NVIDIA Kepler speculation thread

[Gubbi]

Still I find it hard to believe Intel maintains it's luck every time , If it's a question of resources , then why don't the other foundries throw more money to acquire the necessary edge .

Other foundries are throwing more money at the problem. TSMC is increasing its cap ex to record setting records.

I am not a conspiracy theorist myself , but sometimes I have to question Intel's constant higher technological capabilities , not to mention it's past questionable practices that were not actively punished or recalled in any way that matters , Sometimes I feel that the company has ties to certain governments that grants them resources and preferential treatment!

Intel is vertically integrated. They have great interaction between their process and chip design people. The process engineers can implement novel features earlier because they can impose constraints on the chip design. A foundry can't do that to the same extent.

They also have an exceptional level of technical competence at every level in the company.

Cheers

 

[CarstenS]

When Intel went from 65nm bulk to 45nm HKMG (both using strained silicon), they got:

30% lower active power
upto 5X lower sub-threshold leakage
10X lower gate leakage

Does Intel have something like the different process variations of TMSC? Barring any serious competition from AMD, I could imagine they've been using their analogue to TSMCs LP option for at least since 32nm.

 

[iMacmatician]

More GTX 670 rumors and stuff, apologies if any of this is a repost:

"Gainward GeForce GTX 670 Available For Pre-Order In The Philippines": Online store "confirms" 2 GB (G)DDR5 and 256-bit bus (although those two specs are pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point, along with the rumored CC count). Price at the store is about $470.

"NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 “GK104-335-A2″ Specifications and Performance Detailed": The GTX 670 is claimed to have a $399 price, 2x 6-pin power, and a GTS 450-length PCB. Also they claim a further cut-down GK104 SKU is planned, they speculate 1152 CCs, 192-bit bus, 1 power connector, and $249.

"GIGABYTE GTX670 980MHZ 2048MB GDDR5, 980MHZ, 256 BIT, HDMI DVI-I, DVI-D, DP, PCIE3.0,DX11 [GV-N670OC-2GD]": From the name it looks like an OC version? For comparison there is also a "[GV-N680OC-2GD]" clocked at 1071 MHz.

 

[rpg.314]

Does Intel have something like the different process variations of TMSC?

Yup.

 

[psolord]

More GTX 670 rumors and stuff, apologies if any of this is a repost:

"Gainward GeForce GTX 670 Available For Pre-Order In The Philippines": Online store "confirms" 2 GB (G)DDR5 and 256-bit bus (although those two specs are pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point, along with the rumored CC count). Price at the store is about $470.

"NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 “GK104-335-A2″ Specifications and Performance Detailed": The GTX 670 is claimed to have a $399 price, 2x 6-pin power, and a GTS 450-length PCB. Also they claim a further cut-down GK104 SKU is planned, they speculate 1152 CCs, 192-bit bus, 1 power connector, and $249.

"GIGABYTE GTX670 980MHZ 2048MB GDDR5, 980MHZ, 256 BIT, HDMI DVI-I, DVI-D, DP, PCIE3.0,DX11 [GV-N670OC-2GD]": From the name it looks like an OC version? For comparison there is also a "[GV-N680OC-2GD]" clocked at 1071 MHz.

Thanks for the news.

Still, last year Nvidia went for a 350$ price for the 15/16 SM product (GTX 570). This year they are going for 400$ for the 7/8 SMX product?

7/8 gives a lower specced product compared to a 15/16 product and still they want to price it higher (if the rumors stand)?

 

[AnarchX]

This WCCF site is just a rumor collection. SKU string was told by SemiAccurate months ago.

btw.
Another listing of Gigabyte 670 OC: http://www.czc.cz/-gigabyte-gtx-670-oc-2gb/107716/produkt
9 338 Kč ~375€/~399 USD (w/o VAT).

 

[iMacmatician]

From OBR: "GeForce GTX 670/660 TI Specs!": Another rumor on the third GK104 variant.

 

[iMacmatician]

NVIDIA just finished the NVIDIA Gaming Festival, and announced, among other things, the GTX 690. It is a 300 W dual-GPU with 3072 CCs in total, but they didn't give any other chip specifications from what I heard during the live stream.

A couple of weird features of the 690 that the announcer also said is that it is "the first graphics card to have its name imprinted on itself," and that it makes a ding noise when the card checks out to be fine after it starts up (or something like that).

