coming from SemiAccurate article. According to their sources, NVIDIA will skip 20nm node and move straight to 16nm. Not only that, GM204 will be the first GPU remanufactured and relaunched using this process.

Interesting, though not necessarily surprising. Fast time to market is probably the biggest part of 16nm.

I'm expecting the new GPUs to be rebranded as 900s. They can easily justify that if they keep power consumption the same and bump performance by over a third:

 

[f1sherman]

Kepler vs 1st gen Maxwell:

CC:TM:ROP       Clock  Pixel Texture Bandwidth 

640:40:16	1085	16.3	40.8	88  -- 750 Ti
768:64:24	1032	23.5	62.7	144.2 -- 650 Ti Boost

GTX 650 Ti Boost ends up only 6% faster than 750 Ti.

 

[JohnWayne74]

Bring in the 20 MM [cards] and I'll be thrilled!

Profanity isn't allowed in the technical forums.
-- stahlhart

 

[Grooveriding]

Man, an entire lineup on 28nm using the same chip cut down multiple times ? Hopefully this is not true or else it's a long wait for the real Maxwell flagship.

How long until 16nm from TSMC ?

 

[ocre]

the next round will all be 28nm. i think its time to face the music. Expectations set really low for me. Then maybe I wont want to puke.

First CPUs and now GPUs are starting to inch

Everyone needs to face the facts. Dont be expecting a leap in performance this round. Cause even the best case........realistically..........

I just wouldnt have high hopes at this point.

 

[f1sherman]

performance jump would have been great even on 28nm - if they were releasing 550mm2 chip

but for now we will be getting mid-sized GM204 only,
ie GTX 580 --> GTX 680 kind of performance jump

 

[3DVagabond]

performance jump would have been great even on 28nm - if they were releasing 550mm2 chip

but for now we will be getting mid-sized GM204 only,
ie GTX 580 --> GTX 680 kind of performance jump

I will actually be quite impressed if we get a 30%-40% performance increase. Remember though, we don't have a shrink this time.

 

[f1sherman]

I will actually be quite impressed if we get a 30%-40% performance increase. Remember though, we don't have a shrink this time.

i'm guessing more like 15-30%, depending on how much of TDP they are willing to sacrifice for performance gains

 

[RussianSensation]

I guess now as consumers we really should vote with our wallets. Last gen some got caught off guard by GK204 not really believing it was mid-range; and then Nv pulled the Titan stunt only to release 780 just months after. On the AMD side, bitcoin mining offset the $500+ cost for 7970 but really 7970 should have been the Ghz edition at that price. Now without mining and knowing GM204 is a midrange chip, I am skipping these cards until AMD and NV bring the real deal 60-70% faster than 780Ti. I realize this chip will still sell well at $499-549 if it beats 780Ti by 15-30%. However, I refuse to pay $500+ for a midrange product knowing that in 12-15 months the flagship will drop for $650 from either AMD or NV. I mean just slightly more than 1 year after 670 launched, we got 760 for only $250 but then AMD launched the 290 at just $399. I think NV is going to aim these at GTX670/680 users as primary upgrade candidates.

Seems to me NV's strategy of moving the flagship to $649-699 is a smart one. Now they can market a faster midrange GM204 for $499-549 and it will look like a "hot deal."

 

[tviceman]

The one thing about this rumor that makes sense is gm204's core count. GF114 had 4x more cores than GF117, and GK104 had 4x more cores than GK107. 2,560 cores is 4x GM107. So we either have a very lazy guess by Charlie or a very predictable design pattern by Nvidia.

 

[3DVagabond]

I guess now as consumers we really should vote with our wallets. Last gen some got caught off guard by GK204 not really believing it was mid-range. On the AMD side, bitcoin mining offset the $500+ cost for 7970. Now without mining and knowing GM204 is a midrange chip, I am skipping these cards until AMD and NV bring the real deal 60-70% faster than 780Ti. I realize this chip will still sell well at $499-549 if it beats 780Ti by 15-30%. However, I refuse to pay $500+ for a midrange product. I mean just slightly more than 1 year after 670 launched, we got 760 for only $250. I think NV is going to aim these at GTX670/680 users as primary upgrade candidates.

If it's even a 15% increase people will jump on it and they'll pay top dollar screwing the market pricing.

 

[Silverforce11]

GM204 isn't for people already on top cards now. It's for those on lower tiers who did not find it fitting to upgrade to a 780/ti or R290/X.

Likewise, I expect AMD's 28nm refresh will be similar. Improvements in perf/w but not a massive leap in raw performance since its still 28nm and this node is already VERY mature.

The real next-gen will be on a new node.

 

[sao123]

Interesting, though not necessarily surprising. Fast time to market is probably the biggest part of 16nm.

I'm expecting the new GPUs to be rebranded as 900s. They can easily justify that if they keep power consumption the same and bump performance by over a third:

so... 3 to 4.5 years till we see GM210... the real Maxwell flagship card.

Guess its time to buy a R290X now and I can be ready to build a whole new rig by then...

 

[Galatian]

If it's even a 15% increase people will jump on it and they'll pay top dollar screwing the market pricing.

How is it screwing you over? Either you need a new GPU and are willing to pay the money or you don't. I believe people upgrading each generation are the minority. And for those with a 500 or even 600 series of GPUs the jump will be more significant. Just have to check for yourself if you are willing to pay the price for the given performance.

 

[NTMBK]

Ripping off a subscriber-only story from S|A and reposting the contents? Stay classy, videocardz.

 

[Qwertilot]

To be fair, there really is a rather massive gap in their line up in terms of TDPs right now. +-60w for a 750ti then all the way up to ~170w for a 760 to get notably more performance.

Even just a ~90/100w 760 equivalent with no more performance - would be handy for some people. Small form factor machines etc. Or maybe they'll try and ramp performance instead. We'll see

 

[AtenRa]

If they will use TSMCs 16nm FF then the earliest those SKUs will be ready for the retail is the end of 2015 or Q1 2016.

That will be four years after first 28nm GPUs arrived.

 

[3DVagabond]

How is it screwing you over? Either you need a new GPU and are willing to pay the money or you don't. I believe people upgrading each generation are the minority. And for those with a 500 or even 600 series of GPUs the jump will be more significant. Just have to check for yourself if you are willing to pay the price for the given performance.

I never said it was screwing me over. Read what I actually said. I didn't mention me, or you, or anyone else. I said it screws the market. It empowers the IHV's to overcharge for their mid level design. In the end what they charge is determined by what people are willing to pay. Just like now people being willing to overpay for the same recycled products from the previous gen is going to allow them to charge us flagship pricing for 2nd level products. Once again the GM104 chip is going to be marketed as the 880, when everyone knows it really should be the 860. Then they'll release what should be the 870 as the 980, 880 as 980 ti, and give us the same thing with 2X the VRAM for $1000. I just know that people not only will bend over and say, "Thank you sir may I have another", but others are going to cheer the IHV's on telling them how ZOMG awesome they are.