NVIDIA Kepler speculation thread

[Rangers]

STILL no gk104 widely in stock at newegg.

This is ridiculous...and no media outcry at all!

 

[UniversalTruth]

STILL no gk104 widely in stock at newegg.

This is ridiculous...and no media outcry at all!

The same was the situation with Pitcairn, it will slowly become available in the next few days.

I wonder what changes they will introduce with GK114 and GK110 launches...

Again: AMD's compute chip is roughly 70% bigger and about 30% faster than AMD's gaming chip - and a lot of people say that this kind of scaling sucks. Now Nvidia's compute chip is rumored to be ~70% bigger and ~30% faster than Nvidia's gaming chip - and people say NVidia is "way better at separating compute and gaming performance this round"? I don't get that point.

You might argue that Nvidia was more lucky with their overall die size targets when it comes to absolute performance positions. But then, you might also consider that AMD's "big chip" was launched more than three months ago - and Nvidias "big chip" won't show up until autumn.

I bet the performance difference between GK110 and GK104 will be bigger and more noticeable than the one between Pitcairn and Tahiti.

 

[entity279]

Bingo.

Yeah but "the best separation between SKUs" achievement, while it clearly belongs nVidia this time, is irrelevant.

What matters if it will pay off, and I don't think that information will be readily available even long after GK110 launch.

 

[trinibwoy]

Yeah but "the best separation between SKUs" achievement, while it clearly belongs nVidia this time, is irrelevant.

Yes, imagined accolades for nVidia are quite irrelevant.

Point is that a marginal improvement over GK104 in games is believable because a GK110 doesn't necessarily need a massive improvement in that area for it to be significantly faster at compute. GK104's poor compute performance isn't due to unimpressive peak numbers.

 

[Ailuros]

I guess you answered the whole GK104 vs. Taihti here.

I guess it would be worth noting that different IHVs have different strategies.

Well for starters it seems nVidia is much better at separating compute and gaming performance this round. It's very possible that they could address GK104's efficiency issues without a large increase in theoretical maximums.

Going by the above the reasonable conclusion would be that the difference between GK104 and GK110 should be larger than it was while between GF114 and GF110, because the more you strip your performance part of let's call them HPC transistors the bigger the transistor amount and die area will be for the top dog.

GF110 = 530mm2/3.00b
GF114 = 350mm2/1.95b
----------------------------
GK104 = 294mm2/3.54b
GK110 = ?

As for performance the GF110 is roughly 40% ahead in 3D compared to GF114. There must be something I'm missing here.

 

[Mianca]

STILL no gk104 widely in stock at newegg.

This is ridiculous...and no media outcry at all!

It's officially the best graphics card you can't actually buy - but it pales in comparison to the best graphics card that has yet to be released. So why even bother?

 

[AlphaWolf]

For the record, Newegg sent me notification that they received the zotac GTX 680 yesterday. Of course when I checked they were already gone. So there is some movement.

 

[Albuquerque]

It's officially the best graphics card you can't actually buy - but it pales in comparison to the best graphics card that has yet to be released. So why even bother?

That's how you build a brand! (couldn't resist...)

I've set a few of the GTX 680's on NewEgg's site to "auto notify" when they come back in stock. Either NewEgg's auto notify is broken, or else they're NOT coming very quickly... Either is obviously possible, of course.

Edit: I don't have the ZOTAC in my list, but it appears AlphaWolf does. Thus, I stand somewhat corrected, at least on that front...

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Availability is fairly good over here, even in Finland I see stock, usually we get stock a bit later. Evga's EU web store has stock at the moment and OC UK has plenty of stock just to name a few. I'm thinking they probably have fairly decent volumes over there too, just shifting quickly ATM. I believe stock situation will get better soon.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Availability is fairly good over here, even in Finland I see stock, usually we get stock a bit later. Evga's EU web store has stock at the moment and OC UK has plenty of stock just to name a few. I'm thinking they probably have fairly decent volumes over there too, just shifting quickly ATM. I believe stock situation will get better soon.

