So if rumours are correct they should've entered mass production in May, isn't this the time when we start getting leaks and such? Anyone got any juicy info for me to wet my teeth on?
I've been waiting to hear something too. I suppose just because they have started production doesn't mean they are actually anywhere near a point of being able to give us solid info. Remember the problems they had when switching to 40nm? Lots of failed batches.
From some tidbits I pieced together via computex materials, Cayman core with a 28nm die shrink, further tweaks to lessen power and increase in shaders and gddr5 memory. Expected to be 20% higher in performance than the 6970. Seems like TSMC is responsible for the delay, and there was some hints that they might be moving over to GlobalFoundries instead. Should be on shelves in late q3, early q4. Nice pic of some mobile part prototypes. Powercolor 7??? Desktop prototype: 2gb gddr5, 2,240 stream units, 2x 8pin power, 2x dvi, 2x display port, 1 hdmi.
Strange specs for the prototype, is that 2,240 stream processors per gpu because that's dual gpu is it not? Surely that's not the full count. Also 2GB of ram for a dual gpu card considering they used 4GB on the 6990. Maybe this is like a 7950x2 like the 4850x2 I was hoping for more of a 40-50% performance increase due to the die shrink allowing more to be shoved on the die. Maybe I've been too optimistic or maybe I'll end up correct. Either way I'll get the fastest next gen single gpu card with about 2GB of ram for Shogun 2 at max settings.
I have no idea if that was per gpu, or total. The info was pretty vague, and no mention of details like clock speed, texture and rop units, tesselation units, tflop capability or any other interesting things. They are keeping very tight lipped. Personally I think it's just a refined version of the 6000 series, and won't be anything groundbreaking.
That is probably true actually now that I look at it. As for bindi I really hope it's not Q4, I'd rather not wait untill october at the earliest to get a better GPU than is available now :-(
They will hit the Christmas market - look at the last several releases major releases. Also, TSMC will likely prioritize Nvidia first as they are its biggest customer. The only reason AMD got first blood on 5000 series was its history with 4770 and NV had serious issues getting GF100 out the door. GloFo only just has its 32nm up and running, but that's on 1Bn transistor CPU parts only. TSMC is likely to be scaling up its 28nm through Q3 and getting a 3Bn+ transistor chip made is not easy. What else is coming out from Intel later this year to back it up too...?
By end of year, I am guessing will be after BF3 launch. What they need to do is to have a BF3 launch card.
I think ATI had the right idea with the 4770... check out the process on a less complex (and more delay tolerant) chip, get your ducks an a row and then come out with an outstanding highend chip 5 months later (5870 anyone?).
They had the luxury of waiting on Microsoft for DirectX 11 though, plus who says they haven't tested it on smaller chips internally already? Realted note: the good news is that it'll be High-K MG not SOI, so even a small bump in voltage shouldn't send the heat running out of control even if they do launch on a multi-billion transistor part.
