The new GTX
It looks like the GT200 or D10U card will sell for US$499 and it will be the perfect replacement for the Geforce 9800GTX. We are not sure about the name but many people have suggested the Geforce 9900GTX and GT brands, but we are not sure if these really will be the final names.
The cards based on the GT200 will sell for $499 and the cards are sampled and work well. Nvidia plans to show the cards to journalists in the last week of May and it’s highly likely to see the launch in June, with retail availability.
It will be fun to see if the GT200 will end up faster than the GX2 and if this single big chip can actually beat a dual chip card. We have a feeling it should.
Expensive but safe strategy
From what we know, Nvidia has placed orders for 65nm and 55nm versions of the GT200 chip and there is a big reason why. Nvidia is simply playing it safe and it doesn’t want any delays.
Nvidia traditionally migrates from bigger transistors to smaller in the entry level, less complicated chips and then tries this in the higher end. Usually this works well and you can remember that Nvidia went from 80nm to 65nm in this order.
As it’s pressured by time it will try to make even its biggest chip in 55nm. If it fails, it will have a 65 nm version of the chip ready to take its place. 55nm means that the chips will run a bit cooler and that you can crack the clocks a bit higher and we will probably learn if the fastest version of GT200 will end up at 55nm.
Taping out two chips means doubling the cost and this will likely increase Nvidia's operating cost, but at least it will help the company to keep up in the high end market.
It might happen that GTX version of GT200 is 55nm and that GT version ends up as 65nm but this is something that is yet to be confirmed. Nvidia simply cannot make any mistakes as this is the most critical time for the company in a while.
OMG lassan hozom a popcornt,hogy élvezzem a műsort..