Not really. I put an auto notify at newegg for every model on the day of release (after they all sold out). Yesterday was the first notification I received, it was for the Zotac and I checked their site a few minutes after receiving the email, so it seems unlikely they got a whole bunch.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Europe seems to have gotten more stock already at this week, so I'd imagine you guys will have to get some soon too. Keep us updated on those notifications

 

[lanek]

Some Gainward have arrived today ( 10-15pieces ).. Only Gainward, other brand they cant give a date of availability ( they are just unable to order them. Can be 3 weeks as 1 1/2month).

At least Gainward should be happy. lol

Gainward stock GTX680 = 589.- CHF ( ~ 670 $ (include Tax, no rebate here ) ...

Its not a joke, this have make increase the price of the reference HD7970 ( +20$ ).

 

[trinibwoy]

Going by the above the reasonable conclusion would be that the difference between GK104 and GK110 should be larger than it was while between GF114 and GF110, because the more you strip your performance part of let's call them HPC transistors the bigger the transistor amount and die area will be for the top dog.

Compute performance yes.

GF110 = 530mm2/3.00b
GF114 = 350mm2/1.95b
----------------------------
GK104 = 294mm2/3.54b
GK110 = ?

As for performance the GF110 is roughly 40% ahead in 3D compared to GF114. There must be something I'm missing here.

Given that GF114 was less deficient at compute than GK104 the 3D performance gap should narrow while the compute gap gets much wider. What that means in absolutes is anybody's guess.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

For the record, Newegg sent me notification that they received the zotac GTX 680 yesterday. Of course when I checked they were already gone. So there is some movement.

I was going to say just like the 5870 launch until I read...

Not really. I put an auto notify at newegg for every model on the day of release (after they all sold out). Yesterday was the first notification I received, it was for the Zotac and I checked their site a few minutes after receiving the email, so it seems unlikely they got a whole bunch.

Ouch. At least with 5870, Newegg was getting cards in from different manufacturer's every 1-2 days.

Nvidia, however, said they are going to start allowing AIBs to build their own boards soon (rather than only ordering ones contracted by Nvidia) and that they hope that will help improve the supply.

I'm not sure even that will help with the situation. I'm thinking like 5870, it's going to be hard to get one for the first 2-3 months.

Regards,
SB

 

[LordEC911]

The same was the situation with Pitcairn, it will slowly become available in the next few days.

I bet the performance difference between GK110 and GK104 will be bigger and more noticeable than the one between Pitcairn and Tahiti.

I wouldn't count on either one of your predictions.

GK104 stock problems won't get any better until end of April or beginning of May.
As far as performance, I would go for the rather familiar 35-40%.

R600 ... GT200b

 

[Alexko]

I was going to say just like the 5870 launch until I read...



Ouch. At least with 5870, Newegg was getting cards in from different manufacturer's every 1-2 days.

Nvidia, however, said they are going to start allowing AIBs to build their own boards soon (rather than only ordering ones contracted by Nvidia) and that they hope that will help improve the supply.

I'm not sure even that will help with the situation. I'm thinking like 5870, it's going to be hard to get one for the first 2-3 months.

Regards,
SB

If the limiting factor is GPU production (and I don't see what else it could be) then I don't get how it might help either.

 

[UniversalTruth]

GK104 stock problems won't get any better until end of April or beginning of May.

Do you have any information why? Is GK104 manufactured at all? How many wafers do they process?

As far as performance, I would go for the rather familiar 35-40%.
I wouldn't count on either one of your predictions.

Which means that you actually count.
Pitcairn and Tahiti- 20-30% performance difference. I said higher for GK104 and GK110, you agreed- 35-40%.
I expect the usual optimisations here and there on the chip which will allow it to improve compared to what launched 6 months earlier.

 

[CarstenS]

STILL no gk104 widely in stock at newegg.

This is ridiculous...and no media outcry at all!

Just checked here in germany, there seems plenty of stock. Probably good to have more than one shop to refer to...
http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=gra16_51...uch=GTX+680&v=l&plz=&dist=&xf=132_1024&sort=p
"lagernd" means "in stock" - I've preselected to show only those in stock. Out of nine listed, six different models are in stock in more than just a couple of shops. So, maybe it's just a Newegg/US problem? High demand in the states compared to europe? Dunno.

 

[AlphaWolf]

It's not just newegg that has nothing in NA. The only thing to be found here in any supply is people charging ~$100 above msrp.

 

[CarstenS]

Then, I guess, we old-worlders are just lucky.