An e-mail correspondence between an NVIDIA AIC (add-in card) partner and a retailer was leaked to the web by Gamer Meld. It confirms launch dates of at least four GeForce 11-series client-segment graphics card SKUs. These include the GeForce GTX 1180, the GeForce GTX 1170, a curiously named GeForce GTX 1180+, and the mid-range GeForce GTX 1160. The dates mentioned in the e-mail could be availability dates, if not launch dates. This could mean product launches and reviews earlier than these dates.

Mark your calendars for 30th August, 2018. This is when NVIDIA will debut to market its first GeForce 11-series graphics card, the GTX 1180. This card is the spiritual successor to the GTX 1080, and will initially be launched as an enthusiast product, but will settle down as an upper-performance-segment SKU. Exactly a month after, on 30th September, NVIDIA will launch two SKUs - the GTX 1170, and the GTX 1180+. The GTX 1170 is slightly cut-down from the GTX 1180, and succeeds the GTX 1070. The GTX 1180+, on the other hand, is a brand new "premium" brand extension. It's not a GTX 1080 Ti successor, since it's probably based on the same silicon as the GTX 1180, but will probably ship with higher clock speeds, or a premium reference design. AMD gave its RX Vega 64 a similar treatment with its RX Vega 64 Liquid Edition. A month after that, as the mercury begins to drop, on 30th October, NVIDIA will launch the mid-range GTX 1160 to rake in Holiday sales.The Gamer Meld video follows.

A Lenovo spokesperson inadvertantly disclosed that NVIDIA's next GeForce GTX consumer lineup will follow the numbering sequence "11-series" (eg: GTX 1180), laying to rest rumors that it could even follow the "20-series" (eg: GTX 2080) naming convention. Speaking with Brainbean at the company's E3 booth (published last week), the spokesperson was shown describing the company's Legion Cube gaming desktops, which ships with a GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card in its base variant. The spokesperson is then heard saying that along the road, the company would expand its graphics options to include GeForce "11-series."

This should mean that the company will follow a predictable launch cycle of introducing its next-generation graphics architecture with the GeForce GTX 1180 and possibly GTX 1170; following it up with smaller GTX 1160 and GTX 1150; and in the following months, release the big GTX 1180 Ti. The spokesperson hints at the likelihood of Lenovo adding these as options to the Legion desktops by "Fall 2018," which could mean a DIY channel launch by late-Summer or early-Fall.The video follows.