14 DAY TRIAL // We've seen the upper performance-level GK104 GPU and the strongest card it will spawn, but now we are treated to the sight of what qualifies, more or less, as the opposite side of the spectrum.
The graphics processing unit, from NVIDIA's Kepler collection, that will lie at the heart of entry-level graphics is the KG107.
The first samples were shipped last year (2011), as early as September, and some minor details about it were revealed as well.
Only now have the specs been uncovered, though, and that is not the most accurate of summations.
It would be more appropriate to say that the reference design for the entry-level Kepler cards has surfaced on the Internet.
There will be two variants of GK107, likely branded as GeForce GT 6x0. Also, they would not be all that interesting to talk about on their own, but their significance is considerable.
As somber as it may sound, these two may be the last entry-level graphics cards that NVIDIA ever launches.
Intel's CPUs with integrated graphics and, more importantly, AMD's APUs with DirectX 11 Radeon GPUs have practically removed any chance for low-end add-in boards to survive.
That said, the GK107 PCB and heatsink are similar to the ones utilized in the creation of the GeForce GT 440, powered by GF108. Even the PCB size is the same.
The memory interface was left unchanged from that of the preceding chip (128 bits), as was the cooler (heatsink with 11-blade axial fan).
The only modification that stands out is the lack of legacy VGA. The cards will offer only a DVI-D dual-link output / HDMI, plus a regular DVI-D and a mini DisplayPort / mini HDMI.
One of the GK107, the GK107-300, will power the D14P1-10 SKU (unspecified amount of GDDR3/GDDR5 VRAM), while the other, GK107-200 will enable D14M2-20 (512 MB DDR3).