Tuesday, September 16th 2014
Even More GeForce GTX 980 and GM204 Specs Tumble Out
Ahead of its launch later this week, even more details of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 980, and the 28 nm "GM204" silicon it's based on, tumbled out. To begin with, the GM204 silicon is confirmed to be built on the 28 nm silicon fab process. The chip bigger than that of the GK104, with a die area of 398 mm², yet smaller than the GK110, which measures 581 mm². Its transistor count is 5.2 billion, about 2 billion more than the GK104.
The component hierarchy of GM204 is similar to that of the GM107 silicon, on which the GTX 750 Ti is based. The GPU features a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, and PCI-Express 3.0 x16 bus. The GigaThread Engine dispatches workload between four graphics processing clusters (GPCs), the basic subunit. Each GPC has a common raster engine shared between four streaming multiprocessors Maxwell (SMMs), which each hold 128 CUDA cores. The total CUDA core count is hence 2,048. The L2 cache has been quadrupled over GK104. The chip features 2 MB of it, compared to 512 KB on its predecessor. The GM204 features 64 ROPs, double that of the GK104, and should hence come with a strong geometry processing muscle. The chip features a revolutionary new 3-bit delta color compression technology that makes the most of the limited memory bus width of this chip.
Here are the final specifications of the GTX 980 and GTX 970, carved out of this chip.
GeForce GTX 980
Source:
VideoCardz
The component hierarchy of GM204 is similar to that of the GM107 silicon, on which the GTX 750 Ti is based. The GPU features a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, and PCI-Express 3.0 x16 bus. The GigaThread Engine dispatches workload between four graphics processing clusters (GPCs), the basic subunit. Each GPC has a common raster engine shared between four streaming multiprocessors Maxwell (SMMs), which each hold 128 CUDA cores. The total CUDA core count is hence 2,048. The L2 cache has been quadrupled over GK104. The chip features 2 MB of it, compared to 512 KB on its predecessor. The GM204 features 64 ROPs, double that of the GK104, and should hence come with a strong geometry processing muscle. The chip features a revolutionary new 3-bit delta color compression technology that makes the most of the limited memory bus width of this chip.
GeForce GTX 980
- 2,048 CUDA cores
- 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs
- 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface
- 4 GB standard memory amount
- Core clock speeds of 1126 MHz, with 1216 MHz GPU Boost, and 7012 MHz memory
- 165W TDP
- 1,664 CUDA cores
- 112 TMUs, 64 ROPs
- 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface
- 4 GB standard memory amount
- Core clock speeds of 1051 MHz, with 1178 MHz GPU Boost, and 7012 MHz memory
94 Comments on Even More GeForce GTX 980 and GM204 Specs Tumble Out
Just got a 4k. :)
ty.
And it looks like AMD are having second thoughts on the 285X....unless they plan on naming it something else
As for amd they also have some tricks up their sleeves, except for the power use. even though they keep improving efficiency in graphics, instead of turning it into better power saving they seem to just use that real estate to add compute features. as for the r9 285 it's obvious amd crippled the chip as much as possible to kind of show off how they can match the 280-280x with much less resources and bandwidth, so take into consideration that it's a harvested chip with disabled units so only the full 285x will show us what this new amd architecture (or GCN tweak I shall say) Is capable of. However to target gtx760 as a competitor is just a very poor choice indeed timing wise. the only problem with releasing the r9 285x now is that it will most likely beat Hawaii especially if the chip turns out to have a 384bit bus. So amd won't release it yet
GM 107 (GTX 750 Ti) vs GK 107 (GTX 650) : 640 core vs 384 (66.67% advantage), both feature 16 ROPS, both have a 128-bit bus width, 40 TMU vs 32 for the GTX 650 ( 25% advantage) , memory clock/bandwidth : 5400 effective vs 5000 / 86.4GB/s vs 80 ( 8% advantage), clocks are nominally similar 1020 base/ 1085 boost (actual average 1140MHz) vs 1058 for the GTX 650 ( 7.8% advantage). Power consumption is similar.
Actual performance difference: 79.4% at 1920x1020, and 83.9% at 2560x1600.............so, not quite as pronounced as it would seem given the difference in specification
This is obviously a gaming-only scenario and is only applicable to the two GPUs - it doesn't account for many other metrics, or how the cache hierarchy scales on a larger die. That aside, I believe the core speed increase will be a major factor in the performance boost of the GM 204 WRT GK 110. We'll see when GTX 980 review benchmarks surface and how overclocking a 780 Ti against it affects the differential. The only real measure of gains in architectural efficiency will need a clock-for-clock (within reason) comparison.
Only AMD is yet to figure it how to improve on that and finally put Intel and nvidia to their knees.
Looking hopeful and optimistic to 2015 and 2016 for AMD.
wccftech.com/colorful-unveils-nonreference-igame-geforce-gtx-980-graphics-card-triple-fan-cooling/
I see that GTX 970 is on par with R9 290X.
AMD is in a deep trouble and need to urgently slash the price from $459 to $349 max.
BTW: That scenario of cost cutting will put AMD closer to their minimum cash reserve requirement ($600 million) to stay solvent since the price cut you envisage will need a price adjustment down the product stack - and of course the graphics business is likely the only one that turns a significant profit for the company.
Perhaps in your hating fantasy? :D
No doubt NV will market these chips as the new high end for a while, especially since those benches equal the current high end. I'm quite sure they'll put a 290x +10/20 dollar price tag on them. They can sell these for more as total cost of ownership will be somewhat lower due to power consumption.
AMD has just under $950m in cash and securities. It needs to maintain a $1 billion dollar level to sustain itself (R&D). Every dollar under that figure DIRECTLY removes AMD's ability to develop product. At $600m AMD will cease to be viable (their estimate not mine). The GPU division made $82 million income last quarter while the processor division made $9 million.No, simple mathematics and the ability to parse a financial statement. Try it some time, there's a wealth of information you might learn from.Very true. Driving AMD into oblivion is something that Intel (and Nvidia) could have achieved some time ago, but that brings more problems than it solves - monopoly and anti-trust issues, and a potential AMD buyer that has the will and financial muscle to trouble the other two (Samsung for instance who are looking to get into the GPU business). Intel's size and resources are pretty well known, but Nvidia also has in excess of $4 billion in cash/securities reserves and carries NO debt (AMD's debt burden is increasing and costs around $200m in interest alone annually)- it has the ability to prosecute a price war much more effectively than does AMD - it also has a larger market and an elevated brand awareness than the Sunnyvale company.
All that would achieve is to drive AMD into the arms(!) of a company better suited financially, and decrease Nvidia's financial base. Hardly an advantageous situation.
It's a pity the "big picture" isn't as alluring as swinging from unfounded optimism to outright pessimism for some people.
Guess that ATi purchase did more harm than expected benefits.
But... I still believe that a 'miracle' can happen and with small budget for R&D and projects, they can achieve a lot!GTX 970 is expected around $329. See the link if you will and wish. :)
"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of man"
AMD aren't going anywhere. By the same token, I doubt that they will become a significant player (nor will Nvidia for that matter IMO) - too much competition from companies with significantly more resources, and a more determined and ruthless approach.
AMD is already swimming in red ink, so I doubt Nvidia would initiate a price war just to make the swimming pool a bit larger and cut it's own revenue into the bargain.
Back to the actual subject, it seems that depending on the real price the 970 could be the king if all deals on GPUs replacing the R9 290 unless price cuts ensue. I wish more information about the 980 or benchmarks would surface because I find it hard to believe based on its specs it's going to be where it sits in the leaks. Going to be an interesting few weeks...