GTX680 pics

[MrK6]

7990 already waiting in the wings: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Radeon-HD-7990-Kepler-GTX680,15032.html

Yeah, AMD doesn't have to worry about performance. Once they nail GCN drivers they'll walk home with top card once again. However, I would be interested in purchasing a GK110 if it is substantially faster than the 7970 (and overclocks well).

 

[sontin]

With the latest info on GK104, i believe GK100/110 will not be Superscalar like GK104 is. It will probably have 2048 Cuda Cores (128 cores per SMX with 16 SMX per die).

So, it will not have 300W TDP but close to 250W.

GK104 is not "superscalar". It has 4 Warp shedulers and 8 dispatcher. It's more like two GF110 SM put together and with more cores/units.

 

[SirPauly]

How do you know this Sontin?

 

[AtenRa]

GK104 is not "superscalar". It has 4 Warp shedulers and 8 dispatcher. It's more like two GF110 SM put together and with more cores/units.

Nope, GK104 is more like double GF104 SM.

 

[f1sherman]

Butload of features, faster(?), smaller, less W...
Even AMD would capitalize on this.
With Nvidia running the show this is going to be a massacre once 28nm stabilizes.

XTX or some sort of Overclocking Edition from AMD is possible but that would really be a humiliating move,
especially going after competition's sub-300mm2 chip.
That would also mean more costs, more engineering worries and crappier yields.

All it would do is provoke Nvidia into doing the same.
And one would think that OC-ing smaller and simpler chip like GK104, with smaller power envelope is likely more easier.

 

[tviceman]

Yeah, AMD doesn't have to worry about performance. Once they nail GCN drivers they'll walk home with top card once again.

GK104 using less power and being equal to or faster hd7970.... I don't see AMD winning much of anything this year, unless being first to market is considered a "win."

 

[Vesku]

Being available 3+ months sooner, in regards to computer tech, is usually a win.

 

[f1sherman]

590 vs 6990 was a wash.... and we all know that was basically TDP battle with Cayman having a decent perf/W advantage.

690 vs 7990 is not even going to be funny.

AMD needs to start fending of something else then 680. Whats the point of GCN if they cant make 500mm2 workstation monster?

 

[Imouto]

GK104 using less power and being equal to or faster hd7970.... I don't see AMD winning much of anything this year, unless being first to market is considered a "win."

Since discrete GPU market is shrinking every single quarter I wouldn't consider it a meaningful win.

 

[sontin]

Since discrete GPU market is shrinking every single quarter I wouldn't consider it a meaningful win.

Why? nVidia will gain market share and offset the shrinking. AMD will lose everything - Notebook and Desktop.

With Kepler coming it seems there is a reason why AMD lost so many people in the graphics business the last few months. Going back 3 1/2 years AMD had a die which was half the size of GT200 with 85% of the performance. In a few days nVidia did not only reserve this they will have more performance, too.

It's like the cpu business for AMD...

 

[f1sherman]

@Imouto

They are in GPU, not washing machines business
Or should they start selling steroids or maybe RAM sticks?
What would u consider a meaningful win.

Besides, you must have missed that +100% YoY net income from Nvidia

 

[taltamir]

Well the slide on the previous page shows the gtx680 using less power under load the hd7970. Another slide shows it was running a few degrees cooler. Both of these measurements are not indicative of the entire overclocking potential, but both are indications that gtx680 still has headroom to run at faster speeds.

If that slide is true then this is very good for nVidia.
Now the question is, is the slide true? Anyone can make a slide.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Graphs above are interesting for a few reasons:

(1) shows clock-for-clock improvement in GTX680 vs. 580 as 2-5%. Thus it has triple the shaders but each one is about 1/3 as efficient.

(2) nVidia is going to clock this thing like crazy to set it apart from both the 580 and the 7970.

(3) AMD was f'ing with its customers by releasing a 7970 at 925MHz. It could easily have released one at 1GHz, but it didn't do so, because it will instead release a higher-priced card at 1100MHz or so. Maybe a 7990 for $600, slotting nicely just above the 680 in price?

They do that . Price fixing will be looked at hard by the powers that be .

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I think AMD will drop back down into the $300's if it's really noticeably faster, and better at everything else.

The only one who wins here is really Nvidia, a small node taking their flagship price point would mean their profit margins compared to last generation is going to be insane.

 

[Imouto]

@sontin I don't think that Kepler is going to make a milestone in GPU market share. In fact I think that things will be pretty much the same with AMD losing market share and no changes at all in the hierarchy. It isn't that groundbreaking as most of ppl keep screaming like cheerleaders.

@f1sherman Didn't miss that 100% net income increase since 2010 wasn't the better year for Nvidia anyway. BTW nice bashing there mentioning the RAM sticks.

