ELSA hints GT206 and GT212

[AnarchX]

4x 6-Pin + PEG = 375W maximum board power.
8 memory chips per GPU = 256-Bit per GPU.
Two Display Ports.

Now combine it with the Quadro FX 3800: 256-Bit, 108W board power:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_3800_us.html

So this might be really a Quadro FX 5x00X4, maybe aimed on the new Multi-OS SLI.

But of course its April 1st...

 

[Psycho]

If real it's some kind of Tesla, no display connectors and no NVIO (and imho not enough PWM).
And the noise from that cooler can only go into a data center, not a living room

edit: ok, looks like it has 2x displayport..

 

[AnarchX]

http://translate.google.ch/translat...4/8778914.shtml&sl=zh-CN&tl=de&hl=de&ie=UTF-8

Too sad that GT212 seems to be canceled in reality...

 

[Jawed]

090401 might be a clue, eh?

Jawed

 

[compres]

090401 might be a clue, eh?

Jawed

 

[Jawed]

Does this Digitimes piece mean anything (quoting Commercial Times)?:

Nvidia recently set its outsourcing schedule with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) for the second quarter, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

In addition to expanding its 55nm GT200b GPU outsourcing, the company will also start mass production of the 40nm entry-level GT218, high-end mobile GT215 and mainstream GT214 and GT216 GPUs in mid to late second quarter, according to the paper.

We're already more than half way through Q2

Jawed

 

[rjc]

Does this Digitimes piece mean anything (quoting Commercial Times)?:

That the GT214 is still alive possibly. The chip is functionally the same as the GT215, just a smaller die area and bit cheaper i guess.

The GT218 and GT216 should be coming first though, maybe later than originally expected, would be very lucky if they can launch either before june.

The GT215 is also quoted as a mobile part, guess nvidia might want this to compete with the mobile RV740...dont think started producing this yet, so maybe middle late Q3 at best.

 

[trinibwoy]

Does this Digitimes piece mean anything (quoting Commercial Times)?:

We're already more than half way through Q2

Calendar Q2? That's mid-May.

 

[Jawed]

D'oh, slaps forehead

Jawed

 

[Jawed]

http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-preparing-40nm-geforce-gt-240m--g210m/6954.html?doc=6954

Now, VR-Zone has learned that Nvidia is preparing GeForce GT 240M and GeForce G210M for launch somewhere between May-June.

But no sign of any desktop parts.

Jawed

 

[neliz]

isn't the GT240M a 40nm variant of G92 (9800GT) versus the GTX260/80M G92?

 

[rjc]

http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-preparing-40nm-geforce-gt-240m--g210m/6954.html?doc=6954

The article has speculated that the G210M is GT216 based and the GT240M is GT215 based. I don't think this is correct, the GT215 is delayed somewhat.

The current mobile lineup is roughly:
G 1X0M - G98 ver 2 - 64 bit
GT 1X0M - G96 - 128 bit
GTS 1X0M - G92 - 256bit (...with units disabled, might also have snuck some G94s in there as well)
GTX 2XXM - G92 - 256bit
the above i think being replaced by:
G 210M - GT218 - 64 bit
GT 240M - GT216 - 128 bit
GTS 2XXM - GT215 - 192 bit
GTX 2XXM - G92 - 256 bit

But no sign of any desktop parts.

The GT218 and GT216 are too far along, very unlikely to be cancelled now, desktop parts should turn up somewhere. Suppose there is some possibility that the yield is presently too low on these such that the 55nm equivalent parts are cheaper. The parts are thus being restricted to the mobile space for their power saving till they can get yields up sufficiently.

 

[Jawed]

I wonder if NVidia has GDDR5 working on any of these 40nm chips. If it wants to compete with HD4770 it needs GDDR5 or there's going to be a lot of spare die in the ~190mm² needed for a 256-bit bus.

Jawed

 

[rjc]

I wonder if NVidia has GDDR5 working on any of these 40nm chips. If it wants to compete with HD4770 it needs GDDR5 or there's going to be a lot of spare die in the ~190mm² needed for a 256-bit bus.

Sorry for delay replying.

The 2 lower end chips GT216 and GT218 dont appear to have GDDR5 support. GDDR5 is supposed to debut with the GT300 series when the MCs get redesigned. The last chip the GT215 i suppose there is some small chance.

These chips are designed as shrinks of current tech for low end/mobile/oem customers. Idea was to clean up all of the high volume products to deal with the lower asps expected over the next 12 plus months.

The first 2 chips are aimed lower than the RV740. The GT215 is a G92, die size is just enough for a 256 bit bus, but current yields on TSMCs 40nm process mean that its not economic to go ahead with except as a mobile part for some power savings.

 

[neliz]

Are nVidia's 40nm woes more or less atributable to it's use of domains? I can imagine that with 40nm a leaky process a part of the chip running at close to 2ghz is like the Niagra Falls.

 

[CarstenS]

It can't be that bad, considering HD 4770s power and OC characteristics - which allow for high clock rates also.

 

[Jawed]

Is this idea that "mobile is lower volume than desktop" valid? Is the volume of laptops that might be fitted with the equivalent of $70 and $100 desktop discrete graphics lower than the discrete cards? I was under the impression that laptops are selling so much that this seems kinda unlikely.

It seems to me that laptop might be more important to NVidia because of higher margins.

Jawed

 

[neliz]

mobile volumes are indeed lower than desktop. 2006's numbers were 70+ million chips total, of which 50+ on desktop. discrete mobile numbers were around 4 million versus ~20m on the desktop market. yet somehow that 20% of the volume of discrete notebook chips helps revenue better than the other 80%.

 

[DegustatoR]

It seems to me that laptop might be more important to NVidia because of higher margins.

Mobile 40nm is more important because of less power consumption and longer introduction-to-market time. If you want to have some major design wins in the future you have to provide a product which is same/better than cometitor's products now. Really high volumes of mobile GPUs will be needed later.

 

[rjc]

The first 2 chips are aimed lower than the RV740. The GT215 is a G92, die size is just enough for a 256 bit bus, but current yields on TSMCs 40nm process mean that its not economic to go ahead with except as a mobile part for some power savings.

Just following up on this. There is a thread on chiphell here:
http://bbs.chiphell.com/viewthread.php?tid=44437

Not 100% on the translation but it appears to be stating that nvidia is trying to get the GT215 running on UMCs 40nm process. This is generally considered to be running behind TSMCs equivalent process, so if above is true is somewhat remarkable. On the other hand Xilinx is apparently shipping samples of their Virtex6 FPGA to select customers with full availability scheduled for 2nd half of the year so i guess just maybe.

(If someone could check above translation, that would be greatly appreciated)

Also there is some confusion whether the part has a 192bit or 256bit memory interface. Die size is such that neither could be ruled out.