X-bit labs

Nvidia Rumoured to Introduce New Breed of Graphics Cards in July.

Category: Video

by Anton Shilov

[ 03/31/2008 | 01:31 PM ]

Just after Nvidia Corp. introduced its new high-performance dual-chip graphics card, rumours that it is going to have a very short lifespan re-emerged. According to some unofficial information, Nvidia plans to launch code-named new-generation graphics solution sometime in July.

According to a news-story by Expreview web-site, Nvidia plans to release its GeForce 9900 GTX and 9900 GX2 graphics cards already in July, just about three months from now. Unfortunately, the story lacks details and it is unclear what exactly will be released and what capabilities the new products can provide.

It is widely expected that Nvidia plans to introduce a version of its code-named G92 graphics processor (which is already used on GeForce 8800 GT, 8800 GTS 512MB, 9800 GTX and 9800 GX2 graphics card) made using 55nm process technology, which will improve clock-speed potential and trim the manufacturing costs. Theoretically, the new G92/55nm can enable GeForce 9900-series graphics cards, bringing in higher performance, but no new capabilities, e.g., DirectX 10.1.

It is well-known that Nvidia GeForce 9 is hardly different from the GeForce 8 in terms of feature-set and that the two families share one Nvidia’s first-generation unified shader processor architecture introduced in late 2006. Being a successful player on the market, Nvidia would hardly want to utilize one architecture for more than two years, therefore, it would be logical to expect the developer of graphics processing units (GPU) to introduce a completely new product in the second half of 2008.

At this point it is not clear when exactly Nvidia plans to unwrap its second-generation unified shader processor DirectX 10 architecture. If the information about the dual-chip GeForce 9900 GX2 scheduled to be released in July, 2008, is correct, then the new architecture should arrive at lease a quarter after that since it will hardly make sense for Nvidia to launch a khaleef for an hour. If the information about the plans to release a new dual-chip graphics card based on current technology is not correct, then Nvidia’s second-generation unified shader architecture may see a light of the day sometime in Q3 2008.

Nvidia did not comment on the news-story.