Jan 20, 2011 11:48 GMT  ·  By

It appears that, even though the GeForce GTS 500 series of graphics cards has only recently, more or less, been released, NVIDIA has already finalized its plans (or so it is reported) in regards to the next-generation GeForce chips, those built on a more advanced process.

With all the talk about the upcoming GeForce GTX 560 Ti, one may not be all that tempted to look to the future of the graphics cards market.

For those that like a reminder, the first mainstream 500 card has allegedly been torn apart already, some custom models having even been listed online.

Of course, the actual developers of graphics processing units are in no way idle, and a recent report actually deals with the next generation of NVIDIA processors.

It seems the Santa Clara, California-based GPU maker decided it had delayed enough in its transition to a more advanced manufacturing process.

As such, as Fudzilla has it, the new GPUs, powered by the 28nm technology, will be delivered this year, around autumn most likely.

The so-called target time frame is the fourth quarter of 2011, although the inherent complexity and massive transistor number (compared to existing GPUs) may or may not end up in delays.

TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is, unsurprisingly, the one tasked with the actual production.

As one would expect, the first GPU to make it to market will be the one for desktop graphics cards, and it is not exactly clear how much later the laptop-aimed ones will be finalized.

Either way, it will definitely be interesting to see by just how much the next generation can exceed the GF110 line of processors in terms of performance, power efficiency, etc.

Of course, NVIDIA has to consider that Advanced Micro Devices is sure to come forth with its own 28nm Radeon products around the same time.