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

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RussianSensation

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Sep 5, 2003
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There is also no evidence which supports that next generation GPUs from AMD/Nv will be on 28nm.

There is, unless you think AMD and Nv are releasing nothing this year:

"Lisa Su, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, AMD, has confirmed what we told you back in May 2014 – AMD’s 20nm products are coming next year.

Without going into many details about the actual chips, Su confirmed our report during the company’s Q2 financial conference call.

"We (AMD) will be shipping products in 20 nanometre next year and as we move forward obviously a FinFET is also important,” said Su."

All the major tech analysts already noted the only firm which could ship 20nm chips in 2014 is Apple, with everyone else including Qualcomm forced to push back to 2015 because Apple paid for exclusive rights to TSMC for 20nm SoCs this year:

http://mobile.extremetech.com/lates...ng-20nm-parts-for-apples-next-gen-iphone-ipad

There could be some AMD/NV GPUs on 20nm in the future but it won't be in 2014. If 880 is launching this year, it's automatically 28nm. NV would never be able to afford to bump
Apple out of 20nm this year considering iPhone 6 4.7/5.5, iPad Air 2, iPad mini retina 2. The demand for 20nm wafers will be nuts this fall.
 
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Mand

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Jan 13, 2014
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No, I don't think AMD will release a new generation of cards this year. That does not mean they will release nothing, they might have a few polishes and refreshes, but no, I do not think that we will get a new generation.

I fail to see how an AMD investor call says anything whatsoever about Nvidia, however. They have always said that Maxwell will be 20nm - I see no reason to believe they've changed course. Yes, the 750 Ti was 28nm, but that was very clearly a one-off, to test the new architecture on the existing node, and it was not given an 800-series name as a direct result.

Wild speculation about Apple gobbling up capacity also does not qualify as evidence. Apple got exclusive SoC. That does not mean they got all 20nm production.

If 880 is launching this year, it's automatically 28nm.

You don't know that. You're guessing, as is everyone else. It may well be a reasonable, logical guess, but it's still a guess.
 
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RussianSensation

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Sep 5, 2003
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They have always said that Maxwell will be 20nm - I see no reason to believe they've changed course. Yes, the 750 Ti was 28nm, but that was very clearly a one-off, to test the new architecture on the existing node, and it was not given an 800-series name as a direct .

Source? When did NV say Maxwell is 20nm, except 750/Ti?

There is no credible leak from any site recently which even hints that GM204 is launching first on 20nm. Again, if AMD isn't ready to 20nm this year, neither will NV since NV takes even longer to adopt newer nodes and latest tech like GDDR5 based on the last 5+ years of GPU development.

20nm is SOC focused, at first place. But, it does not mean 20nm gpus are canceled nor postponed.

For 2014 they are cancelled/postponed. 2015 and beyond sure, unless NV skips 20nm entirely for 16nm FinFET.
 
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RussianSensation

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Sep 5, 2003
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Maybe only for AMD....

2016 is FinFet, as stated by TSMC.

You didn't get my point. 28nm for GM204, then 16nm, skipping 20nm. That's a possibility. The numbers for 20nm don't add up. 430mm2 20nm chip but crippled with 256-bit bus? Also, if it was not financially viable / feasible in volume for Qualcomm to get 20nm out the door in 2014 with a small SoC, how would NV manage to do that with a 400mm2+ chip unless it's a 2014 paper launch?
 

tviceman

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Mar 25, 2008
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There is also no evidence which supports that next generation GPUs from AMD/Nv will be on 28nm.

Yes, there is plenty of evidence which supports new architectures coming on 28nm. Shipping manifests, rumors, specs, and industry insiders.

There wil be no 20nm GPU's this year. None. There will only be 20nm modems from Qualcomm and a 20nm SoC from Apple. That's it. 20nm GPU's, if they come at all, will likely be at the end of Q1 or the beginning of Q2 2015.
 

SinOfLiberty

Senior member
Apr 27, 2011
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You didn't get my point. 28nm for GM204, then 16nm, skipping 20nm. That's a possibility. The numbers for 20nm don't add up. 430mm2 20nm chip but crippled with 256-bit bus? Also, if it was not financially viable / feasible in volume for Qualcomm to get 20nm out the door in 2014 with a small SoC, how would NV manage to do that with a 400mm2+ chip unless it's a 2014 paper launch?

Where is the source of what you wrote?
 

tviceman

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Mar 25, 2008
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His source are the leaked shots of the PCB / die for GM204. It is estimated to be between 410-430mm^2, which coincidentally, is almost precisely the same size percenage increase over GK104 that GM107 is over GK107.

And he's right, for a multitude of reasons, but for most of which I stated in my previous post.
 

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
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To be fair 28nm can still be improved; either company could try GloFo's FD SOI process, and/or add HBM. AMD have confirmed that they are building GPUs at GloFo.
 

NostaSeronx

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Sep 18, 2011
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To be fair 28nm can still be improved; either company could try GloFo's FD SOI process, and/or add HBM. AMD have confirmed that they are building GPUs at GloFo.
GlobalFoundries has cancelled their UTBB FDSOI roadmap for SOI FinFETs.

If there is going to be an improved design on 28-nm using niche improvements. It would be from UMC's 28-nm HPM node; http://www.umc.com/English/news/2013/20130723.asp