Nvidia, what is next?

[GreatDaleness]

Just wondering what is next for nvidea and when we'll see in on store shelves.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

well probably a slightly faster 7800. probably not this year though.

unless what ever guised Ati brings R520 to the table in is monsterously fast, then we could see a faster 7800 sooner rather than later. the 7800 definately has the potential to go a hell of a lot faster than it is now

 

[compgeek89]

There are a few possibilities:

nVidia could release a 7800 Vanilla and possibly some 7600's, but i think due to the 6xxx already supporting SM 3.0 and DX 9.0C theres no need for this, they just make the 6800s the budget line.

nVidia could release a 7800 Ultra/7900, but it appears they don't feel threatened enough by Ati to make it worthwhile.

And last, they could be slaving over the 8xxx xeries (Which I hope is the case), so that they totally blow the r580 out of the water.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: compgeek89
There are a few possibilities:

nVidia could release a 7800 Vanilla and possibly some 7600's, but i think due to the 6xxx already supporting SM 3.0 and DX 9.0C theres no need for this, they just make the 6800s the budget line.

nVidia could release a 7800 Ultra/7900, but it appears they don't feel threatened enough by Ati to make it worthwhile.

And last, they could be slaving over the 8xxx xeries (Which I hope is the case), so that they totally blow the r580 out of the water.

yeah, i cant wait to see the performance of the next gen! gonna be wicked sick

but pretty much expect things to stay as is until after christmas at least. given the rumours on the R520 i can see this round being another win win for the consumer, doesnt matter who you side with your going to get a good capable, blazingly fast card what ever.

 

[Munky]

Right now it's easy sailing for Nvidia, and if the r520 has more or less equivalent performance as the 7800gtx, then we'll see some decent prices on both cards. Ati is slaving right now over the 90nm process with the r520, and even if the r520 comes out with only 16 pipes, there are rumors of 24 and 32 pipe cards in existence. Which means about 6 months after the r520 release we can expect the technology to mature enough so that a 24 pipe r580 should be widely available, maybe even a 32 pipe version.

Nvidia, on the other hand has a bigger task ahead. There's no doubt that they will have to move to a 90 nm process to stay competitive in the future. After that's done, they can either ramp up the clockspeed of the 7800gtx and hope it can compete with the r580, or they have to design a 32 pipe card. And I seriously doubt that the 7800gtx has an extra 8 pipes hidden inside. So, Nvidia could potentially be going through the same trouble in 6 months as Ati is having right now.

IMO that's the reason the 7800ultra was cancelled, because the gtx might compete well with the r520, and instead they decided to concentrate all their efforts on the refresh generation to compete with the r580.

Anyways, that's my speculation.