X1900GT - Revision B ??

[hmorphone]

Maybe this is the reason for the X1900GT shortages/price jumps?

Beyond3D has learned of an upcoming specifications change to X1900 GT. The new spec lowers the clock speed by 63MHz, from 575MHz to 512MHz, while increasing the memory speed by 60MHz from 600MHz to 660MHz (1320MHz effective). A PCB redesign is also included to accomodate a fan change anticpated to produce improved accoustics, and HDCP capability is included by default on the new boards.

So, in exchange for a modest core decrease, purchasers of the new board will get faster memory, a hopefully quieter fan, and HDCP. As partners are expecting overall performance to remain pretty close, this doesn't sound like an unreasonable set of tradeoffs to be making.

Unfortunately, by deciding against a new name ("X1900 GT SE", anyone?) the situation becomes rife for some confusion for individual purchasers. There will be two signficantly different "X1900 GT" abroad in the land, and consumers who care about the difference between them should be careful to determine they know which they are purchasing until the stock of the old model disappears completely. The new model is not yet available in the channel, but it shouldn't be much longer before it makes its appearance.

It's not clear to me why they're doing this. Maybe some of the XT chips with a bad quad are speed limited? Or, if the AIW's are being phased out, maybe they need to do something else with low speed binned XT chips (after they lock a quad)? Or maybe there is an issue with temps? My GT easily runs 648/711, but needs an Accelero X2 to keep the temps out of the 90's (with the core at that speed.) Though, if that was the case, they could've just slapped regular XT coolers on them. It all seems kind of pointless because my understanding is that the X1950 pro will be a GT shrunk to 80nm, with the disabled quad not present, and higher clocks. If the X1950 pro is replacing the GT, why fiddle with it?

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: hmorphone
Maybe this is the reason for the X1900GT shortages/price jumps?

Beyond3D has learned of an upcoming specifications change to X1900 GT. The new spec lowers the clock speed by 63MHz, from 575MHz to 512MHz, while increasing the memory speed by 60MHz from 600MHz to 660MHz (1320MHz effective). A PCB redesign is also included to accomodate a fan change anticpated to produce improved accoustics, and HDCP capability is included by default on the new boards.

So, in exchange for a modest core decrease, purchasers of the new board will get faster memory, a hopefully quieter fan, and HDCP. As partners are expecting overall performance to remain pretty close, this doesn't sound like an unreasonable set of tradeoffs to be making.

Unfortunately, by deciding against a new name ("X1900 GT SE", anyone?) the situation becomes rife for some confusion for individual purchasers. There will be two signficantly different "X1900 GT" abroad in the land, and consumers who care about the difference between them should be careful to determine they know which they are purchasing until the stock of the old model disappears completely. The new model is not yet available in the channel, but it shouldn't be much longer before it makes its appearance.

It's not clear to me why they're doing this. Maybe some of the XT chips with a bad quad are speed limited? Or, if the AIW's are being phased out, maybe they need to do something else with low speed binned XT chips (after they lock a quad)? Or maybe there is an issue with temps? My GT easily runs 648/711, but needs an Accelero X2 to keep the temps out of the 90's (with the core at that speed.) Though, if that was the case, they could've just slapped regular XT coolers on them. It all seems kind of pointless because my understanding is that the X1950 pro will be a GT shrunk to 80nm, with the disabled quad not present, and higher clocks. If the X1950 pro is replacing the GT, why fiddle with it?

to get rid of the crap x1900xt cores lying around that just won't work

 

[SKoprowski]

It's here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161029

 

[hmorphone]

Originally posted by: SKoprowski
It's here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161029

Whoa.. looks like they threw a little X1950XTX cooler bling into that new cooler. I also learned that they've dropped the stock volts from the regular GT. While I'm sure they'll get a sales boost from the new cooler, I think a lot of the changes are to get the GPU temps down. Looks like they've improved v reg cooling as well.