I would consider a win aiming for new solutions like AMD and Nvidia are doing already with their APUs and SoCs. I just wonder which one is aiming better.

As for PC gaming I think that graphics will turn into the same as sound has been for a while. You can live perfectly fine with integrated sound but you still can buy a sound card. In that fashion I think that an AMD should start thinking about improving its asymmetric CF.

 

[f1sherman]

Since discrete GPU market is shrinking every single quarter

For an astonishing 0.4% decrease YoY, and with Nvidia increasing market share to 63.4%

They make $581M in 2011. selling what? That's right - discrete GPU,
and you come with a story there's no future in discrete GPU

 

[tviceman]

Graphs above are interesting for a few reasons:

(1) shows clock-for-clock improvement in GTX680 vs. 580 as 2-5%. Thus it has triple the shaders but each one is about 1/3 as efficient.

Efficient is a power choice of words there. Less powerful is probably more accurate. In terms of efficiency, the new architecture absolutely blows way GF110.

(2) nVidia is going to clock this thing like crazy to set it apart from both the 580 and the 7970.

Nvidia is going to clock this thing exactly how yields will let them clock it. Just like how AMD clocked the hd6970 exactly how yields let them clock it. Nvidia can't clock it sky high (beyond what is feasible) with respect to yields because, in case we have already forgotten, there is a shortage of 28nm production so extreme binning would net in absolutely negligible sales now and later. Also, with respect to power consumption, there is a sweet spot beyond which a chip can be pushed and starts to become less efficient. Nvidia would not be able to claim best performance per watt if they pushed GK104's reference specs too far.

 

[taltamir]

They do that . Price fixing will be looked at hard by the powers that be .

I am pretty sure they have to make an agreement for it to be price fixing.
nVidia always prices and clocks its products to slot just above and below AMD to avoid a price war. AMD usually tries to undercut them but not lately. And AFAIK if they both price it just right for each other that is their prerogative as long as they don't actually conspire together.

 

[Imouto]

@f1sherman I'm not saying that the discrete GPU is death or Nvidia is going bankrupt. I'm saying that there's way more growth outside the discrete market.

 

[Grooveriding]

They do that . Price fixing will be looked at hard by the powers that be .

I doubt there is any price fixing going down. From the looks of these early leaks the 7970 and 680 could both go for $550 and perform about the same taking a performance average of wins/losses for one or the other using current games.

If the 7970 drops in price I think it will be to $499 if that is where the 680 debuts at.

 

[Will Robinson]

By the look of the posts in this thread, a river of tears is going to flow unless GTX680 is an absolute ball busting runaway success.
Some of the claims are just la la land wishful thinking.:hmm:

 

[BoFox]

It's still too much $$ for my tastes. Although in my situation I will pay a premium for Nvidia since I currently use and enjoy nvidia 3D.

+1 Agreed, with it being such a small chip, I'll just wait until it goes down to under $300 (right around when GK112 comes out).

Geforce GTX 460-768 was probably the best bang-for-the-buck $100 card, since it actually gave GTX 280/285 some good competition (the previous generation's flagship $500 card). The same goes for HD 4870 1GB/ 4890 - they were also super-awesome deals right at the end of the 55nm round - they could be found for as cheap as $100 on the FS/T forums or Ebay (while GTX 285 was still selling for $300).

GTX 680 seems to be very reminiscent of 7900GTX (being released right around this time of year, 2 months after X1900XTX), a smaller chip and not as power-hungry, also at a similar price-point. However, it looks like GTX 680 will actually beat HD 7970 overall (which was not the case for 7900GTX which only beat it in some of the older games, eventually losing to X1900XTX by more than 40% in the newer shader-heavy games) while being just as future-proof (except for 2GB, but there might as well be a 4GB version offered by some AIBs rather soon).

 

[Meaker10]

Why? nVidia will gain market share and offset the shrinking. AMD will lose everything - Notebook and Desktop.

With Kepler coming it seems there is a reason why AMD lost so many people in the graphics business the last few months. Going back 3 1/2 years AMD had a die which was half the size of GT200 with 85% of the performance. In a few days nVidia did not only reserve this they will have more performance, too.

It's like the cpu business for AMD...

Really.

Middle kepler has to go down a long way to reach that 100W targer, the 7870 is going to be much closer.

 

[SirPauly]

Fair point! Let' see what nVidia's answer is for the 78XX series.

 

[Ajay]

Fair point! Let' see what nVidia's answer is for the 78XX series.

Yeah, I'm very interested in whatever NV releases that performs about the same as the GTX580, but with lower power consumption. The GTX 680 looks like it is going to be pretty high end and I don't do $500+ cards. I might be willing to go up to $400, since I'm hoping to get either a 27" or 2x24" monitors late next year, but generally I don't spend much more than $300US.

Actually, although I prefer NV, I should take a look at the 78XX series to see where their performance is.