14 DAY TRIAL // Even though NVIDIA hasn't managed to release its first DirectX 11 cards yet, rumors have already started circulating on the Internet about the supposed capabilities of the future Fermi GPUs, those meant for the mainstream market. While NVIDIA will officially introduce its GeForce GTX 470 and GTX 480 graphics cards in about half a day's time, they will only be able to address the enthusiast segment, with more affordable projects having yet to be revealed. Recently, however, the folks over at 3dcenter claim to have uncovered some information on these future products.
The report says that the first mainstream Fermi graphics processing unit will go by the name of GF104 and will have 256 shader cores, 64TMUs, 32ROPs and a memory bus of 256 bits. The GPU will supposedly be first used in three cards.
The so-called GTS 440 should outmatch the HD 5770 and will cost around €160 and €180. The article also mentions a certain GTS 450. This adapter will be faster than the HD 5830, albeit more expensive, and will cost between €200 and €230 range. There is also a mention of a GTS 430, which will have 192 shader cores, 48TMUs, 24ROPs, a memory bus of 192 bits, and is expected to be on about the same level as the ATI Radeon HD 5770. Price is estimated at between €130 and €150.
These graphics adapters should be followed by entry-level and more mainstream cards, based on more affordable iterations of the Fermi GPU, known as the GF106 and GF108. Depending on the SKU, GF106 cards will be priced between €60 and €100, whereas GF108 models will cost between €30 and €40. Of course, it will be a while before these adapters actually show up, the earliest possible date being sometime in June.
Obviously, consumers should take these rumors with the mandatory grain of salt, especially since the branding and pricing may change at any time.