NVIDIA is expected to brand-name its next GeForce GTX desktop discrete GPU lineup under the GTX 900 series, and not the previously thought about GTX 800. In what is a similar brand-name pole-vault to the GTX 300 series ahead of "Fermi," NVIDIA's next high-end discrete GPUs will be named GeForce GTX 970 and GTX 980. The brand name could be devised to not just look better on paper, but give users of current-generation GTX 770 and GTX 780 an upgrade-itch, something which could have been difficult if NVIDIA named it under the GTX 800 series, unless its new parts were phenomenally faster.

The GeForce GTX 970 and GTX 980 will be based on NVIDIA's new "GM204" silicon, derived from its new "Maxwell" GPU architecture, which debuted with the mid-range GeForce GTX 750 Ti. NVIDIA is expected to outline the two cards on the 9th or 10th of September, 2014, at various media events held around the world. The company is expected to formally launch the two on 19th September. The GeForce GTX 800 series could continue to include OEM and mobile-GPU parts based on either "Maxwell" or "Kepler" GPUs.

A Gigabyte executive, in an interview with Expreview on the sidelines of ChinaJoy Game Developers Conference, confirmed that NVIDIA will launch its next-generation GeForce GTX 880 high-end graphics card in September, 2014. He said that in context of disclosing that his company is working on a custom-design card based on the new chip, named GTX 880 G1.Gamer. The new card will be designed with a massive cooler capable of handling thermal loads as high as 650W. What this means is, with its fans spooled down, the cooler will be able to passively cool the GPU over a wider temperature band, regardless of the GPU load. The fans will begin to kick in only at a higher temperature. Based on the "Maxwell" architecture, the GTX 880 could step up performance-per-Watt metrics for NVIDIA.

NVIDIA is expected to unveil its next generation high-end graphics card, the GeForce GTX 880, in September 2014. The company could tease its upcoming products at Gamescom. The company is reportedly holding a huge media event in California this September, where it's widely expected to discuss high-end graphics cards based on the "Maxwell" architecture. Much like AMD's Hawaii press event that predated actual launch of its R9 290 series by several weeks; NVIDIA's event is expected to be a paper-launch of one or more graphics cards based on its GM204 silicon, with market availability expected in time for Holiday 2014 sales.

The GM204 is expected to be NVIDIA's next workhorse chip, which will be marketed as high-end in the GeForce GTX 800 series, and performance-segment in its following GTX 900 series; much like how the company milked its "Kepler" based GK104 across two series. It's expected to be built on the existing 28 nm process, although one cannot rule out an optical shrink to 20 nm later (like NVIDIA shrunk the G92 from 65 nm to 55 nm). The GTX 880 reportedly features around 3,200 CUDA cores, and 4 GB of GDDR5 memory.

NVIDIA is reportedly preparing new graphics cards based on the "Maxwell" architecture, which judging by the purported 3DMark FireStrike screenshots, could be high-end parts, maybe even the GeForce GTX 880. The cards could launch along the sidelines of Gamescon, a gaming expo held each year in Cologne, Germany, around mid-August. Given how most information to date points to a later-Q3, maybe even mid-Q4 launch of these cards, it wouldn't surprise us if NVIDIA merely teases these cards. NVIDIA's next big consumer GPU is widely expected to be the GM204, a performance-segment chip based on the "Maxwell" architecture.

Chinese tech publication MyDrivers posted what it claims to be a graphics board running NVIDIA's next-generation GM204 graphics chip, which is designed to succeed the GK104, as the company's next workhorse GPU, covering a wide range of price-points. The pre-production graphics board usually has all its components placed (some redundant), to test out the best combination of them on production boards. Right away you see the purported GM204 chip, which looks bigger than the GK104, flanked by eight memory chips on three sides (reinforcing the 256-bit wide memory interface theory). The GM204 silicon is based on NVIDIA's "Maxwell" architecture, and is rumored to feature 3,200 CUDA cores, and about 4 GB of memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. It is widely rumored to be built on the current 28 nm silicon fab process. NVIDIA could launch the first products running this chip before X'mas.

NVIDIA is planning to launch its next high performance single-GPU graphics cards, the GeForce GTX 880 and GTX 870, no later than Q4-2014, in the neighborhood of October and November, according to a SweClockers report. The two will be based on the brand new "GM204" silicon, which most reports suggest, is based on the existing 28 nm silicon fab process. Delays by NVIDIA's principal foundry partner TSMC to implement its next-generation 20 nm process has reportedly forced the company to design a new breed of "Maxwell" based GPUs on the existing 28 nm process. The architecture's good showing with efficiency on the GeForce GTX 750 series probably gave NVIDIA hope. When 20 nm is finally smooth, it wouldn't surprise us if NVIDIA optically shrinks these chips to the new process, like it did to the G92 (from 65 nm to 55 nm). The GM204 chip is rumored to feature 3,200 CUDA cores, 200 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. It succeeds the company's current workhorse chip, the GK104.

An engineering sample (ES) of the GeForce GTX 880 was intercepted on its way from a factory in China, to NVIDIA's development center in India, where it will probably undergo testing and further development. The shipping manifest of the courier ferrying NVIDIA's precious package was sniffed out by the Chinese press. NVIDIA was rather descriptive about the ES, in its shipping declaration. Buzzwords include "GM204" and "8 GB GDDR5," hinting at what could two of the most important items on its specs sheet. GM204 is a successor of GK104, and is rumored to feature 3,200 CUDA cores, among other things, including a 256-bit wide memory bus. If NVIDIA is cramming 8 GB onto the card, it must be using some very high density memory chips. The manifest also declares its market value at around 47,000 Indian Rupees. It may convert to US $780, but adding all taxes and local markups, 47,000 INR is usually where $500-ish graphics cards end up in the Indian market. The R9 290X, for example, is going for that much.