Inno3D Announces First 4 GB GeForce GTX 960 Graphics Card

[btarunr]

Inno3D announced the first GeForce GTX 960 graphics card to feature 4 GB of video memory, double that of the standard 2 GB. The card features 4 GB of memory across the chip's 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, running at reference clock speeds of 7.00 GHz. The GPU runs at 1126 MHz, with 1178 MHz GPU Boost. The card features Inno3D's in-house dual-fan cooling solution, featuring 0 dBA idle operation, and a detachable cooler shroud on which the card's two fans are suspended, letting you clean the heatsink underneath. Based on the 28 nm GM206 silicon, the GTX 960 offers 1024 CUDA cores, and a 128-bit wide memory bus. Inno3D didn't disclose pricing.



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[the54thvoid]

Should help with 4k gaming...... #sarcasm.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

For 1080p gaming this outta be good yeah? When I build a new rig soon I did want to get a GTX 960 but decided not to because of the 2Gb models only available so for me this 4Gb model is a welcome sight!
It's either this or the R9 280 and I certainly prefer maxwell so I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be excited by this product ^^

 

[Disparia]

Yeah! This card is shi... wait... a positive comment?

I'm with ya. Too many like to focus on the negative and what something can't do while ignoring what can be gained or benefits. Personally, I can only run 3 clients of the MMO I play with 2GB GTX 660. A 4GB 960 may allow me to do a full 6-man group by myself

 

[Captain_Tom]

For 1080p gaming this outta be good yeah? When I build a new rig soon I did want to get a GTX 960 but decided not to because of the 2Gb models only available so for me this 4Gb model is a welcome sight!
It's either this or the R9 280 and I certainly prefer maxwell so I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be excited by this product ^^

Honestly you would be silly to get a 960 over a 280. The 280 is cheaper, stronger, and comes with more VRAM. It could not be an easier choice!

Sure the 280 uses 50w extra, but big deal.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Well if this card comes out at 250 Euro mark then I'll refuse to even bother with this as I can just pick up the R9 290 for 280 euro and I'll forget about the extra wattage and be happy with the massive FPS difference :L

I was kinda hoping that this 960 will have a wider bus width but it's still 128-bit?! ugh!! hmmm.. the R9 290 is sounding like such an obvious choice right about now :L

 

[Captain_Tom]

Well if this card comes out at 250 Euro mark then I'll refuse to even bother with this as I can just pick up the R9 290 for 280 euro and I'll forget about the extra wattage and be happy with the massive FPS difference :L

I was kinda hoping that this 960 will have a wider bus width but it's still 128-bit?! ugh!! hmmm.. the R9 290 is sounding like such an obvious choice right about now :L

That's because it is an obvious choice lol. The 290 has double the performance and VRAM of the 960, and yet it is barley any more expensive! Hell its almost not even that much less efficient!

 

[64K]

Well if this card comes out at 250 Euro mark then I'll refuse to even bother with this as I can just pick up the R9 290 for 280 euro and I'll forget about the extra wattage and be happy with the massive FPS difference :L

I was kinda hoping that this 960 will have a wider bus width but it's still 128-bit?! ugh!! hmmm.. the R9 290 is sounding like such an obvious choice right about now :L

Well, they are both 4GB VRAM (if you are looking at this one) but the 290 has 50% more performance than the 960 so it's clearly the winner for only 30€ more.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

That's because it is an obvious choice lol. The 290 has double the performance and VRAM of the 960, and yet it is barley any more expensive! Hell its almost not even that much less efficient!

two 960s in sli pull less power than ONE 280x. and the 290 pulls more power than the 280x, so the efficiency gap is WAY bigger than you give it credit for.....

 

[RejZoR]

So, how are they sticking 4GB to this one? Using glue or something?

 

[btarunr]

So, how are they sticking 4GB to this one? Using glue or something?

Using new 8 Gb chips. http://www.techpowerup.com/208926/s...ducing-industrys-first-8-gb-gddr5-memory.html

Even otherwise, you can piggy-back two 4 Gb chips per channel on reference GTX 960 PCB just fine.

 

[HumanSmoke]

So, how are they sticking 4GB to this one? Using glue or something?

The GDDR5 chips are soldered exactly the same way as the four existing GDDR5 BGA IC's that are used on graphics cards including the 2GB GTX 960.
Even a cursory examination of the reference 2GB GTX 960 PCB shows that there are vacant GDDR5 chip positions on each side of the PCB with the attendant trace layout to complement the four chips already provided for. Instead of each chip servicing one 32bit (2 * 16bit I/O), each chip operates in clamshell mode (16bit per chip * 2 chips).

EDIT: Or as btarunr pointed out, maybe use of 8Gbit chips - although I'm not sure if the GTX 960 would be the first recipient of what is bound to be a more expensive FBGA package if Samsung are pricing as they usually do.

 

[RejZoR]

I was refering to GTX 970 memory thingie and how they solved it on GTX 960 for it to use 4GB...

 

[HumanSmoke]

I was refering to GTX 970 memory thingie and how they solved it on GTX 960 for it to use 4GB...

The GTX 960 doesn't have the memory partition. The 960 is GM 206 not GM 204, so is a fully functional die.

 

[Captain_Tom]

two 960s in sli pull less power than ONE 280x. and the 290 pulls more power than the 280x, so the efficiency gap is WAY bigger than you give it credit for.....

One 960 pulls 120w, so make that 240w for SLI. One 290 pulls ~260w and outperforms the 960 SLI. Never said the 290 was MORE efficient, but it isn't as night in day as people think. For comparison consider the 980 uses 50% more power than the 960 and yet performs over twice as well.

The 980/970 is efficient. But the 960 is a joke card no matter how you look at it.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Lads... in terms of your electrical bill, how much of a difference would the GTX 960 be compared to the R9 290 per year?!? This sorta stuff does matter to me and being "Green" matters!

 

[HumanSmoke]

Using new 8 Gb chips. http://www.techpowerup.com/208926/s...ducing-industrys-first-8-gb-gddr5-memory.html

Might find that the 8Gbit chips find a home on the newly announced Titan X since the card is shipping with a 12GB framebuffer as standard.

[Source]

 

[Captain_Tom]

Lads... in terms of your electrical bill, how much of a difference would the GTX 960 be compared to the R9 290 per year?!? This sorta stuff does matter to me and being "Green" matters!

There are plenty of calculators online that will answer that question for you. My guess is maybe $20 a year in the US. Keep in mind that they will be idle most of the time anyways, and that they use about the same amount of power while idle.

 

[rruff]

Keep in mind that they will be idle most of the time anyways, and that they use about the same amount of power while idle.

The 290 uses double (8W) more at idle according to TPU tests.

Lads... in terms of your electrical bill, how much of a difference would the GTX 960 be compared to the R9 290 per year?!? This sorta stuff does matter to me and being "Green" matters!

Varies hugely depending on your use. In US$ paying Irish electric rates it's around $2/W/yr for 24-7 operation. If your computer is on all the time, and you game or do other video intense stuff ~3 hrs a day, then it would be ~$16 + 2x140Wx3/24 ($35) = $51/yr total. The 290 will outperform the 960 by a good margin though, so that is something to consider.