14 DAY TRIAL // NVIDIA's Kepler family of graphics processing units is making the news again, this time thanks to some leaks regarding the GK104 GPU.
Apparently, the name of the strongest graphics adapter powered by the GK104 graphics processor has been uncovered.
For some reason, NVIDIA continues to hang onto the Ti branding, much to the chagrin of those who feel this overcomplicates things.
Regardless, the best board to use the GK104 will bear the name of GeForce GTX 670 Ti.
According to VR-Zone, the performance level will be considerable, beyond that of the GeForce GTX 580.
Also, NVIDIA is said to have implied that the GTX 670 Ti is stronger than AMD's Radeon HD 7950 as well.
This means that only the Sunnyvale, California-based company's Radeon HD 7970 will be better, and not by much.
This wasn't specifically stated, but the name is enough: had NVIDIA not intended for this to compete with current high-end products, it would have named it GTX 660 Ti instead, or something along those lines.
After all, the 28nm GK104 is the “spiritual successor” to the GF114 which, in turn, came after the GF104.
One can only wonder what kind of beasts the top-tier 600 Series video cards will be, if this one is so ambitious.
Unfortunately, even if the Santa Clara, California-based GPU maker succeeds in launching this device in a timely fashion (April or maybe even late March, 2012), life will still be hard, due to poor 28nm chip yields on the part of TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).
AMD will be affected by the issues with the 28nm node as well, but the head start it got on card sales will offset that issue by a great deal.
After all, by the time NVIDIA launches its first next-generation card, AMD will have already presented its entire collection, including the recently detailed Pitcairn.