G80 Tapes out.

[Keysplayr]

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32768

[Vengeance]

Sweet!

[Darth Shaidar]

No details on the chip itself though :(

[Keysplayr]

Well, one thing is that it will not be a unified architecture. There is rumor that it will have 2 pixel shaders per pixel pipeline.
So we could figure this:

If G80 keeps a 24 pipe design, it should then have 48 pixel shader units.
It G80 bumps to 32 pipe design, it should have 64 pixel shader units.

R600 is rumored to have 64 ( I'll call them rendering units for now instead of pipelines) unified shader design. If the G80 does have 32 pipes and 64 pixel shaders, then it will be equivalent in the shader area at least. Who knows how efficient/inefficient the unified pipes of R600 are or how much overhead there will be by not having dedicated pipes for certain rendering/shader jobs. It is a big wait and see.

EDIT: Happy Independence Day!!!!! ;D

[Rollo]

No details on the chip itself though :(

Pre-NDA "details" are dubious at best though. Anyone else remember how the X1800XTX and 7900GTX were going to be 32 pipe cards supposedly?

R580 details were pretty clear all along. The 3:1 ratio was known for the longest time, and the most obvious choice was 48 pixel shaders. Clockspeeds were the only thing undisclosed, and even then it was fairly obvious clockspeeds were going to be in the same range as R520, albeit slightly higher due to maturing manufacturing process and better yields.

[Darth Shaidar]

Pre-NDA "details" are dubious at best though. Anyone else remember how the X1800XTX and 7900GTX were going to be 32 pipe cards supposedly?

[Rollo]

Ooops- I wanted to take the R580 stuff out of my post, not yours Darth.

Anyway, the fact that X1900 pre NDA info was pretty good does not change the fact that throughout the years pre-NDA info has been dubious at best. I just used the X1800 and 7900s as the most recent example in a long line of misinformation.

The 5800U would be another good example- rumors applenty on how many pixel pipelines it had.

[Darth Shaidar]

Ooops- I wanted to take the R580 stuff out of my post, not yours Darth.

Anyway, the fact that X1900 pre NDA info was pretty good does not change the fact that throughout the years pre-NDA info has been dubious at best. I just used the X1800 and 7900s as the most recent example in a long line of misinformation.

The 5800U would be another good example- rumors applenty on how many pixel pipelines it had.

lol, you edited my post instead of quoting it I did that to someone the other day, but caught the mistake in time ;)

And you're right about pre-NDA info. The R580 was the exception, rather than the rule.

[Rollo]

lol, you edited my post instead of quoting it I did that to someone the other day, but caught the mistake in time ;)

And you're right about pre-NDA info. The R580 was the exception, rather than the rule.

Heh- I'm new to these mod powers, I apologize dark sith lord!
;)

[Keysplayr]

Eh--Hem...... 384-bit (256+128 for 8800GTX) 320-bit (256+64 for 8800GT) What in the name of Moore!!!!

So, here is my very limited guess on G80: don't laugh ;D

Dual core GPU
700 million transistors could mean a fair amount are dedicated to onboard geometry/physics processing, and the smaller (narrower 128 or 64 bit memory busses could mean dedicated cache memory for this purpose.
2+GHz GDDR4: 512 for graphics and 128 or 64 for geometry/physics. Maybe the memory on the narrow bus does not have to be GDDR4 but slower DDR mem. (Hey, what do I know, I'm not a scientist, hehe)
New memory controller: Possibly akin to ATI's ringbus or at least the concept of it.
Part Unified, part conventional design for good DX9 and DX10 performance.
So many possibilities with this weird design.

Gonna be fun to see this thing unfold over the next few months.

[solofly]

Im looking forward to G80 and hope to get my hands on one before the end of the year or sooner.

[Rollo]

I'm with you brother. As much fun as my quad rig is, I have to admit this new design has piqued my curiosity!

[Uber_Tiny]

*bump*

[solofly]

First pics of the beast...

http://itbbs.pconline.com.cn/topic.j...54769&pageNo=1

[solofly]

Possible specs...

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4441

[Rollo]

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......



Good times to be a gamer!

[Punisher]

It is a monster. Now I have to decide if I want to pony up to upgrade my HTPC into a serious HD gaming rig. :-\ I bought a 360, so I have something to do 720P or 1080i gaming, but the jaggies and lack of AF is distracting :(

[Rollo]

I've got my XFX XXX GX2 on Ebay now.

I don't think one of these will surpass quad, but two might, and that would be some gaming goodness heretofore unimagined......

:o

[Keysplayr]

I've got my XFX XXX GX2 on Ebay now.

I don't think one of these will surpass quad, but two might, and that would be some gaming goodness heretofore unimagined......

:o

Got a link? ;)

[Rollo]

Got a link? ;)

Sure, and I can guarantee the seller is reputable...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MESE%3AIT&rd=1
;)