EDIT: Anandtech: "NVIDIA Unveils GeForce GTX 690: Dual GK104 Flagship Launching May 3rd": 3072 CCs @ 915 MHz, 4 (2x 2) GB 6 GHz GDDR5 on 2x 256-bit bus, 300 W TDP, 2x 8-pin power connectors, and $999.

 

[AlphaWolf]

$999? I suppose if newegg gets one in stock it might stay for more than 5 minutes.

 

[Davros]

and that it makes a ding noise when the card checks out to be fine after it starts up (or something like that).

Remember the Orchid Righteous 3d that would click when it was engaged

 

[DuckThor Evil]

$999 for a card that has 2GB per chip...

 

[UniversalTruth]

Yes, it is a lil bit pricey but its design is unique, it's actually one of the best looking graphics cards in history, if not number one.
I wonder how much these things cost on the board:

An exterior frame made from trivalent chromium-plated aluminum, providing excellent strength and durability
A fan housing made from a thixomolded magnesium alloy, which offers excellent heat dissipation and vibration dampening
High-efficiency power delivery with less resistance, lower power and less heat generated using a 10-phase, heavy-duty power supply with a 10-layer, two-ounce copper printed circuit board
Efficient cooling using dual vapor chambers, a nickel-plated finstack and center-mounted axial fan with optimized fin pitch and air entry angles
Low-profile components and ducted baseplate channels for unobstructed airflow, minimizing turbulence and improving acoustic quality

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Launched

 

[AlphaWolf]

I wonder how much these things cost on the board

I'd think somewhere between $5 and $50 would be a good guess, but it sure cost a lot of syllables for that marketing blurb.

 

[UniversalTruth]

I'd think somewhere between $5 and $50 would be a good guess, but it sure cost a lot of syllables for that marketing blurb.

Yeah, but it is better than nothing like this in most of the other cards actually available.

Ask AMD to lower the price of 7970 to make the buy of two 7970s preferable.

I agree that a price of 849 or 899 would fit much much better, and 999 could be for the 2 X 4 GB versions.

 

[AlphaWolf]

2x 680 is the same price and will be faster. (if you can find them, I gave up trying and went with a 7970 for $50 less)
2x 7970 will be $100 cheaper and will be about the same speed (or faster at extreme resolutions)

I wouldn't expect anyone to move prices because of a $999 product that will likely be in extremely limited supply (maybe even more limited than the demand)

 

[DSC]

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/article-keynote/

Improved Frame rate Metering

Kepler introduces hardware based frame rate metering, a technology that helps to minimize stuttering. In SLI mode, two GPUs share the workload by operating on successive frames; one GPU works on the current frame while the other GPU works on the next frame. But because the workload of each frame is different, the two GPUs will complete their frames at different times. Sending the frames to the monitor at varying intervals can result in perceived stuttering.

The GeForce GTX 690 features a metering mechanism (similar to a traffic meter for a freeway entrance) to regulate the flow of frames. By monitoring and smoothing out any disparities in how frames are issued to the monitor, frame rates feel smoother and more consistent.

Wonder if this feature also extends to dual SLI GTX 680 cards?

 

[Mianca]

Yeah, but it is better than nothing like this in most of the other cards actually available.

Ask AMD to lower the price of 7970 to make the buy of two 7970s preferable.

I agree that a price of 849 or 899 would fit much much better, and 999 could be for the 2 X 4 GB versions.

That GTX690 card has "extremely limited edition" all over it - and NVidia obviously doesn't even want to sell more than just a handfull of them in the first place.

It's basically just a marketing card. Its main purpose is to win benchmarks, look good and strengthen the brand. No need to price it competively if it isn't actually supposed to compete in the market.

All that being said, I can't deny it really looks spectacular.

 

[lanek]

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/article-keynote/



Wonder if this feature also extends to dual SLI GTX 680 cards?

It is allready used in AFR mode.. Nvidia marketing look really good this time.

 

[Alexko]

That GTX690 card has "extremely limited edition" all over it - and NVidia obviously doesn't even want to sell more than just a handfull of them in the first place.

It's basically just a marketing card. Its main purpose is to win benchmarks, look good and strengthen the brand. No need to price it competively if it isn't actually supposed to compete in the market.

All that being said, I can't deny it really looks spectacular.

I think NVIDIA would very much like to sell plenty of them, but since they can't even match demand for the GTX 680…

 

[trinibwoy]

All that being said, I can't deny it really looks spectacular.

Yes it does but the only time I see a graphics card anymore is the five minutes it takes to take it out of the box and put it in my case. I hope anybody who buys one of these plans to keep it on display.