A new picture of NVIDIA GP104 "Pascal" ASIC surrounded with GDDR5X memory chips hints at the possibility of NVIDIA reserving the new fast memory standard for the GTX 1080, and older GDDR5 for the more affordable GTX 1070. The picture reveals a GP104 chip with the ASIC code "GP104-400-A1," surrounded by eight Micron-made GDDR5X memory chips. We know from an older article that this ASIC code denotes the top-tier GTX 1080. A second picture (recently posted) reveals a "GP104-200-A1" ASIC surrounded by conventional GDDR5 memory chips. This ASIC corresponds to the second-fastest GTX 1070.

GDDR5 and GDDR5X are nearly identical electrically, and it's quite conceivable that the GP104 chip features a memory controller that supports both standards. GDDR5 can be had at speeds of up to 8 Gbps, while GDDR5X chips can range between 10 Gbps thru 12 Gbps initially, with 14 Gbps chips planned for a little later. Besides memory, CUDA core count could be another factor that sets the two SKUs apart. NVIDIA is planning to launch a total of three SKUs based on the GP104 silicon, in June 2016, beginning with the GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 in early-June (probably along the sidelines of Computex 2016), and a third SKU in mid-June.