14 DAY TRIAL // As far as reference specifications go, the Fermi GF100-based GeForce GTX 480 video board, with DirectX 11 support, is the fastest card currently on sale. However, reviewers expressed mixed feelings when they tested the product, mostly because of the high TDP and price point, as well as heat generation. The other aspect that enthusiasts are not exactly satisfied with is the relatively reduced overclocking headroom of the company's high-grade offering.
The high operation temperature and power consumption are not the only factors behind the low overclockability. The other issue is supposedly related to the L2 cache that the graphics processing unit is designed with, according to a report published by the folks over at Fudzilla. This basically means that no GF100 card will ever really achieve any real 3DMark feats. Fortunately, NVIDIA already has another GPU in store which, from what reports say, may bring an end to this unfortunate state of affairs.
The GF104 will lack the L2 cache, at least that's what the folks over at Fudzilla say they 'heard'. This means that the next batch of video boards, possibly carrying the GTS prefix, will put up a better show than their Fermi predecessors, at least in this regard. Fudzilla speculates that the GTS prefix may be used because the cards powered by the GF104 are expected to be quite a bit cheaper than the GeForce GTX 465. The other piece of good news is that the launch itself is not as far off as some may think.
With all the delays that plagued the GF100, end-users would likely not be surprised to hear that the new GPU is also behind schedule. Fortunately, at least according to Fudzilla, the official announcement is slated for sometime during the next two weeks and samples are already available to manufacturing partners.