The first "proper" Kepler news Fri 17th Feb?

[TAC4U]

Kepler only has 2gb vram? That's not enough for 5760x1080

It does seem a bit on the low side, given that games like BF3 suck up RAM at higher settings. But gaming above 1200p is hit or miss at the moment and when I buy a top end graphics card(s) I like to max out all my games and hit a minimum of 60fps. The reviews I saw for 2 x 7970 in Crossfire shows that BF3 only managed an average of around 45fps at 1600p and I imagine it will be similarly disappointing for 3 monitor setups. And if it has better core performance that can help makeup for it.

Is all multi-GPU rendering based upon alternate frame or can they split the image in half and render separately? If it's the latter then VRAM isn't as important; if it's the former then large VRAM is critical. I haven't really kept up to be honest. It seems that all games are optimised for 1080/1200p and everything above that is a minefield, with some performing flawlessly and others falling apart.

I imagine that Kepler will have a decent performance lead. The question is whether nVidia has to do it in a dirty way (poor power efficiency, low overclocking headroom) and how much of a premium they charge. But I am certainly interested to see whether 2GB of RAM limits the card at higher resolutions.

 

[ALXAndy]

Kepler can cache from physical ram.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

lol, can you do it with Jen-Hsun Huang as physx man.

Let me see what I can do!!

 

[Gregster]

Kepler can cache from physical ram.

Not questioning you but do you have proof of this?

 

[dave_beast]

My effort

 

[Locky]

Dave wins.

 

[dave_beast]

\o/

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Dave has used Nvidia Digital Vibrance(tm). Oh Noes!!

PhysX Man Digital Vibrance ATTACK!!

By the POWAR of Kepler,by THUNDAR the holy PhysX attack will destroy the Island of EVIL RED Canarys.

 

[TAC4U]

Not questioning you but do you have proof of this?

For what it's worth I read that too, though obviously it's all based on unsubstantiated rumours.

 

[ALXAndy]

Not questioning you but do you have proof of this?

I've posted it three ****** times now FFS.

Google is your friend.

It's called Turbocache.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/342932-15-kepler-cards-pulling-system-vram-runs

 

[Gregster]

I've posted it three ****** times now FFS.

Google is your friend.

It's called Turbocache.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/342932-15-kepler-cards-pulling-system-vram-runs

Yes and the link would have sufficed....sorry to put you out

and thanks.

 

[ALXAndy]

No worries. Sorry for sounding grouchy but I've been asked to prove it loads of times now lol.

But yes, Turbocache. It's still far from ideal of course given that vram is tons faster, but it's got to beat a hard drive

 

[stulid]

Anyone care "supposedly/educated guesstimate" how big a GK104 die is?

http://www.techpowerup.com/161790/GK104-Die-Size-Estimated.html

No, me neither.

 

[ALXAndy]

Anyone care "supposedly/educated guesstimate" how big a GK104 die is?

http://www.techpowerup.com/161790/GK104-Die-Size-Estimated.html

No, me neither.

Hmm. Easy enough to work out. Open the pic in photoshop, blow it up so that the PCIE slot itself is the correct scale and then the rest of the card will be. Then simply get your ruler out and measure the core

 

[psychodil]

Wouldnt that just measure the heatspreader or are there some die shots floating around?

 

[Jas1222]

Not sure if this was posted earlier:

More rumours of the 680 launching as early as next week.

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/03/05/nvidia-will-launch-gk104keplergtx680-in-a-week/

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Details of the amount of shaders and clockspeeds:

http://www.techpowerup.com/161821/GeForce-GTX-680-Final-Clocks-Exposed-Allegedly.html

Supposedly,the hotclocks still remain.

 

[straxusii]

GTX680 specs revealed

Allegedly, salt on standby

http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-specifications-revealed/15137.html

As previous rumours suggested, GTX 680 will feature 1536 SP and 256-bit memory. However, contrary to rumours, NVIDIA has retained the shader hotclock, although the Kepler shaders could be significantly different from its Fermi counterparts which makes it difficult to predict performance. The core will be clocked at 705 MHz and the shaders at 1411 MHz, retaining the 2x shader hotclock from Fermi. GK104 significantly improves upon GF110/GF114's memory controller, setting a new record for reference memory clock at 6 GHz. This equates to a memory bandwidth of 192 GB/s - exactly the same as GTX 580 despite the narrower memory bus.

As we have witnessed from previously leaked PCB pictures, the GTX 680 will sport 4 display outputs - stacked dual DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort. GK104's die appears to be slightly smaller than Tahiti but significantly larger than Pitcairn. Two SLI connectors will enable upto 3-way SLI. However, the experimental stacked PCI-e power inputs may not make it to the final production graphics cards. GTX 680 will be 10 inches long, which is longer than GTX 560 Ti or HD 7870 but shorter than HD 7950 or GTX 570. The general visual appearance will be reminiscent of GTX 570, albeit more compact with a repositioned fan. The rear end will be similar to HD 5800 or HD 6900, with identical outputs and a blocked exhaust.

NVIDIA will reveal details about GTX 680 in an event on 12th March, with a hard launch rumoured for 23rd March - days after HD 7800's release.

 

[Bobmunkhouse]

Details of the amount of shaders and clockspeeds:

http://www.techpowerup.com/161821/GeForce-GTX-680-Final-Clocks-Exposed-Allegedly.html

Supposedly,the hotclocks still remain.

It would be really good to get benchmarks on the 12th..........edit also confused...so are we getting the high end first now and not a 670ti???

 

[DamoTourettes]

Well yes, but it still doesn't strike me as being a particularly feasible solution. The guy there was saying it makes framerates drop to the teens when it kicks in - running BF3 at 2560x1600 as I do means 2GB mightn't be enough on the GTX 680, and if that's the case how the hell would Turbocache even help in that regard?