As the current generation of GPUs become old hat, so the net is cast wide for any hints at the new and upcoming technologies. Such has been the case this week with rumours coming out Taiwan that NVIDIA's upcoming graphics hardware - widely expected to use the GTX 880 moniker - has been pictured in engineering sample form. The pictures, courtesy of Guru3D, show a particularly large NVIDIA GPU surrounded by eight RAM chips of the SK Hynix H5GQ4H24MFR-R2C variety which have an effective data rate of 7000MHz (GDDR5).
The rear also features eight RAM chips on the rear of the board, indicating either an eight- or 16-gigabyte configuration for this sample. Once again it would be subject to change in retail version of the board, but 16GB remains unlikely due to the current cost of GDDR5 RAM.
One curious feature, which is accepted to be due to the PCB's development status, is the 8+8+6-pin stacked PCIe power connectors. Current wisdom dictates that the board can accommodate either one 8-pin or two 6-pin connectors, with final designs opting for one or the other.
Previous shipping document leaks heavily indicated that the GPU pictured is the GM204, a replacement for the GK104 which capitalises on NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture to improve performance and reduce power demands. Much like the GM207 (AKA GTX 750-series) however it will not yet utilise the 20nm process, instead manufactured using 28nm lithography as with Kepler. This is firmly backed up by the relative size of the pictured GPU.
NVIDIA's GTX 880 is anticipated to have an autumn release. Performance and detailed specs remain unknown.
Source: Guru3D
