Friday, May 1st 2015
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Silicon Marked "GM200-310"
NVIDIA's upcoming high-end single-GPU graphics card, based on the GM200 silicon, which debuted with the GTX TITAN X, will feature a silicon marked "GM200-310." The SKU will be named GeForce GTX 980 Ti, and is more likely to be priced around the $600-650 mark, than replacing the $550 GTX 980 off the shelves. Going by the way NVIDIA re-positioned the GTX 780 to $499 with the introduction of the GTX 780 Ti, we imagine something similar could happen to the GTX 980. From what we gathered so far, the GTX 980 Ti will be based on the GM200 silicon. Its CUDA core count is unknown, but it wouldn't surprise us if it's unchanged from the GTX TITAN X. Its different SKU numbering shouldn't be an indication of its CUDA core count. GTX 780 Ti and GTX TITAN Black had different numbering, but the same CUDA core counts of 2,880.
The card will feature 6 GB of GDDR5 memory across the chip's 384-bit wide memory interface. It will feature five display outputs, similar to that of the GTX 980. Unlike with the GTX TITAN X, NVIDIA partners will have the freedom to launch custom-design GTX 980 Ti products from day-one. There are two theories doing rounds on when NVIDIA plans to launch this card. One suggests that it could launch in mere weeks from now, probably even on the sidelines of Computex. The other suggests that it will launch towards the end of Summer, as NVIDIA wants to make the most cash from its existing GTX 980 inventory.
Source:
VideoCardz
The card will feature 6 GB of GDDR5 memory across the chip's 384-bit wide memory interface. It will feature five display outputs, similar to that of the GTX 980. Unlike with the GTX TITAN X, NVIDIA partners will have the freedom to launch custom-design GTX 980 Ti products from day-one. There are two theories doing rounds on when NVIDIA plans to launch this card. One suggests that it could launch in mere weeks from now, probably even on the sidelines of Computex. The other suggests that it will launch towards the end of Summer, as NVIDIA wants to make the most cash from its existing GTX 980 inventory.
43 Comments on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Silicon Marked "GM200-310"
Now GM200 lacks strong DP performance by default, so the lower numbering on 980Ti might actually indicate it is not a fully fledged GM200 compared to Titan X.
As the previous poster said, there were more factors that separated the 780 range from the original titan/titan black.
Also, The Titan X hasn't currently got a lesser binned counterpart: The orginal Titan/Black had the vanilla 780, with significantly reduced core count
I hope this means the 980 price will be lowered, it is far too expensive as it is compared to the 970
Nvidia could continue to milk the GTX 980 for a while longer and get rid of their partially defective GM200s too. We'll see.
Now if 980Ti does turn out to be a gimped version of GM200, it makes me think that 390X might not be as powerful as we have hoped (speculations are 390X could be faster than Titan X while costing much less). That's why NV have no problem releasing a cut-down GM200 while still remaining competitive.
To be honest, ill probably be shocked if they release the GTX 980ti with the full amount of cores enabled. I believe because of how the Titan X is this round they do not want to immediately make a card that performs as well or better that fast and butcher its sales. My guess is that they will probably release the GTX 980ti as a cut down model this round from the Titan X with higher core clocks (Maybe even better overclockability) and that will be the first before they release another card after the R9 390X hits the market (probably also waiting to see the competition). My guess is that later they will release a card with the full cores unlocked called something like the GTX 980ti Boost that will be overclocked and ready for higher clocking later down the line. But that is all speculation based on the little bit of information we have.
What you're saying, in essence and I agree, is that nvidia needs to compete on performance and value within some kind of closer margin, with most pertinent markets first.
By all indications 390x will be similar to Titan-X, but cheaper. I still think the larger threat is a 390 out-performing 980 somewhere around $500 though, not unlike what was the original plan for the 290 (compete with 770; the change to 780 was a literally last-second decision). nVIDIA needs a much cheaper part that is faster than 980. AMD could price 390 so that 980 has nowhere to go in terms of cost vs asp (margin). It could end up being a faster card at a (relatively) better price. I can't see 980 dropping further than ~$450 right now, nor could I imagine 390 more than $550, which would seem relatively proportionate, in theory.
The smart play imho is for nvidia to release a part at stock that beats 390, and can overclock to a similar level as a stock 390x for less money. Bonus points (meaning higher msrp) if it overclocks better than 390.
Just as a guesstimate, but figure a 390's core is clocked similar to the avg performance of a 980, say 3584 shaders at ~925mhz (versus [2048+512]*1291.5), but bandwidth brings performance closer to it actually performing at 1033mhz. The smart call is for nvidia to release a part that performs slightly better compared to a 1033/3584sp AMD part, and can overclock closer to 4096 at (normalized) 1106mhz.
What you end up with is something like 21SMM at 1100mhz that can clock to 1350mhz (perhaps slightly higher on both counts for breathing room, or lower if they count slight performance from extra bandwidth which would be a few percent). That is just one example, and it could be configured differently, but you get my point; the smart play for nvidia is a cheap (for them) part that can act more-or-less as a practical magic bullet against Fiji as a whole. Cheaper than 390x, faster than 390 at stock, similarish to 390x stock when overclocked. I agree a full-fat 6GB card probably will come later when all the sheen has thoroughly been rubbed (sales drop) from Titan X...but this should be their priority. If there is a spot for such a card, it probably won't be known until we see how 390x 4/8GB perform, and how the market accepts them. It probably wouldn't hurt nvidia to have a little more time to bin high-clocking full chips, either.
We rarely know how these things are actually binned, but 310/400 (77.5%) could be something like 87.5% binned at 13% higher voltage or lower clocks per voltage, which essentially pans out to exactly what I postulated above.
TLDR: GM200 needs a '970' vs Fiji.
Keywords from the AMD slide, "Up to 8gb"
www.techpowerup.com/img/15-03-16/78a.jpg
GTX 980ti will probably be a slightly cut down chip off the line, won't be a bad thing but that is depending on where its priced and how well it overclocks because I expect its going to clock significantly better than the GTX Titan X.
The memory and cores are directly linked. Disable any of the cores and a proportional amount of the memory will need to be disabled as well - which besides being wasteful, isn't that bad as long as they don't lie about it.
I dunno. Any further gm200 full chip release requires higher clocks to dislodge TitanX for what? A 5-10% perf boost?
If this is below Titan X performance, it looks like they know AMD's upcoming card isn't as strong as expected.
Remember the GTX680 riposte to the HD7970? Maybe Nvidia know something....
From my viewpoint, GM200 and Fiji, look increasingly like stepping stones and stopgap measures before the real fun starts with Arctic Islands and Pascal. If that is indeed the case, the AMD are in serious trouble I think. If the rest of the 300 series are warmed over silicon from previous generations, and the halo GPU cannot deliver an unconditional performance advantage over GM200, I don't see the company clawing back market share. They really need a shining star at the top of product stack allied with a very solid midrange GPU that can grab OEM sales off GM204's desktop and mobile markets.
www.pcgamingshow.com/
AMD are the big sponsor for this and I'm pretty sure this is where they are gonna drop the new cards